The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa Post Correspondent
SANDWICHED between Cell 3 and 4 high density suburbs in Odzi Township, Marambakutongwa is a 10-year-old squatter camp that is home to the most violent illegal gold panners and sex-workers.
Christened ‘Marambakutongwa’ by its residents following their rebellious attitude towards the law and settling themselves illegally in the hilly area, the camp houses close to 300 families, which translates to approximately 550 settlers according to the area’s councillor, Mr Pedzisai Gojo.
Marambakutongwa squatter camp is situated in Mutare North’s Ward 31.
From their structures made of pole and dagga, wood and zinc sheets, plastic and wood, the squatters cannot help watch others develop their houses after battling in vain for years to get stands. So far only 67 families have been legally allocated stands.
Cllr Gojo said the hopelessness of the situation left the squatters with no choice but to do illegal gold panning and stone crashing, which has become the families’ only means of survival as there are no industries in the township.
Meanwhile, those that are not part of religious family set-ups have resorted to selling their bodies in the form of sex work and thieving just to get through to the next day.
“We do not have a single industry in the area and people from the squatter camp are resorting to illegal gold panning, sex work, thievery and stone crashing for most elderly ladies who have grandchildren to look after,” he said.
Above all, the area is cholera-prone as the squatters are surviving without clean water and sewer systems, save for two boreholes that have been drilled in the area. Residents however, are forced to pay a dollar a month if they wish to use the second borehole, which is managed by The Assemblies of God Church, which drilled it. Those that manage to pay the dollar can only fetch the water from 8 to 11am only as the borehole is locked after these hours.
When The Manica Post visited the borehole, it had already been secured by a huge padlock as it was a few minutes past 11am.
Most of the female stone crushers who are bread-winners will be armed with hammers, which they use without protective clothing risking injuring their hands. The borehole fee is hard to get for a female stone-crusher who gets a dollar after crushing a whole wheelbarrow of stones and fails to secure a buyer.
A stone crusher, Chaipa Mashaira (37) who lives with her three children and is separated from her husband who also lives in the same neighbourhood said she sold a wheelbarrow full of crushed stones for a dollar.
“I crush around 30 full wheelbarrows a month but the sales are not very pleasing these days. We can go for a whole month without a single sale.
Mashaira, who crushes the stones together with her two minor daughters said the major challenge they were facing as squatters in the area was poverty as they were not able to raise money even to buy water.
“Poverty is killing us slowly. We pray that the Government aids us with industries so that we get jobs and look after our children. If they can also give us food and help us pay for our children’s school fees, that would be very welcome,” she said.
Renting a room in Marambakutongwa is only $5 but she struggles to raise that amount since her husband left her.
Another stone-crusher, Maud Katadza (65) who stays with her three minor grandchildren says she has to wait for the children to get back from school for them to fetch the water as she will be crushing stones and looking for buyers.
“My children died and left their children in my care. I am now too old to be going down the hill to fetch water with 20litre buckets so I have to wait for them to come back from school. Besides, I cannot waste any time, I have to be crushing stones so that I pay for their school fees,” said Mbuya Katadza.
Residents from neighbouring locations, Cell 3 and Cell 4 complained that the population of sex workers was rising as most of the squatters in Marambakutongwa were single mothers who did not have the means to fend for their children.
“There are sex workers and violent gold panners in that area and we live in fear that one day they will kill each other. Just last year gold wars escalated in Marambakutongwa.
“You should come during the night so that you see the large numbers of sex workers that come from this squatter camp. Most of these women sell their bodies at night because they have nothing to feed their children with. They are languishing in poverty and if only Government could help them, things would be better,” said Thelma Matikure, a resident of Cell 4 high-density suburb.
In September 2017, three people were shot and seriously wounded following an exchange of gunfire in Odzi as rival groups fought to control a lucrative gold mine in the area. Two of the suspects faced three counts of attempted murder, while the owner of the mine at the centre of the dispute faced two counts of robbery.
The shoot out occurred after the suspects who were armed with rifles allegedly opened fire on 16 security guards from a rival company who had visited the mine with the intention of taking over operations.
The ring leaders of the conflict, which was then termed ‘the Odzi gold war’ and resulted in the damage of property worth $30 000 were jailed for 48 months. These were Jacob Ticharwa, Jefta Ticharwa and Wilford Zulu who all hailed from Marambakutongwa camp. They were convicted of public violence charges by Mutare magistrate, Mr Tendai Mahwe. At least 100 of their other accomplices, all from Marambakutongwa are still at large.
Cllr Gojo said there was need to legally allocate stands to the residents of the camp as they were not living in an environment conducive for settlement.
