Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Residents of the Mazowe area near Jumbo Mine Road are living in fear of Mashurugwi, machete-carrying illegal artisanal miners who have occupied a hill adjacent to their settlement.
The miners use generators, compressors and other heavy-duty machines in their operations and this has destroyed the environment around the suburb.
Residents allege that in one incident, a miner died after he was chased by his colleagues into one of the houses where they attacked him.
The occupants of the house, a mother and her children, had to run for their dear lives. Said the resident:
The artisanal miners operate in gangs and these gangs occasionally in serious clashes which have in some instances turned bloody endangering the lives of other people.
We have a new school that has opened here and we are worried about the safety of our children and their ability to concentrate in school with all these illegal activities that are happening around them.
We have engaged the police and while they have been conducting raids the operations have been sporadic. We need a lasting solution to this problem.
Another resident complained of the noise caused by the miners during the day and also at night. The resident said:
It is bad enough that the machines that they use make a lot of noise in the afternoon but it is especially at night that we have a serious problem.
We cannot sleep peacefully because of the noise that will be coming from the top of the hill. We simply cannot have such activity close to a residential area.
Mazowe Rural District Council Chairperson John Mudzonga said there was a dispute over land ownership and the issue has been rectified. Said Mudzonga:
We are reacting to this issue. The area was pegged long back and people were complaining that they cannot develop the area in its state.
We have found an investor interested in taking up and developing the area. Soon the miner will be removed.
There are no mining claims in that area and the artisanal miners are mining illegally.
MP for Mazowe South Fortune Chasi (ZANU PF) said the police in Mazowe are aware of what is happening.
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