Brother kills brother over gold proceeds
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Bulilimamangwe, Matabeleland South is investigating a case of murder where a 37-year-old artisanal miner was allegedly killed by his younger brother (23) following an argument to share gold proceeds.
Rudairo Mapuranga
According to ZRP, the Victim Khaliphile Ndlovu died after he was hit with stones on the head by his brother Coster Ndlovu together with Coster’s 24-year-old friend Jonathan Moyo at Gossan Mine in Mphoengs.
“Police in Mphoengs are investigating a case of murder which occurred on 31/07/22 at Gossan Mine.
“The victim, Khaliphile Ndlovu (37) died after he was hit with stones on the head by his brother Coster Ndlovu (23) as well as his friend Jonathan Moyo (24) following an argument over sharing of gold proceeds,” the police said.
Reports of violence in the artisanal mining sector have been on a decline following the commencement of operation “No to Machete gangs” which was introduced by the police in 2019 following a series of murders around the small-scale mining community.
A 2019 report by the Zimbabwe Peace Project stated that at least 105 people were murdered all in a space of three months in Zimbabwe’s violence-prone mining areas of Kadoma and other neighbouring districts.
Zimbabwe’s widespread and lucrative artisanal mining which back then was controlled by machete-wielding criminals was a death sentence to many with mobs often caught up in machete wars that often turned fatal. Ordinary citizens were also caught in the crossfire or in some instances, they were direct targets of the gangs.
The Police since January this year have arrested 29887 people under operations no to machete gangs, the operation is meant to restore sanity in the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector.
Illegal Miners are mostly a target of machete gangs who have been causing havoc in the ASM sector.
According to Police spokesperson Asst-Comm Paul Nyathi, the operation is ongoing and they have covered all the provinces.
Machete-wielding criminals are notorious for pounding on small-scale and artisanal miners stealing their gold or gold ore and smuggling processed gold to neighbouring countries like South Africa and Botswana through the country’s porous borders.
The police restored order in mining areas after taking the machete gangs head-on, arresting large numbers of people and thwarting a wave of violence that threatened to disturb gold mining and consequently deliveries to Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR).
The Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) has called on miners to formalize their operations by adhering to the dictates of the law to avoid a situation where work is constantly being disrupted by law enforcement agents.
Under its quest to see the Artisanal and Small Scale (ASM) sector contributing an annual revenue of US$4 billion to the US$12 Billion 2023 mining vision.
According to ZMF President Ms Henrietta Rushwaya, the Federation has a zero-tolerance mantra of no to illegal mining. She said that the organisation’s offices are open for everyone to come and get investment advice.
“As small-scale miners, we are saying it is a crime to mine illegally in the country. And we are saying zero tolerance to illegal mining. We should be seen as being associated with constructive and proper mining, constructive in the sense that our mining should be guided by principles as stated in the mines and minerals act. People are advised and allowed to come to our ZMF offices to find out how best they can be linked with proper mining houses and how best they get tributes from other registered miners,” Madam Rushwaya said.