VIDEO: ZANU PF official threatens to unleash Mashurugwi on residents?
Kwekwe ZANU PF losing candidate for Mbizo Constituency, in the 2018 elections, Vongaishe Mupereri has in the video below threatened to unleash “the famous boys” if residents snub a ZANU PF meeting.
It is believed that Mupereri referred to Mashurugwi and or Al Shabab, who are notorious machete gangs operating mostly in gold mining towns.
There have been rumors suggesting that these machete gangs have strong links with prominent people hence their arrogance and impunity.
Watch the video below and judge for yourself:-
SOURCE: Pindula
150 illegal Miners reportedly trapped underground at Jumbo Mine
Reports coming in say there are 150 illegal miners stuck underground at Jumbo Mine’s MaBanana area.
More to follow….
Rangers shoot advancing gold panners
The Zimbabwe Republic Police on their twitter page announced that three illegal panners were shot and wounded by the Bulawayo City Rangers.
The city Rangers were on patrol and came across the illegal gold panners at Upper Ncema Dam in Esigodini. The Rangers tried dispersing the panners by firing warning shots but the panners would not take heed. The panners then advanced towards the rangers to which the latter accidentally fired at them injuring three in the process.
The three are currently in hospital under Police guard.
1/2 On 31/12/19 in Byo, some City rangers who were on patrol came across illegal gold panners at Upper Ncema Dam, Esgodini. The rangers tried to disperse the panners by warning shots but they did not take heed.
— Zimbabwe Republic Police (@PoliceZimbabwe) January 2, 2020
2/2 The panners then headed towards the rangers who accidentally fired at them, injuring three in the process. The three are currently admitted in Hospital under police guard.@ChronicleZim @ZBCNewsonline @HeraldZimbabwe @NewsDayZimbabwe @DailyNewsZim
— Zimbabwe Republic Police (@PoliceZimbabwe) January 2, 2020
Many people commended the rangers for shooting the panners as more and more express their anger at violence currently engulfing the mining sector.
Hapana accident pamaShurugwi. They should have just aimed for the heads. Murikurera nyoka nenhau yenhu yekutya mashefu enyu iwawa! These guys have become a law unto themselves and you @PoliceZimbabwe know where they derive their power from. You must stop this, now.
— /Mwoyo/Chirandu💝 (@ba_russ) January 2, 2020
It was not an accident but a necessary and commendable self defence act. Excellent job!
— Nkululeko (@nkulsib) January 2, 2020
No accident rangers did what was necessary otherwise they would've been cut to pieces
— Guardian Angel (@Guard1anAnge1) January 2, 2020
Machete gang kill gold buyer
Machete-wielding criminals popularly known for pouncing on small-scale and artisanal miners killed a gold buyer in Mvuma on Wednesday the 1st of January 2020.
Marko Dube a popular gold buyer in the town of Mvuma was allegedly killed by three unknown men with machetes. He was reportedly struck with machetes all over his body and his gold, money, and cellphones were taken away by these machete men.
According to a police memo received by this publication, the now deceased was a gold buyer and had a hammer mill at MEK Syndicate Mine, Mvuma. He was the one who was operating a hammer mill, milling gold ore. The deceased was staying at the mine when he was in Mvuma.
An informant told the police that on the day of the murder he heard a voice screaming for help in a nearby bush.
The informant then ran outside his house and saw the now deceased running towards his house at a distance of about 100 metres being pursued by the three unknown accused persons and one of the accused persons was putting on a red T-Shirt, the other accused person was putting on complete black casual clothing and the last accused person was wearing dark clothing.
The three machete criminals then caught the deceased at a distance of approximately 100 metres away from the homestead and started striking the deceased several times all over the body with machetes. They then searched the now deceased and left him lying helpless on the ground. Accused persons ran towards the nearby thick bush disappeared into the bush.
The informant then went to the scene and discovered that that the now deceased was still alive. The now-deceased advised the informant to call his uncle who was in Kadoma to tell him that he was robbed off his USD$700-00 and that he was struck by machetes. The now-deceased requested for water to drink and was given by the informant.
The informant then filed a report at the ZRP Mvuma police station.
Upon arrival the police discovered the body of deceased lying dead on the ground facing downwards and they observed that he had four deep cuts on the head, one deep cut on the right cheek, one deep cut on the left leg, one deep cut on the left-hand elbow and one deep cut on the left-hand palm.
The body was ferried to Mvuma General Hospital where was placed in the hospital mortuary.
Total value stolen is US$700-00, one handset with sim 0714 684591 and nothing was recovered.
The case is being investigated under ZRP Mvuma RRB 4063420.
Miners, Police foil Machete gang attack
Mount Darwin Police arrested eight machete gangs who were set to pounce on miners in the Mukaradzi area yesterday.
The gang was apprehended after miners in the area got suspicious seeing an unfamiliar vehicle and unfamiliar faces prompting the miners to seek Police assistance.
On arrival the Police searched the gang and four machetes, four okapi knives were discovered in the boot of a Toyota Wish vehicle they were using. On further interrogation, the gang confessed to being behind the spate of attacks in Shamva, Mazowe and behind the stabbing of soldiers in Bindura.
The modus operandi of the gangs is they are well connected in their areas of operations. They receive tip-offs of well-performing mines and gather intel such as mine owner and team members’ names. When they pounce on the target mines they have specific names and any resistance will be met with brutal attacks.
Small-scale miners in Zimbabwe hardly secure their operations and this poses a huge security risk as their claims are open walk-in areas.
Retired Chief Inspector Elia Sungiso said, “Small-scale miners should beef up their security. They should have armed guards who have training in unarmed defense patrolling their areas”. He continued, “MaShurugwi’s are not prophets, miners should stop spreading the word when their mines are excelling for their own safety”
Machete-wielding gang attacks are in the spotlight after the brutal murder of a 27-year-old Kadoma Police Constable Wonder Hokoyo. Authorities have promised to crack down on the marauding machete-wielding criminals who are a menace to the society with the Justice Minister breathing fire. The minister has suggested the Police shoot to kill the gangs as they are no different from terrorists. Some miners support the move as a necessary evil to restore sanity in the ASM Industry as its slowly spreading into residential areas.
BREAKING: Machete gang arrested in Mt Darwin
A machete gang has been arrested in Mt Darwin.
More to follow….
Mliswa fingers Nduna, Police, politicians as power behind machete gangs
Member of Parliament for Norton Constituency Hon Temba Mliswa has accused Chegutu MP Dexter Nduna, Mashwest Head of Police and unmentioned politicians of being behind the surge of Machete gangs also known by another monicker “MaShurugwi”.
Mliswa tweeted this after the recent gruesome killing of a 27-year-old Police Constable Wonder Hokoyo.
Hokoyo had been deployed at Good Hope Mine Brompton Battlefields in the company of Costable Kamhuka, Constable Gurajena, Constable Tapfumaneyi and Constable Mwenje a female Police officer armed with FN rifles where there was a gold rush. Hokoyo was attacked from behind and struck once at the back of the head with a log and disarmed leaving the Police officer with no option rather than to escape from the attack.
The gang known as “Team Barca” lead by leaders known as Mike and Givy made a frantic chase to Constable Hokoyo and struck him all over his body using machetes and axes leaving him lying lifeless. The body of the deceased was found in a pool of blood approximately 100m away from the shafts. Constable Hokoyo later died due to injuries sustained as a result of the attack.
Mliswa Tweeted
Ziyambi should be honest with Nduna who has not been arrested but is known to be involved.We cannot have a full fledged party that is full of criminals operating wantonly. JOC must come in and take over and deal with this situation once and for all.
— Sabhuku Temba P. Mliswa (@TembaMliswa) December 30, 2019
There is need to target the gang leaders for this people and they will reveal everything. The system should be swift and consistent in bringing to justice these criminals.
— Sabhuku Temba P. Mliswa (@TembaMliswa) December 30, 2019
The police accommodated the makorokoza now they are killing them. The security command in Mash West is very weak& some politicians like Nduna who are involved are protected.The Minister of State Security should take charge& not allow this situation to degenerate into more anarchy
— Sabhuku Temba P. Mliswa (@TembaMliswa) December 30, 2019
The killing of Constable Hokoyo has caused outrage with the public accusing the government of not effectively dealing with the situation. Many are of the notion that the problem will not be solved anytime soon as powerful people are behind the machete gangs.
Junior Police officers seem to be aware of the gang’s connections and are afraid of taking action, echoing the sentiments by Minister Ziyambi that the gangs are arrested the next minute they are released. This makes the deployed officers vulnerable to attacks which may explain the hesitant behavior by the Hokoyo and team.
Burial for the slain officer is expected to be later today in Masvingo.
Notorious machete gang “Team Barca” kills police officer
A notorious machete gang that is known as Team Barca led by leaders Mike and Givy attacked police details who had been deployed at Good Hope Mine Brompton Battlefields on Saturday, leading to the death of Police Constable Wonder Hokoyo.
According to a police report, on the 27 December 2019 at around 1100 hours, Constable Hokoyo was deployed at Good Hope Mine Brompton Battlefields in the company of Costable Kamhuka, Constable Gurajena, Constable Tapfumaneyi (all male) Police officers and Constable Mwenje a female Police officer armed with FN rifles where there was a gold rush.
On 28 December 2019 at around 1400 hours, the accused persons with many others all still at large proceeded to the vicinity armed with machetes, catapults, and axes and forcefully took control of the mine shafts thereby dispersing the genuine miners who were extracting gold ore.
The Police details reacted to the accused persons, approached and fired some warning shots into the air in an attempt to disperse the accused persons but they did not take hid. Instead, the accused persons advanced towards the Police in a bid to attack.
One of the accused persons attacked Constable Hokoyo from behind and struck him once at the back of the head using a log and disarmed him leaving the Police officer with no option rather than to escape from the attack. At the same time, the accused disarmed Constable Kamhuka before he escaped from the scene after being assaulted all the body. The rest of the police officers managed to escape after noticing that their lives were under a threat.
The accused persons made a frantic chase to Constable Hokoyo and struck him all over his body using machetes and axes leaving him lying lifeless. The body of the deceased was found in a pool of blood approximately 100m away from the shafts. Constable Hokoyo later died due to injuries sustained as a result of the attack.
ZRP Battlefields was advised and attended to the scene. They also advised DRG Kadoma, Support Unit as well as CID and MFFU Kadoma who also attended the scene.
Violence in the Small-scale mining Industry has reached unprecedented levels. The Justice Minister is on record proposing Police shoot to kill violent machete gangs and his sentiments continue to seem to be a necessary move to thwart unruly elements. Some miners have welcomed Ziyambi’s stance saying its a necessary evil.
It is disturbing to note that the gangs are known (by name) for their violent deeds yet they roam the country freely. The Team Barca gang leaders Mike and Givy are well known. The team is known to brag about being untouchables as they are politically connected. One of the gang leaders known as “Kwadez” was shot and killed in Chegutu last month after a violent confrontation with the Police.
The police seem to be aware of the gang’s connections are afraid of taking action, echoing the sentiments by Minister Ziyambi that the gangs are arrested the next minute they are released. This makes the deployed officers vulnerable to attacks which may explain the hesitant behavior by the five deployed officers.
The body of the 27-year-old Constable Wonder Hokoyo was conveyed to Kadoma General Hospital Mortuary awaiting post-mortem.