Artisanal and Small-scale Miners (ASM) in Mashonaland Central are pleading with the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development (MMMD) to regulate and monitor mine Peggers’ (prospectors) fees.
Vongai Mbara
Speaking at a workshop in Mukaradzi, miners raised concerns about the high and unstable prices being charged by peggers, saying it was one of the leading causes of corruption in the industry.
“We are pleading with you, the Ministry. Is there anything that you can do to regulate these peggers because they are stealing from us? It would be better if there was a fixed price for pegging to avoid confusion and daylight robberies.
“The current system whereby you have to negotiate for a fee with the pegger is creating corruption. Imagine if I negotiate for US$500 and someone offers to give the pegger US$2000 for the same area. Obviously, the pegger will go for the latter and it will eventually lead to double pegging,” said one of the miners at the workshop.
Miners at the meeting gave a nod to the idea, saying those who were financially privileged overwrote them by offering to pay peggers four times more than they could afford.
The workshop was organized by the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) Mashonaland Central province in conjunction with the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development (MMMD) to raise safety awareness as well as improve livelihood of miners in the province.
MMMD representative, Mr Muzanenhamo who was in attendance said it was beyond the Ministry to regulate peggers because they are independent agents.
“The reason why the Ministry is not regulating peggers is that they are independent agents who are trained by the Ministry. It’s like when you go to get your VID driver’s licence. They can only train you to drive but cannot detect how much you can charge your passengers after you get your licence. However we are going to take the issue to the relevant authorities and see if something can be done,” Muzanenhamo said.
ZMF Mash Central Secretary for youth, Nyaradzai Diana Kanyemba encouraged the miners to vet the peggers first before paying them.
“There are a lot of fraudsters pretending to be peggers and that’s why issues of double pegging are increasing. I advise miners to do proper checks before paying. A pegger should have a licence from the ministry. It is your right as a miner to ask for that first-hand to avoid complications in the future,” Kanyemba said.