The owner of Murowa Diamonds (Rio Zim) and his son were among the six people who died when the <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/2023/09/29/rio-zim-plane-crashed-on-friday-in-mashava-masvingo-killing-six-people/">company’s plane crashed</a> in <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Mashava/">Mashava</a>, Masvingo on Friday 29 September 2023.
Giving an update on Murowa Diamonds plane crash and the <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/2023/09/30/42-trapped-in-bayhorse-mine-collapse-in-chakari-chegutu/">Bay Horse Mine shaft collapse</a> during the Central Committee meeting at ZANU PF Headquarters in Harare on Saturday, Vice President <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Constantino_Chiwenga/">Constantino Chiwenga</a> said the victims would receive State-assisted funerals. Chiwenga said:
<blockquote>
Your Excellency (President Emmerson Mnangagwa), last night we had an accident at Chakari. This is a disused former German mine. However, when it was reopened, the new owner did not take necessary precautions, which saw the 34 miners being trapped.
First to be rescued were 13 miners, and then followed by eight, bringing the total to 21. Three bodies were retrieved, five are still in there and have been located. So, we believe we might have lost about 13.
Also yesterday, the owner of Murowa Diamonds and his son, as well as four other members, were involved in a plane crash.
I was in Chirumanzu when the accident happened. It was bad weather. Arrangements have been done for the State to assist with burials.
</blockquote>
Nine fatalities have been reported at the Bay Horse Mineshaft in Chegutu, with six individuals still buried under debris. Ongoing efforts are being made to recover the remaining bodies. The Civil Protection Unit (CPU) has been mobilised and a command centre established at the mine. Four additional miners are yet to be located, but it has been confirmed that they were part of the teams present underground during the collapse.
Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Dr Polite Kambamura told <a href="https://www.sundaymail.co.zw/president-mourns-accident-victims">The Sunday Mail</a> yesterday that efforts were underway to account for everyone. He spoke from the site:
<blockquote>
There were 34 people underground when the accident occurred. Out of the 34 miners, 21 survived and escaped with injuries.
Out of the remaining 13, nine have been confirmed dead and we have retrieved three bodies that have been taken to mortuary.
We are making frantic efforts to retrieve the other dead bodies and locate the other four, as we try to account for everyone.
</blockquote>
According to Mr. Michael Munodawafa, the chief mining engineer in the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, the retrieval operation for the bodies will be conducted with utmost respect and dignity. They plan to utilize a specialized motor that will break the rock without causing ground movement or further harm to the bodies. This approach will facilitate the removal of rock fragments more easily and safely.
Mr. Trevor Murombedzi, one of the survivors, recounted the tragic incident that claimed the life of his brother, Tendai (23). He said they observed signs of an imminent roof collapse in the mine and attempted to flee. Tragically, a large section of the ground above them collapsed, leading to the devastating outcome. He added:
<blockquote>
I escaped unhurt together with the other three that I was working with from a group of nine.
The other five, including my brother, were trapped by the ground.
</blockquote>
Amidst a sombre atmosphere at the mine site, the families of those trapped maintain hope that their loved ones are among the four individuals believed to be alive. Witnesses reported that the mine collapse happened around 10 a.m. on Friday, and rescue operations commenced later in the evening after 8 p.m.
<h3><a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a></h3>

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Update: Murowa Diamonds Owner And Son Die In Plane Crash, Chakari Mine Collapse Death Toll Rises

The Zimbabwe Miners Federation has confirmed the collapse of the Bayhorse Mine in Chakari, Chegutu, where approximately 42 people are believed to be trapped. So far, five individuals have been rescued.
The ZMF has dispatched its Secretary General and the Chairman of the Chegutu Miners Association to assess the situation and provide updates on the ongoing rescue operations. In a statement seen by Pindula News, the association said:
<blockquote>
Name of mine: Bayhorse
Location: Chakari Chegutu
Affiliate: ZMF Chegutu Miners Association Mine
Owner: Sigauke T
<h3>SUBJECT: MINE COLLAPSE AT BAYHOSE IN CHEGUTU (CHAKARI)</h3>
There has been a collapse of a mine shaft at one of our ZMF members’ mine.
It is believed that about 42 people are still trapped underground and 5 have been rescued so far. We have since tasked our ZMF Secretary General and Chegutu Miners Association Chairman to go and establish the true facts on the ground and we shall keep you appraised of the rescue operations by the relevant teams.
Let us be patient and wait for all official communication to come from ZRP, Ministry of Mines and other Government arms.
</blockquote>
There have been reports that up to 30 people may have lost their lives in the collapse. The community in Chakari has criticised mine guards for obstructing rescue efforts by artisanal miners, stating that more lives could have been saved. Community members told journalist Owen Matava that rescue efforts were still to be conducted as of 8 p.m. on Friday.
According to Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Polite Kambamura, a government team assessed the situation and confirmed that a mine collapse occurred at around 10 a.m. The team also established that 34 miners were trapped underground, with 13 managing to escape. Unfortunately, there are concerns that the remaining 21 individuals may have lost their lives.
According to iHarare, six bodies had been recovered as of Friday evening, and rescue operations were ongoing to save the remaining 15 trapped miners.
<a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a>

42 Trapped In Bayhorse Mine Collapse In Chakari, Chegutu

A large number of children of school-going age and women of childbearing age in gold-mining areas in Zimbabwe have high levels of mercury in their bodies, a study has revealed.
According to the study carried out by Dr. Dennis Shoko, a local academic, and other researchers from outside Zimbabwe, titled “Country Diagnostic Report on Environmental Health Implications of Mercury in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Zimbabwe” women miners living and working in areas where mercury is used are exposed to danger.
The mercury, which is used to process gold, exposes women and their children to lifelong diseases such as brain damage, kidney failure and heart diseases.
The study sought to measure infants’ and mothers’ levels of mercury in urine, hair and breast milk in the gold-rich area of Chakari, Kadoma.
It involved 120 mothers whose breast milk samples were analysed from four different groups. Part of the study reads:
<blockquote>
High levels of mercury were found in breast milk in the Kadoma/Chakari area, which unduly exposes breastfeeding infants.
A large number of children of school-going age and women of childbearing age are already intoxicated or with elevated levels of mercury in their bodies.
</blockquote>
In an interview with <a href="https://www.sundaymail.co.zw/mercury-warning-for-breastfeeding-mothers">The Sunday Mail</a>, specialist obstetrician Dr. Antony Muchabaiwa said:
<blockquote>
Mercury can pass from a mother to her baby through the placenta during pregnancy and, in smaller amounts, through breast milk after birth.
Exposure to mercury can affect the infant’s brain and nervous system development during pregnancy and after birth.
</blockquote>
Paediatrician Professor Douglas Chirenji told The Sunday Mail that chronic mercury exposure results in mental retardation, delayed development, language disorders and seizures in children.
An estimated 1.5 million local artisanal gold miners reportedly use about 50 tonnes of mercury to process gold annually.

Women And Children In Gold-mining Areas "Intoxicated" With Mercury | Study

A man in Mashonaland West Province reportedly convinced villagers that he was a traditional leader, Chief Devera, and made them pay tribute with livestock, menial jobs, and cash, among other things, for three years.
The man, Simbarase Chikuya, in 2019 told villagers that he had been appointed Chief Devera by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Since assuming the “throne”, ” Chief Devera” has made villagers in Chakari, Chegutu Six and Sanyati take turns to guard him.
The villagers have been taking turns guarding him and the homestead they built for him on a rock promontory.
However, records at the Ministry of Local Government in Kadoma show that the Devera chieftainship was abolished in Rhodesia and has not yet been resuscitated.
In an interview with <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/bogus-chief-fleeces-villagers-of-livestock-cash-free-labour/">The Herald</a>, Fanuel Yothum Torimirashiri, who resides close to Chakari Mine, said the “bogus” chief made villagers contribute seed, fertilizer, draught power, and labour every farming season. He said:
<blockquote>
He lied to us that President Mnangagwa had appointed him chief in 2019 and that within weeks, he would be anointed at a ceremony in front of us all.
He then appointed me his secretary and for three years we collected livestock, goods and cash from villagers. We have the records.
We even forced people to work for him in the fields and building his compound and shrine until recently when I differed with him for continuously demanding all sorts of payments from poor villagers, when the Government does not recognize the chieftainship.
We are not sure how we got blinded by this man who is not even a member of our clan. Now we know he is not a chief.
The Government has not appointed him chief. He is nothing. When it all started in 2019, he told us he had been appointed our chief by the President and we believed him.
We were taking turns buying him airtime, bread and everything. I would personally deliver the bread by bicycle to his home.
Later he demanded the bicycle itself and I had to sell it, to avoid it being confiscated.
</blockquote>
According to Torimirashiri’s records, corroborated by the eldest living Devera clan member Zivanai Muza, two headmen were appointed and made to pay six cattle each or USD$300, to buy the position. One of those who paid was Chuma Gora.
The 43 village heads appointed by Chikuya were made to pay a beast each at the same United States Dollars equivalent.
Chikuya on Friday told The Herald that he was appointed Chief Devera in 2019 and only waiting for an official ceremony. He said:
<blockquote>
I am their chief. I have been working towards the resuscitation of our chieftainship abolished in 1857.
I am just waiting for President Mnangagwa to come down here and anoint me. The venue will be Chakari Stadium.
No one is contesting that I am the chief. My papers are now in high offices.
All you hear is the work of detractors. Those I appointed into positions like village heads or headmen are my working team to put structures in place. People gave me goods of their own will.
</blockquote>
Chikuya claimed that the chiefdom straddles the vast gold-rich land that borders Chief Neuso to the west, chief Ngezi to the south and east and Makonde to the north.
Muza, who claims to be the oldest living member of the Devera clan, said Chikuya is from Gokwe and came to the area following his lover.
He said the “bogus” chief came to the place as a traditional healer, a Tsikamutanda.

"Bogus" Chief Fleeces Villagers Of Livestock, Cash, Free Labour

Hundreds of families in Chakari, a mining settlement located about 33 kilometres from Kadoma, in Mashonaland West Province, are experiencing terrible hardships following the temporary closure of Dalny Mine, operated by RioZim Limited.
The mine was operated by Falcon Gold Zimbabwe Limited for many years until 2013 when it was closed and eventually sold to Rio Zim.
As a predominantly mining settlement, an estimated 90 per cent of employed people used to work for the mine and the rest for TelOne and shops.
When Falcon Gold closed the mine, the majority of the working population was left jobless and many resorted to illegal mining in the belly of the mining, eking out a living from deep tunnels.
The majority of the houses in the area were built by and belonged to the company and as a result, the closure of the mine by Falcon Gold left workers technically homeless.
However, the situation was not as hopeless since they could still stay in the houses for free, use water for free and electricity was also available for free.
The acquisition of Dalny Mine by Rio Zim naturally excited the former mine workers but it soon turned out that their optimism was misplaced.
Rio Zim brought its own workforce from Eiffel Flats and wanted to evict the former Falcon workers from company accommodation and this created tension.
Moreover, Rio Zim shunned operating the tunnels and resorted to open cast mining thereby causing untold environmental issues.
The open pits have also become a hazard to the local community and a child reportedly fell into a pit and died recently.
The closure of the mine by Rio Zim in February this year has exacerbated the challenges faced by the Chakari community.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) has switched off power leaving the former miners in darkness.
The cutting off of electricity by the power utility has also caused water challenges for the community and the sewer system has clogged up.
There are a few community boreholes and they are not enough to meet the needs of the people.
Some have now resorted to defecating in the bush due to the clogging up of the sewer system while others are using pit latrines and blair toilets.
The former workers are now relocating to the village as it is not clear when Rio Zim will reopen Dalny Mine.
Those relocating to rural areas are probably the fortunate ones as most of the workers are second-generation immigrants from Malawi who now have nowhere to go.

Closure Of Dalny Mine Leaves Chakari Community Wallowing In Poverty

13 Police officers were arrested in <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Chegutu">Chegutu</a> for extorting cash from miners by threatening to impound their mills, The Standard reports.
The police boss and his subordinates were arrested after miners in Chakari reported them to the Chakari Police station. Some of the officers who were arrested reportedly went to Chakari where they reportedly rounded up miners with mills and threatened to impound their mills until they were given US $250 and $2900 by Winnie Nyani, Tapfuma Mashupiko and Enerst Arimon and $150 by Michael Chaponda.
The miners, however, went a reported the case to Chakari Police station, Chakari Police investigated the case which led to the arrest of 13 officers including the officer in-command commanding Chegutu District.
More:<a href="https://www.thestandard.co.zw/2020/02/09/machete-cops-nabbed-extortion/"> The Standard </a>

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