Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
POLICE have arrested four men while 30 more are on the run following violent clashes that left dozens injured at a mining claim in Fort Rixon, Matabeleland South.
A bitter dispute over the mining claim, Zulu Eight Mine in Pioneer Village, has been raging for over four years resulting in constant clashes between two businessmen Virimai Nyamiwa and Blessing Ndiweni.
Both businessmen claim they have papers to prove ownership of the mine, which is reportedly rich in gold. Last year, a man was shot dead in cold blood in one of the confrontations.
On Sunday George Procolos, a Greek national, who is Ndiweni’s business partner allegedly teamed up with Ndiweni and hired a gang to violently remove Nyamiwa’s workers.
One of Nyamiwa’s workers, who declined to be named, told The Chronicle that the group of more than 30 people attacked them on Sunday night instructing them to vacate the mining claim. The worker said the group was armed with machetes, whips, knobkerries and iron bars.
“Most of our colleagues suffered injuries but I think they were afraid to go to hospital because police are looking for everyone involved,” said the worker.
He said the attackers threatened to kill everyone at the mine, forcing a majority of the workers to run to nearby homesteads for safety.
“Some of them followed us and threatened the villagers. We called the police and four of them were arrested. We’re now living in fear because these people are violent and they’re always threatening to kill us,” said the worker.
He blamed the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development for dragging its feet in solving the dispute.
“The ministry is aware of this issue and it’s their duty to come and clarify who the owner of this mining claim is but up to now they have done nothing to solve the dispute,” he said.
The miner added that Zulu Eight Mine was sold to Nyamiwa by a white man but a conflict ensued after Ndiweni claimed that the mine was his.
Matabeleland South acting provincial police spokesperson, Sergeant Thabani Mkhwananzi confirmed the arrests yesterday.
He, however, declined to give details, saying the matter is under investigation. The claim war, which spilled into the courts, resulted in the death of one of the gold miners Earnest Mudenda in December last year, after he was shot in cold blood in one of the clashes.
The mine was at some point placed under police guard after the court ordered the miners to stop operations.
Ndiweni’s papers state that he owns Zulu 15 Mine but he insists that there was a mistake in naming the mining claims. This dispute has been in the courts for a long time and it seems the court has failed to solve it and people are now taking the law into their hands.
Some of the workers claimed police officers in the area had interests in the mining claim.