New farmers join Kadoma gold rush
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Tony Saxon
Wednesday, 12 January 2011 08:02
KADOMA – Brandon Dube (not his real name) is a gold dealer. He reckons that
he has made more than $100,000 from black market gold dealing over the past
five years. Dube is a central link in a syndicate that connects Zimbabwe’s
gold with South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo and Dubai.
“I have been dealing in gold for almost four years now and I’ve lost count
of how much gold I have bought, but it has made me rich,” said the
37-year-old Dube, previously a high school teacher.
“You can make more or less $700 every week, but if you buy the right gold,
you score more.”
Kadoma is the latest place in Zimbabwe to discover the corrupting power of
gold. Kadoma’s Musengezi River contains gold deposits claimed to be worth
billions of dollars, potentially making Zimbabwe one of the world’s top gold
producers.
A resettled farmer and a war veteran in the area who declined to be named
said he had decided to form syndicates with illegal miners to dig for gold
on the 20 hectares plot near the Musengezi River allocated to him during the
infamous fast-track land reform programme.
“There is no proper farming talking place. We do not have adequate inputs
and most of us do not have any technical expertise in farming. This means
that we are struggling to earn a living from the new farms, so we have
ventured in gold panning,” he said.
Some see the promise of economic deliverance and the prospect that Zimbabwe
could be transformed from its battered economy to become Africa’s best.
So far, however, the gold has been more curse than blessing, seducing
fraught and materialistic Zimbabweans and foreign mercenaries with
horrifying consequences.
As the new year begins there is a latest wave of gold rush in Kadoma that
has seen thousands of unemployed and hungry Zimbabweans, including the
resettled farmers, taking to illegal prospecting for gold and other minerals
along the rivers in this midlands town.
The miners some of them from Chiadzwa diamond fields in Mutare and Shurugwi
have relocated to Kadoma where more and more illegal miners have set their
bases on river banks.
Illegal miners interviewed by The Zimbabwean said the farms that were within
the rivers were rich in gold and that is why they had turned to them.
“The farms that belong to the new farmers are rich in gold. So the famers
themselves have abandoned farming activities and are now concentrating on
the illegal mining,” said George Chitehwe an illegal miner.
There have been some violent running battles between farm owners and illegal
miners, as the miners are now invading the farms where they are digging for
gold.
“Many people have begun spreading to the farms near the rivers where they
fight with the land owners. But the majority of the new farmers who have
been finding it difficult in the farming activities have since formed some
syndicates with the illegal miners,” said Chitehwe.
With a hyperinflation-crippled economy offering few alternatives, about 10
000 people, including women and children, are reportedly mining and buying
gold in Kadoma.
The once-quiet Kadoma has taken on the aspect of a frontier town and the
social impact is still being reckoned today. Reports say that school
children are reluctant to go back to school as the new term opens to hunt
for gold. Teachers and other professionals are quitting their jobs to join
the craze.
A survey done by The Zimbabwean revealed that young men are getting rich
quick and are buying luxury cars they do not know how to drive, leading to
numerous fatal accidents. The streets of Kadoma have been awash with latest
models of cars.
Diggers and buyers from South Africa, Botswana, DR Congo, Mozambique,
Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Lebanon, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates and
India among other countries have besieged the small town.
Once Dube has bought gold, he takes it to buyers in Kadoma who usually stay
at the Kadoma Ranch hotel, or in the capital, Harare, or across the South
Africa, Botswana and Mozambique borders.
“If you buy for $10,000, then you get $26,000. Nobody really knows how much
the gold is worth,” he said.
In Kadoma, there are few who will talk about gold, and even fewer who will
give their name.
“People are scared to talk at the moment,” said one local dealer. “The
government has ensured that at every place you go where there are minerals
there are state secret agents or someone connected to them. Even in schools
there are teachers who are on the payroll,” he said without elaborating
further.
Doubts remain that gold profits are being channelled directly to the
cash-strapped Zanu (PF), or at least to ensure that the underpaid army
remains loyal to the party.
“When the next election comes, it’s going to be a bloodbath,” said one
observer. “And that bloodbath will be sponsored by the Kadoma gold and
Marange diamond fields.”
He added that there was virtually nothing coming from the land that was
given for resettlement, hence, Zanu (PF) would be using minerals as another
trump card to sponsor violence.
“We have all switched to gold panning for a living because that is one
benefit we have from the land that we took from the whites,” said Gabriel
Soza a war veteran and resettled farmer.
Other farmers reported of harassment by illegal miners.
“This is something else. We are in a war with these illegal miners. Last
week they came and brought down my fence. They are now digging for gold. I
have tried to restrict them but they have refused to go and they are almost
digging the whole farm.
“I have made some reports to the police and they responded positively by
doing some periodical raids. But some of the police are being given bribes
and allow them (illegal panners) to continue digging up my farm. I don’t
have enough money to employ full-time security personnel,” said David Dziva
another resettled farmer.
Some farmers have complained of corrupt police force that is turning a blind
eye to illegal gold panning in the area by soliciting bribes from the
panners who are also causing extensive land degradation.