Govt Urged to Take Action As More Perish at Scott Sakupwanya’s Redwing Mine
Penalonga | In response to a string of accidents that have left 11 miners trapped underground after a shaft collapsed on Thursday morning, residents and Civic Society Groups (CSOs) in Manicaland province have called for the immediate closure of Redwing Mine in Penhalonga.
Speaking to ZiMetro News yesterday, the concerned CSOs expressed concern over the increasing number of artisanal miners losing their lives in the hazardous mining shafts at Redwing Mine, which is owned by Pedzisai “Scott” Sakupwanya, a Mabvuku Member of Parliament.
The CSOs, residents, and human rights groups have urged the government to enact accountability measures to prevent more deaths.
“Corrupt, lawless, and deadly open pit mining at Redwing Mine must be immediately terminated,” stated James Mupfumi, the director of the Centre for Research and Development.
The acts of Better Brands Mine that led to asset stripping at Redwing Mine and this level of fatalities had to be investigated by the government, he added.
The Ministry of Mines inspectorate as a whole must be promptly suspended by the government for permitting risky mining practices to continue at Redwing Mine.
The mine has to be given the chance to find mining investors who are able to revive underground mining activities.
The government must fulfil its regulatory role in the economy and refrain from interfering politically with mining operations, which would jeopardise its operations.
Human rights campaigner Farai Maguwu stated: “The government needs to either bring back Metallon Gold or engage a real investor.” The lives of artisanal miners are greatly endangered by these fly-by-night miners. In Penhalonga, official mining is required.
The existing mining methods at Redwing Mine, according to Clinton Musanga, director of Penhalonga Youth Development Trust, are unsustainable and seriously jeopardise the safety of both the local population and the labour force.
“We firmly feel that the contracts related to this mining activity ought to be terminated by the government.
We implore the government to concentrate on underground mining, which has been shown to be a safer and more responsible approach, rather than carrying on with the hazardous mining method now in use.
We can emphasise worker safety and community well-being while simultaneously promoting long-term growth by switching to underground mining, stated Musanga.
The secretary general of the Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union, Justice Chinhema, chimed in and stated that the mine’s activities needed to end right now.
In order to apprehend all of the criminals and cartels who have benefited from the illicit operations, he stated, “it is necessary to look into the atrocities that have been occurring there and we believe it was criminality taking place.”
The ground is still too dangerously unstable to begin the rescue operation, therefore as of yesterday, the Redwing Mine team and inspectors from the Manicaland Provincial Mining Offices were still having difficulty.
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