Mutare – The army and police are this week expected to cordon off a thriving diamond mining field in Marange, Manicaland province, as the government clamps down on illegal trading in the precious stone. On Friday, the government suspended activity and ordered everyone off the site, ostensibly to allow them to prepare to vote in yesterday™s rural district council elections. The miners were assured they would resume work tomorrow. But that appeared doubtful, with reports of the impending deployment of army and police units. In fact, the police were already on site as the miners moved out. Although army spokesperson, Simon Tsatsi, could not be reached for comment yesterday, police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena confirmed the police would remove the illegal miners. “It does not need an operation,” said Bvudzijena. “Police will simply have to respond to the illegal activities happening in Marange. We have to put a stop to the illegal activities.” The Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Amos Midzi, whose ministry prefers the establishment of a full mining operation at the site, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

But there were reports that some officials wanted villagers off the site so that selected indigenous companies could be awarded contracts to mine the diamonds. Authorities have in the past threatened to end the haphazard mining and trading in diamonds. They said the country was losing millions of dollars in potential foreign currency earnings through illegal sales. Since the discovery of industrial diamonds towards the end of last May, up to 5 000 people from Marange district, near the border with Mozambique have descended on the site “ now known as the “Chiadzwa mining fields” “ hoping to strike it rich. The convergence of so many people, including entire families, has created potential health and environment disasters, as there is no running water or lavatory facilities. Uncontrolled digging has left many mini-craters in the area. Several traders interviewed said they were forced into the illegal trade to middlemen because the official buyer, the State-run Minerals Marketing Cooperation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ), was failing to cope with swelling number in customers. “The MMCZ people just don™t want to admit the truth,” said one trader, “which is that they don™t have enough money and staff to handle the volume of the trade. They are always running out of money. This week they were still paying people who were put on a list a week earlier. And they didn™t even pay everyone on that list.”

The MMCZ is Zimbabwe™s sole buyer and marketer of minerals, except gold. It was granted the diamond mining rights for Marange in June this year. However, Africa Consolidated Resources, a British listed mining company, is taking legal action to stop seizure of the claims by MMCZ. The British company argues that MMCZ has no legal right to the claims because the Precious Stones Trade Act prohibits any licensed dealer like the MMCZ from engaging in mining activities. The police in Manicaland have over the past fortnight arrested close to 80 people caught selling the stones through unofficial channels. Some of those arrested have already appeared in court and ordered to pay fines. Industrial diamonds are said to have a ready market in South Africa. Zimbabweans, including government officials and soldiers, have in the past been accused of looting diamonds in the DRC, particularly when the army intervened to prevent the ouster of President Laurent Kabila, father of the current president. Kabila was assassinated by one of his guards.

From The Standard, 29 October
Source: WWW.ZwNews.Com