Small-scale miners from the Matabeleland region have raised concerns over the Mines and Minerals Bill saying it seeks to stifle their operations.
Giving their feedback at a public consultation meeting held by the Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development in Bulawayo on Tuesday, the miners said the proposed Bill has many grey areas that do not consider the operations of small-scale miners hence there is need to look into the issues and make positive amends.
Liberty Mlambo, a small-scale miner noted that the government must engage them periodically to teach them about the various minerals found in the country so that they may know how to handle what they work with.
“We mine gold and as we purify it there are various minerals that we will be doing away with. We need to be taught about all this so that we can have more knowledge about the minerals that we mine. There is also the issue of dumps. We need tanks and other equipment to handle these dumps, the government needs to step in and assist us accordingly,” Mlambo noted.
Another small-scale miner, Jane Lusinga, said the Bill is silent on miner-farmer and miner-resettler conflicts which are very rampant in most mining areas.
“Can the government not allocate resettled people places to stay on mining land. There have been a lot of disputes in this regard. When we engage them explaining that they have settled on mining land they say that is where they were allocated, yet they are the same people who will wake up mining again in the same area tomorrow.”
Farmers who were present raised concerns over how the Mining laws always give precedence to miners over them.
They said after digging up their minerals, miners leave the land dilapidated and they do not dispose of the chemicals in a responsible manner and this poses a threat to farmers, crops and livestock.
“If farmers are allowed to mine minerals found in their farming spaces, they would implement processes that will cater for both mining and farming. But, when a miner, who has no appreciation for farming comes through, they will only do what benefits them. If the law cannot allow this then they should allow farmers to pick miners who will adhere to farming principles,” a farmer stated.
Miners were against the idea, noting that farmers should not be greedy and want to benefit from both farming and mining because miners do not encroach into farming.
The miners further proposed that the ministry must allocate mining fees according to mine sizes instead of having blanket fees that are beyond the reach of many.
