The 50-year-old Gweru miner who on Sunday allegedly shot
and injured two of his employees following a pay dispute was yesterday denied
bail by a Gweru magistrate.
Zihang Xuelin, a manager at Reden Mine in Gweru is now
facing attempted murder charges after he shot one of his employees Mr Kenneth
Tichaona three times on both legs and fired another shot that grazed the chin
of another employee, Mr Wendy Chikwaira.
Zihang appeared before magistrate Mr Edwin Marecha and was
remanded in custody to July 7, 2020.
Mr Marecha said the accused, who is a foreigner and was
represented by Mr Ignatius Mupfiga of Gundu and Dube Legal practitioners, could
not give his plea because he did not bring a certified interpreter.
For the State, Mr Fredrick Macheza told the court that on
Monday morning, Mr Tichaona was among 30 employees of Reden Mine who were
gathered at the mine premises during a pay dispute with the employer.
The staff were demanding to be paid in hard currency while
the employer insisted on paying them in local currency. This did not go down
well with the employees resulting in an altercation and a mini demonstration.
The employees led by Mr Tichaona then charged towards
Zihang, who fired two warning shots into the air but the group continued to
charge at him, the court heard.
It is the state’s case that Zihang then used the company’s
FN pistol to shoot Mr Tichaona three times in both legs resulting in him falling
to the ground.
Zihang again shot at the group of employees and a bullet
grazed the chin of Mr Chikwaira, the court further heard.
Mr Tichaona is still in hospital while Mr Chikwaira was
treated and discharged. Herald
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