While Sakupwanya is minting money through gold, artisanal
and small-scale miners are struggling to survive. They say they are not reaping
the rewards of the government’s much-hyped gold incentives.
Gold is central to Zimbabwe’s economic fortunes and
politics. Those who know the sector’s ins and outs – its labyrinth of
structures and dynamics – say whoever controls that industry runs the country.
It is not just a source of livelihood for thousands, but
also a feeding trough for the politically connected and a centre of crony
political patronage for Zanu PF and its shadowy economic networks.
The incentive scheme, which was introduced early last year
to boost gold deliveries to Zimbabwe’s sole authorised gold buyer, Fidelity
Printers and Refiners (FPR), has left artisanal and small-scale operators at
the mercy of big gold buyers who are making a killing at their expense.
This comes against reports that Zimbabwe continues to lose
US$100 million a month through gold smuggling.
Development experts say if the country was well-run and
managed, the abundant gold alone could form the basis of an economic rise,
while its valued-added chains of production and cross-chain activities could
become a catalyst for progress.
City states like Singapore and other Asian Tigers became
economic giants without the natural resources that African countries like
Zimbabwe are endowed with. They only had vision, leadership and development
plans.
Last year, Zanu PF councillor Sakupwanya’s Better Brands
Jewellery pocketed US$460 million after delivering more than seven tonnes of
gold to Fidelity, a move that saw him being named the Best Gold Buyer of the
Year at the recently held mining industry awards at State House in Harare.
Sakupwanya, who is also chairperson of the National Gold
Buyers’ Association, an affiliate of the controversial Henrietta Rushwaya-led
Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation, has close links with Mnangagwa and his children,
as well as other politically connected elites.
Rushwaya, who was arrested in October 2020 trying to
smuggle 6kg of gold to Dubai, is related to Mnangagwa and is a major dealer in
the gold business.
A delivery of 20kg of gold within a period of 30 days is
eligible for a 5% incentive, a tonne 7% and one to three tonnes 9%.
According to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John
Mangudya, Fidelity received a total of 29 629.61 tonnes of gold, 18 470 tonnes
of which came from small-scale miners.
“A total of 29 629.61kg of gold was delivered to Fidelity Gold
Refinery in 2021. Large gold producers delivered 11 159kg, whilst small-scale
producers contributed 18 470kg,” Mangudya said.
“Small and large gold producers have delivered a total of
29 629,61kg of gold to Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR) in 2021, a 55,5% increase
from the 19 052,65kg delivered in 2020.”
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has hailed the GIS introduced
by the government for increasing the precious mineral’s output and deliveries
by 55.5% after recent years of successive decline in production. Small-scale
miners also maintained the lead in production ahead of large producers.
However, a survey by The NewsHawks revealed artisanal and
small-scale miners, who constitute a bigger percentage of Zimbabwe’s current
gold deliveries, are receiving between one to 1.5% from the current gold
incentives, with some getting nothing at all.
“We just hear that gold buyers are given an extra 5% when
they deliver our gold to Fidelity. No one that I know is given that extra money
after our gold is sold. We are usually given beer and permission to mine
peacefully without hinderances from other mining gangs that control the claims
as incentives,” Bruce Chimbwanda, an artisanal miner based in Mazowe, said.
In Zimbabwe, the majority of the working population can be found in the informal sector. And in mineral-rich areas of the country, people are continuously risking their lives digging underground in search of gold, hoping to make enough money to take them out of poverty. NewsHawks
0 comments:
Post a Comment