AN illegal industrial strike at Vubachikwe Mine in Gwanda turned violent after a group of disgruntled workers, who teamed up with illegal gold panners, went on a rampage and looted shops before they torched company vehicles, infrastructure and other mining equipment.
The incident happened on Tuesday and destroyed vehicles and
buildings include a school bus, the mine ambulance and a newly refurbished
clinic. The company has reportedly failed to pay workers their October salaries
including arrears from previous months.
Wives of some of the mine workers picketed the mine
premises as early as 3am on Tuesday as they demanded that management addresses
their husbands’ grievance.
The women blocked workers from accessing the mine and
police were called to the scene at around 4pm. The cops dispersed the crowd by
firing tear gas. The angry mine workers later regrouped at night and went back
to the mine where they started burning and damaging property and looting shops.
National police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul
Nyathi confirmed the incident, saying they arrested over 100 people for public
violence.
“I can confirm that we are handling a case of violence
which occurred at Vubachikwe Mine where a group of people moved around damaging property and looting shops.
The group comprises mine workers and illegal gold panners,” he said.
“So far, we have arrested over 100 people and they are
assisting us with investigations. The gang leaders are part of those arrested
and through our investigations we managed to recover some of the looted
property and the value of damaged property, which include vehicles, mine
equipment and infrastructure is yet to be ascertained.”
Asst Comm Nyathi urged members of the public to desist from
violence and find amicable ways of resolving their grievances.
“As police we don’t condone violence and we implore
citizens not to resort to destroying property even if they would have been
wronged or inconvenienced as it is a punishable offence,” he said.
Vubachikwe Mine spokesperson Mr Robert Mukondiwa said a
group of women barricaded the entrance to the mine obstructing willing workers
reporting for the morning shift from entering the mine premises.
“The protesters, mostly women and girls, barricaded the
mine at around 3.30am on the morning of Tuesday 8 November. They violently
barricaded the entrance to the mine obstructing willing workers reporting for
the morning shift from entering the mine premises. They went on to stage an
illegal protest which crippled mine business and further obstructed mine
officials from switching on the generators when loss of power was experienced.
This resulted in flooding of the underground mine shafts as well as a number of
other impediments to smooth operation of the mine,” he said.
Mr Mukondiwa said the protesters destroyed the gates and scaled the perimeter fence to enter the mine premises before they burnt a school bus, trucks and destroyed the mine ambulance which also serves the local community.
He said they also vandalised mine shafts and damaged the window panes of a newly refurbished mine clinic.
“Furthermore, families of targeted mine officials were harassed, their homes destroyed while the occupants, mostly women and children had to hide under their beds in cupboards and wardrobes and pantries. While we value the right to protest by our mine workers, we unequivocally deplore the use of violence to express discontent, especially if it results in the wanton destruction of infrastructure and amenities,” he said.
A woman, who declined to be named, said they were forced to
resort to take a bold step of confronting management over salary arrears of
their husbands as it affected their social lives.
“We have been waiting for several months for this problem
to be resolved, but nothing is being done. We knew that if our husbands who
work at the mine stage a demonstration they might be fired, hence we decided to
take matters into our own hands,” she said.
“Unfortunately, things turned out violent, but had the
management engaged us all of this commotion wouldn’t have happened. We were at
the mine entrance from 3AM, but management refused to address us and instead
opted to call the police who came and dispersed us.” Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment