The incident
sparked widespread unrest, with irate locals descending on the Sino Africa Hui
Jin Holding premises, unleashing violent protests.
By the time our
news crew arrived at the scene, police had intervened to restore order,
although tensions remained deep among the local community.
After
collecting the deceased’s body, police details were locked in a 30-minute
closed-door meeting with the Chinese mine owners at their premises.
Acting
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Wiseman Chinyoka
confirmed the shooting incident, but referred further questions to his
superior, Commissioner Paul Nyathi, who was not immediately available for a
comment.
The deceased’s
identity could not be disclosed as his next of kin was yet to be notified at
the time of publication.
Efforts to also
get a comment from Sino Africa Hui Jin Holdings were fruitless as the most
senior employee — only identified as Nyasha — was reluctant to engage the media
citing pressing work commitments.
“I am too busy
to talk to you,” he said repeatedly when requested to grant The Manica Post an
interview over the incident.
Preliminary
investigations by The Manica Post revealed that the security guard responsible
for the fatal shooting, along with the mine manager, were taken to hospital for
treatment after receiving mob justice by angry locals during the chaos at the
company premises.
One of the
protesters, Mr Samuel Mutidzawanda said the community was fed up with the
trigger-happy security guards who think they are above the law.
He said the
mining company must take responsibility for the actions of its employees, and
ensure that justice is served.
“We demand
answers and accountability for the senseless killing of our community member.
This is unacceptable. This is not the first time that we have witnessed an
unwarranted loss of life at this mine. This should come to a stop. We will
revolt against their presence here because one can only imagine if the deceased
was from their family,” he said.
His sentiments
were echoed by fellow protesters, who called for swift action against those
responsible.
“We are aware
that there was a grudge between the security guard and the shot artisanal
miner. In fact, the late artisanal miner was in the midst of negotiating with
other guards so that he would pay a small amount of money to be allowed into
the mining area and do his work. This is when the trigger-happy security guard
came and started arguing with the deceased, leading to the fatal shooting.
However, we really cannot condone the needless use of weapons to kill
defenceless people in our peaceful community and country. This was needless
loss of life,” said another protester, Mrs Miriam Sithole. Manica Post
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