In a shocking revelation, teachers in the Fusira area of Masvingo South have reportedly joined the ongoing gold rush, engaging in illegal mining activities at night.
Sources close
to the matter indicate that the educators from Fusira, Musvovi, and
Madzivanyika schools have been embroiled in the ongoing gold rush in Mudemba
Village, Ward 27, Masvingo South Constituency, where 17 people have been
arrested and taken to court for prospecting without a license.
The move is
seen as a symptom of the economic turmoil gripping the country, with many
professionals struggling to make ends meet due to poor salaries and limited
opportunities.
As the gold
rush continues to attract people from all walks of life, sources who spoke to
TellZim News said teachers are seen at night and would return to their stations
early in the morning for official duty.
“Teachers from
surrounding schools have joined the illegal mining, but they come at night and
return in the morning,” said the source.
Masvingo South
Member of Parliament Tanatsiwa Mukomberi confirmed receiving the reports and
urged villagers not to engage in illegal mining while at the same time urging
authorities to ensure that locals benefit from natural resources in their area.
“I have
received a report of people that have been arrested over illegal mining in Ward
27 where there is a gold rush. Villagers, while they are entitled to the
natural resources in their areas, should do the proper procedures and register
their claims as required by the government.
“Responsible
authorities must also allow locals to benefit from whatever natural resources
are in their areas. Each place has its own God-given resources, and so the
people in that area must benefit from that. It is not fair to have people that
come from afar have entitlement over resources in an area while locals do not
benefit anything from it. In this case, the area in which there is a gold rush
was allegedly given to someone else who has an EPO. They claimed the area, and
nothing was done about it; it becomes a challenge now when there are cases like
this as locals look to benefit from such resources,” said Mukomberi.
A number of
people have been arrested, with some getting charged to pay fines for minor
offenses like transporting some resources related to the area, while others
have appeared in court charged with prospecting without a license. Some sources
who spoke to this publication said their plea was for responsible authorities
to give tribute to the locals in the area for them to benefit and peg a block
on which the community can mine. TellZimNews
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