When I wanted to find out why they were makorokoza, they said we were stopped from working, we have no more income coming from the mine and what we are trying to do is to survive on this. They were actually scrounging for gold in that area. The worst tragedy is when Government decided to transfer Shabanie-Mashava Mines to ZMDC. I agree with the sentiments that were expressed by the former speaker because ZMDC has over 25 projects. Indeed, quoting the words of the current Minister of Mines and Mining Development, he said ‘it is the biggest investor in mining’ but they do not have even a single mine that is operational.
Not only are we talking about Mashava and Shabanie, there is Sabi gold just down the road. It is a very big mine, they are attempting right now to make it working but it has not been working for the past five or six years, now it is running. Most of the mines that fall under ZMDC are not operating. Therefore, it is clear that ZMDC cannot revive Mashava and Shabanie Mines.
When it comes to accommodation, part of the accommodation in Mashava and Zvishavane is being occupied by a chrome mine which is just up the road. People are bused in and out of Mashava and Shabanie. However, what had befallen those workers who were living in those houses, nobody cares. All they did was to kick them out and they are renting those houses out, almost a 1000 houses to the nearest mines that is operating up the road towards Mberengwa.
Mr. Speaker, when one looks at the way we have looked – we have kept quite not only at Mashava and Shabanie but we have also kept quiet about diamond mining. For how long shall we keep quiet until all the mines that have been operating stop operating? I think we have to raise our heads and say what is going on? What needs to be done? We need to rescue the residents of Shabanie and Mashava because as far as the asbestos in that area is concerned, it was well expressed that there is a market for white asbestos in East Asia. However, we are failing to exploit what is underground in order for us to be able to export it to East Asia. The market is ready; the buyers are there but – what-ever happened, the Mawere saga, I heard one member shouting that he externalised, that is not an issue – who has not externalised in this country, any businessman has externalised. How then do you externalise and then you shut a mine and people begin to suffer. We are actually using the United States Dollar, so what so you want to externalise.
Mr. Speaker, the interjector better wait for his own opportunity to debate because he was also an externaliser as well and I do not want to refer to that. It is sad that a person who was put in charge, I am not going to mention their name, at Mashava and Zvishavane, had no expertise at all to look after a mine. After he was being paid large sums of money for doing next to nothing and unfortunately, some of the companies that were stripped, the money was going towards paying salaries of the executives and the directors. They are still being paid by monies that is being created by actually stripping some of the subsidiary companies and selling those assets, which in itself is quite sad.
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