Zimbabwe Parliament says illicit mineral leaks could plunge the country into turmoil

3.3 Diamond Leakages 

The Committee toured ZCDC and Anjin Investments in Marange and interacted with management and employees, particularly those in the security sector. The Committee noted that the companies had robust security systems at their diamond concessions. Security mechanisms put in place included; CCTVs, drones, perimeter fence and armed security guards with a canine unit.  It was also established that the security standards were in line with the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) requirements so that no diamonds could be smuggled from Zimbabwe.    

However, the presence of artisanal diamond miners in the Marange diamond concessions pointed to the prevalence of incidents of smuggling happening outside the diamond concession owned by the two companies. Representatives of Anjin Investments, ZCDC and ZRP informed the Committee that the major perpetrators of smuggling of diamonds were the mining communities who provided shelter to the illegal miners. Spokespersons for the local community casually admitted that they offered shelter to illegal miners to cushion themselves against the unbearable economic hardships. Some even openly expressed their disgruntlement over their debilitating socioeconomic status and pledged to continue harbouring illicit diamond mining and trading activities until the State and all responsible authorities took action to improve their wellbeing through community development and related empowerment programmes. It was noted by the Committee that all diamonds recovered by unlicensed miners and traders ultimately evaded the formal diamond value chain, possibly finding their way into Mozambique en-route to Europe and the Arab world. The Community further alleged that there were cases of connivance between private mine guards and either licenced miners or underpaid mine employees leading to diamond leakages. Furthermore, the Committee observed that full exploration of the Marange area had not been done, as a result, the area remained vulnerable to incidents of smuggling of diamonds. MMCZ highlighted that there was a legislative gap to integrate artisanal diamond miners so that all diamonds could be channelled through the formal system.  

In addition to the above loopholes, Civil Society Organisations in the Marange Diamond Community cited the following as contributing to diamond leakages: 

• Failure by mining companies to relocate villagers living in diamond concessions;
• Failure to fence off all the mined areas to inhibit access by livestock and unlicenced miners;
• Security agents were involved in organizing syndicates with unlicenced miners and traders especially in the green zones (Green Zones are low risk areas that occupied communities and are accessible to all and sundry);
• Acts of collusion between law enforcement agencies and illegal diamond miners and buyers at roadblocks;
• Non-rotation of state security personnel in protected areas and at entry and exit points;
• Delays in operationalising the Community Diamond Concession and the five percent equity granted to the Community by the Zimbabwe Diamond Policy. This has created dissatisfaction amongst villagers, hence were not willing to assist in curbing diamond leakages. 
• Failure to implement recommendations emanating from several past visits conducted in Marange by Parliamentary Portfolio Committees, such as the Chindori-Chininga report of 2013.

3.4 Platinum Leakages 

The Committee visited Mimosa Mine which is one of the major platinum producers in the country.  Platinum is one of the major sources of foreign currency for the country. The platinum sector is expected to generate USD3 billion worth of revenues by 2023 and it is anticipated that the industry will surpass that target. Platinum companies in Zimbabwe export platinum concentrate to South Africa because the country does not have a Precious Metal Refinery. There are ten minerals that are extracted from the concentrate that include; platinum, palladium, rhodium, gold and silver among others. The Committee explored the company’s laboratory where assaying of the concentrate was done before it was exported out of the country.  It was observed that all the vehicles used to export the concentrate were on satellite tracking and the company had not experienced any attempts of theft. However, the Committee was concerned about the knowledge gap between company and government officials on the actual quantum and value of minerals in the concentrate before it was exported out of the country. It was noted that the accounting system, called Meta Accounting, used by the companies is very complex and Government does not always have skilled personnel and laboratories to verify the assays done by platinum companies in the country.   

Continued next page

(86 VIEWS)