Minister of Mines and Mining Development Hon Zhemu Soda
By Dickson Bandera
In a bid to ensure safety and security of miners during this rainy season, government has with immediate effect ordered small scale miners to halt operations and resume when the rains stop.
The precautionary measure, which fits within president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Responsible Mining Initiative launched last year, is informed by the risks associated with small scale mining during the rainy season.
While medium and large scale miners have better equipment, machinery and capacity to subdue the flooding risks, most small scale miners do not have such equipment thus their risk is very high during the rainy season.
Small scale artisanal miners are confronted with challenges such as poor mechanization, lack of capital and lack of technical consultancy to inform their operations, hence government has put in place a string of measures to ensure that the sector is cushioned.
As part of it’s mandate, the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development enforces Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) in mining operations and overall compliance with the law.
Addressing the media in Harare on Friday, Minister of Mines and Mining Development Hon Zhemu Soda said government had come up with the precautionary measures to save life of the miners.
“As a precaution, small-scale artisanal miners are advised to completely stop mining altogether and resume when the rains stop. Furthermore, miners should cooperate with instructions given by Government authorities to ensure safe mining operations.
“The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development inspectors shall be out in full force to ensure that there is compliance with all governance requirements failure of which punishment will be imposed,” he said.
Government has tightened the screws in the wake of a spate of accidents which include collapses and curve in of small scale mines, with most accidents being linked to noncompliance with the law.
In 2023, president Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the Responsible Mining Initiative at the State House in Harare where he said irresponsible mining will not be tolerated.
Just recently, after the Redwing Mine Collapse and the successful rescue mission which saved all the 15 miners who had been trapped underground for 4 days, president Mnangagwa directed the Mines Ministry to investigate the collapse to draw lessons from the accident.
The Minister said medium and large-scale miners were allowed to continue but needed to observe rational mining practices.
“Avoid working or mining along rivers or waterways as shafts are likely to flood from rain upstream posing risks of drowning. Avoid digging and blasting in old mine workings because soils easily get saturated and the ground becomes unstable and is bound to collapse at any time burying our miners alive. Pillar robbing underground should be avoided at all costs” said Minister Soda.
He further challenged the miners who have received SHE training to apply the knowledge and skills they acquired in order to save life.
“Miners who received awareness training during the safety, health and environment campaigns by our Mining Engineering Department are reminded to put into practice what they learnt. They should also share the good mining practices with their colleagues in the sector to save lives,” he said.
The mining sector is expected to play a pivotal role in the attainment of the country’s vision of being an Upper Middle Income Economy by 2030 as enshrined in the National Development Strategy1 (NDS1) (2021-2025).
