Life of Small Scale Miners in Matobo
Matobo District has seen an influx of small scale miners coming from different parts of the country in search of gold.
Among the gold seekers are people under the legal age of 18 who also troop to Maphisa to try their luck. As a result, these miners are not staying in proper houses as they have no legal right to the land on which they build their shacks close to their working sites.
In light of the these developments, there are essentially various defining characteristics that are the reasons behind the emergence of the squatter settlements. These include social characteristics like the fact that squatters are predominantly migrants, either urban-rural or rural-rural migrants.
Some of the squatters who spoke to Matobo Youth Development said they come from places as far as Binga, Lower Gwelo, Lupane and Kwekwe.
Asked on why they opted to live under such improper conditions when they are proper houses in Maphisa to rent, one miner said, “When I left home (Binga) I came here for money not comfort. In as much as I am aware that this is not a proper place to stay, what matters is that I save as much money as possible”.
The other reason can be attributed to lack of will from the mine owners to build their employees proper houses. One of the most frequently asked questions is how these mines are helping in the infrastructural development and employment creation in the District.
MYDI recommends that one of the strategies to improve local development outcomes, is to adopt corporate social responsibility programmes for community development by mining companies.
MYDI’s findings have been consistent that the local population, specifically young people and women benefit relatively less from mining activities than migrants, in part due to a skills mismatch that hinders their employment in some of the better qualified jobs. The local people’s unfavourable situation is compounded by the advent of better educated or informed immigrants attracted by mining activities taking place in Matobo.
A Matobo resident Stanley Ndlovu said there are limited employment opportunities offered to locals by mining activities in the area, hence local young people are not benefiting from mining activities.
Source: Matobo Youth Development Initiative
