Police ramp up clampdown on illegal gold miners
FRANCISTOWN: The police have expressed confidence that they will soon be able to overcome illegal mining activities in the Matsiloje area. Illegal mining in the area has been on the rise since early last year amid reports that there is a lucrative market for illegally mined gold in the neighbouring Zimbabwe. Most of the illegal miners are from Zimbabwe.
On average police previously said they record more than 10 cases of illegal gold mining in a month. Just early last week, members of the Botswana Police Service arrested five minors and one man for illegally mining gold, highlighting the intensity of illegal gold mining activities in the Matsiloje area. Matsiloje has become a hot spot for illegal mining activities because the area has abandoned gold mining sites.
This week Thembinkosi Ndlovu, a Zimbabwean man appeared in court for a single count of illegal gold mining and one for murdering another illegal miner, Hillary Msimanga. Msimanga also hails from Zimbabwe. In an interview, Matsiloje Police station commander Oteng Nganda admitted that the police are overwhelmed by the influx of illegal miners from Zimbabwe.
“It is true that they come in large numbers. “The most disturbing trend is that they have now started mining in fields owned by residents,” he told Mmegi.
Nganda added the police in Botswana have started engagements with their Zimbabwean counterparts with a view to finding effective and long-term solutions to illegal mining in Matsiloje.
“Since latest last year we have been lobbying our counterparts in Zimbabwe to enhance border patrols on their territory so that their citizens do not easily cross to Botswana,”
he explained. “They have responded positively, and we remain very optimistic that their presence along the border line will bear results. On our end, we have been working with the soldiers and the Special Support Group to beef up patrols in the area and I am confident that the results of intensifying security will soon pay off.” Nganda further stated that in working with their Zimbabwean counterparts, they are trying to understand key elements around illegal mining, so that they can boost their mechanisms aimed at rooting out the problem. There have been suggestions that illegal miners are well resourced and operate in a very complex manner which explains why it is difficult to root out illegal mining.
Although the murder of another illegal miner, this week, highlighted the broader challenges posed by illegal mining activities most notably to locals, Nganda said the illegal miners have not shown any keenness to harm locals. “It appears their mission is not endangering people but to mine gold illegally. This suggests that the market for illegally mined gold is very lucrative in Zimbabwe. “Of course, they become a threat to locals or residents when they start invading ploughing fields,” he said.
Ngada noted that members of the public have also been playing an active role in terms of assisting the police to root out illegal mining activities in the village.
Despite the station commander’s near assurances that illegal miners have not shown any element of harm to locals, the killing of another illegal miner is not surprising. Francistown South MP, Wynter Mmolotsi, previously warned that the illegal gold miners operate with apparent impunity and if they are not dealt with, they can throw the country into chaos. The rise in illegal mining activities has largely been attributed to relaxed laws and penalties.