By Thomas Chidamba
The much awaited Mines and Minerals amendment Bill set to be tabled before Parliament has opened a can of worms and has left mining stakeholders divided in opinion with some in support while others are calling fort extensive consultations before it is presented before the August House.
The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development together with the office of the Attorney General’s Office have been busy engaging stakeholders on the proposed amendments before the Bill is set for Parliament.
The process is aimed at amending the archaic and colonial Mines and Minerals Act.
A purported draft amendment Bill which is already circulating on social media has stirred a hornet’s nest and some miners have pressed a panic button.
Section 20 of the purported amendment Bill is the bone of contention with small scale miners alleging that it is meant to elbow them out of mining business.
Zimbabwe Miners Federation, an umbrella body for small scale miners, shot down the purported Bill in circulation on social media urging membership to give stakeholder consultations a chance.
“The ZMF Executive and Management Board would like to correct the persistent, ungrained misinformation proliferating on social media spread by individuals/groups or associations about the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill.
“The facts are that there is a committee that is currently working on the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill.
“The draft is yet to be submitted to Parliament by the 30th September of 2020 subject to confirmation by The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.
“We urge our members to ignore the purported Bill in circulation and not to be misled by certain malcontents who are bent on misleading our membership,” wrote Mr Wellington Takavarasha, the ZMF Chief Executive Officer.
Artisanal and Small Scale Miners Association (ASSA), through its National Chairman Mr Blessing Togarepi has written to the Clerk of Parliament raising concerns about the purported amendment Bill.
“Please be advised that as ASSA, we appreciate some improvements and amendments in the Bill, final H.B. 19, 2015. However, there are areas which we have noted with concern that if these amendments are to be adopted, then small scale miners will not enjoy and benefit compared to a situation whereby a status quo is maintained.
“It is noteworthy, that the new sections that substituted sections; 20, 21, 23, 24, 25 and 27 of Cap. 21:05 are suggesting that an individual or a company will no longer walk into the office of the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development to buy a prospecting license and go straight to prospect or search for the mineral in your target area. The proposed amendments want to formulate a Cadastre Registrar, so that an individual or company will have to submit an application for an exclusive prospecting license, attend interviews before the board and if the board deems you capable of mining then authority will be granted, that is you will be issued with the license to go and explore for the mineral in you want to extract. Otherwise, if this board is not satisfied then your application will be rejected.
“Our borne of disagreement is what reason justifies the involvement of a board in granting mining rights? How many times will that board sit and how many people will be interviewed weekly, monthly and annually? Is this not creating a needless bottleneck in mineral searching and mine titles administration? How inclusive is the board system judging from similar boards elsewhere? How many people will qualify before a board? If the board knows how lucrative and promising is the area that i want to extract, will it not be tempted to decline my application and later sell my find to the highest bidder?” queried Mr Togarepi.
A group of artisanal miners calling itself Mining Forum also petitioned the Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando over the purported Bill.
“We petition the minister to genuinely consult artisanal miners for their input in the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill of 2015.
“Our understanding is that the bill was sponsored by foreign powers whose loyalty to our nation is dubious and hence their desire to sideline miners.
“the Bill’s contents are against both indigenous mines and the spirit of liberation for which many sacrificed their lives.
“Of particular concern to miners, is the Bill’s spirited efforts to take away mining rights and give them to a board which will grant the same to a favored a few as privileges ignoring the fact that this nation was founded by miners, mineral fabricators and experts and therefore such act is in effect theft of the essence of our heirship to national heritage,” reads part of the petition.
The Amendment Bill will be tabled soon before Parliament for debate by legislators.
A miner who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “we are in trouble and should come together to oppose this, let me just touch on a few major amendments that affect artisanal mining and of major concern to us. The proposed Bill seeks to wave mining rights to mining title by way of *removing* the *prospecting licence* replacing it with an *exclusive prospecting* licence which can be acquired through merit unlike the current one which requires one to be over 18 and be a Zimbabwean.
“So basically they are repealing all section which has anything to do with people sections 20, 21 etc
“What effect does this have on us? Our rights as miners and duties as pagers are linked or related to prospecting licence eg prospecting ,posting of notices , DPs , pegging etc hence its removal also mean the end of pegging and prospecting or searching for minerals by ordinary citizens. Therefore, I suggest that we as prospectors join hands with miners and fight for our rights n duties by fighting for the prospecting licence to remain so that we also remain relevant and retain our DNA as the heirs to the *bwe* heritage.
