The Sunday News
GOLD mining giant Metallon Gold, which owns How Mine on the outskirts of Bulawayo is locked in a land use dispute with prominent medical doctor, Dr Jimmy Gazi, who is demanding compensation for non-mining activities that the company is conducting on his farm.
Dr Gazi, who owns Hilton Farm on which part of How Mine’s operations are situated, alleges that the mine has expanded its operations beyond its core-mining business for which they have a grant, and is now engaging in other profit-making activities on his property.
The Bulawayo-based medical doctor is demanding a monthly stipend of $20 000 from How Mine as occupational compensation backdated to 2002 when he bought the farm.
Dr Gazi is also claiming reimbursement of money which the mine collected from mobile phone operator Econet Wireless between 2004 and 2013 as rentals for a base station, situated on Hilton Farm.
He also wants the mine to connect water to his farm house from the mine’s main pipeline that draws water from the municipal mains to the mine premises and passes through his farm.
However, authorities at the gold mining concern contend that they are operating within the confines of the law by expanding their operations beyond mining, arguing that the non-mining activities, for which Dr Gazi is claiming compensation were ancillary to their core-business and should not be paid for.
Some of the non-mining activities that Dr Gazi alleges the mine is conducting on his property include operating a boat club, recreation club, beer halls, cemeteries, clinics, football grounds, high and low density residential suburbs and supermarkets.
Dr Gazi told Sunday News recently that while he acknowledged that the mine had the right to mine on his farm, as spelled out in the Mines and Minerals Act, he felt prejudiced by the non-mining activities that were taking place within the farm, from which he alleges the mine is realising profit.
“In all they (How Mine) occupy 546 hectares of my farm and I had asked them to compensate me for the non-mining activities they are doing on my farm such as a boat club, recreation club, beerhalls, cemeteries, clinics, football grounds, high and low density suburbs, and others.
“Despite several approaches asking that we solve this anomaly amicably, they have not taken the matter seriously. They had also been illegally collecting rentals from Econet Wireless since December 2004 for the base station situated on my farm. This was up to August 2013 when I engaged Econet Wireless directly,” he said.
Dr Gazi further states that he held meetings with Metallon Gold’s head of corporate affairs Mr Zenzo Nsimbi in April and May this year, who made a commitment to compensate him, but has now reneged from the initial agreement.
He said several efforts to follow up with Mr Nsimbi, personally and even through his lawyers, had yielded nothing, and believes the mine was now showing little interest in resolving the matter.
Sunday News is in possession of correspondence between Dr Gazi’s lawyers Webb, Low and Barry, and Metallon Gold’s legal representative Kantor and Immerman Legal Practitioners, in which efforts to set up a meeting to resolve the matter were made with Metallon Gold failing to make it to the meeting and subsequently apologising.
Also in possession of the Sunday News is a copy of communication between Dr Gazi and Mr Nsimbi dated 9 June 2014, in which the latter commits to getting back to the former with a finalised position on the matter, which the medical doctor claims never happened.
“I am currently out of the country in Hong Kong. I will come back to you with a finalised position by Friday next week,” reads Mr Nsimbi’s response to Dr Gazi’s inquiry on the matter.
However, Mr Nsimbi denies that he ever made a commitment to compensate Dr Gazi, and accused him of trying to make easy money from the mine by making invalid claims.
“The mine does not owe Dr Gazi anything and we have never at any point made a commitment to compensate him for anything.
“Dr Gazi bought the farm long after our claims were pegged there. Our claims were pegged in 1940 and Dr Gazi only acquired the farm recently and the law is even clear that mining activities take precedence over agricultural activity.
“As for the non-mining activities that he claims we should compensate him for, those are ancillary operations which come along with our main mining business. We have no obligation to pay for such things as the slime dam, accommodation for our workers and so on,” argued Mr Nsimbi.
Dr Gazi, however, expressed disappointment at the conduct of Metallon Gold, alleging that the giant gold producer was deliberately dragging its feet on the matter at his expense.
“I am deeply offended since How Mine continues to enjoy free use of my farm while extracting hundreds of kilogrammes of gold and degrading my farm. I am also informed that the bulk of the money created on my farm is sent to the United Kingdom to sustain the extremely lavish lifestyle of Mr Mzi Khumalo, a South African national who is the sole shareholder of How Mine,” fumed Dr Gazi.
On the base station rentals, Metallon Gold’s head of corporate affairs admitted that the mine had been collecting $300 a month from Econet Wireless but justified the action, saying the mine had the right to do so since it was the one which had invited the mobile phone operator to set up a base station for the mine employees to access a mobile phone signal.
“The base station is in our claim and in the first place we are the ones who asked Econet to set up the base station for our employees. Otherwise that base station is of no use if we are to move out, it will remain serving maybe two or three people there and Econet will not benefit.
“Dr Gazi went on to fight over the base station and we allowed him to win simply because we did not want unnecessary fights,” he said.
Efforts to get comment from the Minister of Mines and Mining Development Cde Walter Chidhakwa on Government’s position on such disputes were fruitless as his mobile was not reachable.
His Deputy Cde Fred Moyo had, at the time of going to print, not responded to questions sent to him via email with his PA saying he was out of office and would respond as soon as he returns to the office.
