The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
MRS Sifelani Tshuma (69) takes warrior steps coming out of the bush, she is dusty and she has distress written all over her face, she waves her hands in the air mumbling to herself.
When she gets closer she shouts “have you come to help me” before she throws herself on the ground and cups her face into her hands still mumbling to herself.
The reason for her distress — there is a gold rush in Kensington just a few kilometres out of Bulawayo along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge highway.
Mrs Tshuma is at pains because the illegal gold panners are seeking fortunes right inside her plot and have threatened to harm her and her family if she complains or chases them away.
The gold rush is said to have started last week on Monday but the face of the earth where they have already dug looks like they have been there for the past one year.
Huge pits have been dug all over her plot and the panners are digging at a pace that in a matter of days they will have dug away the land around her house.
Harold Road that connects the plots from the highway has been blocked as the gold panners have dug away and no vehicle or even ox or donkey-drawn cart can manoeuvre their way around. Small footpaths have been created to allow people to cross over to the other end of the road.
When a Sunday News crew visited Kensington on Thursday last week, it was greeted by the large pits that have blocked Harold Road and had to walk to get to the place which has been invaded by the panners.
However, as the crew was detected by the gold panners they started to alert each other and they could be seen moving from one side of the road to the other going into hiding.
Locals said the panners were suspicious of anyone.
“They are running away because they think you are police officers. They are scared of any new faces that they see patrolling this area,” said a man who was passing through.
However, the Sunday News then tracked Mrs Tshuma to her plot and found her sitting looking helplessly at the panners as they worked at her plot.
“They have invaded my plot, they came on Monday and they have been digging, now they are just a few but come evening time they are over 200 young men who dig the whole night. They hardly sleep as they want to get the gold. But they are destroying my land and they are not going away,” she wailed.
She went on: “This is my place, I have no clue where they heard that there was gold here. But they have taken over and I cannot stop them. They threatened to attack me, even my daughter was almost beaten up as they thought she was a police officer who had come to disturb their activities.”
Asked about where the illegal panners were coming from she said:
“Some are from Gweru, Gokwe, Shurugwi, Nkayi, Mberengwa, Lupane and no locals are here because the locals work in the plots and have their own designated mines that are registered that they pan gold from.”
She said she has reported the matter to police but they have failed to drive away the panners.
The troubled plot owner said she was particularly hurt because the illegal gold panners have been coming in cars which they purported to have bought using the loot from her plot.
“Sebelemota abantwana laba, mina angilalutho kodwa yindawo yami leyi, kungizwisa ubuhlungu. Khathesi nje bathe omunye uthole umkute wahle wabaleka, kodwa mina angilalutho,” she said between sobs.
Mrs Tshuma said she wanted them to be driven out of her land.
“I now have to hire an excavator to try and clear the area and fill the pits so that I can plant my crops, part of these are my fields where I grow my crops and some of it is pasture for my cattle. I also fear that I will lose my cattle and goats as they will fall in to these pits that they have dug,” she said.
