22 December 2008
Bindura — Peterson Daiton, a mining engineer now based in Botswana, last visited Bindura Nickel Mine, about 85km northeast of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, nine years ago, when it was a thriving concern. "It is shocking; the mine has become a ghost of its former self," he told IRIN.
"When I visited it after such a long time, I thought I was lost - you don't hear the drone of the machines that had become a part of the life of the people here any more. It's now all ruins, and how sad to see one of the best mines in the country go down like that."
The nickel mine recently suspended operations, joining a growing list of gold, asbestos, coal and iron mines that have closed in the face of withering hyperinflation, officially estimated at 231 million percent annually, and government mismanagement.
In November 2008, Metallion Gold, which produced more than half the country's gold, shut down five of its mines, causing the loss of 3,500 jobs. According to Zimbabwe's Chamber of Mines, gold production fell from around 7,000kg in 2007 to 125kg by October 2008.
Asbestos mines have also come under extreme pressure since neighbouring South Africa banned asbestos use on health grounds. The Herald, a state-controlled newspaper, reported that about 70,000 workers in the industry were affected.
John Robertson, a Harare-based economic consultant, blamed the drop in gold production mainly on failure by the government to pass on payments to the mining companies; the Chamber of Mines said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe owed mining companies US$30 million.
"The gold mines have been left with no option but to suspend business because they don't have money to keep operating," Robertson told IRIN. "Nickel mining, on the other hand, has been affected by falling prices on the world market, but the bottom line is that corruption, mismanagement and a skewed economic environment are making it extremely difficult for mines to keep afloat."
He said it would be "a very long time before those mines that have closed can start operating again, and that adds to the woes of people and communities that depended on mining for a living but are already hard hit by financial woes."
"We had everything we needed"
The Bindura Nickel Mine once underpinned a flourishing community with a school, a clinic, well-stocked shops, and other social amenities. "Most of us never dreamt of a life outside this mining compound," Crainos Bhaureni, 54, a former underground mine worker from Malawi, told IRIN.
"We had everything we needed, even though outside people scoffed at us, saying we were poorly paid. We saw the collapse of the mine coming, though, because the situation has been deteriorating over the years."
Those of us that still remain in the mining compound are having a torrid time accessing health care. When diseases break out, they spread easily and residents have no money to cover medical expenses
The mine's clinic has closed and fallen into disrepair, while the staff accommodation is dilapidated, with sewage flowing into the roads and residents having to contend with no water for weeks at a time.
"Those of us that still remain in the mining compound are having a torrid time accessing health care. When diseases break out, they spread easily and residents have no money to cover medical expenses at the nearby Bindura Hospital, which in any case is performing badly," Bhaureni said.
Hardly a week passes without someone in the compound dying, he said, and the morgue at the hospital is overflowing with dead bodies because the relatives of those who die are too poor to claim them for burial. "They end up being given pauper's burial, and that pains the heart a lot."
The mine used to pay the teachers and also provided free maize-meal, beans and cooking oil at the end of every month to keep them at the school. But the death of the mine has seen the teachers leave.
Without access to education, children have joined the adults in illegal gold panning in the area, and also work underground, digging for ore in disused mines.
Migrants stranded
"Because of lack of a proper education, our children cannot find employment and they end up doing all sorts of bad things to raise money. Most of the young girls have now turned to prostitution, and you find them competing for clients at drinking places, even with their own mothers," Bhaureni said.
Most of the mine's workers are migrants with few alternatives and have decided to stay; for those who decide to leave, the going is tough - unemployment in Zimbabwe is estimated at more than 80 percent.
There have been no farm jobs since President Robert Mugabe embarked on the fast-track land reform programme that displaced more than 4,000 commercial farmers and caused the collapse of the agricultural sector, one of Zimbabwe's major employers.
Even if the economy is turned around tomorrow, it will take years before normal operations can resume. The mine is now flooded due to lack of activity, equipment is rotting, and almost all the skilled staff have left
"Even if the economy is turned around tomorrow, it will take years before normal operations can resume. The mine is now flooded due to lack of activity, equipment is rotting, and almost all the skilled staff have left," a senior employee who declined to be identified, told IRIN.
"I worked for this mine for many years and when I see it like that, I almost shed tears. Life used to be good here, but what you see now is misery and a lot of uncertainty among workers and residents."
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 UN Integrated Regional Information Networks. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
MAYBE THE SAYING IS TRUE THAT ONE ROTTEN APPLE SPOILS THE WHOLE BUNCH!
Time is up for Robert Mugabe. Everybody knows when their time has come, so he he must be aware that his time is now. If he wants to be remembered well as the founder of his beloved nation, he must go now and let other people take the responsibility of sorting out the terrible mess the country is in.
Regarding Zimbabwe, Mugabe, cholera, and nearly anything else you can say about the country; who cares? Who is to say anything negative about this situation when most African countries approve of what's going on. When SA, SADC, and the AU say everything is OK. Mugabe was absolutely correct the other day when he said that African leaders were afraid of him, that they couldn't stand up to him. African leaders don't have the backbone to stand up to Mugabe. Lets be realistic, I don't live in Africa, what happens in Zimbabwe has little or no affect on me. Thousands of African dying from easily preventable cholera is not a threat to me. That people in Zimbabwe can't buy food again has no affect on me, I can buy all the food I can eat. But for the people of Zimbabwe there is absolutely nothing I can do that will make any difference. Perhaps you might say that I not that nice a person. In the end who is worse, me or the African leadership? I can't to anything to help, African leadership won't do anything to help!
What a big headed loud mouthed Mugabe is for a man of his age and supposedly education
We don't give a rat's tail what the REACTION 'thinks.'
Cheers from the City of HUNTERS WITHOUT A COUGH, HARARE
"J-hollow............let's come out to play"............
If you want to argue, let's argue facts! Despite the fake words you use in your posts, you never seem to find the room in them to post FACTS!
As I posted previously, J-hollow answers a post with name-calling, he never actually gets around to disputing the actual FACTS when it comes to Zimbabwe, does he, he just goes on spouting his invective or hatred to any poster who accuses ZANU-PF/Mugabe of malfeasance..........
J-hollow - like the other defenders of the ZANU-PF/Mugabe regime cannot actually explain the factual shortcomings of the government of ZANU-PF/Mugabe! If anyone posts here suggesting a new era or "different path" in Zimbabwe (according to people like J-hollow), we must be "Rhoadies" or otherwise racist.........
Now once again J-hollow (for your posts are as empty as your intellect): Answer all of us how the "reign" of ZANU-PF/Mugabe has been good for Zimbabwe!
FACT: Life expectancy in Zimbabwe is lower now under the "stewardship" of ZANU-PF than it was under the racist regime of Ian Smith!
FACT: Schools are now closed, no children in ZImbabwe are being properly educated. Under the racist regime of Iam Smith, the schools remained open! Even Comrade Bob was able to continue his studies while in prison!
FACT: Zimbabwe is suffering from an epidemic of cholera, which is an easily treatable disease throughout the rest of the world - what is ZANU-PF/Mugabe's excuse? Didn't Comrade Bob say "We have arrested cholera in Zimbabwe"? If only ZANU-PF "arrested cholera as well as he "arrested" his political opponents......
FACT: Under the racist regime of Ian Smith, Hospitals were open and provided treatment to ALL Zimbabweans! FACT: Zimbabwe is suffering under unimagineable inflation! Inflation runs so rampant that bank's computers cannot keep up with it! Didn't "Comrade" Gono lop off 9 or 10 zeroes of the national currency only several months ago? So, logically, doesn't Zimbabwe's current currency represent "18" zeroes? Yet "Comrade" Gono continues to print money?
FACT: You have begun to characterize the actions of ZANU-PF/Mugabe on these boards as "WE" (just like TAK did). Once again, I thank you for "outing" yourself as a ZANU-PF troll on this board. I did not have to do it, you have done it yourself!
Again, I would ask the rest of us here that look forward to a future Zimbabwe without cretins like J-hollow to ignore posters like him - he is clearly a CIO or JOC troll on this board!
For the rest of us - I am not a supporter of either faction of MDC. I am not a Zimbabwean, and I have never been to Zimbabwe! I have no ancestors here in the U.S. who ever held or profited by slavery (my family came to the U.S. in the 1890's). I hold NO investments related to financial dealings in Zimbabwe and have instructed my broker to make sure my investments do not include a Zimbabwean-exposed company - as ALL of my family has instructed their brokers!
I have "no dog in this hunt" meaning I am simply an uninterested American who sees injustice for what it is! Don't even try the "Iraq" argument with me because I opposed the war to begin with AND there have been fewer deaths in Iraq under occupation then there were under Saddam Hussein's regime (see mass graves!)! Just like as was the case with the end of apartheid, concerned citizens the world over can (and should!) denounce injustice wherever it rears it's ugly head. Simply because we oppose the brutal regime of ZANU-PF/Mugabe does NOT make us racists, colonizers or "Rhoadies"!
ZANU-PF/Mugabe is an organzation (NOT a Government) that took it's mantle as a liberation party and turned it into a yoke for ALL Zimbabweans to labor under. The truth of the matter is in the FACTS J-hollow, not that you ever come close to using FACTS in your posts!
I argue that the future of Zimbabwe requires a government that actually improves the daily lives of ALL Zimbabweans - even those who have sworn allegience to and profited by the government of ZANU-PF/Mugabe! Unlike the daily yelps from the Herald about the "government doing this" and the "government doing that", what have they actually DONE to improve the lives of the people of Zimbabwe? Answer? NOTHING!
People like J-hollow fill their posts with invective and seek to denounce their opponents as "Rhoadies" and racists. I am neither, I will not allow these boards to be cluttered with hate and ignorance. When I post, I post FACTS!
J-hollow does neither of these things. He never posts about the "great" accomplishments of the "great fighter" (small G, small F) because ZANU-PF/Mugabe has actually accomplished nothing great. They did not "liberate" Zimbabwe - PF-ZAPU had something to do with that! Aside from that, they have presided over a decline in living standards, life expectancy, education and healthcare - what sort of bill of indictment do you need to reach people like J-hollow?
The FACTS are J-hollow: 85% Unemployment; 231 MILLION per cent inflation (unofficially it is "quadrillions"); 30% of the population has left the country; Schools are closed for lack of instructors AND lack of clean drinkng water; Hospitals are closed for lack of supplies & wages; the Police arrest people and then deny they have arrested them - then, when they are confronted with that lie, they then make up another.
J-hollow: You did not respond in your post to a single accusation I made in my post as an indictment of ZANU-PF/Mugabe's "stewardship" of Zimbabwe in the post-liberation era.
Your supposedly "superior intellect" is perhaps confused when confronted with FACTS? You make up words as if your English correspondence course required you to make up words for a vocabulary test! I don't need a spelling or grammar lessons from an imbicile like you!
I deal with FACTS! I have never seen one of your posts ever attempt to defend the actual FACTUAL record of ZANU-PF/Mugabe because you can't!
Let's hope, that when the final blow falls, you will either be out of the country (as I suspect you already are) or you will be shown true mercy, as befits Zimbabwe, by not putting your back against the wall with Comrade Bob himself!
In a battle of ideals, the FACTS always win out - despite the errors in spelling and grammar. The FACTS say that ZANU-PF/Mugabe has FAILED to provide the people of Zimbabwe with it's proper standard of living, Education, healthcare, clean water, rule of law, free press, free elections, etc.. Any aimless rhetorical flourishes you add to the conversation are a mere distraction from the FACT of what ZANU-PF/Mugabe has caused the current Zimbabwe to become!
I argue about FACTS! You just wallow in the mud and muck of name-calling like a pig in mud! In the end, the truth always prevails! Someone like J-hollow always ends up like a Goebbels, a Molotov or Beria, a "Chemical Ali" or "Bagdad Bob", an Erick Honnecker or Nicholas Ceaucesceu! I argue with the truth of facts! All you ever do is call people names! You must be one of those whose backs are truly "up against the wall"!
If you want to argue facts, then let's argue facts! If you want to hide behind fake obscure words accusing your opponents, then you have shown yourself to be the coward we all think you to be!
Salutorious greetings from the cholera-free, schools-are-open, hospitals-are-staffed, we-just-elected-a-black-man-president, currency-is-not-worthless, press-is-free-to-insult-the-Government, inflation-is-only-3-4%, 30% of-our-population-has-not-left-the-country, elections-are-free-and-fair, nation of the United States!
"Total Empowerment!" - how free do you (Zimbabwe) really feel?
J-hollow: How empty do you feel? Answer me with FACTS, not abuse.................
See all comments (56).
Active Discussions: U.S. UK Want Mugabe to Step Down