Mildred Desouza

GWERU –The Minister of State for Midlands Affairs, Senator Larry Mavima has urged police to be merciless and even open fire when need be, on machete wielding illegal artisanal miners (makorokoza) who terrorise people, as government steps up efforts to curb violence in the mining sector.

This comes in the wake of an increase in mining related murders as a result of running battles between rival artisanal miners.

Violent cases, some of which result in murder, are rampant in mining communities such as Kwekwe, Shurugwi, Zvishavane and Mberengwa.

Minister Mavima said the artisanal miners were now in the habit of attacking police officers and invading prohibited mining areas.

He said the artisanal miners had become a marauding menace in the province and there was need to put to an end the violence.

“This is a subject that is very close to my heart because I believe that as Zimbabweans, we are generally a law abiding society. We should be zero tolerance to violence.

“We cannot have a lawless society that terrorises law abiding citizens, it doesn’t matter whether you are an artisanal miner or not.

“In this particular case, I want to reiterate that we do not tolerate machete attacks. We do not tolerate violence because there is no need to use force in order to achieve your goals,” said Sen. Mavima.

If need be, the minister said, they will instruct the police to shoot at illegal artisanal miners who attack innocent people and law enforcing agents.

“Very soon we will be applying for an eye for an eye philosophy or principle. That means that if you have machetes and you meet a law officer, and if they are armed they will retaliate and shoot.

“This is because we can allow our young people to become that lawless to the extent that they take the law into their own hands and believe that if he has a machete he is above the law,” he said.