Illegal miners have formed syndicates and reinvaded the Chiadzwa diamond fields owing to lax security. According to a report by The Zimbabwe Independent, security officers from the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) are unable to deal with the invaders and some of them security officers are colluding with the diamond miners.
Centre for Natural Resource Governance director Farai Maguwu told the Independent:
What happened is that when government stopped the seven companies from mining and introduced ZCDC, the company had no capacity whatsoever to mine. For the first few months they were processing residual ore from Mbada Diamonds,” he said.
The final straw was when Mbada Diamonds’ equipment was auctioned and their security had nothing more to do thereafter, creating a free-for-all situation.
… about 1 000 panners enter the diamond fields per night, with the full blessings of law enforcers. Government is just not willing to do the right thing now. They should acknowledge artisanal miners and then regulate them.
Marange Development Trust leader Malvern Mudiwa also said:
There are syndicates between illegal planners and security guards manning the fields. Illegal buyers form syndicates as well and pay to have their panners enter the diamond fields. Over a 1 000 panners invade the fields almost every night. Buyers are spotted driving top-of-the-range all-terrain vehicles, and small trucks then carry diamond ore, passing through security checkpoints without being stopped
More: The Zimbabwe Independent