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Panners leave road on verge of collapse
Crime Reporter
Part of the Gokwe-Empress Road is on the verge of collapse after gold panners destroyed supporting structures of a disused mineshaft underneath the road.
The panners are believed to be mostly former employees of the defunct Empress Mine.
Chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena yesterday said they had deployed officers to restore sanity in the area.
"These gold panners have destroyed all the supporting structures for one of the shafts.
"This illegal activity is threatening the existence of the road.
"We have been conducting exercises to round them up, but some of them, when released, will always go back to continue with their illegal activities," he said.
Snr Asst Comm Bvudzijena said it was also not safe for them to go underground in search of the gold as they risked getting trapped since supporting structures had collapsed.
Gold panning activities have been rife countrywide with some of them causing extensive land degradation.
Many panners have also been trapped and died while working in disused mineshafts that either collapse or expose them to poisonous fumes.
In March this year, hundreds of fortune seekers from all over Masvingo descended on Kimberley and Kismet farms just outside the city following the discovery of gold deposits there.
Police arrested 80 illegal miners.
About 300 others were working the area bordering the gold-rich Mushandike communal lands.
Earlier this year, scores of people descended on Chegutu in Mashonaland West after a proposed vehicle service station site turned up to be rich in gold.
Last year, there was another rush in the Zouma area of Gutu that caused extensive land degradation following the discovery of gold at a mineshaft abandoned by a white farmer.
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