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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Manicaland Bureau
FARMERS in Manicaland have urged Government to come up with lasting solutions to the recurrent disputes over land use between them and miners who want to prospect for minerals on their farms. There have been reports of conflict between some miners and farmers over mining claims that are pegged on farming land in Marange and Odzi and a host of other areas where gold mining is being done.

This is despite efforts by Government to address the disputes by giving negotiating rights to miners in the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill that is still awaiting parliamentary approval. In an interview with The Herald recently, Mr Malvern Mudiwa, chairman of the Marange Development Trust, said some farmers did not want to co-exist with miners due to the dangerous nature of the work usually associated with mining.

“We want Government to resolve this problem. Farmers who do not want to take part in mining activities or co-exist with miners should be given the option to move to other farming areas. They should have the option of relocation and compensation to pave way for mining activities,” he said.

Mining used to have precedence over agriculture in terms of land use, but the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill seeks to address this, giving farmers priority. This means that prospective miners will now be required by law to seek permission from land owners irrespective of the size of their land, before prospecting for minerals on farming land.

“We cannot continue to have these fights that could turn ugly and result in loss of lives,” said Mr Robert Gumbo, a farmer in the Odzi area. “As a matter of urgency, the Ministry of Lands and Rural Development and the Ministry of Mines should come together and find ways of allocating willing farmers land in another area and compensate them for the buildings they might lose in the process of giving miners space to work on.”

Miners across the country have complained of longstanding disputes with some farmers who are turning into illegal miners in the dark of the night. But conflicts have not been confined to farmers and miners only, small-scale miners have been fighting among themselves over claims.

They say most of the fights are a result of double pegging of claims by the Ministry of Mines. Mr Zorodzai Manguya from Odzi said the ministry needed to come up with a way to avoid double allocation of mines.

Government has tried to address double allocations in the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill through the introduction of the Cadastre system, which entails the computerisation of the country’s register of mining rights and titles to unlock value in the sector, as well as curb double allocation of mining claims.

The cadastre records geographical locations, ownership and time validity of mining rights and show compliance with all the requirements.