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Herald Reporters
Myths, legends and rituals abound among small-scale gold miners, although there are those who reckon they mine the same amount of gold without believing in anything.

But snakes, old Germans shafts, mine deaths and stories of past violence all have their followers.

According to most gold miners, fortune and luck comes to those who are honest and do not dabble in black magic.

Mutape Mining Syndicate director Mr Tassy Mandava, who mines on the outskirts of Masvingo city, said shafts with rich gold resources are normally filled with big snakes such as pythons.

“The pythons or any other snakes that are found in gold mining shafts should not be killed,” he said. “It’s taboo to kill them and the snakes are also innocuous and panners are not scared of them because they are harmless.”

Other miners concurred, saying killing such snakes invited bad omens and a long spell without hitting a score.

Others believe most rich gold mines were left by German immigrant miners in the 1950s.

Germans could emigrate to Zimbabwe, with the most famous being the naturalised Briton Roland Fuhrhop, who changed his surname to Rowland (the alternative spelling of his first name) and was generally called “Tiny” by his friends on account of his large build.

But those early settlers have largely passed into myth and perhaps some Afrikaner miners, and there were a number of small miners from South Africa in the first few decades of colonial rule, who are now also counted as “German”.

“Any shaft that was once worked on by the Germans is known to be highly rewarding and would attract many prospective fortune seekers,” said one miner.

In Masvingo, a case in point about the mystery of gold mining is the famous Chamanyoka Hill, which is believed to house big shafts where miners come across big gold nuggets guarded by a mysterious big snakes with features resembling a woman.

Folk tale and panners in Munongo and Deshe in Charumbira, where Chamanyoka Hill is located, said previous attempts to appease ancestral spirits for the nuggets to be accessed hit a brick wall, amid reports the previous owners used the spirit of dead migrant workers from Malawi to guard the mine hoping to come back one day.

According to one senior citizen in Beitbridge, Mr Hosea Masita Ndou, every mining area has owners in terms of preservation of cultural rites.

He said in cases where mining has been done without consulting the local communities, the miners have had challenges locating minerals.

Mr Ndou said around the River Ranch diamond mine, there were people who would occasionally conduct rituals with the local cultural custodians of the place located in the Mathavha area.

“In most cases, disrespecting culture when initiating mining activities has its own bad consequences, hence most organisations who have come seeking mining opportunities continue to consult with communities, among them traditional leaders,” he said.

A similar ritual was held at Tuli Coal Mine before the onset of any mining activities in 2007.

The place is a preserve for the Vhathavhatsindi clan.

At the moment, there are no active mines in Beitbridge, with River Ranch Diamond Mine having been put under liquidation.

Tuli Coal Mine has folded due to viability problems, while Beitbridge Colliery Coal Mine is yet to take off due to logistical issues.

Another sacred place is Dulivhadzimu Gorge along the Limpopo River, which is being culturally taken care of by the Makakhavhule clan.

The gorge has become a den for criminals, smugglers, and border jumpers using the place to skip into either Zimbabwe or South Africa.

Artisanal miners in Shurugwi claimed they usually enjoy the fortunes whenever there is a death at a mine they will be operating under.

“If you hear someone has died underground or if there is any fatal accident, then the next thing there is gold rush at the mine,” said one artisanal miner, Gabson Nyoni. “This is what normally happens when a fatal accident occurs. We quickly go and camp there knowing there will be gold.”

Nyoni’s colleague, Tawanda Masocha, said there were a lot of myths surrounding the extraction of gold.

“Gold also disappears whenever there is violence,” he said. “There are times when gold panners are involved in bloody clashes whenever there is a gold rush.

“Once blood is spilled in violent clashes, the next thing is that the gold that people will be clashing over quickly disappears.”

A Bindura-based illegal gold miner said some believe in myths while others do not.

Some of the myths include not wearing red while at the mine; women are not allowed near the mine; and others do not work on Thursday, a day set aside as sacred.

Traditional processes and rituals are followed before a mine is operated. The spirit medium lay down rules and regulations to be followed.

If these things are not followed, people die underground or the mine will not yield any positive results.

However, at places like Kitsiyatota and Garati these things are not followed.

He spoke on condition of anonymity