‘Artisanal, small-scale miners need support’ 22 May 2020

The Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association (Zela) has urged the government to focus more on giving back to the artisanal and small-scale mining sector during the coronavirus-induced lockdown by ring-fencing gold royalties to fund personal protective clothing and hand sanitisers. “Government must actively support programmes in ASM (artisanal and small-scale) mining communities that mitigate against the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. This can be done by ring-fencing the royalties to fund PPEs (personal protective equipment), massive testing sanitisers and disinfection of hotspots like custom milling centres and overcrowded milling sites. This is the time to plough back to sectors that are critical to the economy of the country. Government must not only care about the golden eggs but also the goose that lay them,” Zela said in a report titled Mining Sector Exemptions from Covid-19 Lockdown: Motivations and Triggers.

…The association also added that the government should monitor smuggling and illicit financial flows. “There is need for the government to closely monitor airports and borders to ensure that there is no smuggling of gold, diamond and other minerals out of the country. In turn, airlines still flying into the country should undertake due diligence measures to identify any risks of exposure to smuggling and illicit financial and mineral flows.” The government was also encouraged to conduct effective Covid-19 screening and testing to reduce the spread of the virus in mining communities during the lockdown.