Zimbabwean
2 August 2011
By John Chimunhu
Zanu (PF) militants forced workers at the targeted Mimosa Platinum Mine here to buy the unpopular party’s membership cards at extortionate prices, The Zimbabwean has learnt.
Mimosa Mine is the the target for Zanu (PF) sharks, who are also demanding to be given service and supply contracts.
According to security guards at the Oreti mining compound which houses contract workers for the mine, the militants, armed with spears, axes and other home-made weapons, accused the workers of rejecting President Robert Mugabe’s party and voting for the MDC-T in the last elections.
They claimed it was an offence to vote for anyone other than the discredited dictator accused of ruining Zimbabwe through violence, graft and bad policies.
“We were rounded up in the evening and told to buy the cards or be killed,†said Mavurawa Chitsvare, a security guard contracted to the mine by Midlands Security.
Chitsvare said the militants were led by a local Zanu (PF) chairman identified as Mapako from the neighbouring Mafala village.
“They sealed off all the roads to the compound and ordered everyone to a meeting to buy cards. The cards cost one dollar but we were forced to pay three dollars as ‘punishment’ for not supporting the party,†Chitsvare said.
Zvishavane has become an MDC-T stronghold because of the presence of mine employees who have refused to toe Mugabe’s line.
Mimosa mine has become the target for Zanu (PF) sharks, who are also demanding to be given service and supply contracts. The officials have threatened to blacklist the mine in similar fashion to what they have done to Zimplats, which has become the target of verbal attacks by Mugabe and his cohorts.
The local Zanu (PF) MP, Obert Matshalaga, demanded and was awarded a contract to supply cleaning services to the mine. Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa has also been active in the area. Last year, he surprised many when he decided to officiate at the handover of a school built by the mine.
Mine management had decided to invite Education Minister David Coltart to open the school but were advised that the function would be disrupted by militant Zanu youths in the area. Sources said the officials were told that an MDC minister was not welcome in the area.
The bankrupt Zanu (PF) has taken to forcing villagers around Zimbabwe to buy party cards in an attempt to bolster its coffers.