BY MUNYARADZI BLESSING DOMA
While the discovery of lithium brought some excitement and enthusiasm in the Goromonzi and Acturus Mine community, the joy was short lived, as women and girls have been disproportionately affected owing to the operations.
The women and girls believe that while some developments are evident in their community, it has come with its own downturns and the burden rests on them.
Their concerns range from gender imbalance in employment opportunities at mining companies, failure by the companies to give back to the community they operate in, water challenges that have been exacerbated by the activities.
They also allege rampant cases of child marriages and the increase in several diseases.
The women voiced their concerns at a stakeholder engagement meeting organised by the Economic Justice for Women Project (EJWP), with support from the Southern Africa Trust, as they detailed several challenges being faced in their communities.
Mary Nyadome said they regret the discovery of this valuable and highly sought-after mineral and have called on the relevant authorities to step in.
“What we are facing in Goromonzi in terms of employment at Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, is a problem of gender bias; they are mainly employing men.
“We had an engagement meeting with our councillors, pertaining to the issue of employment, because women make only less than 1 percent of those employed at PLZ, so as women we must also get equal opportunities to be employed there.
“And according to the demographic dividend in Goromonzi, women are at 52 percent, so it’s not fair, they must consider us as women so that we have a share in terms of the mineral that is extracted in Goromonzi.
“Basically I can say though lithium has brought positive change in Goromonzi, there are so many negative impacts and it is not pleasing.
“There are so many issues of child marriages and I can point also that in Goromonzi Ward 13, there is no Secondary School from 1980 up-to now, so it is not fair because it mainly affects the girl child.
“And also because they (girls) travel long distances from Ward 13 to Ward 16 and Ward 17 to attend school, they are being lured by some truck drivers.
“They are lured by free transport because they will not have any money so they end up dating these men but it affects their lives,” said Nyadome.
She further called on the authorities to ensure that mining companies play their corporate social responsibility role by building a secondary school, reiterating, “there is need for value for money.”
She also lamented that the road infrastructure in her community had been badly damaged; which also greatly affects women who seek medical attention more than their male counterparts.
“Mining companies are ferrying lithium every day to unknown destinations, we see trucks with foreign number plates so it is very difficult for us because we want our government to set up a value addition plant so that as women, PWDs (persons with disability) and youth, we can also benefit.
“There is also the problem of water scarcity, when they are producing one tonne of spodumene lithium, they use quite a lot of water. So you find that this is water intensive and we are now facing shortages in Goromonzi because the water table has been affected.
“It’s now affecting our boreholes because they are drawing water from existing reservoirs like dams which were built in the colonial era or just after independence; so we are saying these companies should rehabilitate more dams or they must also construct more dams so that they use water from the newly constructed structures instead of using our water sources.
“It affects us as women because we depend on these water sources for our livelihoods, for agriculture so it’s now a burden. We are not in a position to demand from these companies because of the political landscape,” she added.
Similar sentiments were also shared by 19-year-old Patience Chere from Acturus Mine, who said there was rampant sexual exploitation as a result of lithium mining activities.
She revealed that sexual abuse of girls was rampant; as she called on authorities to step in and save the girl child.
“In my community, we now have many rape cases that are occurring and other abuse cases especially for those girls who are dropping out of school. There are a lot of artisanal miners who are dating young girls after luring them with money from the mining proceeds and most of them end up being impregnated and they drop out of school, so that is the challenge that girls are facing.
“Another challenge is that of water, such that people end up drinking from unsafe sources and there are also limited job securities for women save for the men, but also even the men are not benefitting that much.
“Many girls and young women are getting infected with HIV and or STIs because of the risky sexual activities in our communities,” said Chere.
She added that because of the various health issues in Acturus Mine and lack of health facilities, they end up going to Goromonzi; which has its own challenges.
“Another issue is air pollution being caused by the mining activities, leading to people getting sick on a regular basis,” added Chere.
A 16-year-old girl also from Acturus Mine said early marriages were rampant because many girls are dropping out of school.
She also revealed that even when they are married, these young girls find themselves enduring many forms of abuse but because they lack the knowledge; some of them don’t even want to seek help.
“Then we also have issues of diseases as has been mentioned by others and women and girls are the most affected
“And because of the harsh economic conditions and the temptations from some of the mine workers, most girls end up being engaged in sex work.
“Some of these girls end up with unplanned pregnancies and they end up going for unsafe abortion methods,” she added.
Emilia Damba, a resident of Goromonzi said she was yet to see the real progress that has come to their community ever since lithium was discovered.
She said at most, lithium mining had brought undesirable outcomes, some which are irreparable.
She revealed that for those men who were employed at the lithium mining companies, most of them don’t have job security as they can be fired at any time.
“The roads are very bad because of the many trucks carrying lithium.
“We only have 1 clinic in Goromonzi in Ward 16, so in some cases people are referred to Marondera and because of the bad roads, you will end up getting worse.
“We need to have many sensitization workshops with young girls to tell them that marriage is not an achievement, because many are dropping out of school opting to be married to these mine workers and they end up regretting, but it will be a little too late.
“Early marriages are really a menace as they ruin the future of these young girls, so girls and women need to be advised on the importance of education.
“We also have issues of STIs, you will find that the Chinese are luring many young women and girls in these communities and even the truck drivers too, so we end up with many diseases,” added Damba.
A Member of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development, MP Traswell Chikomo revealed that the Mines and Minerals Bill, which could address some of these issues, was still at the Attorney General’s Office, as he encouraged residents to attend public hearings when such issues are discussed.
“Once we start public hearings for this bill, please make sure that you attend them.
“We have challenges that when we have public hearings, many people don’t come, so we urge you to come, like the ladies from Goromonzi, we urge you to come so that when we debate in Parliament we will debate from an informed point of view.
“Also as the Mines Committee, we are going around the country looking at several issues which are affecting people in the mining communities.
“We go to such mining communities to look at several issues so we urge you to write to our Committee of Mines, so that we can come and see these issues so that we respond in time,” added MP Chikomo.
Contacted for comment with regards to issues raised by Goromonzi residents, PLZ said they employ “around 1000 people, with 80% of the workforce coming from the local communities surrounding the mine.
“The company is also an equal opportunity employer. We have a robust recruitment policy that we use as an organization to hire from the community, which is done through ward councillors.
“The community, which includes both men and women, registers with their individual councillors to ensure that all members have equal access to work opportunities. The councillors then bring the enrolled names to PLZ, implying that they have reviewed the lists and determined that everyone on the list is capable and interested in working.
“PLZ will then select persons from those lists who meet the nature of the position. These individuals will then go through the interview process and the final selection is done.”
On the allegations that their operations had disrupted water supplies and road network, PLZ said, “water in Zimbabwe is distributed fairly by the designated and competent government arm, and as an organization, we are dedicated to ensuring that there is enough water for our operations, agriculture, and households in the district.
“We are a responsible corporate citizen who understands our relationship with the community.
“Our Corporate Social Responsibility department has worked on infrastructure development in the Goromonzi district as one of its primary projects.
“When we began operations, we embarked on a significant rehabilitation effort, beginning with the road from the Goromonzi turnoff to the Majuru growth point, followed by the widening of the gravel road and the construction of two bridges.
“Plans are in place to tar the current gravel road, but we are still a young business, so we are working on it.
“As an organization, we conduct a community needs assessment to identify areas where we can act and empower the community.
“All of these CSR projects were initiated as a result of the assessment, and we will continue to do so in order to successfully serve the community. Over the last two years, PLZ has undertaken major CSR initiatives, some of which have been highlighted above. The corporation has made significant investments in education, including a scholarship program that serves 70 students from 13 wards throughout the district. “The business has also constructed classroom blocks and staff quarters at Vhuta School. As part of the project, Vhuta and other schools, including Ivordale, Musirikwi, Belmont, and Mwanza, received new furniture and textbooks. We are currently upgrading the water tanks at Kubatsirana Clinic, a project on which we are collaborating with ZINWA to guarantee that the clinic and community have a clean and efficient water supply.
“PLZ has also embarked on an on-going solar lighting project along the Goromonzi Road, which is intended to curb crime in the community. Since last year, PLZ has supported the first prize winner of the district agricultural show, all the way up to the national level competition.”
