Portfolio committee report confirms massive gold s...

Portfolio committee report confirms massive gold smuggling

Millions of dollars lost
230km unsupervised border stretch
Ordinary people affected
·National security threat
Corrupt officials at exit points

Philemon Jambaya

A report presented to Parliament has revealed that gold is the most smuggled mineral with many players involved including artisanal and small-scale miners, millers, gold buyers and large-scale producers.

“The leakages were prevalent across all minerals, with the gold sector at the top, because there are many players involved that include artisanal and small-scale miners, millers, gold buyers and large-scale producers,” the report reads.

The report titled “Illicit Trading In Minerals And Mineral Leakages” was presented in Parliament by the Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services on the security of minerals.

The report stated that the quantity of smuggled gold cannot be ascertained but is estimated to be millions of US$.

The portfolio report cited delay in payments to gold producers as one of the major drivers for cross border gold smuggling.

“The Committee was informed by small-scale producers that Fidelity Gold Refiners, the sole buyer of gold, takes more than one week to pay producers after surrendering of gold.

“As a result, the small-scale producers were selling their gold to unregistered buyers who offer cash upon delivery of the gold.” read the report.

According to the report, the buyers of gold use undesignated exit points to smuggle the gold out of the country as Zimbabwe Revenue Authority indicated that there is a stretch of 230 kilometres of the borderline encompassing Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa, which is poorly manned by law enforcement agencies.

“Along that borderline there were over fifteen well-known unregistered exit and entry points between the three countries.”

A recent Zim Now investigation established multiple smuggling routes in Beitbridge.

https://zimbabwenow.co.zw/articles/3922/beitbridge-smugglers-paradise-millions-milked-of-out-zim-into-sa-each-month

A documentary series by Al Jazeera released in March this year alleged rampant bleeding of the Zimbabwean economy through smuggling of gold out the country through official crossing points.

Zimbabwe Miners Federation President Henrietta Rushwaya currently has a case before the courts arising from charges of attempting smuggle out 6kg of gold out of RG Mugabe International Airport in Harare. Rushwaya was also captured in the Gold Mafia series

The report said that smuggling is affecting ordinary citizens

“The mining industry has been experiencing mineral leakages thereby negatively affecting the sector’s potential contribution to the socio-economic transformation of the country,” reads part of the report.

“Indeed, illicit trading in the extractive industry, is crippling the country’s economy, creating anarchy in communities and has the potential of bringing untold suffering to ordinary citizens and may threaten national security.”