Operation Chikorokoza Chapera (No Illegal Panning)
"Zimbabwe's Blood Diamonds" - transcript
Sokwanele Article: October 31st, 2009
PRESENTER:
For most people, diamonds symbolize love, happiness and wealth, but in countries like Zimbabwe, they’ve brought terror and misery. So jewellery stores like this one in Cresta want to feel confident that the diamonds they sell are approved by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. This is the international watchdog to put a stop to the deadly trade in conflict diamonds. Next week in Namibia, they will decide on what action to take against Zimbabwe. This report investigates the country’s blood diamonds. [This Special Assignment programme “Zimbabwe’s Blood Diamonds” was broadcast on Tuesday 27 October at 8.30 pm on SABC 3 (South Africa)]
INTRO:
In the mountains of Eastern Zimbabwe lies a vast alluvial deposit of diamonds, one of the richest in the world. The gems lie near the surface of the ground, so they can be collected by hand. Nearly half of the diamonds found here are industrials – a low-grade stone used for drilling and grinding. But, perhaps as many as 40 %, are the highly prized gemstones.
Pillage and Patronage: Human rights abuses in Zimbabwe's informal gold-mining sector
Sokwanele Article: January 27th, 2007The international press is currently swamped with reports of the arrests of over 25 000 gold panners in Zimbabwe. Operation Chikorokoza Chapera ("No Illegal Panning") was launched in November last year, ostensibly to bring gold panning activities under control. With the implosion of the economy, this sector had been burgeoning, albeit illegally in most cases, as poverty-stricken Zimbabweans endlessly struggle to provide for themselves and their families. Make no mistake, this loss of livelihood is not an incidental side-effect of the operation, but it is its very raison d'etre. Just as they did with Operation Murambatsvina (Clean Out Filth) in 2005, the regime has purposely set out to destroy this activity, and with it, the lives of those involved.
This brutal operation is tantamount to genocide with constructive intent - the authors knew in advance that their actions would lead to death by starvation, depriving the poorest of the poor of their only - and last - means of feeding themselves and their families.
Not only have livelihoods been eliminated, but lives too. Since the beginning of January, the press - muzzled as it is - has still been able to report deaths as disused mines collapse on miners who are tear-gassed as they hide, seeking to evade arrest and others who have been shot by a police force bent on serving its despotic leader.
