Esigodini 'gold wars' claim next victim

A Gold panner has been found dead on a railway line at Mbalabala in Umzingwane District with residents alleging he was killed and thrown onto the track following five similar deaths in the past three years. The residents yesterday told The Chronicle that they suspected rival panners killed Christopher Sibanda, popularly known as "Mdawini" and threw his body onto the railway track to make it appear as if he was struck by a train.

A passerby stumbled on Sibanda's body on Friday morning near Mbalabala Business Centre. They said fierce fights among the panners, led by "barons," were common and the gangs disposed of bodies by throwing them onto the railway line. The residents said police have failed to arrest the culprits.

Some gold panners said Mdawini, who lived in Emawabeni, was last seen with a man who was once arrested for murder. They said police released the man (name supplied) under unclear circumstances. "We found one of his shoes along the track and there were bits of his brain spread out for about three metres. Some of his fingers were crushed but his body was intact," said Thomas Chimbanje, a gold panner.

He said he believed Sibanda was murdered. "We know he was last seen with a well known murder suspect and we shouldn't try to conceal the matter. Mdawini was murdered," said Chimbanje. "If he really threw himself in front of a train, why was he only crushed on the back of his head and fingers?" asked one of the panners.

A local barber, Busang Zitha said Mbalabala was not known for murder cases although such incidents were common in Emawabeni. He said it was not a coincidence that the man who was killed was from Emawabeni. "The way he was killed is similar to the other five murders that occurred in Emawabeni," he said.

Zitha expressed disappointment with the police, whom he said were failing to resolve the murder cases. "Their investigations are not yielding results. They just come and go. They don't make adequate follow ups on the matter. As long as they conduct their business in such a manner we will always have such crimes," said Zitha.

The Mbalabala siding caretaker, Norman Dube, said it was difficult for the police to get to the bottom of the matter as they are receiving very little cooperation from the locals. He said because of high gold deposits in the area, people from all over the country were flooding the area.

"Some of these people don't have identification particulars. What kind of a person lives without an ID? These are the people who are committing crimes in this area," said Dube. Acting police spokesperson for Matabeleland South Assistant Inspector Nkosilathi Sibanda could not comment on the matter saying it has not reached his office.