Gold wars claim lives in Filabusi, Kensington

TURF wars in goldfields in Filabusi and Kensington in Matabeleland South have claimed the lives of two illegal gold panners, Sunday News can reveal.

In Filabusi a man who was only referred to as Pro from Lupane and believed to be in his early 20s was stabbed to death on Friday night at Kalani Mine after a fight with a gang at a shopping centre. A witness who declined to be named claimed he saw the now deceased running from the bush with bloodied clothes.

"We were drinking beer at the shops at about 7pm when we saw Pro running from the bushes, we had never seen him run that fast. So we assumed the gangs had started fighting so we scurried for cover inside the shops and houses. He ran towards the homes but before he could reach the nearest home he collapsed right by the fence," said the witness.

He went on: "As he was running towards the village we heard him shouting 'Inno sungibulele, Inno sungibulele' (Inno you have killed me). But unfortunately when he collapsed and died we could not get any information on what had happened. The lucky thing is that Innocent is a known person in the area, he is from Nyeza in Wanezi," he said.

The man said the actual stabbing and attack was not witnessed by people who were at the shopping centre as Pro only came from the bush already stabbed and injured.

"He was not being pursued by anyone when he came from the bushes, he was alone running and dripping blood, and even people who were cooking left their pots to burn as they were terrified by what they had seen," he said.

Villagers said the deceased's body was only collected at 2am on Saturday and they had to light fires and guard the body as they waited for the police to collect it. According to other witnesses the clashes began on Friday afternoon. Witnesses say the gold panners came to Kalani Shopping Center where they fought, Innocent was alone when he was attacked by the deceased's gang. However, at about 7pm Innocent returned with a gang and they fought again in the bushes.

"When they came back in the evening they started attacking each other, so Pro's gang ran into the bushes fleeing the rival group, so we understand he did not manage to run away and the gang attacked him with catapults, stones and knobkerries. He was then stabbed three times on the collar bone, that is when he ran back to the shopping centre and collapsed on the side of the fence," she said.

Those who saw the deceased's body said he was heavily battered.

"He had a gash on the forehead where he was possibly attacked by the gang using a knobkerrie. Even at the back of his head he had big wound. He had injuries all over his chest and body. He had holes on his shoulder from the knife attack. And he was bleeding profusely from the wounds," said another witness.

Women who sell at a small market at the shopping centre concurred with one of the witnesses who said the deceased was shouting that his colleague had killed him.

"We saw a bloodied man running from the bushes screaming 'Inno sungibulele'. So we also assume that Innocent is the one who stabbed him," said one of them.

One of the alleged attackers who was referred to as SamaTshu was apprehended by the Neighbourhood Watch Committee who handed him over to the police, while the alleged killer Innocent was apprehended yesterday morning. Villagers from the compound said it was painful to hear that young boys had committed such a heinous crime.

"These people all met for a common cause which is to find money, the area they are mining on does not even belong to them but you find people ganging up on each other which is not right. It is also disturbing that Pro was killed by a person from here in Filabusi," lamented another villager.

Another villager said the gangs keep grudges and when they happen to cross each other's paths they have bloody clashes.

Meanwhile, a man is also alleged to have been killed at Sihlengeni Shopping Centre in Kensington where there was a gold rush in recent weeks.

According to a source the illegal miners fought and one of them had his stomach ripped open and he died on the spot.

Efforts to get a comment on both cases from the police spokesperson for Matabeleland South Province Inspector Philisani Ndebele were fruitless as he said he was not in office and did not have the facts.