Diamonds are one of the world's most precious minerals, in high demand the world over. Until recently, the mining of diamonds in Zimbabwe has been little known about, the small scattered deposits being nowhere near the scale of those in Botswana and South Africa, whose diamond reserves are well known worldwide.
The mining of diamonds in Zimbabwe dates back as far as the mid-nineteenth century, and this was a chief reason why Cecil John Rhodes sought to acquire territory in the land to the north of the Limpopo. This became Rhodesia, a country named after him. Rhodes had already made a huge fortune through gold and diamond mining in South Africa, and he now aimed to extend his riches. After successive wars and rebellions in the years 1896-1899, Rhodes started to gain mineral rights in Matabeleland, although he was disappointed that the reserves did not match his expectations.
In 1923, Southern Rhodesia (which became Zimbabwe) was annexed to the British crown, and this in effect meant that its African inhabitants became British subjects. However, the Land Apportionment Act of 1930 stipulated that half of the total land area, including all mining and industrial regions, was to be reserved for Europeans. This was the inspiration for renewed prospecting for minerals in Southern Rhodesia. However, although gold mining developed in the country, diamond mining was little known about.
In 1997, the Rio Tinto Group, best known for mining gold in Zimbabwe, discovered a diamond site at Murowa in south central Zimbabwe, some 40 km from Zvishavane. It is said that three diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes were discovered over a period of three years of study. Construction of mining facilities took seven years, thus they were completed in 2004. Rio Tinto Group relocated 926 people to six farms purchased by a government relocation programme. Limited mining operations started in 2004, with full-scale capacity achieved by 2005 with the expectation of processing 200,000 tonnes of ore annually. Murowa diamond mine is a combination of open pit and underground construction. Current estimates of mine reserves are said to stand at 19 million tons of ore.
Diamonds were discovered in 2006 in the Chiadzwa area of Marange District, some 90km southwest of Mutate, the biggest city in the province. This discovery had a dramatic impact in awakening the country from a deep slumber. Diamond mining here has created a new "El Dorado", attracting people of many different nationalities, such as Lebanese, Mozambicans, Belgians, Angolans, Liberians, Indians and Sierra Leoneans, and from diverse social, cultural and political backgrounds. Politicians, businesspeople, lawyers, soldiers and the rank and file of the urban and rural poor have come together in a vicious circle of greed and corrupt dealings. This has greatly alarmed the institutions involved in the diamond trade.
However, the government, through its policy of indigenization, has totally destroyed the mining sector. With the discovery of diamonds at Chiadzwa, the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, though qualified to be involved in the mining of diamonds, was not allowed to take over. The result was disastrous. The government did not know how to price minerals to meet world standards, diamond miners held on to their claims for speculative purposes, and this resulted in the smuggling of this precious mineral, costing the country great losses in revenue. According to Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, diamond smuggling had cost the country around US$400 million by December 2007.
The government presented a bill in December 2007 to amend the general provisions relating to the acquisition and maintenance of exploration and mining titles. They stipulated that locals must hold a 51% stake in all current and future foreign-owned mining companies. This "indigenous" clause has aroused concern in the global diamond mining industry. On the ground, this apparent freedom has come with a heavy price. Allowing locals to have claims, and permitting syndicates, has wreaked havoc at Chiadzwa because local "informal" miners now sell their rough "ngoda" diamonds to middlemen, who in turn smuggle them out of the country for sale at high prices.
Because of the illegal nature of the diamond mining, soldiers and policemen have been deployed to bring sanity to the situation, but this has forced some syndicate members to smuggle in guns from South Africa for self-protection. In the vicious battle for diamonds, police are said to steal from the miners, but the syndicates of informal miners also have their own internal confrontations. According to James Dauramanzi (a member of a syndicate comprising six informal miners), in an article in The Zimbabwean entitled "Ready to die for diamonds" (November 2008), "The syndicates accuse each other of encroaching into exclusive territory belonging to a certain group, or stealing' clients". He further says, "Fights that emerge out of this have also resulted in death, and often occur after heavy drinking bouts in the city or other places. I know of cases where rivals have buried each other alive in the [mine] tunnel".
Thus diamond mining at Chiadzwa has become an attraction for all sorts of misfits of society, prostitutes, dealers, smugglers, thieves and greedy politicians who use the scum of society to embroil themselves in this illegal diamond mining. Prominent politicians like Joyce Teurairopa Mujuru, Sydney Sekeramayi and Air Marshall Perence Shiri have been accused of involvement in this gravy train of a quick search for riches.
It is however the laws of the country that have caused such great damage to the reputation of Zimbabwe, as far as diamond mining is concerned. According to Rachel Lieberman, of Israel Diamond Industry Portal, "commentators have suggested that the law's enactment may herald the demise of the diamond mining industry in Zimbabwe". At Chiadzwa, the fight to the death for diamonds goes on. It has claimed many lives, and still continues unabated. Of late, the settlers have been relocated, but who knows when true sanity will prevail? In the meantime, the big shots find themselves caught up in this bitter struggle, as the country's precious mineral resources continue to be decimated by those holding the reins of power, and Zimbabwe's wealth is wasted in their endless appetite for material riches.