-as violent storms tear substandard houses
MIDWEEK REPORTER
MANHIZE- Villagers in Manhize are calling for government intervention to address their grievances against Dinson Iron and Steel Company (DISCO) among them forced evictions without adequate compensation and substandard houses.
Call are growing for DISCO to urgently put together social safety nets for the desperate villagers who are now reeling under abject poverty after losing their farmland without compensation.
As the rainy season is now upon us, the villagers are complaining that the houses which were built for them by the mining company are substandard and they are leaking.
“The houses which were built for us are a marvel to watch but they are leaking too much.
The windows are letting water in because they do not have locks. At the village, we were given permits to reside, permits for grazing and permits to cultivate however, we do not have any papers at the moment. We need these permits to ascertain these are our priorities,” said one of the villagers George Gwere.
Gwere said they are living in abject poverty with degrading treatment including arbitrary acquisition of their farmland without compensation with the resultant hunger and dust pollution.
“As human beings, we need medical care for us to survive. Now I am 76 years old and the hospital, (clinic) is about 14km away. I cannot walk that long. The nearest clinic is at Dinson but it is inside their durawall and they do not allow villagers inside. We are also calling for government’s intervention in this so that we have our own clinic,” said Gwere
The Centre for Research and Development (CRD), a civic society organisation that promotes human rights democracy and good governance in the mining sector, said the company must provide social safety nets to safeguard the community.
In its recent report, the organisation said the failure by government to protect the Manhize communities affected by the mining company is resulting in grave and avoidable human rights violations.
In the report, the organisation noted that the relocation MOUs signed in November 2024, which villagers say were signed under duress, did not spell out Dinson’s obligations to prepare Sable farm. The agreements did not clarify whether government or Dinson was responsible for providing essential services. This lack of clarity has allowed both parties to evade accountability, leaving families caught between neglect and coercion.
“CRD therefore warns the Government, as the guarantor and protector of citizens, that it is in breach of its constitutional and international duties by standing by while forced relocations proceed. Sections 44, 51, 71, 73, and 81 of the constitution oblige the state to protect the rights, dignity, and property of its citizens. The Government’s failure to intervene also violates the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which require states to prevent corporate abuses and protect communities, particularly indigenous and rural populations, from exploitation by business enterprises. CRD warns that by allowing Dinson’s actions, government was enabling repeated violations seen in earlier relocations at Singleton and Rusununguko,” reads the report.
A recent field visit conducted by CRD to both Mushenjere Village and Sable farm to assess the current situation of the families affected by the Dinson mining reveals distressing experiences.
The relocation area has no school or Early Childhood Development (ECD) structure. Children currently walk about three kilometres to Kwaedza Primary School, while ECD pupils have stopped going to school. There is also no dip tank for community livestock, no electricity for new houses, and no clinic for relocated families.
The villagers said the mining company stopped paying food allowances, leaving both relocated and waiting families hungry. The community is also grieving the loss of graveyards of their loved ones, which are now enclosed within Dinson’s durawall.
They claimed that they are no longer allowed to access these graves for cultural rituals, causing deep emotional and cultural distress.
Some of the villagers are afraid that the relocation will separate them permanently from the graves of their loved ones, which may be vandalised or neglected.
“They keep telling us to go and look after our houses before thieves steal our things. But is that our responsibility? Why can’t Dinson meet us all,” fumed one of the villagers who requested for anonymity.
“Our graves are now inside the durawall. We are ordered to go without them, and no one says what will happen. Where we are going, there is no grazing land for our cattle, just a desert,” she added.
“I am being forced to go, but how will I live there? I have no money, no food, no help. What will I do?”
“Our old homes are falling, our new homes are leaking, and our land is gone,” she summed up.
At Sable Farm, where four families have already been moved, conditions are equally dire. The relocated families expressed deep frustration and despair, saying they have been “dumped and forgotten.”
Narrating his ordeal, 86-year-old Tapfumaneyi Mugoni pointed out that the living conditions at Mushenjere forced him to relocate. Heavy mining activities had covered the village in dust and toxic fumes, and graders had destroyed the fields he had cultivated for decades.
He added that Dinson still owes each family three months of food allowances, worth about US$200 per month, and many have gone into debt to survive.
“Even if they pay us now, the money will only clear what we owe to others. There is no school here; our grandchildren need ECD and are no longer going to school. The clinic at Mhou is about 14 kilometres away, and at my age I cannot walk that distance, ” he said.
In an interview, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Lands ,Agriculture ,Fisheries ,Water and Rural Development Professor Obert Jiri said the evaluation process was fairly conducted.
“All was done properly and was above board. You can still find out that even a farmer with a one -room kitchen hut would demand a huge compensation figure.
“I would want to advise these farmers to form a committee which I will lead so that we make sure that their grievances are addressed,” he said .
Dinson public relations officer Joseph Shoko said compensation process has started with every farmer benefitting decent houses.
“People should stop peddling lies, everything was done properly. There is nothing like that. Things were done properly and the villagers have started to receive compensation in their accounts.
“The houses constructed are standard houses and they don’t leak. You can even come to witness it yourself,” he said.
Prominent lawyer and former finance minister Tendai Biti ,who defended villagers in Chilonga area in Chiredzi against similar displacements condemned the relocations.
He described the evictions as illegal and blatant.
“These evictions are blatantly illegal and blatantly unconstitutional. Chinese miners all over the country have been invading our ancestral land, invading our grave sites. The idea by government to put profits before its citizens is unbelievable and unacceptable,” he said.
On full operational, the DISCO’s Manhize plant is projected by government to be Africa’s largest steel producer.
The plant is also expected to process iron ore from Zimbabwe’s rapidly expanding mining industry, which has been buoyed by growing domestic and international demand.
