MUTOKO
–
Police
are
investigating
the
circumstances
under
which
a
Chinese
national
allegedly
shot
dead
a
Zimbabwean
worker
at
a
gold
mine
in
Mutoko
early
Thursday,
an
incident
that
has
reignited
tensions
over
abuses
by
Chinese
miners
across
the
country.
Zimbabwe
Republic
Police
(ZRP)
spokesman
Commissioner
Paul
Nyathi
said
the
incident
occurred
at
around
2AM
on
October
9
at
a
mine
in
Makosa
area.
“The
ZRP
is
investigating
the
circumstances
in
which
a
foreign
national,
Quijun
Yu,
43,
shot
Fungai
Nhau,
36,
at
a
mine
in
Makosa.
It
is
alleged
that
the
foreign
national
was
on
duty
when
several
people
pounced
at
the
boiler/carbon
room
resulting
in
the
shooting
incident.
The
foreign
national
has
been
arrested.
The
police
will
release
more
details
in
due
course,”
Nyathi
said
in
a
brief
statement.
The
shooting
took
place
at
China
Zhuhe
Mining,
which
later
issued
its
own
statement
claiming
the
incident
happened
during
an
attempted
robbery
by
“a
group
of
gangsters.”
According
to
the
company,
an
on-duty
Chinese
engineer
armed
with
a
registered
firearm
“fired
several
warning
shots
into
the
air
to
stop
the
criminal
act”
after
robbers
allegedly
climbed
over
the
mine’s
perimeter
wall.
At
around
7AM,
local
workers
reportedly
found
a
man
critically
injured
about
a
kilometre
from
the
mine.
The
company
says
the
man,
who
later
died,
admitted
to
being
part
of
the
gang
that
had
tried
to
rob
the
mine.
China
Zhuhe
said
police
were
called,
and
the
situation
briefly
turned
tense
when
“local
villagers,
unaware
of
the
truth,
saw
the
gangster’s
body
and
mistakenly
suspected
Chinese
employees
of
improper
conduct.”
Police
reportedly
intervened
and
restored
order.
“The
Chinese
engineer
involved
in
the
incident
is
actively
cooperating
with
the
police
investigation
and
awaiting
the
police’s
final
handling
decision,”
the
company
said.
But
the
mine’s
version
of
events
has
been
met
with
scepticism
and
anger
from
many
Zimbabweans,
including
opposition
politicians
and
activists,
who
accuse
Chinese
companies
of
widespread
exploitation
and
violence
against
local
workers.
Former
finance
minister
Tendai
Biti
condemned
what
he
called
“widespread,
unabated
and
vicious
crimes
of
extraction
being
perpetrated
by
Chinese
criminals
masquerading
as
miners
and
investors.”
“There
has
been
countless
stories
of
underpaid
black
workers
going
for
months
without
pay
and
viciously
assaulted
for
little
misdemeanours,”
Biti
said.
“As
of
now,
police
in
Mutoko
are
investigating
the
brutal
murder
of
a
Zimbabwean
worker,
shot
in
cold
blood
and
mercilessly
dragged
in
the
gravel
and
thorn-filled
bushes
of
Nyamuzuwe.”
Biti
said
Chinese
mining
operations
had
desecrated
graves,
sacred
mountains
and
rivers
across
the
country,
adding
that
the
government’s
silence
amounted
to
complicity
in
a
“new
Scramble
for
Africa.”
Environmental
rights
advocate
Farai
Maguwu
also
weighed
in,
warning
that
public
anger
was
rising
over
what
he
described
as
“abuses
by
Chinese
criminals.”
“Read
the
mood
of
the
people
of
Zimbabwe.
The
temperatures
are
rising.
People
are
saying
enough
of
these
abuses,”
Maguwu
said.
The
latest
incident
adds
to
a
growing
list
of
violent
encounters
involving
Chinese
mine
owners
and
local
workers
in
recent
years,
with
critics
accusing
authorities
of
failing
to
hold
foreign
investors
accountable.