Matsiloje: Poor village atop golden sands
Lebogang Mosikare | Friday July 2, 2021 11:58
Apart from being a village of the Barolong tribe, Matsiloje and other nearby small settlements like Patayamatebele is also famous for being among the few places in Botswana that are situated on top of golden soils.
The Galane Gold Mine, a subsidiary of Mupane Gold Mine, is situated in the Matsiloje area.
While most people in Botswana probably know Matsiloje as among the few ‘golden villages’ in Botswana, few probably know that the soils of Matsiloje are also rich in limestone, which is used in the manufacturing of cement and soapstone products. Also situated in the outskirts, the Matsiloje Portland Cement (MPC) company, which used to employ a few people in the village, was closed a few years back because it was not profitable. The closure of MPC compounded the villagers’ economic woes because Tati Nickel Mine Company (TNMC), a subsidiary of the liquidated BCL Mine Group that employed a sizeable number of ‘Matsilojeans’ than MPC, closed shop thereabout or thereafter.
TNMC was not only the lifeblood of the Matsilojeans job-wise but carried out corporate social responsibility initiatives that helped the youth of Matsiloje and surrounding villages to start businesses in the midst of unemployment that is prevalent in Botswana, especially amongst the youth. While Matsilojeans and many people in Botswana have resigned to living in poverty because of no or little employment prospects, some Zimbabweans have however discovered a golden goose in the form of disused gold mine shafts at or near Matsiloje – albeit mining illegally. The illegal gold miners or ‘Zama Zamas’, as they are referred to in South Africa and Zimbabwe, are throwing caution to the wind as they mine the shafts.
While a single fatality has never been recorded in the disused gold shafts, many illegal miners have, however, perished in the abandoned South African mines due to debris and poor ventilation amongst other factors. Opinion on what to do with the old gold shafts among the residents of Matsiloje and surrounding villages is widespread. Some residents are with the government that the pits should be rehabilitated because they are dangerous while some are against that option. Others are of the view that the mines should be opened to boost job creation not only around Matsiloje but also the whole country.
Previously, the government stated that the mines will not be opened again much to the chagrin of job seekers. Matsiloje police apprehended and charged two people in 2019, one person in 2020 and 2021 respectively, for illegally prospecting minerals in the Matsiloje and Patayamatebele areas. While these figures may seem inconsequential, the police have expressed concern that the figures may be higher because available statistics for the periods mentioned above only cover people that were apprehended.
Then, senior superintendent Peloentle Morolong of Botswana Police Service’s Diamond and Mineral Protection Unit, told Patayamatebele and Matsiloje Old Mines Workings Rehabilitation Project stakeholders during a consultative meeting that they arrested some people with 98 (12.5 kg) bags of gold deposit residue and 26 bags of the same weight, respectively, trying to cross the border into neighbouring countries. Morolong added: “We became aware of this illegal operation in 2016 after we confiscated 124 bags of gold residue in the Matsiloje and Patayamatebele areas. We are also concerned that the foreigners we have arrested are assisted by some locals who conducted surveillance on behalf of these criminal syndicates. The locals are hired to tip-off the foreigners about police patrols around these gold areas.” As a result, Morolong added, it probably means that illegal gold miners have been ruling the roost around these areas for a very long time. In fact, some Matsiloje residents can attest to Morolong’s suspicions with certainty. They say that illegal gold mining has been prevalent around the Matsiloje area from when or before they were born to this day.
Meanwhile, most people in Matsiloje continue to eke a living by mostly engaging in farming while some survive by selling food and airtime among other items. Their lives can be summed up by the phrase, ‘living in poverty in the midst of plenty’ and in this case, it is gold and other minerals.
The developments in Matsiloje are also in stark contrast to developments in other mining areas in Botswana such as Letlhakane, Orapa, Palapye and Jwaneng.