06 Oct 2022

Members of the Botswana Defence Force, the police, experts from the Department of Mines, fire fighters have launched a joint search for a Zimbabwean national who is alleged to have fallen into a 200-metre shaft at the Rainbow old gold mines.

The man is alleged to have fallen into the mine shaft on September 16, when he and others had gone to mine gold illegally.

The shaft is one of those the Department of Mines closed last year, following illegal mining of gold incidents. 

In the recent past, there have been reports that some people had started illegal mining at the old mines, which are 10km south of Matsiloje.

Officer Commanding of District number 1, Senior Superintendent Paul Molapisi said in an interview on the side-lines of the search that they received a report on October 2 that someone of Zimbabwean origin had allegedly fallen into one of the shafts.

Supt. Molapisi said preliminary police investigations confirmed the validity of the report and they had a lead, adding that they had a cordial working relationship with the Zimbabwean police.

He said they had to engage experts from different departments to help in the search, adding however that their two-day search had hit a snag because the surfaces where the shafts are had caved channels and were dangerous.

Supt. Molapisi explained that their biggest challenge was that they did not have proper machinery to search for the victim, adding however that they managed to open one of the shafts, which was linked to the one that the man was alleged to have fallen into.

The other miners are reported to have crossed the border illegally into Zimbabwe, where they reported the matter to the police who then contacted their  Botswana counterparts. The search continues. Ends