09 Oct 2022

A team of rescuers that has been searching for Godfrey Mudimba, a Zimbabwean national who allegedly fell into an old gold mine shaft in Matsiloje found no trace of the missing man.

Rescuers came back empty handed after a five-day extensive search for the missing Mudimba.

It is almost a month now since Mudimba of Siansudu village near Victoria Falls in Binga District, Zimbabwe, allegedly fell into the over 200 metre shaft on September 16.

The case reached Botswana Police on October 2, prompting a search by different departments in Francistown for the missing Mudimba.

To his day, Mudimba’ s disappearance remains a mystery even though there was enough evidence to suggest that he might have fallen into the shaft.

Officer Commanding for District No 1, Senior Superintendent Paul Molapisi confirmed on Friday that the rescue team’s efforts bore no results.

“We are bound to call-off the search because our rescue team found nothing and our counterparts from Zimbabwe can bear witness to that,” stated Senior Superintendent Molapisi.

This though does not stop the investigations into the matter as Botswana police will continue with the investigations, in collaboration with their Zimbabwean counterparts, said Senior Superintendent Molapisi.

“We have now satisfied ourselves that the missing person did not fall into the shaft but it does not end here because there are other options,” stated Senior Superintendent Molapisi who raised a concern of incidences of illegal gold mining in Matsiloje area due to an influx of illegal immigrants.

He assured that the police and the Department of Mines would see to it that the shaft that Mudimba allegedly fell into was rehabilitated hastily.

Inspector Simon Shoriwa of Mayombodu police station in Khalanyoni village in Zimbabwe said the Zimbabwean police would dig deeper into the matter, to establish whether the report was true or false.

Department of Mines deputy director, Mr Kenalemang Charles promised to come up with new rehabilitation methods, to rein in illegal mining.

He explained that the department rehabilitated the shafts last year because greater Francistown was an area of gold deposits.

However, Mr Charles said illegal gold mining would always remain a challenge in the area because of the prospects of gold in the market.

Meanwhile, one of the rescuers, Mr Sedikwa Pule of Security Systems informed the research team that upon arriving at the bottom of the shaft, they found nothing suggesting that someone might have fallen into the hole.

“What we only discovered are old bags containing stones of gold but the area is clean and safe from any activity,” he added.

Mr Pule, who was accompanied by Alphonse Serojane from Francistown City Council fire fighting department said they checked all corners of the base but found nothing.

He also explained that there were about five channels which they also checked but found nothing in all of them.

Mr Pule said there was a big stone near the base and also, there was no how anything that fell into the shaft could to go beyond the base.

He said the stone blocked a tunnel that connected to the other shaft and nothing could go through, casting doubts that the Mudimba’s body might have slipped past the stone.

Mr Serojane further stated that the stench from the shaft was not that of a person, but moisture at the base of the shaft.

“We also checked some blood stains on the ground and walls of the shaft and found nothing. He is not inside and nothing lives inside,” he disclosed.

Kgosi Solomon Segopa of Matsiloje thanked all the institutions that assisted in the search.

He said Matsiloje area remained an epicenter of illegal gold mining especially by Zimbabweans who were aided by Batswana.

Kgosi Segopa said the occurrences prompted the village leadership to form neighborhood watch committees but the problem remained, adding that illegal border crossing was the root cause.

Mr Leonard Mudimba, brother to the missing man expressed disappointment that the rescue team’s efforts bore no fruit. 

BOPA