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Living on scraps: the Zimbabwe children who eke out a living from rusty metal

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BY NYASHA CHINGONO

The rattling of metal can be heard yards away from the scrapyard.

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A steady trickle of people struggle in: small children laden with sacks of tins and bits of car engines, and adults with handfuls of jagged objects, unidentifiable beneath the rust.

Some push handcarts as scrapyard attendants take turns to weigh the metal brought in, then hand over a few dirty US dollar notes in return.

Children are regulars amid the hustle and bartering that Zimbabwe’s poorest are resorting to in order to eat.

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With the economic crisis ever deepening, Unicef says 47% of Zimbabwean youth have now dropped out of school.

Most of the children here in Hopley, 16km from the capital, Harare, have not been in class since the Covid pandemic began and are not returning due to rising poverty.

Colin Mapuranga (not his real name), 15, and his brother Mike are at the scrapyard, in torn T-shirts and shorts, and tell a tale of hardship in troubled Zimbabwe.

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Colin and Mike keep an eye on the scale as it reaches 30kg. For that, and their five hours of collecting it, they are handed US$10 (£8.50).

“It is not much, but it is something,” says Colin, tucking the notes into his pocket. “It’s not easy. We woke early and walked for hours to get metal.”

With the money, they will buy food for the day and maybe something from the piles of secondhand clothes sold in Harare’s open spaces.

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For now, school fees are a luxury they cannot afford.

Colin says: “We must work harder – maybe one day we will afford to go back to school.

Our older sister, who is 18, cannot pay for our fees. She wakes up every day to look for menial jobs.

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So we must help her or we will starve.”

Inflation hit 192 percent in June, and all but the very rich are struggling.

Children are abandoning school to take up menial tasks to help put food on the table.

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An average family here needs 120,000 Zimbabwe dollars (£308) a month to survive, according to the Zimbabwe Statistical Agency, an amount beyond the reach of many.

While food prices rise, the currency has also tumbled in value during the first half of the year, and millions face acute hunger, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network.

Unicef says that nearly one in three  five to17-year-olds in the country are engaged in child labour.

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Child-headed families like Colin’s are finding things especially tough.

The parents of the three siblings died three years ago, and the children were left to fend for themselves in a small house in Hopley, a settlement created in 2005 after street trader families were displaced from Harare by the late president Robert Mugabe in a clearout of city streets.

The initiative was called Operation Murambatsvina (Drive Out Trash).

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“We barely have enough to eat, but this metal business has helped us get by. Some days are tougher – you can get as little as $3 (£2.50) for light metal,” says Colin.

As the brothers leave the scrapyard, Jeremiah Magunda, 42, and his three sons, all under 15, arrive to weigh in their metal. They are disappointed at the reading. They will go home with $7.

Magunda and the boys have been scrounging for metal objects around Hopley since the onset of Covid.

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“I came here with my sons to try my luck. We are suffering. I used to be a gold panner, but since I hurt my finger I stopped.

“My sons have been doing it when I am not around,” Magunda tells the Guardian.

Mercy Muzvidzwa, 42, is pushing a wheelbarrow of scrap with her two children.

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They wake at 5am to scour surrounding neighbourhoods. This is her only source of income, she says. “I have been doing this for the past four years. You cannot just sit at home; life is not that kind, and my children need to eat.

“It is tough to be carrying heavy metal but there are no options. I go out with my children every day, they always help me.”

This scrapyard belongs to local dealer Fungai Mataga. “I buy all the scrap metal here.

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“I sell to steel manufacturers at profit, which is not much,” he says.

Mataga admits that school-age children are his main suppliers.

“We have a lot of children and women coming here daily to deliver scrap metal.

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“They still have strength to walk around,” he says.

Under President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who wrested power from Mugabe in 2017, Zimbabwe has witnessed an economic tailspin, with politicians blamed for doing little to ease a hunger crisis that has followed poor rains.- The Guardian

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In the community

Hwange duo sentenced to 26 months for wildlife crimes

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BY WANDILE TSHUMA

Two Hwange men have been sentenced to 26 months imprisonment for setting 49 wire snares, including 48 class one snares, in Sinamatela Game Park, resulting in the killing of one impala and two female kudus, with a total value of US$6 000 worth of dried game meat.

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Lungisani Moyo (38) and Joel Nyathi (27), both from Madumabisa Village, were convicted of contravening the Trapping of Animal Control Act.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority, the state presented a case that the two unlawfully set the snares this month, resulting in the illegal killing of one impala and two female kudus.

The matter came to light after a joint patrol by police and Zim-Parks officers intercepted a man in the Lwendulu area carrying a suspicious black bag. Upon searching him, authorities recovered 12 bundles of dried game meat.

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Upon probe, the man led officers to Moyo’s residence, where further illegal game products were discovered.

Subsequent searches at both Moyo and Nyathi’s homes yielded a total of 22 bundles of dried game meat, kudu hooves, intestines, and other animal parts.

Police investigations confirmed the use of wire snares to hunt the animals within protected parkland.

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The total value of the poached wildlife is US$6 000.

Of the 26-month sentence, 10 months were suspended for five years, leaving the two to serve an effective 16 months imprisonment.

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Hwange man fined US$1 100 for illegal kudu meat sales

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BY STAFF REPORTER

A 62-year-old man from Hwange has been fined to pay US$1 100 for selling dried kudu meat without a permit.

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This was heard at the Hwange Regional Court when Samson Ncube appeared before a magistrate for selling meat without a license.

The state alleges that Ncube was found with 12kg of dried kudu meat valued at US$480, which he was selling without a permit.

He was arrested by CID Minerals Flora and Fauna and ZimParks during patrols in Lwendulu Village.

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The magistrate sentenced Ncube to pay a fine of US$1 100 by September 19, next month, or face 3 months in jail.

The recovered meat was forfeited.

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Goat thief caught red-handed in Tsholotsho

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BY STAFF REPORTER

A 30-year-old man from Tsholotsho, has been convicted of stock theft after killing a goat he stole at a farm.

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Praymore Sibanda was busted after police recovered the stolen goats carcass at his residence.

Sibanda’s downfall came when he appeared last week before the Tsholotsho Magistrates’ Court facing stock theft charges.

According to the State, on 11 August, Sibanda stole a male goat valued at ZAR 900 from Moses Ncube’s farm.

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The court heard that Sibanda’s reign of theft ended when Ncube discovered the theft and reported it to the police, leading to Sibanda’s arrest after police found the goat meat and the skin at his homestead.

In a bid to teach him a lesson, the magistrate sentenced Sibanda to four months imprisonment, wholly suspended on condition that he restitutes ZAR 900 to the victim.

 

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