IMAGINE one of the men, clad in the distinctive green uniform of the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS), standing out amid three others dressed in the stark white prison garb.
The prison officer is supposed to be supervising these inmates, ensuring they are tending to the prison’s livestock. However, instead, he has joined them in a clandestine gold-mining operation.
This was the case when a ZPCS officer stationed at Gwanda Prison in Matabeleland South Province found himself in trouble after he allegedly connived with inmates assigned to herd cattle and goats belonging to the prison to illegally mine gold on one of the claims belonging to Blanket Mine.
Moeti Tlou (23) reportedly teamed up with Bee Bright Ncube (21), who is serving a three-year jail term, Michael Moyo (31), and Aaron Moyo (40), both serving two-year imprisonment at the prison, to allegedly steal gold ore at Abercom Mine, which belongs to Blanket Mine.
This came to light when the quartet appeared before Gwanda magistrate Talent Phiri charged with theft of gold ore. They pleaded not guilty to the offence and were remanded in custody to 23 August for the continuation of the trial.
It is alleged that on 15 August, 2024, around 8am Ncube, Michael, and Aaron, who are serving time at Gwanda Prison, took 52 herd of cattle to grazing lands located near Abercom Mine , which belongs to Blanket Mine.
It is reported that Tlou, who was clad in a Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services uniform, later followed the three, and they armed themselves with two shovels, two iron rods, and a pick.
They went to the top of one of the hills inside Abercorn Mine, and Tlou sat on a rock while the three dug for gold ore. They put the gold ore into three 50kg cement sacks.
Their luck ran out when security guards, who were conducting routine patrols in the mine, found them busy on the site. The security guards managed to arrest Tlou and Ncube, while Michael and Aaron escaped. They recovered two shovels, two iron rods, and a pick, which were being used by the accused, as well as three 50kg cement sacks, each containing 10kg of gold ore.
Michael and Aaron were later arrested by the police after they returned to Gwanda Prison.