…the tale of Masvingo female quarry miners
Beverly Bizeki
Anna Nhenga (27) of Victoria Ranch recalls the events of 2021 when she almost lost her life after an open pit collapsed on her as she was trying to unearth what has been termed the ‘bluestone’ by quarry miners in one of Masvingo’s suburbs.
“An open shaft collapsed whilst I was digging for stones underground and I almost lost my life which is why I have this scar on my ear (points at her ear). My workmates thought I was dead as half of my body had been trapped into the earth,” says Nhenga.
The sad part however is that Nhenga has not been able to make much from the over 7 years that she has spent mining quarry stones and whenever she considers leaving the trade she always finds her way back as life has not given her many options when it comes to work.
“I have five children, four of which are of school going age but I can only manage to send two of them to school and have no idea of when I will be able to send them to school,” says Nhenga.
Nhenga is one of the women that have been pushed into hard labour by abject poverty faced by many owing to the worsening economic situation in the country.
Becoming a mother at 16 with no parents or husband to support her, Nhenga says life has not given her too many options except to join others in breaking granite stones to create quarry, where she has been trading hard labour for a very few dollars.
“We try to reach a target of coming up with at least 10 buckets a day so that we can have a cubic after three days which we sell at roughly US $10 to US $12 to make a meagre US $100 on a good month where sales would be better.
“We can go for days or weeks without making any sales which is problematic as we have bills to pay every month, as we speak my landlord has given me a notice because I always pay my rentals very late,” says Nhenga.
The US $100 that Nhenga makes from selling the stones has to pay US $50 for her children’s fees, US $30 rentals and the remaining US $20 is for foodstuffs and other basic commodities.
Concilia Mugeji who has also spent the past seven years of her life breaking and selling stones for a living says motherhood in the prevailing economic conditions has pushed her to the sharp end of the stick forcing her to endure such a dangerous environment as she has to provide for her family.
“Our line of work requires lots of strength in digging and extracting stones from the ground as sometimes we use 14 pound hammers which are very difficult to use but as a mother you have to endure the weight and work to make sales,” she said.
Mugeji who is a mother of four says her line of work is male dominated and considered illegal which brings about huge challenges to her as a woman.
“Sometimes when we get clients, we ask men to help us load the quarry into the client’s vehicle and they have to charge us for that, taking part of the little money we would have made.
“Men also tend to take our loads and never pay or return the loads we would have given them,” she added.
For Mugeji, the job is heavy especially with the health challenges taking a toll on her body but she has to do it for her children one of whom is set to re-write his Ordinary Level examinations this year.
Asked why she has chosen this line of work, Mugeji said it requires little to no capital and records few losses as she can keep her ‘stock’ for as long as it takes before she gets a client.
Mugeji also says lack of equipment places them at a disadvantage as contractors often choose more refined stones unlike the ones which they often produce because they use manual equipment like hammers.
“We can go for about three weeks without making any sales because contractors often want finer products but we cannot produce such because of lack of equipment,” said Mugeji.
Because of the hard hitting economy, Mugeji who has always wished to purchase a residential stand has not been able to make much which has seen her only making enough to put food on the table for her children and hardly any to send them to school.
“I had hopes of buying a residential stand but after all these years of trying I have nothing to show for it because it’s always hand-to-mouth.
“My hopes are getting shattered now because I feel sick and I cannot continue working for long under these circumstances,” said Mugeji.
Mugeji however, wishes for better working conditions as they are exposed to all harsh weather conditions in the pits they extract the stones from.
“We wish for helpers or well-wishers to assist us in starting projects that can help sustain us as women. We are often excluded from society as we are always working in the outskirts so we are often left out of community activities as well as opportunities,” she added.
