Mutare, Zimbabwe – In Zimbabwe, open pits left by informal gold miners and filled with stagnant water create breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Health experts say mining is worsening a surge in malaria infections, already spiralling due to funding cuts and climate change.
By: Farai Shawn Matiashe
In Penhalonga, a gold-rich area in eastern Zimbabwe, George Mutsoka woke up one morning suffering from fatigue, a severe headache and joint aches.
The 43-year-old artisanal miner was too weak to work, so he went to rest at his home in Chishakwe village, just outside Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, Mutare.
By late afternoon, his situation had deteriorated and he sought help from a village health worker. He tested positive for malaria and the health worker gave him treatment.
“I took the medicine for three days. After a week, I had recovered,” he told RFI.
Mutsoka soon returned to Penhalonga, where he works as an informal miner searching for gold.
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