Some gold panners have become a menace to Gwanda residents as they become violent at times thus becoming a threat to human life and property.
This was revealed by Ward Five councillor, Ernest Ncube recently during a Gwanda Local Peace Committee (LPC) meeting in the town. He said:
We have a serious problem in Ward Five. There are two business centres namely Njanji Shopping Centre and Red Cross Business Centre which have become hotspots.
At Njanji Shopping Centre there is a nightclub where gangs comprising mostly gold panners gather. When the nightclub closes at 4 AM these gangs regroup and start gambling outside.
Their gambling results in altercations and these fights move to residential areas and in the process, people are affected.
Their property is destroyed and all of these violent activities have left residents unsettled as they fear for their lives.
The rowdy gold panners allegedly engage in fistfights and hurl insults at one another in the full view of young children.
Ncube urged the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to deployed officers in the area as residents are now petrified by the marauding gangs.