Villagers from the Marange Area in Manicaland need permits to move around in their own villagers.

The permits which are issued by the police were introduced to stop non-locals from accessing the diamond-rich area.

However, most of these locals do not seem to be benefitting from the diamond proceeds and live in deplorable conditions. Without the permit, the locals cannot move around and some claim that at the peak of the diamond mining activities between 2007 and 2010, failure to produce a permit resulted in people getting a thorough beating. Some locals have likened the permits with colonial era “passes”.

Below is a copy of one such pass