Villages Near Zimbabwe Mines Report Dry Taps, Long Walks

Residents living beside some of Zimbabwe's largest platinum operations say the wealth leaving their land has not reached their roads, schools or water taps. The country's mining sector generated a record $8.5bn in export earnings in 2025, up from $5.9bn the year before, John Musekiwa, then-president of the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe, said. He attributed the rise to strong output and favorable prices for gold and platinum group metals.

Mining accounts for about 75 percent of Zimbabwe's exports and about 14.5 percent of its gross domestic product, according to the International Trade Administration in the United States. Zimbabwe holds the world's second largest known deposits of platinum group metals after South Africa. Platinum reached an all-time high of $2,923 an ounce on January 26 during a rally in precious metals and concerns over supply, the World Platinum Investment Council reported.

The Great Dyke, a geological formation running across central Zimbabwe, contains extensive deposits of platinum group metals. Zimplats operates mines, concentrators and processing facilities in the Mhondoro-Ngezi district there. Inside the complex, ore moves through modern facilities and heavy trucks run between mines and plants. In the villages around it, residents describe a different picture.

Ernest Denhere, headman of Denhere village in Ward 3, asked the company to build a road linking Kadoma and Kwekwe to Turf, Benhura, Mamina, Murambwa and Kadhani, and on to the Harare-Masvingo highways. Ward 3 Councillor Emmah Chikwai said children from Jompani, Majoki, Maleti and Makwavarara walk between 15km and 25km to reach Musinambi Secondary School, and she asked the mines to help establish a satellite secondary school in Makwavarara. During a September 7 visit, pupils at Turf Primary School were learning under trees as enrolment outgrew the facilities.

Sakina Lice, who supports 11 children and nine grandchildren, collects plastic from a dump site and resells it for about $20 a month. Residents said sewage from the mining area has entered the Ngwazani River, which lies about 100 metres from the dump site. Edson Mabure, whose family was relocated as mining expanded, said he crosses the river from his new village. Agnes Handidikundiona said residents once used the water for washing clothes and watering nutritional gardens, and that flooding now stops some children from reaching school. Ward 11 Councillor Nhomboka Kurebwa Javangwe said only the council chairperson is authorized to meet Zimplats officials.

The same requests come from other platinum towns. Bulle Madzitire, chairman of the Shurugwi Residents Association, asked Unki to help with classroom blocks, water and sanitation, and roads in Shurugwi. Kamino Simango, chairman of the Zvishavane Residents Association, said Mimosa Platinum Mine should focus on infrastructure serving the wider community.

Unki told Al Jazeera it has averaged $1.5m a year in community development spending over five years across education, healthcare, water and sanitation, agriculture and infrastructure. Evelyn Mawimba, the mine's public relations manager, said Unki has built 63 boreholes, supported 32 schools through its STEP-UP programme and contributed $2.75m toward land purchases and development of the Impali housing estate. Unki pays about $130,000 a year in municipal levies to the Shurugwi Town Council and about $850,000 annually to the Tongogara Rural District Council, Mawimba said.

Mimosa did not respond to questions. Hama Saburi, Zimplats's head of corporate affairs, also did not respond by publication. Headman Denhere said, "What is beneath our land speaks volumes. We need to see a lasting legacy for our communities."