By Thomas Madhuku, with additional reporting by Morris Zhowezha in Wedza
Reports that three Chinese investors were allocated land for mining exploration have sparked fears among members of the Wedza community who are worried that Chinese mining activities will leave their community environmentally vulnerable and severely damaged, without much in terms of development for locals.
Local sources have confirmed reports that three unnamed Chinese mining companies have been allocated land for mining exploration in Ward 6 of Ndoro Village, bordering the WedzaMountains.
“We hear the Chinese got 300 hectares in Wedza to engage in mining activities when we locals do not even have a hectare”, said Andrew Chikanyange of Ndoro village.
“Our roads are already in bad shape, and we can imagine what they will be like when heavy Chinese vehicles start moving around,” Chikanyange said.
As reported by Morris Zhowezha, a trained citizen journalist based in Wedza, “the Chinese have erected pegs to demarcate land, which they now claim to be theirs”. He added that the Chinese are already engaging in exploratory activities for yet-to-be-disclosed minerals.
Morris Zhowezha reports that the Chinese are exploring for minerals in Wedza, Pamela Chimedza, a Ward 6 resident said: “We are seeing the Chinese in our local hills digging for soil samples. We know they are not coming to help us but to take our wealth without bringing meaningful development.”
Freddy Chadoka, also based Wedza, expressed concern that the local environment will be severely damaged as a result of Chinese mining activities.
Chadoka said of the Chinese: “Based on their record, they will destroy our mountains and never rehabilitate them. Their activities will not benefit us as a community.”
He emphasized “the need for local communities to be protected from environmentally harmful activities by selfish natural resource extractors.”
Chadoka’s sentiments were echoed by Chakanyange who said Chinese mining activities in Wedza are set “to further marginalise locals who continue to struggle to access land and basic services.”
“Our roads are already in bad shape, and we can imagine what they will be like when heavy Chinese vehicles start moving around”, Chikanyange added.
George Makoni, the Wedza Residents Development Trust (WERDT) Director, said reports of land allocation to the Chinese raise serious governance questions.
“If land was allocated without consulting residents, it exposes the gap between duty bearers and the community. Authorities must come out clear and tell residents what is happening,” Makoni said.
Government, however, professes ignorance as to the presence of Chinese mineral explorers in Wedza.
“I am not aware of any Chinese investors operating in Wedza,” said Lawrence Taruwona, the Wedza District Development Coordinator when contacted for comment.
Taruwona’s denial does not, however, rule out the presence of the Chinese in Wedza. This is considering how the Chinese have not always followed bureaucratic protocols and procedure in conducting their operations in Zimbabwe.
Against a background of cutting administrative and legal corners by some Chinese firms, the Chinese government has had to reprimand its nationals in Zimbabwe to abide by the country’s laws and administrative procedures when conducting business in Zimbabwe.
Fears raised by Wedza residents have not been helped by the manner in which the Chinese have conducted mining activities in other parts of Zimbabwe.
Areas including Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West, Midlands, Matebeleland North and other Zimbabwean provinces where Chinese conduct mining operations have been seriously exposed to land degradation, destruction of ecosystems and water pollution.
In Mutoko, north-eastern Zimbabwe Mazowe, 35 to 50 Kilometres North of the capital, Harare, and Boterekwa near Shurugwi, a mining town in Central-Southern Zimbabwe, communities have been left grappling with extensive environmental degradation caused by Chinese mining activities, with little to no rehabilitation being undertaken after mining activities.
In Mashonaland East Province’s Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe (UMP) Districts, four Chinese miners were forced to halt operations following a government crackdown on illegal alluvial gold mining along the Mazowe River.
People in areas where Chinese companies are conducting mining operations have also had to content with effects of displacement.
A Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) research report revealed that Chinese mining companies have had little interest in corporate social responsibility activities such as building social amenities for people affected by their mining activities.
In Buhera District, Sabi Star Lithium Mining Company operated by the Chinese owned Max Mind Investments displaced villagers and placed them where there is no safe drinking water.
This is as revealed by a 2024 CNRG research report, the on the impacts of Chinese investments in Zimbabwe’s extractive sector.
There has also not been much economic benefit to, at least, cover for the environmental damage.
Fears of economic exploitation raised by Wedza residents are confirmed in the 2024 China Index research conducted by China In The World (CITW), a global network an research initiative administered by Doublethink Lab, a Taiwan based non-profit that tracks and analyses China’s influence worldwide.
As highlighted in the China Index research, Chinese mining in Zimbabwe is proceeding on the basis of “unchecked extractivism,” characterised by severe environmental destruction, labour abuses, and widespread, illicit mineral smuggling, often facilitated by local government negligence.
