Whange MP raises alarm over mining exploitation

Whange East legislator Joseph Bonda has accused mining companies operating across Zimbabwe of exploiting the country's natural resources while leaving behind widespread environmental damage and little to no development in host communities.

Zimbabwe has witnessed a surge in mining ventures, particularly from Chinese investors, sparking concerns that while companies are profiting from local minerals, communities are not benefiting through infrastructure development or social investment. Environmental degradation has also been flagged as a growing crisis.

"Where mining is done, most of the miners or the companies that are mining around those areas are taking all the profits without leaving anything," Bonda told Parliament.

He questioned whether the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development had mechanisms in place to monitor corporate social responsibility commitments by mining firms.

"I wanted to find out if the ministry has a department that goes or follows up the miners and checks if they are doing social responsibilities in the communities where they are mining because that gap is actually wide open," he said.

Bonda argued that mining activities were damaging infrastructure and depriving locals of benefits from resources extracted in their areas. "They are actually damaging the infrastructure around and there is nothing that people in those areas are getting," he added.

In response, Mines and Mining Development minister Winston Chitando defended the government's regulatory framework, saying mining companies contribute to communities in two ways.

"The first are what we call rural district council levies, whereby the respective district councils are entitled to charge levies to the mining operations in the district, which contribute to the upkeep of the various infrastructure," Chitando said.

"The second are interventions which are done by the mining entities, which are over and above the contributions to the levies paid to the rural district councils. With respect to these contributions, these are the ones which are indicated. To a large extent, these are locally based and they are handled in consultation with local stakeholders."

Despite this, critics argue that many communities remain underdeveloped, with poor roads, schools, and healthcare facilities, even in mineral-rich districts. Civil society groups have long called for tighter monitoring of mining firms and greater transparency in how levies and corporate social responsibility initiatives are implemented.