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Illegal miners threaten Bulawayo infrastructure projects
The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has raised alarm over the escalating invasion of its Khumalo gravel pit by illegal gold miners, warning that the activities of these panners threaten to derail critical...Published: 16 Jul 2025 at 07:43hrs | 350 | by Staff reporter
Chatunga Mugabe arrested over brutal assault
Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the youngest son of the late former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, has been arrested in connection with a violent assault on mine workers near the Mugabe family estate...Published: 01 Jul 2025 at 17:16hrs | 775 | by Staff reporter
Zimbabwe miners to get paupers' burial in SA
The North West health department is awaiting essential documentation, including death certificates, to proceed with the burial of 23 bodies of illegal miners recently recovered from abandoned shafts i...Published: 16 Jun 2025 at 14:59hrs | 51 | by Staff reporter
Machete gangs terrorise Bulawayo
Residents of Bulawayo are gripped by fear as machete-wielding gangs continue to unleash violent attacks across the city's high-density suburbs. The brutal assaults have left many victims nursing serio...Published: 01 Jun 2025 at 14:31hrs | 253 | by Staff reporter
Illegal miners face deportation from South Africa
South Africa has arrested over 400 illegal miners, including Zimbabweans and other foreign nationals, during a large-scale operation targeting illicit artisanal mining activities across the country. T...Published: 30 May 2025 at 09:00hrs | 167 | by Staff reporter
Govt moves to rein in illegal chrome miners
The Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) has raised serious concerns over the escalating illegal chrome mining activities along the Great Dyke, warning of extensive environmental damage, water pollution, ...Published: 26 May 2025 at 19:42hrs | 787 | by Staff reporter
Illegal miners threaten Gwanda State University's land
The Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education has expressed serious concerns over the illegal occupation of Gwanda State University's land by unauthorized miners. The committee's worries em...Published: 15 May 2025 at 09:33hrs | 501 | by Staff reporter
Bulawayo gold panners turn Cecil Pit into crime zone
The Zimbabwe School of Mines (ZSM) has issued a serious security alert to its students and staff, warning them to exercise extreme caution following a surge in illegal gold panning activities near the...Published: 14 May 2025 at 12:31hrs | 638 | by Staff reporter
Bulawayo cracks down against gold panners
In a bid to curb the increasing menace of illegal gold panning and sand poaching in Matabeleland South province, the Bulawayo City Council is planning to establish a permanent base for its rangers and...Published: 14 Apr 2025 at 09:13hrs | 175 | by Staff reporter
Filabusi residents alarmed by surge in crimes linked to foreigners
Residents of Filabusi are expressing mounting concern over the alarming rise in criminal activities linked to illegal gold mining in the area, with reports of rape, murder, land degradation, and other...Published: 25 Feb 2025 at 16:48hrs | 1094 | by Staff reporter
2 more Zimbabweans resurface from SA mine
Two Zimbabwean nationals have emerged from the abandoned Stilfontein gold mine in South Africa after weeks underground, where they endured harrowing conditions. The survivors surfaced last week, bring...Published: 09 Feb 2025 at 11:26hrs | 299 | by Staff reporter
Zimbabwean hesitant to confront SA over Buffelsfontein mine tragedy
Zimbabwean authorities are reportedly reluctant to directly confront the South African government over the deaths of 20 Zimbabweans at the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine in Stilfontein. The incident, which ...Published: 30 Jan 2025 at 07:04hrs | 687 | by Staff reporter
Illegal miners invade Rhodes Estate in Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwean Government has deployed security and environmental agencies to the Rhodes Estate in the Matopos National Park following growing concerns over illegal gold mining activities that are thr...Published: 30 Jan 2025 at 06:53hrs | 361 | by Staff reporter
Gold miner buried alive as flash floods hit river
A tragic accident unfolded in Umzingwane District when flash floods swept through the Lunga River, burying a 20-year-old illegal gold miner alive in a pit that was meant to be his livelihood. The mine...Published: 21 Dec 2024 at 08:14hrs | 251 | by Staff reporter
Teen miner dies in tragic shaft collapse at Sunace mine
A 17-year-old illegal miner lost his life following a shaft collapse at Sunace Mine on the outskirts of Bulawayo. The tragic incident, which occurred on December 12, has left efforts to retrieve the t...Published: 17 Dec 2024 at 14:55hrs | 594 | by Staff reporter
Illegal gold panners sneak into Vumbachikwe mine
PLUS or minus 100 Illegal gold panners reportedly sneaked into Vumbachikwe mine this week where about 38 of them have reportedly been arrested with cases pending in the courts.A local source r...Published: 13 Dec 2024 at 13:02hrs | 564 | by Staff reporter
South Africa introduces 'deportation buses'
The Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, announced on 11 December 2024 that the department has introduced deportation buses for illegal immigrants who do not comply with immigration laws....Published: 11 Dec 2024 at 15:05hrs | 2923 | by Staff reporter
Zimbabwe bans riverbed mining
The government has announced that over 300 illegal miners have been arrested across Zimbabwe as authorities intensify the enforcement of the ban on alluvial mining, following a directive issued by Cab...Published: 11 Dec 2024 at 06:40hrs | 278 | by Staff reporter
Zimbabwean among zama zamas who resurfaced at Stilfontein mine
TEN undocumented zama zamas resurfaced in the Stilfontein mine in the North West on Saturday.National police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said nine of the illegal miners are Mozambic...Published: 02 Dec 2024 at 07:23hrs | 385 | by Staff reporter
Minister criticised for his comments on South Africans dating foreigners
Criticism about locals dating foreign nationals in Stilfontein has landed Police Minister Senzo Mchunu in hot water.This after Mchunu blamed undocumented migrants for the crisis of illegal min...Published: 30 Nov 2024 at 15:22hrs | 1945 | by Staff reporter
Miner leaves a broken knife in a colleague's eye
A jersey dispute between two illegal miners ended disastrously in Mazowe after Shadreck Delicious Mheremhere (23) stabbed his colleague Master Kamwendo (40) in the eye.The matter came to light...Published: 24 Nov 2024 at 17:25hrs | 1047 | by Simbarashe Sithole in Bindura
Bulawayo residents petition Mnangagwa over police corruption
Bulawayo residents have petitioned President Emmerson Mnangagwa to intervene in the alleged corruption involving police officers at two local stations, Queens Park and Khumalo, where they claim police...Published: 18 Nov 2024 at 16:03hrs | 759 | by Staff reporter
Ntshavheni's 'concomitant action' moment to kill zama zamas
In a controversial statement on Wednesday, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the government intends to "smoke out" as many as 4,000 illegal miners reportedly trapped underground nea...Published: 14 Nov 2024 at 18:16hrs | 472 | by Staff reporter
Sex workers turn to illegal mining
Several commercial sex workers in Guruve have turned to illegal mining due to the harsh economic conditions.The sex workers have joined a huge number of illegal miners in Guruve Centre where t...Published: 04 Nov 2024 at 13:45hrs | 919 | by Simbarashe Sithole in Guruve
Angry illegal miners destroy the guard room at Eureka mine
A group of angry illegal miners are reported to have destroyed Eureka Gold Mine's guard room yesterday after one of their own was shot dead by a Black Shark security guard.The angry miners all...Published: 28 Oct 2024 at 12:25hrs | 579 | by Simbarashe Sithole
Illegal gold miner shot dead at Eureka mine
Hundreds of illegal gold miners stormed Eureka gold mine offices in Guruve yesterday in protest of a fatal shooting at the mine on Thursday....Published: 26 Oct 2024 at 20:24hrs | 1445 | by Simbarashe Sithole in Guruve
Zimbabwe army faces scrutiny over unlawful gold mining operations
Rusununguko/Nkululeko Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, a company owned by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), is allegedly conducting an unauthorized alluvial gold mining operation in Allied Timbers' Tarka Forest, ...Published: 20 Oct 2024 at 12:23hrs | 559 | by Staff reporter
Artisanal miner killed in cold blood
Artisanal miner Moses Chatikita (39) was allegedly murdered in a gold rush at Watakai farm in Concession recently.The now-deceased Chatikita was assaulted with a shovel on the head and died on...Published: 09 Oct 2024 at 09:24hrs | 1034 | by Simbarashe Sithole in Mazowe
Chinese investors elbow out local chrome miners
An investigation has revealed that the Zimbabwe Mining and Alloy Smelting Company (Zimasco) has replaced around 150 small-scale chrome miners with Chinese investors, raising concerns about discriminat...Published: 10 Sep 2024 at 07:27hrs | 219 | by Staff reporter
Chief pleads for more police deployments as illegal miners wreak havoc
Chief Khulumani Mathema of Gwanda North has called on the government to deploy additional police personnel to his community to address the rising violence associated with illegal mining activities....Published: 09 Sep 2024 at 08:18hrs | 199 | by Staff reporter
A city at risk of collapsing: The cost of the search for gold in Zimbabwe
DOROTHY Moyo says a prayer every time she walks, runs, or drives around her neighbourhood in central Zimbabwe - afraid that the earth will give away from beneath her feet, dragging her underground....Published: 07 Sep 2024 at 10:21hrs | 1887 | by Staff reporter
2 miners murdered in Esigodini
Two illegal miners were murdered on a farm in Esigodini while searching for gold at a panning site. One of the victims has been identified as 50-year-old Bulisani Ncube, while the other remains uniden...Published: 06 Sep 2024 at 14:55hrs | 647 | by Staff reporter
Ramaphosa's army, police 'burn' foreign miners
South African security forces, including the police and army, have been accused of setting fire to an area where illegal miners, known as zama zamas, had taken refuge to avoid arrest. This incident re...Published: 31 Aug 2024 at 11:10hrs | 353 | by Staff reporter
Illegal gold miners invade Bulawayo suburbs
Certain suburbs in Bulawayo are experiencing severe land degradation due to illegal gold mining activities. This destructive mining, which includes both open cast and deep shaft operations, ha...Published: 22 Aug 2024 at 07:14hrs | 928 | by Staff reporter
18 illegal miners who petrol bombed a mine denied bail
Eighteen illegal gold miners who caused mayhem at Rosa mine in Chiweshe last week by destroying property and severely injuring people we...Published: 27 Jun 2024 at 06:11hrs | 10 | by Simbarashe Sithole
Mnangagwa's son in destructive gold mining
THE once-pristine and picturesque Boterekwa escarpment in Shurugwi, Midlands province, now stands as a haunting monument to the ravages of human exploitation and destructive gold mining activities by ...Published: 19 May 2024 at 11:51hrs | 147 | by Staff reporter
Gold panning threatens Inyankuni pipeline
BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has expressed concern over the rampant illegal gold panning which is threatening the Inyankuni pipeline.BCC draws most of its water from six supply dams in Matabele...Published: 09 Feb 2024 at 10:00hrs | 17 | by Staff reporter
Zimbabwean man busted with explosives in SA
A 35–YEAR–OLD Zimbabwean Citizen has been arrested in Mpumalanga province, South Africa with an assortment of smuggled explosives meant for illegal mining activities in that country.The su...Published: 06 Feb 2024 at 04:36hrs | 5 | by Staff reporter
Zimbabwe's mines minister orders stop to artisanal mining
Mines Minister Soda Zhemu has called on artisanal miners to "completely stop" mining activities during the current rain season which poses a high risk of mine disasters.In a statement, Zhemu a...Published: 16 Jan 2024 at 04:38hrs | 11 | by Staff reporter
Miners wreak havoc on roads
GOVERNMENT has expressed shock after illegal gold miners dug a four-metre tunnel under a section of the Gwanda-Beitbridge Road as vandalism of national infrastructure persists.Road and railway...Published: 13 Jan 2024 at 06:48hrs | 15 | by Staff reporter
Gwanda - Beitbridge road faces collapse as illegal miner tunnel under it
ILLEGAL gold miners have dug a 4-metre tunnel under a section of the Gwanda-Beitbridge Road as their vandalism of national infrastructure continues unabated with several roads and railway infrastructu...Published: 13 Jan 2024 at 06:47hrs | 17 | by Staff reporter
Tempers flare over trapped Redwing miners
Tempers flared yesterday at Redwing Mine in Penhalonga where about 11 artisanal miners were trapped underground after a mine shaft collapsed, with relatives accusing government of fumbling the rescue ...Published: 07 Jan 2024 at 17:41hrs | 13 | by Staff reporter
15 feared dead at Zanu-PF MP's Mine
ABOUT 15 miners are feared dead in the Tsapauta mining area at Redwing Mine in Penhalonga, Manicaland province after a mine shaft collapsed yesterday morning.The Tsapauta mining area is a sect...Published: 05 Jan 2024 at 05:55hrs | 12 | by Staff reporter
7 illegal miners locked up in Botswana
SEVEN Zimbabweans have been locked up in remand prison in Botswana pending trial for illegal mining.According to media reports, the Zimbabweans were caught prospecting and mining gold illegall...Published: 23 Nov 2023 at 05:33hrs | 1 | by Staff reporter
Gold panners wreak havoc in Bulawayo
BULAWAYO municipal police have arrested 140 illegal miners since January for panning for gold near the city's water bodies, causing massive siltation.This is revealed in the council's environm...Published: 14 Nov 2023 at 04:48hrs | 14 | by Staff reporter
4 dead in Zimbabwe mine shaft collapse
On Friday, tragedy struck at Kangela Mine in Mashonaland West as four miners lost their lives due to a mine shaft collapse. The police have officially confirmed the incident and reported that the bodi...Published: 22 Oct 2023 at 14:02hrs | 3 | by Staff reporter
CIO raises alarm over illicit army gold mining
ZIMBABWE'S state security agency, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), has raised serious national security fears over an illicit gold mining operation run by an army-owned company, Rusununguk...Published: 09 Oct 2023 at 13:50hrs | 29 | by Staff reporter
Zimbabwe's small scale miners take Minister to task over bottlenecks
The Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) convened with the newly appointed Mines Minister on Friday to discuss the complex challenges afflicting the sector.Annually, the sector's miners contribute...Published: 01 Oct 2023 at 07:25hrs | 5 | by Staff reporter
Delays in issuance of mining certificates worrying
The Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) has expressed deep concern over the protracted delays in the issuance of mining certificates, citing that this has led to unnecessary disputes arising from the ove...Published: 30 Sep 2023 at 07:43hrs | 1 | by Staff reporter
Artisanal miners kill colleague in a gold dispute
Three illegal miners allegedly killed their colleague in a gold dispute in Shamva on Sunday.Mashonaland Central deputy police spokesperson Sergeant Major Samuel Chikasha confirmed the death of...Published: 03 Aug 2023 at 08:01hrs | 13 | by Simbarashe Sithole
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