Villagers fear losing land to Chinese mine owners

Aconvoy of trucks laden with huge black granite rocks trundles along the dusty pathway as a group of villagers look on grimly. Every day more than 60 trucks take granite for export along this rugged road through Nyamakope village in the district of Mutoko, 150km east of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.

The air reverberates with blasts and heavy machinery noises as the mountain above the village is slowly reduced, slab by slab. Quarrying has been happening here since the 1980s.

Mutoko stone is sought after for its lustre. It is a popular material for tombstones. An extension to the Danish royal library in Copenhagen, known as the Black Diamond, is clad in Mutoko granite.

The Buja people who live here say that as mining companies extract wealth from the mountain, they leave behind a trail of damaged roads and bridges, hazardous pollutants and dirty air. Cracks can be seen on houses and blast debris is everywhere.

Now 50 families in the village have been told by a Chinese mining company that they will have to leave their homes and land. People in four other villages in the district fear they will also lose their ancestral lands. Two families, including an 82-year-old villager and his wife, have already been relocated by Jinding mining company, which wants to build a polishing plant.

“The 82-year-old man collapsed when he heard the news because he never anticipated it. He was later resuscitated at the hospital. This is how bad things are here,” says Claudine Mupereri*, 38.

She says the man was told his house was within the area licensed to the mining company by the government. Zimbabwe’s Communal Areas Act gives the president power to decide the use of an area that makes up 40% of the country’s land, home to about 70% of the population.

Two other families were given $2,500 to rebuild their homes, but community leaders say this is insufficient. “There is uncertainty around this village. Anyone who dares to speak out is threatened. Whether they remove us or not, we are already scared to speak out,” says Anesu Nyamuzuwe*.

The 40-year-old father of four fears losing five hectares of land. “What is more important, investors or the villagers? We should have the right to reject these people from entering our community.”

Jinding mining company in China could not be reached for comment.

Zimbabwe has enjoyed a close relationship with China for decades. But the bond between the two countries solidified when western states imposed economic sanctions on Robert Mugabe’s government. As credit and investments dried up, China stepped in and, in 2018, ZimbabweChinese relations were elevated to a strategic partnership.

Evelyn Kutyauripo, a paralegal with the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (Zela), says local officials need to protect people. “I blame the headmen and the councillors because they are working with the Chinese. They should stand with the community,” she says.

Attempts to challenge the mining companies elsewhere in Zimbabwe have had mixed results. In November, Heijin mining company lost its licence in Murehwa, a district about 90km from Harare, after local leaders complained to the government that the company planned to evict locals.

In 2020, Zela helped overturn licences to mine coal in the country’s largest national park, Hwange, home to 40,000 elephants. Following protests, the government banned mining in all its national parks. However, in September, hundreds of people in Chikomba district, 130km south of the capital, were evicted from their ancestral homes to make way for a $1bn iron and steel mining project.

The deputy mines minister, Polite Kambamura, urged villagers to contact the ministry. “We haven’t heard of any Chinese company which has relocated people in Mutoko. If villagers are not happy, they may approach our provincial mining office in Marondera or come directly to the ministry,” he says.

Kambamura adds that an environmental impact assessment – to ensure the environmental, social, economic and cultural issues related to any mining project are considered before it begins – must also be conducted by the company.

The Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe did not respond to numerous requests for comment. Mutoko leaders were also approached for comment.