Deaths, cover-ups and bribes at Zimbabwe’s lawless Redwing Mine

Belying the beauty of its surroundings in Penhalonga, Manicaland, in eastern Zimbabwe, lies Redwing Mine, a hub of artisanal activity, and a testament to the lawlessness and impunity of Zimbabwe’s political elite.

Approaching Redwing Mine with its backdrop of towering hills and rugged mountains, you are greeted by an incessant noise of hammer mills and generators. Hundreds of blue canvas tents, each marking a pit, are haphazardly scattered across the landscape. With over 3,000 open pits, thousands of artisanal miners toil in the dirt, searching for gold. Young men and women, including teenagers, descend into the pits with nothing more than rudimentary tools – picks and shovels – and their bare hands.

There is little regard for safety protocols or regulations. There is a boom gate at the main entrance but people walk in and out without question. The mine is a free-for-all.

Redwing Mine is legally owned by South African mining mogul Mzi Khumalo’s Metallon Corporation, but the company lost operational control in 2020 when the mine was placed under corporate rescue due to unpaid debts, wage arrears, and statutory obligations. It was dragged to court leading to the appointment of an administrator to manage the mine.

According to news reports and civil society organisations, Zanu-PF MP Scott Sakupwanya, an ally of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, got involved while the mine was under business rescue. His company, Betterbrands Mining, took control of vast sections and 132 claims at Redwing with the corporate rescuer’s assistance, despite not having mining experience.

Betterbrands engaged “sponsors” – people who were allocated pits to mine – who in turn hired artisanal miners on a large scale.

This marked the end of formal underground mining and the start of the current chaotic state of the mine.

With the lawlessness came deaths, corruption and cover ups. The government, law enforcement agencies and regulatory authorities have largely turned a blind eye, despite revelations that senior police and army officers control some of the pits at the mine.

There are no official records available of the deaths, but civil society organisations estimate that more than 100 people may have died in the open pits since the arrival of Betterbrands Mining. Government did shut the mine twice — in January 2023 following fatal accidents and again in January 2024 after 15 miners were trapped. But on each occasion, mining resumed and little changed. Instead of addressing the issues, a web of secrecy surrounds its operations. But leaked rescue reports, seen during our investigations, and testimonies from family members of the dead are damning.

Report after report, stretching over many months, conclude by saying dangerous or illegal pits will be closed.

Gassed

Gilbert Pedro died in March last year apparently from exposure to gas.

We travelled to Matika Village in Chigodora, about 50km south of Mutare, where Pedro grew up, to speak to his family.

Pedro’s aunt, Rosemary Kaponda, has fond memories of her nephew. With tears in her eyes, she told us, “His death pains. It came at a time he was about to establish his own mine. He was in the process of registering his own claim and had acquired a prospector’s license.”

“These were his final days as an artisanal miner. He was working in dangerous conditions so that he could establish himself. I knew him from a tender age. He was brilliant and tenacious even as a young child and I have no doubt he would have made it big. But sadly, his life was cut short before he could fulfill his vision.”

Pedro was ten years old when his father died.

“At that time, he was in Grade 5. He was brilliant in school and other children used to call him ‘teacher’ because teachers used to ask him to explain things to his classmates when they did not understand,” she said.

“He did his Advanced Levels at St Werbughs Secondary School here in Chigodora. He got nine points at A-level despite not having adequate books and other resources. He was a gifted child.”

After his A-Levels, Pedro and Kaponda’s son Eliah Maina, made their way to Penhalonga to find work.

Maina said that between 2011 and 2012 they worked as “camels” – people who carry gold ore from one point to another on their backs for artisanal miners near Redwing Mine.

“We would carry gold ore from mining areas to the road, where it would be collected and sent to hammer mills. We got paid US$1 for each sack we carried. It was hard work, but it had no risks, unlike being an artisanal miner,” he said.

Maina said he vowed never to become an artisanal miner when he witnessed a fatal accident at one of the pits where he was collecting gold ore in 2012.

“The pit was just nine metres deep but there was a collapse, and one person died on the spot after being crushed by a rock. The other person, who was also trapped, died later at Mutare General Hospital,” he said.

“It was a traumatising experience because you could see the people were in pain, but the rescue effort took long. I think the collapse happened around midnight, but they were only rescued after 4am because it was difficult. It was too much for me to handle.”

Maina left Penhalonga after the incident, but Pedro stayed on.

When the mine was partly annexed by Betterbrands Mine, Pedro ventured into artisanal mining, while saving money to start mining legally.

“One night in March last year, I cannot recall the exact date,” said Kapondo, “I received a call around 10pm from his young sister who also lives in Penhalonga. I was told that he had died as a result of gassing.”

Pedro had gone to the mine shaft with his young brother to collect a shovel and other equipment. His younger brother was the first to be lowered into the pit. He tapped on the rope, to indicate he wanted to come out.

When he came up he said there was gas in the pit. Pedro decided to go inside, “because he believed it was a quick job, just to go and grab the tools and come out”, said Maina. “Unfortunately, he was gassed.”

Other miners were called to blow oxygen into the pit, but it was too late.

The miners retrieved Pedro’s body, which was sent to a private mortuary with the assistance of Manicaland Minister of State Mischeck Mugadza. He provided a coffin and food. The family did not get any help from Metallon or Betterbrands. Pedro was buried at the Old West Cemetery in Penhanga.

“The situation is particularly bad at Redwing Mine,” said Kapondo. “But there is nothing we can do. Those in charge are allowing the deaths to occur without putting in safety measures.”

LEAKED REPORTS

Metallon has lost control of the mine, but it keeps staff on site in the hope that it will be able to return it to regulated underground mining.

Police did not respond to our detailed questions. But incident reports prepared by Metallon’s rescue team on the mine, leaked to us, confirm that there have been deaths unreported by the authorities.

Most accidents are caused by mine shaft collapses or gassing. Contributing factors include poor hazard awareness, lack of proper re-entry plans, inadequate ground support, defective tools, and congested working areas with poor ventilation and lacking warning systems. Heavy rains also loosen ground and destabilise tunnels. The inexperienced miners do not know how to use machinery properly.

According to one of the reports, on 1 September 2024, Takemore Mlambo of Biriri in Chimanimani and his 19-year-old son, Tadiwa, died from gas at a pit in the Zaina section of the mine.

Mlambo had a sponsor. Sponsors are pit owners or middlemen between Betterbrands and artisanal miners, who are given peg numbers for pits after paying to be allowed to mine. They supply plastics, tents, timber, generators, food, blowers, work suits, gumboots and pit registration for the miners.

Mlambo and four other artisanal miners “holed into an old working” underground. “They then alerted co-workers who immediately hoisted them outside, where they cooked and ate. It is said that the team notified their sponsor of the new development, and they were advised not to continue mining until the next morning. The team however did not listen and hoisted Takemore Mlambo into the pit, which is approximately 40 metres deep.”

Mlambo stopped communicating with the outside team. Rodwell Dzemura called Tadiwa, who worked at a neighbouring pit, and told him they suspected that his father had been gassed.

“Tadiwa then bluntly decided to be hoisted down to rescue his father. That was when he got gassed along with his father.”

Metallon’s Redwing Mine Rescue team retrieved the bodies.

Another report, dated 3 October 2024, described how the Redwing mine rescue team was dispatched to an abandoned 40-metre deep pit in the Zaina section following reports of a strong, unpleasant odour coming from the site.

“The now deceased was reportedly missing since 27 September 2024, and relatives could not find him. On 2 October at around 19:00, an artisanal miner passed close to the area and smelt a heavy odour coming from the pit. The artisanal miner immediately approached some relatives of the deceased who had been looking for their missing relative,” the report reads.

“Redwing Mine Rescue Team attended the scene and managed to retrieve the body that was in a decomposing state. Police who attended the incident took the body to Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital (VCPH) mortuary.”

The mining manager who signed the report, stated that the pit was not barricaded and claims “the deceased was known as a habitual drunkard, and it is therefore suspected that he fell into the pit whilst drunk”.

In another report, dated 29 November 2024, the rescue team retrieved three bodies of a woman and two men who died in a tunnel. The report named them only as Courage, Garikayi and Mai D.

“Redwing Mine Rescue Team initiated the rescue around 05:30, the four illegal miners were trapped in an audit tunnel while illegally mining. One casualty was complaining of a spine injury and was admitted in VCPH and the three lifeless bodies were retrieved, the last body was out around 10:20 and handed over to ZRP Penhalonga Police,” the report reads.

The report claims the tunnel was illegally mined, used as a shelter and a “hand out [sic] for drug addicts”.

A month later, a report dated 30 December, describes how an artisanal miner called Victor Chinyowa (32) from Mafararikwa village in Marange, died from gassing in a 12-metre deep pit. The report says Chinyowa had entered the pit, which had been abandoned since October 2024, to collect his spectacles.

Another report confirmed that a body was retrieved from the Tsapaota area of the mine on 30 January 2025, a few days after this reporter visited Redwing.

Tsapaota is on unstable ground. Fifteen miners were trapped there last year, leading to the government shutting the mine. The miners extracted themselves after a three-day ordeal and the mine was reopened.

AUTHORITIES SILENT

On a visit to the site in January, we discovered that Zanu-PF members, Metallon’s own workers, individual military personnel and police officers had started their own artisanal mining operations.

We were told police take bribes to prevent investigations into deaths and mining violations to avoid further shutdowns or bad publicity.

If the police do have records of accidents and fatalities over the last year, they will not share them. We sent questions to the Zimbabwe Republic Police on 13 February and have received no response.

On 11 February, we sent questions to mining minister Winston Chitando and permanent secretary, Pfungwa Kunaka, but they did not respond.

Metallon did not respond to questions first sent on 31 January.

Betterbrands did not answer questions first sent on 18 February. Questions were sent to Sakupwanya, his PA, marketing and PR manager, and to mine manager Cuthbert Chitima.

Owen Mbwando, director of Centre for Research for Peace and Development of Africa, which has been closely following events in Penhalonga, said, “Deaths are no longer being reported while in some cases normal reporting procedures are not being followed after accidents.”

Artisanal miners and civil society organisations say bodies are often moved without the police, under cover of night to avoid drawing attention to the dangers of open-pit mining in the area. In some cases, bribes ensure that investigations into the deaths never take place.

This story was produced in collaboration with the IJ Hub.

This article first appeared on GroundUp. Read the original article here