By Leopold Munhende
THE future of Mavuradonha Wilderness, one of post-independence Zimbabwe’s conservation success stories, is in grave danger due to unregulated chrome mining activities by Chinese entities, investigations have revealed.
The foreign miners are being shielded by heavyweights in Mashonaland Central, who are wantonly disregarding the government’s 2020 ban on mining activities in all national parks.
Located near the towns of Guruve and Centenary, Mavuradonha covers 600 square kilometres of the eastern part of the Zambezi escarpment. It was declared a monument by the government in 2017 because of its historical and cultural importance.
Mavuradonha is also renowned for its rich biodiversity comprising 229 bird species, including several large eagles, and 41 species of large and medium sized mammals.
In 1988 it was declared a protected area by the government through the Muzarabani Rural District Council (RDC) in recognition of its scenic beauty and conservation value.
The nature reserve was one of the success stories of the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE), whose objective was to ensure that local communities derived direct benefits from natural resources in their areas.
Mavuradonha also boasts of numerous historical and cultural sites, including San rock art and Mutota’s Kraal ruins, which makes it a potential tourism magnet for Zimbabwe.
Over the years, however, encroaching mining activities have been destroying the pristine environment and investigations by CITE exposed how some Chinese companies are being allowed to plunder Mavuradonha with impunity with the aid of officials from institutions that should be protecting the reserve.
The groundwork for the destruction of the reserve was laid on July 7, 2015 when the Muzarabani RDC signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Afrochine Smelting, a subsidiary of China’s second-biggest stainless steel products manufacturer, the Tsingshan Group, to explore for chrome.
This was despite the fact that the authorities had embarked on a process to push for Mavuradonha to be declared a World Heritage Site. It was also a few years after the Muzarabani RDC signed an agreement with a private company to spruce up the wilderness.
A 2012 agreement with Nzou Safaris was meant to facilitate the restoration of the nature reserve to its past glory to attract tourists and help the local community benefit from rich natural resources in their area.
Floodgates for the Chinese
The MOU with Afrochine appears to have opened the floodgates for other Chinese-owned companies to invade the reserve as two others, namely Labenmon Investments and Alaska, had joined the scramble for chrome at Mavuradonha by 2019.
Documents obtained during investigations showed that National Monuments and Museums of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) regional director Godhi Bvocho promised to facilitate Afrochine’s entry into the reserve through a 2017 letter.
The NMMZ is a parastatal charged with the preservation of ancient, historical and natural monuments, relics and other objects of historical or scientific value or interest, including nature reserves such as Mavuradonha.
Bvocha promised to link Afrochine with the Muzarabani RDC, the community and traditional leaders as well as Nzou Safaris, which was running a concession at the reserve at the time.
“Access to Mukura 100 Mine (Reg 40712 BM) is hereby granted,” reads part of the letter by the NMMZ regional boss to Afrochine, which is in our possession.
“The NMMZ will in the shortest possible time convene a stakeholder meeting to familiarise with your operational procedures and requirements for a smooth sailing (sic) of activities.”
Bvocho made the undertaking despite the fact that the Muzarabani RDC had an agreement with Mavuradonha that prohibited mining activities inside the reserve, including prospecting for minerals.
He even proposed to give the Chinese a free reign to carry out open cast mining at the site, the documents showed.
Afrochine immediately descended on Mavuradonha, broke down locked gates and opened gravel roads to access its mine, leading to the destruction of natural habitat.
Afrochine ignored cancellation of MOU
This alarmed the Muzarabani RDC, which was forced to cancel the controversial MOU with the Chinese firm, but this did not stop Allen Mashumba, who was fronting Afrochine from leading the foray into the wilderness.
Mashumba took advantage of a raging border dispute between the Muzarabani and Guruve RDCs to get the nod to continue mining through the latter’s then chief executive Tinos Marisa.
Marisa was fired by the Guruve RDC last year for abuse of office arising from a matter that was not related to the illegal mining activities at the nature reserve.
It also emerged during investigations that on March 22, 2021, Marisa with the help of an Environmental Management Agency (EMA) senior official Nicholas Jombe facilitated the granting of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) certificate for Labenmon to mine chrome inside the reserve.
Jombe is EMA’s EIA and ecosystems protection officer. Labenmon’s licence was granted under the guise that it was for a Guruve nickel mine.
The two facilitated the issuing of the certificate despite being aware that Mavhuradonha had been ascertained to be under the jurisdiction of the Muzarabani RDC, and not Guruve through a government process.
On May 5, 2021 Marisa wrote to Mavuradonha to exert pressure on the reserve to allow Labenmon to start mining operations following indications that there was resistance from the authorities at the wilderness.
“A complaint has been raised by Labenmon Investments that your organisation is barring access to its mining claims by way of locking your entrance gates,” the letter read.
“To avoid loss of time and financial resources to both parties through impending litigation against you, it is prudent that you immediately provide them with their lawful access to resume operations.”
Vandalising infrastructure
CITE obtained four copies of EIA certificates signed by Jombe that cleared the Chinese to start mining chrome in different sites inside Mavhuradona, which are wrongly identified as under the jurisdiction of the Guruve RDC.
The two companies tore down part of the state-of-the-art fence that was erected to help keep animals in the wilderness safe and reduce human and wildlife conflicts.
They changed keys at the main gate and disrupted business that had attracted interest from the internationally recognised Global Environment Facility (GEF) worth US$12 million.
Opencast mining being done by Labenmon and Afrochine has left gaping holes such as those found on the southern parts of the wilderness, which have seen wild animals falling into their deaths in numbers.
Mining activities continued despite a July 5, 2021 High Court order that barred Afrochine Smelting and Labenmon Investments “from entering the gate that leads to Varden Safaris’ game breeding and botanical reserves without Varden Safari’s prior consent.”
The court order came at a time Mavuradonha Wilderness was awaiting conclusion of processes by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to review its application for a World Heritage Site status.
As recently as September 4, 2024, the NMMZ’s Bvocho wrote to the authorities at Mavhuradonha Wilderness asking them to give access to officials from another Chinese miner Jin An Chrome to reach a mining site inside the reserve.
The Chinese nationals were identified as Kai Wang, Zhiyi Guan and Chong nan Qia and the purpose of their visit was to explore for mining opportunities, documents in our possession show.
Investigations showed that the scramble for chrome inside the game reserve, which is being facilitated by compromised government officials, is frustrating efforts by the Muzarabani RDC to restore Mavuradonha.
After the Nzou Safraris arrangement, the local authority also reached another deal with Varden Safaris that envisaged improved protection of the reserve’s flora and fauna, developing tourist attractions and drawing in more visitors.
According to the agreement, human activities that included mining were supposed to be outlawed as the council agreed to “maintain Mavhuradonha Wilderness area free from human settlement and construction of any type.”
Murazabani CEO Ennie Mutema and Andrew Henderson of Varden Safaris appended their signatures to the agreement that is in our possession.
“The council also agrees to maintain the area free from miners, mineral panners or prospectors for the duration of the period and to abide by all EMA and Minerals Act laws,” the agreement said in part.
NMMZ boss ignored protests
Varden Safaris’ Henderson said Bvocho ignored their protests that allowing mining activities in the reserve would harm its recently acquired national monument status.
“As soon as we achieved national monument status, Bvocho wrote a letter granting Afrochine access into Mavuradonha and it is that letter we believe has emboldened them to continue breaking our locks, gaining illegal entry as well as other miners as they have realised that they have an ally in the NMMZ,” he said.
“Bvocho chose to ignore our protests and continues to back the miners,” said Varden Safaris’ Henderson.
“Already, he had allowed San He Mining, another Chinese firm to invade and mine.”
The decisions were made against recommendations from Muzarabani RDC’s executive officer natural resources Elmon Kaombe.
Bvocho also ignored a Muzarabani RDC resolution to bar prospecting and mining in the Mavuradonha Wilderness area, which waspresented to him on May 31, 2023.
“The area of concern is a wilderness area declared so by a general circular No. 369 of 1988. It is also a national monument area declared so by SI 6 of 2017,” Kaombe said.
“It is against this background that Muzarabani RDC wants this area set aside for conservation.
“Surface and alluvial mining of chrome cannot leave ecological benefits, but degradation.
“San He Mining needs to look for alternative sites, which are outside the wilderness area.”
San He Mining even defied a November 15, 2024 order from President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s office to stop mining activities at Mavuradonha, investigations showed.
The Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) said it had been alerted to the fact that San He Mining had started chrome mining in the Mavuradonha Wilderness, along Utete River.
The miner had closed the entire riverine system in the area, which posed dangers of flooding especially during this rainy season and massive land degradation, the order said.
San He Mining was ordered to rehabilitate the land under the strict supervision and monitoring of EMA, Muzarabani district development coordinator and the OPC.
“All costs of rehabilitation are carried by the individual or company that degraded the land,” the order said.
“(The Zimbabwe Republic Police) ZRP and EMA are being requested to stop the activities, impound the equipment involved as well as effecting arrests.”
‘Don’t point fingers’
Bvocho defended the presence of Afrochine Smelting at the nature reserve, saying Mavuradonha was not yet a national monument when the Chinese miner obtained a lease agreement from the Muzarabani RDC and EMA licences.
He said some of the mining licenses were issued as far back as during the colonial era and that authorities, including the police and the Mines ministry had failed to stop the mining activities.
“There are people with valid mining claims in Mavhuradonha Wilderness that were pegged in the 1960s and 1970s,” he told CITE.
“We do not stop them from getting into the site to see their claim but will then deny them their application to mine.
“When someone wants permission to get into the monument, I will not deny them.”
Bvocho said it was unfair to blame him alone for the chaos at Mavhuradonha because the Muzarabani RDC, local chiefs, the Local Government and Mines ministries had all failed to remove the Chinese miners from the reserve.
“It is not only our fault. We have failed together,” he said. “Is there no armed ZRP being hired to guide? Why are they not stopping them?
“The letter I wrote is not more powerful than a court order, we should not point fingers where there is corporate failure.”
Amkela Sidange, the EMA spokesperson, said although the agency was aware of the cases, most of the issues fell under the purview of other government departments. Sidange said they had handled cases of violation of environmental regulations at Mavhuradonha.
Efforts to get responses from the Chinese miners were fruitless.
In September 2020, the government banned mining activities in all wildlife parks and game reserves in response to pressure from conservationists and environmentalists, who accused two Chinese companies of exploring for coal in the biggest national park, Hwange.
At the time, then Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa said steps were being undertaken to call all mining titles held in national parks. The Chinese embassy in Harare recently issued a strongly worded advisory to Chinese investors in Zimbabwe to respect local laws.
The investors were urged to “build trust through community and environment stewardship, promote fair labour practices and comply with environmental laws.”
Support CITE’s fearless, independent journalism. Your donation helps us amplify community voices, fight misinformation, and hold power to account. Help keep the truth alive. Donate today
Leave a comment