By Own Correspondent

THE 14th edition of the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba (ZAMI) which ended recently implored mining companies to respect the rights to safety and decent wages across the mining sector.

The Southern Africa nation is endowed with numerous minerals which range from platinum-group metals (PGMs), chrome, and lithium, as well as significant deposits of gold, coal, and diamonds. The country also produces nickel, copper, black granite, and asbestos, with other potential resources like iron ore, tungsten, and various semi-precious stones.

Sadly, the huge minerals basket has not benefited the country’s populace which continues to reel under severe hardships.

The Borgen Project estimates that 60% of Zimbabwe’s   population lived on less than   US$3.65 a day, placing the country among the most impoverished in the SADC region. Rural communities, containing about 67% of Zimbabwe’s population, are the most vulnerable to drought and food insecurity and economic shocks.

About 87% of Zimbabweans lack medical aid coverage with the health sector struggling with shortages of medicines, medical personnel, high costs and a significant “brain drain” of health professionals.

Workers at the mining companies are often overworked while receiving very little salaries, which are often way below the Poverty Datum Lines.

Speaking at the event, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) general secretary, Wilfred Dimingu said the story of extraction is the lament of the Prophet, a tale of plunder where the earth's bounty is ripped away without regard for the land's pride or the people's dignity.

“I sigh alone at those who join us, who end field to field until there is no more room on earth for them.  Living desolation is their way. In Zimbabwe, we have witnessed rivers polluted, communities displaced and workers exploited in the name of short term gains. This is not stewardship. It is idolatry, worshipping mammon over the Creator.  Theologically, we are called to a different path,” he said.

The ZCC leader said sustainable development is the embodiment of this divine economy, one of abundance, not scarcity

“This means harnessing Zimbabwe's minerals, particularly those critical for renewables, for batteries, not through voracious extraction that scars the land and sidelines the poor, but through imagined mining operations that incorporate substance,” he said.

Zandile Mvududu, a project officer at Silveira House said all stakeholders concerned need to work hand in glove as they pursue a lasting solution to the challenges in the extractive sector.