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Residents Blame Corruption for Mashava Mine Collapse

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Residents Blame Corruption for Mashava Mine Collapse

By Andrew Zhou

Mashava residents have accused Masvingo West Constituency Ward 5 Councillor Korowa Manyame, traditional leaders, and police of accepting bribes from illegal miners to operate at Boss Mine, where a shaft collapsed on April 11, 2025, killed and injured several people.
Sources revealed that syndicates paid police officers at least US$10 to mine for 30 to 40 minutes. “We pay at least US$10 each to mine for just 30 to 40 minutes, and when the time is up, the officers throw tear gas at us,” said artisanal miner John Muzembi.
One community member Ostern Moyo expressed outrage over local traditional leaders prioritizing personal gain over the safety and well-being of people and the environment. “These leaders are supposed to protect the people and the environment, but instead, they’re being paid to allow illegal miners to operate in the area. Because of that, we lost our loved ones,” Moyo said.
Another resident, identified only as Shoko, called for an investigation and the arrest of those involved, particularly the police and traditional leaders.
“We want to know who was involved in this bribery scandal, and we want them to face justice. We will not rest until we get answers and see real change,” Shoko stated.
Another miner alleged that Councillor Manyame was also involved in illegal mining activities, claiming he operated his own mining syndicate. “Councillor Manyame is involved as well. He has his own syndicate there and, instead of protecting residents, he is at the forefront, accepting bribes and participating in illegal activities,” the miner said.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Councillor Manyame were unsuccessful, as he repeatedly claimed to be busy and promised to respond later but failed to do so on several occasions.
Three people died while 6 were injured in the shaft accident

Toyota Wish with 11 Involved in Accident, Kills Four

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Toyota Wish with 11 Involved in Accident, Kills Four

By Rangarirai Shanyurai

Four people died and seven others were injured when a Toyota Wish carrying 11 passengers veered off the road at the 293-kilometer peg along the Masvingo-Mutare Road on April 14.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) confirmed the accident, which occurred on April 14, 2025, at approximately 09:30, via its official X handle.
“We confirm a fatal road traffic accident that occurred at the 293-kilometer peg along Masvingo-Mutare Road on April 14 at around 09:30. Four people were killed, and seven others were injured when a Toyota Wish with 11 passengers on board veered off the road, overturned, and landed on its wheels. The bodies of the victims were taken to Masvingo Provincial Hospital mortuary for postmortem, while the injured are admitted at the same hospital,” the post read.
In a separate incident, the police are investigating a fire that occurred at a house along West Road, Tshovani, Chiredzi, on April 13. One person was burnt beyond recognition. The police are still assessing the extent of the damage to the affected families as inquiries continue.

Chiredzi community thrives with CAMPFIRE projects

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Chiredzi community thrives with CAMPFIRE projects

By Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI – Ward 32 of Chiredzi Rural District Council (CRDC) is benefiting from its natural resources and Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in various sectors, including health, education, and water and sanitation, TellZim News can report.
The community is benefiting from CAMPFIRE projects and Public Private Partnerships (PPP), which enabled them to improve their wellbeing through construction of educational infrastructure and clinics, as well as enhancements in water and sanitation.
During the first quarter of this year, 2025, Ward 32 constructed of a teacher’s house and a classroom block at Magumire Primary School.
Ward 32 councilor, who is also CRDC’s Chairperson, Aspect Mashingaidze, told TellZim News that they received a donation of US$5000 from Shangaan Safaris, which significantly impacted the construction projects.
“We received a donation of US$5000 from Shangaan Safaris which made a huge impact on the construction of a teacher’s house at Magumire Primary School as well as a third block which is currently at Foundation Level,” said Mashingaidze.
Mashingaidze also said they received another US$1100 from the Matutu Bangwa Campfire as proceeds from crocodile hunting, which was yet to be utilized towards another community project.
The ward also received US$88,000 in proceeds from the Mangula Triangle Conservation Project, a collaboration between the community, CRDC, and Malilangwe Trust, which has been utilized towards the drilling of eight community boreholes and the installation of six solarized boreholes.
“We have managed to utilize the US$88,000 from Mangula Triangle Conservation Project towards drilling of eight community boreholes for village business units and solarizing 6 borehole sites.
“We have started a one hectare nutritional garden for eight villages, refurbishment of Marambakuzara Primary School blocks as well as solarizing one classroom block at the same school. We also had a stand alone solar borehole for Marambakuzara clinic as well as 14 kilometer new road establishment from Rusununguko Fairrange to Mkwasine and construction of 3 staff houses at Marambakuzara Primary School,” said Mashingaidze.
In addition to the community efforts, Mashingaidze personally contributed to the development projects.
“I also contributed 40 bags of cement towards construction of Mulenge Primary School second classroom block as well as three tipper trucks of river sand and 10 bags of cement towards the construction of teacher’s house at Nyavasikana Primary School,” said Mashingaidze.

Zanu PF’s Confidence Mukau Cleared of Theft Charges in Diesel Scandal

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Zanu PF’s Confidence Mukau Cleared of Theft Charges in Diesel Scandal

By Staff Reporter

Zanu PF Zaka District Secretary for Women’s Affairs, Confidence Mukau, has been acquitted of theft of trust property charges related to a diesel fuel scandal.
Mukau was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) in October 2024, and her case had been ongoing since then. In a judgment dated April 17, seen by TellZim, Masvingo Magistrate Franklin Mkwananzi found Mukau not guilty of theft of trust property as defined in Section 113(2) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23, and acquitted her.
The charges stemmed from a contract in March 2020, where Mukau’s company, MITMIC Investments, was engaged by Zaka Rural District Council to supply 20,000 liters of diesel fuel for road rehabilitation projects. The council allegedly received only 10,539.98 liters, with Mukau accused of diverting the remaining 9,460.02 liters for personal use. Despite receiving ZWL$500,000 for the fuel, Mukau’s company failed to deliver the full amount, prompting several follow-ups from the council.
Her acquittal follows that of Zaka RDC Chairperson Fungai Maregedze, a close ally, who was also cleared by the same court on charges of abuse of office. Maregedze is married to Zaka Zanu PF District Coordinating Committee Chairperson and Zaka South MP Clemence Chiduwa.

Former Councillor wins Gutu East Zanu PF Primaries

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Former Councillor wins Gutu East Zanu PF Primaries

By Staff Reporter

Former Gutu Ward 14 Councillor, Zvarevashe Masvingise, won the Zanu PF ticket to contest the Gutu East by-election after triumphing in the party’s primary elections held on April 16. Masvingise secured a decisive victory, garnering 4,837 of the 6,922 votes cast.
Christopher K. Mashuro came in second with 967 votes, followed by Norbert Chikumbo with 402 votes. Maone Vheremu placed fourth with 289 votes, Phinias Chagonda received 270 votes, and Nicholas Chiname trailed with 157 votes.
Speaking after announcing the results, Zanu PF Masvingo Provincial Chairperson Robson Mavhenyengwa described the election as an internal contest, emphasizing that there were no losers, as the party itself had won. “In Zanu PF, there is no winner or loser; it’s Zanu PF that has won. Masvingise will be our candidate for this constituency, and we call on others to support him and the party,” Mavhenyengwa said.
Following his victory, Masvingise expressed confidence in securing a resounding win in the by-election.
“This is a game, and I have already won the first half. We await the second half, which I promise will be a resounding victory for Zanu PF. I pledge to continue working toward the president’s vision,” Masvingise said.
Chagonda pledged his support, stating that all losing candidates would stand behind Masvingise. Vheremu noted that, despite some polling stations opening late, the election ran smoothly and also committed to supporting the winner and the party.
The Gutu East seat became vacant after Benjamin Ganyiwa was expelled from Zanu PF for alleged disloyalty. Additionally, Zanu PF held a by-election for Ward 10 in the same constituency, prompted by the recall of former Councillor Jairos Mudonhi over disciplinary issues. Fibion Muzire won the Ward 10 election with 356 votes, ahead of Hardlife Makumbe with 247 votes and Kiston Magaya with 85 votes.
Another by-election in Ward 14 will be held to replace Masvingise, who stepped down as councillor to contest the parliamentary seat.

EMA trains traditional leaders on environmental management

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EMA trains traditional leaders on environmental management

By Andrew Zhou

Masvingo – The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) recently took a significant step towards promoting environmental conservation in Masvingo province’s rural communities by training traditional leaders on environmental management best practices.
The training programme, which were done in Gutu, Zaka and Mwenezi District, aims to equip traditional leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary to champion environmental conservation in their area of jurisdiction.
The programme covers a range of topics, including sustainable land use, waste management, gully control, illegal mining, illegal sand extraction, and wetlands management.
EMA’s Masvingo Provincial Spokesperson, Munyaradzi Mtisi, said it was an ongoing program which will cover all traditional leaders in the entire Masvingo province’s seven districts.
‘We have been targeting traditional leaders. We have so far trained traditional leaders in Mwenezi, Gutu and Zaka but, the programme will spread throughout the entire province.” said Mtisi.
Mtisi, emphasized the importance of traditional leaders in promoting environmental and natural resources conservation.
“Traditional leaders play a crucial role in shaping the values and practices of their communities. By empowering them with environmental management knowledge and skills, we can promote sustainable practices and protect Zimbabwe’s natural resources.” he said.
Traditional leaders will be equipped with training skills which they will use to train villagers on environmental management practices. They will also learn steps to take when environmental harmful practices happen in their communities.
“The leaders will train other villagers on these resources management and report issues like illegal mining, illegal sand extraction or deforestation to responsible authorities like EMA or Forestry Commission.” said Mtisi.
He said by empowering traditional leaders and other stakeholders with environmental management knowledge and skills, EMA aimed to foster a culture of sustainability and environmental stewardship in Zimbabwe.
He also said 50 traditional leaders including village heads, headmen and chiefs were trained in Mwenezi District alone.
The training programme was well-received by traditional leaders, who recognize the need for environmental conservation in their communities.
In an interview with TellZim News, Mwenezi’s Silver Village head born Mattison Imbayago said he was implementing what he learnt due training by EMA.
“We are grateful to EMA for this initiative, we are now committed to promoting environmental conservation in our communities and protecting Zimbabwe’s natural resources for future generations.
“We are now controlling gullies and those who want to cut down trees for firewood are required to obtain the permit first from the responsible authorities and failure to do so, one will face the wrath of the law,” said Imbayago.

Warriors to play World Cup qualifiers at home in September – Magwizi

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Warriors to play World Cup qualifiers at home in September – Magwizi

By Beatific Gumbwanda

TRIANGLE- Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) President Ngobile Magwizi recently promised that the Zimbabwe National Soccer team will play its world cup qualifiers campaign against Benin in September at the National Sports Stadium.
Magwizi revealed this while touring Gibbo stadium that was refurbished by Tongaat Hullets Zimbabwe (THZ) recently when he said ZIFA was working hand in glove with the government to complete works at the National Stadium.
“As you might be aware, the national team has not been playing in the country because our stadia are not ready for us to conduct international matches. This is because they have not met the required set CAF standards but I can promise you that come September, we will host the world cup qualifiers in our own National Sports Stadium because we are working towards achieving that,” said Magwizi.
He hailed THZ for refurbishing Gibbo Stadium to better standards when he toured the homologated Stadium before Triangle United Football Club (TUFC) drew with Bulawayo giants, Highlanders.
TUFC received a green light from ZIFA recently to host local matches at Gibbo Stadium following its refurbishment.
Magwizi highlighted that though it wasn’t their mandate to upgrade football infrastructure, they were working closely with government and partners to upgrade football infrastructure across the country in order to meet CAF standards.
“As ZIFA, our role is to manage football and infrastructure is a key component of having football played though it is not our responsibility to construct the infrastructure , we lobby and motivate partners and authorities to work with us to build infrastructure.
“Very impressive work has been done by Triangle and this is what we speak to when we talk about partnerships with the corporate sector, where they come in and commit resources to build infrastructure that benefits the community. We had communicated with them to build stadiums to meet the standards recommended by CAF and FIFA and in two months they had already built new changing rooms, a new tunnel and added new ablution facilities,” said Magwizi.
Bikita Minerals have since relocated from Sakubva Stadium in Mutare which they had been using as their home ground to Gibbo Stadium.

Masvingo women challenge economic barriers with innovative projects

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Masvingo women challenge economic barriers with innovative projects

By Meditation Mposi

In a powerful display of resilience and unity, women from Masvingo Rural District Council ward 13 under the First Lady Widows Association and Saving and Credit Cooperation (SACCO) are making a living through various income generating projects.
The women recently gathered at Chikarudzo Business Centre on April 9 where they showcased their successes to motivate others.
The event was held under the theme ‘women participating in sectors of the economy without barriers’ where they showcased projects including detergent making, hairdressing and fence making.
Speaking at the event ward 13 councilor, Sarah Munemo said cooperatives empowered women and gave them independence from relying on their husbands.
“These projects empower women and relieved them from entirely depending on their husbands. They are now able to generate income to support their families. Widows as the only pillars of their families are now able to send their children to school through such projects. This reduces early child marriages, drug and substance abuse among children from underprivileged families.
She said they were hoping to generate more income from the projects and showcase their success stories at provincial level.
“Our aim is to generate more income so that we can be able to attend events at provincial level participating in our numbers because we are facing unfair competition with those in the urban. We wish to even host cooking competitions in our ward,” said Munemo.
Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Officer Varaidzo Revesai encouraged women to register their co-operatives which she said would assist them in getting grants and loans amongst other benefits.
“I encourage you to keep on doing your projects to prevent financial conflicts in your homes and in community. Registering your projects makes you eligible for grants. There is a 20 percent which is set aside to give to women in business,” said Revesai.
SACCO Secretary Nyemudzai Mugochi said the projects which was started in 2022 was thriving with the cooperative acquiring a commercial stand.
“We formed SACCO in 2022 and registered it in 2024. We save US$5 per person every month and so far we have managed to purchase a stand and we want to build infrastructure for the projects. People in our group borrow money and return it with 20 percent interest.
“I am grateful to SACCO as we are now able to support our families, borrowing money and returning it on time,” said Mugochi.
Kumbirai Chinyere from New Look Saloon said their aim was to reduce early child marriages by equipping young women and girls with skills they can use to generate income.
“Our aim is to support young girls, especially those who did not excel academically. Empowering young girls keep them engaged and helps prevent early child marriages and substance abuse.
“If a woman gets into a marriage empowered it can help them in navigating issues of abuse and enable her to financially support her family. So far I have eight members which I am training,” said Chinyere.
Docars Mugabe from the fence making project said they had recorded success from their end as the group has already acquired two fence making machines from the time they started in 2024.
“We started the project in December 2024 and we are 60 members. We have managed buy two fence making machines and employed a person who do that for us,” said Chinyere.
Ropafadzo Dunira, a member of the catering team said they offer incredible catering services and were making a living out of it.
“We offer incredible catering services for weddings, birthdays, family gatherings. We started this project in 2021with the aid of our councilor. Our catering name is Lulu’s Events.
“Those who are in need of catering aid are free to conduct us,” said Dunira.

Residents slam Masvingo council over neglected roads

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Residents slam Masvingo council over neglected roads

By Beverly Bizeki

Masvingo residents slammed Citycouncil for years of neglecting road maintenance especially in high density suburbs where some roads have become almost impassable following the heavy rains received this season making it difficult for motorists to navigate.
Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Alliance (MURRA) spokesperson Godfrey Mutimba criticized the local authority for failing to address the long-standing issue.
“Council must improve the quality of road construction and maintenance. This is a recurring problem, every rainy season we see more potholes because they fail to conduct timely and durable repairs. They often do temporary and substandard work, using soil to fill potholes, which gets washed away with the rains,” said Mutimba.
A local resident Selestino Mutuna said the poor state of the roads was putting children at risk, as drivers now frequently veer onto sidewalks to avoid potholes.
“Motorists are avoiding Nyadzonya and Mugagao streets in Mucheke altogether because the potholes are just too many. This poses a danger to children playing nearby the roads as cars often have to veer off the road to evade the potholes. This has led to conflicts among motorists who are forced to share the limited drivable space.
“Even if there are no resources, it might be better for council to remove the remaining tar and level the roads as dust roads,” said Mutuna.
Another resident, who chose to remain anonymous, accused council of neglecting infrastructure while focusing on less urgent matters.
“Our council always finds resources for chasing vendors around, but somehow there are never resources for crucial infrastructure like roads,” said the resident.
Masvingo Mayor and ward 4 councilor Alec Tabe acknowledged the dire situation and said the local authority was in the process of acquiring a grader for road works.
“We are aware of the situation in residential areas, and our engineering team is already working on it. We have noted particularly bad conditions in Mugagao and Maokomavi,” said Tabe.
Frustrated residents have turned to a ward 2 WhatsApp group to appeal for intervention from their local councilor.
“Our plea is for the councilor to help. These roads have been neglected for close to 20 years since we started developing these stands. They’ve never been serviced and are now full of holes. We are struggling to use our vehicles,” said one resident.
Ward 2 councilor Benson Hwata acknowledged the problem and said they had challenges with getting a grader for the repairs.
“Our main challenge is the unavailability of a grader. Once we secure one, we will begin road repairs. The roads are in terrible condition and full of potholes,” said Hwata.

Junior High excels in environmental debate competitions

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Junior High excels in environmental debate competitions

By Staff Reporter

A team from Junior High School recently made a remarkable achievement in the Sustainable Environmental Conversational Trust Africa (SECTA) competitions held in Mutare last weekend

Out of 36 participating schools, the team secured an impressive third place, showcasing their exceptional debating skills and knowledge on environmental issues.

The Junior High School team impressed judges with their well-crafted arguments and presentations, demonstrating a deep understanding of environmental issues.

The team’s hard work and dedication earned them a certificate and a trophy, recognizing their commitment to environmental awareness.

The team patron Netsai Hove said the team’s achievement was a testament to their passion and commitment to making a positive impact on the environment.

“We are incredibly proud of their achievement and look forward to seeing them soaring to the next stage,” said Hove.

The Junior High School team’s achievement has earned them a spot in the regional SECTA competitions to be held in South Africa, where they will compete against the best teams in the region.

The SECTA competitions have been instrumental in promoting environmental awareness and education among young people, providing a valuable platform for students to develop their critical thinking, public speaking, and debating skills.

The Junior High School team’s achievement is a reflection of the impact of these competitions in shaping the next generation of environmental leaders.

The SECTA competition are aimed at promoting environmental awareness and education among youths, providing a platform for students to engage in meaningful discussions and debates on pressing environmental concerns.

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