By Thabisani Dube
For residents of Kamativi in Matabeleland North Province, the arrival of lithium mining has revived hopes of employment and development. But as extraction expands, some community members say they are still waiting to see meaningful improvements in their livelihoods and greater involvement in decisions affecting their area.
Village Head Anita Ncube of Village 21 in Kamativi said local people expected mining investment to translate into tangible benefits, including jobs, better roads, schools, boreholes and clinics.
“Lithium mining and processing is happening in our area, but as community members we are not seeing meaningful benefits,” she said.
Her concerns highlight a question facing mining communities across Zimbabwe: how should companies respond when residents demand better services, environmental protection and a meaningful role in decisions about the resources beneath their land?
The debate is particularly relevant as demand for minerals used in the global energy transition grows. Lithium is essential to many rechargeable batteries, creating opportunities for Zimbabwe to attract investment and expand mineral production. Yet the economic promise of mining must be considered alongside the environmental and social responsibilities that accompany extraction.
Kamativi, historically associated with tin mining, has attracted renewed investment through lithium production. For some traditional leaders, the mine has offered hope of employment and opportunities for young people.
Chief Nelukoba Dingani told New Ziana that Kamativi Mining Company’s operations had created employment opportunities for young people in Hwange District.
“The coming of KMC has created jobs for the youths in Hwange District. A number of youths were indulging in drug abuse due to idle minds, but with the coming of the mine, we are going to see a lot of youths busy with going to work,” he said.
His remarks reflected the expectations that mining investment could create jobs and provide young people with alternatives to unemployment. However, residents say employment opportunities alone do not resolve all the concerns surrounding mining operations, particularly where communities expect broader improvements in local services and livelihoods.
Davidson Mvula, a 79-year-old resident of Ward 11, said that communities had experienced different phases of mining without seeing the scale of livelihood improvements they expected.
“We have lived in Kamativi for many years dating back to the times of tin mining and now its lithium. We however continue to experience the same challenges of unemployment of locals and limited platforms to engage with mining companies,” he said.
Mvula called for greater opportunities for young people, skills development and livelihood support for women, arguing that mining companies should work more closely with communities and listen to their concerns.
The question of community participation has also emerged around plans to relocate 65 graves to make way for Kamativi Mining Company’s operations in its dry tailings area.
In March 2026, the Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE) reported that residents had called for consultations before the graves were moved. The company said the proposed relocation complied with the Cemeteries Act and was necessary to clear land for ongoing mining activities.
Ward 3 councillor Bryan Chikumbo said the process required discussions with community members and elders before any relocation took place.
“We need proper consultations before the relocation of these graves is done. We need to consult our elders and take their opinions seriously,” he said.
The dispute illustrates why responsiveness cannot be measured solely by whether a company complies with legal requirements. Where mining affects burial sites and cultural heritage, meaningful consultation is essential to understanding local concerns and determining how they should be addressed.
The issue is whether consultations will lead to decisions that affected families and communities consider fair, and whether their concerns will be addressed before irreversible steps are taken.
Similar questions about environmental responsibility have emerged in Hwange, Zimbabwe’s coal-mining centre, where communities have raised concerns about pollution, land degradation and the condition of water sources.
A community-led environmental audit of Hwange Colliery’s operations, supported by the Centre for Natural Resource Governance, documented concerns about pollution, environmental degradation, disrupted water supplies, disused mining dumps and limited community consultation.
The findings highlighted the need for stronger environmental compliance, rehabilitation of damaged land and greater community involvement in monitoring mining activities. Community representatives also called for abandoned pits and tailings dumps to be addressed so that they did not remain hazards to people, livestock and the environment.
The audit demonstrated how residents can document their experiences and use evidence to engage companies and government institutions. Such participation can turn complaints into specific demands for corrective action, although the publication of concerns alone does not establish that the problems have been resolved.
The importance of effective monitoring was also highlighted during stakeholder meetings held in Hwange and Binga by the World Wide Fund for Nature Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Organisation in 2026.
The meetings brought together communities, traditional leaders, government departments, mining companies, civil society organisations and local authorities to discuss responsible mining, environmental protection, land restoration and the sharing of benefits.
Environmental Management Agency district environmental officer Phinias Mudimba said communities needed training in responsible mining, monitoring, land restoration and environmental protection before mining activities expanded further in Binga.
The discussions also considered community-based environmental monitoring systems, through which trained residents could work with local authorities, the Environmental Management Agency and the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to identify and report pollution, water contamination, environmental degradation and human-wildlife conflict.
Such systems could provide a structured way for residents to raise concerns and follow up on company and regulatory responses. Their effectiveness, however, depends on whether reports receive timely attention and lead to appropriate action.
For mining companies, responding to community concerns involves more than occasional donations or public meetings. It requires accessible complaints mechanisms, transparent information about environmental impacts, meaningful consultation and evidence that agreed corrective measures have been implemented.
It also requires clarity about responsibility. Companies must address the impacts of their operations, regulators must enforce environmental requirements, and local authorities must ensure that development planning and public services respond to community needs.
Independent assessment is another way to examine mining performance. Kamativi Mine was scheduled for an on-site assessment under the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) from 26 to 30 October 2026. The assessment is intended to gather information from affected communities, workers and other stakeholders, alongside inspections of the operation and associated facilities.
According to IRMA’s published information, the assessment will examine the mine against its responsible-mining standard, with a public report expected to outline its findings and performance against individual requirements. The assessment provides an opportunity for stakeholders to submit concerns and contribute evidence, but its findings should not be anticipated before the process is completed.
For communities around Kamativi and Hwange, the central issue is whether the concerns they raise lead to measurable improvements. Residents need to know whether environmental hazards are addressed, damaged land is rehabilitated, cultural heritage is respected and local people have fair opportunities to participate in the economic benefits of mining.
Zimbabwe’s mineral resources offer important economic opportunities, but the long-term value of mining cannot be measured through production and investment alone. It must also be assessed through environmental protection, accountability and the treatment of people living alongside mining operations.
When communities speak, the response should be more than an acknowledgement. It should be visible in decisions, corrective action and results that residents can verify.
