by NQOBANI MATIBELA
GWANDA – FOR decades, Gwanda town in Matabeleland South Province was synonymous with mining.
Long before it became a provincial capital, Gwanda grew as a service centre for surrounding gold, asbestos and base-metal mines scattered across rural districts such as Filabusi, Colleen Bawn, West Nicholson and Vumbachikwe.
Although most mining operations were located outside the town itself, Gwanda functioned as the administrative, commercial and social heartbeat of the region’s extractive economy.
During the early 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, large-scale commercial mining played a significant role in sustaining the local economy.
Notable operations included the Colleen Bawn asbestos mine, Jessie Mine near Filabusi, Vumbachikwe Gold Mine, and several medium-scale gold producers around West Nicholson and Gwanda’s rural hinterland.
These mines provided thousands of formal jobs and supported secondary industries such as transport, retail, accommodation and engineering services based in Gwanda.
The benefits to local communities were substantial. Mining companies invested in worker housing, clinics, schools, clean water systems and sporting facilities.
Football grounds, community halls and well-equipped schools emerged in mining areas, while Gwanda town benefited from increased commercial activity, improved service delivery and a stable working population.
Education opportunities expanded as mine workers could afford school fees, while health outcomes improved through employer-supported clinics and referral systems.
However, many of these operations are no longer active or now operate far below their former capacity.
“Several factors contributed to the decline. The global collapse of asbestos markets severely affected Colleen Bawn Mine,” said elderly Sukulwenkosi Moyo, whose father worked in Filabusi in the early 1980s.
Other challenges included ageing infrastructure, depleted ore bodies, limited capital reinvestment and fluctuating mineral prices, all of which weakened gold operations.
Kholwani Khupe, who grew up in Colleen Bawn, noted that “from the late 1990s into the 2000s, Zimbabwe’s broader economic challenges — including hyperinflation, foreign currency shortages, power outages and policy uncertainty — further strained the mining sector.”
Thandiwe Ngwenya, whose family livelihood depended on West Nicholson’s mining economy, added: “ZANU-PF government policies produced mixed outcomes. In the early 1980s and much of the 1990s, mining benefited from relative policy stability, state support for industrial growth and access to regional markets. However, from the early 2000s, policies linked to land reform, indigenisation and tighter state controls created uncertainty for investors.”
While aimed at empowering locals, inconsistent implementation and limited access to capital discouraged long-term investment.
Today, mining in the Gwanda region is largely driven by small-scale and artisanal operations, particularly gold mining.
Nonceba Maphosa, a local trader who sells amacimbi, commonly known as mopane worms, observed: “While these activities provide livelihoods, they rarely deliver the structured community benefits once offered by large commercial mines.”
The decline of formal mining has had serious social consequences. Youth unemployment remains high, contributing to alcohol abuse, prostitution, petty crime and outward migration.
Without stable employment, many young people face shrinking prospects and growing social vulnerability.
Despite these challenges, Gwanda’s mineral potential remains significant.
Gold, lithium prospects and other base minerals still exist.
Reviving the sector through transparent policies, infrastructure investment and community-focused development could once again restore jobs, dignity and economic hope to Matabeleland South.
