By Kovedzayi Takawira
Shurugwi – At a mining site on the edge of Boterekwa, a stretch of the Shurugwi-Zvishavane Road in the Midlands province, two young miners wipe their hands and receive two US$10 notes.
It is the payment for selling a few points of raw gold dug from their pit along the mountain range. They step away from the vehicle, quickly sharing their spoils before the next miner steps forward.
No receipts are issued, and no logbook is kept; only a bundle of cash and a small scale sit on the passenger seat.
For these miners, trust is built on buyers who ask no questions: no permits, no identification, no proof of origin.
Moments later, another miner in his 20s steps away from the vehicle, disgruntled with the price he has been offered.
“Vapfana imi mobatirira, nekuti mashefu enyu hapo pano! (Young men, you are duping us because your boss is not here!) ” he shouts.
For these miners, selling through informal channels is not a reckless gamble; it is survival. In this shadow system, their gold will almost certainly never see the Fidelity Gold Refinery lights.
What plays out daily in Shurugwi mirrors Zimbabwe’s gold economy, where policy gaps, weak enforcement, and political protection systematically divert gold from formal channels.
According to Zimstat, gold remains Zimbabwe’s top export in October 2025, accounting for 45.2% (US$3.6 billion) of total exports that month.
The precious mineral is Zimbabwe’s most important foreign currency earner and one of the last viable stabilisers of the country’s fragile economy.
Presenting the 2025 Mid-Term Budget Review in July, Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion Minister Mthuli Ncube projected that the national gold output would rise to 43,000kg in 2025, up from 38,000kg in 2024. This is driven by global gold prices that hit a record US$3,400.80/oz in May.
Official prices range from US$117 to US$124 per gram, depending on the purity. Yet in Boterekwa, a gram is fetching US$100 in cash instantly, no paperwork, no bureaucracy.
And unlike Fidelity, which requires at least 10grams per sale, these pit buyers will take any quantity, even a single point. This is a huge drawcard for artisanal miners.
When the sun sets, miners pile into trucks headed back to Shurugwi.
The small-time buyers pack their scales and cash, driving into town where the second layer of the trade begins, with middlemen bundling the day’s small quantities into larger consignments destined for higher-tier buyers. By the time the gold arrives in Makusha Surburb, it would have acquired a new identity, uncoupled from any mine, pit, license, or paperwork.
At the house of a well-known buyer in the area, the atmosphere is unmistakably tense. High security fencing and armed guards underscore the stakes. Two young men take turns checking who has arrived, ushering some visitors inside while turning others away.
Locals say he moves significant amounts of gold out of Shurugwi, where higher bidders await. All this happens despite the presence of Fidelity agents in the small town.
“Gold is sold here anytime of the day, and it’s very rare not to find cash,” revealed, a long-time miner who was also at the house to sell his five points.
Each gram that bypasses official channels deepens Zimbabwe’s economic wounds. Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) warns that the country is losing hundreds of millions in United States dollars annually through illicit gold flows.
A senior officer from the CID Minerals, Flora and Fauna Unit in the Midlands confirmed the scale of the problem.
“Arrests happen almost daily. But the whole chain is compromised. Ask yourself how gold moves from Shurugwi to Gweru, Harare, or even the border without being intercepted with all these roadblocks,” he said.
“Before you even finish cautioning some suspects, a call comes from a higher office instructing you to release them.”
He adds that gold is routinely moved across the country to Harare and then out to South Africa before reaching markets like the UAE.
Economist Tafara Mtutu says the true scale of the damage is likely much higher.
“We cannot even quantify the real loss from gold smuggling because Zimbabwe has no credible production figures. What Fidelity receives is only a fraction of what is actually mined,” he said.
One recent prosecution illustrates the complexity of the smuggling chain. In October this year, a 33-year-old Zambian national, Joseph Phiri, was intercepted while attempting to smuggle 3,118 grams of gold out of Zimbabwe through the Chirundu One-Stop Border Post.
He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, a rare case where the law followed through in an environment where many smugglers escape with only fines or warnings.
But such convictions are not the norm.
She claimed she had mistakenly taken the wrong bag. The case remains a symbol of how deeply intertwined the gold underworld is with political influence.
Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC)’s latest 2025 report singled out the RMG international Airport as a major conduit for gold smuggling, with Dubai in the United Arab Emirates emerging as the main destination. South Africa’s OR Tambo International Airport is also flagged as both an entry and exit point for smuggled gold.
Mtutu says leakages hit the entire economy, not just the state’s books.
“Gold leakages drain the foreign currency we urgently need to stabilise the local currency. This is why Zimbabwe has one of the lowest forex reserves in the region despite having a sizeable economy,” he said, warning that even when foreign currency is earned, poor fiscal governance weakens its impact.
“Even if more forex came in, it would not help without strong governance. The problem is not only leakages, but how the inflows are allocated and managed.”
Miners argue that the state itself fuels leakages through bureaucracy and unrealistic requirements.
Even with a Fidelity one-stop point in Shurugwi, artisanal miners must present paperwork and a minimum of 10 grams of smelted gold per transaction, a threshold many cannot meet.
