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Source: Is a betrayed liberation struggle why Zimbabweans today fear confronting repression?

The seeds of today’s silence were sown decades ago.

 
This morning I woke up to a program on state-controlled television featuring veterans of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle recounting their experiences during the war. 
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As always, I was deeply moved, nearly to tears, hearing the immense sacrifices these brave men and women made when they were mere boys and girls. 
No one with a conscience can listen to their suffering under the colonial regime without a bleeding heart and a groaning soul. 
They endured unspeakable hardships so that all Zimbabweans could finally enjoy the fruits of our country’s abundant wealth, which at the time was hoarded by a privileged few.
Yet, a far deeper pain gripped me as I watched these “sons and daughters of the soil.” 
Forty-six years after independence, they remain trapped in poverty. 
Many left school—some forced, others voluntarily—to join the fight, including one veteran who recalled abandoning his education in grade six. 
They risked everything, and thousands never returned home in 1980. 
But for what? 
Today, these elderly freedom fighters must queue for food aid, depend on government handouts for boreholes, and go without basic medication. 
Cruelly, they are forced to sing and dance for young men amassing millions from public tenders, hoping for scraps from “presidential schemes” or backyard empowerment projects like rearing chickens and hawking secondhand clothes just to survive.
Behind their eyes on screen lies a silent, gnawing question: why did we risk our lives?
Today, the true beneficiaries of their blood and sacrifice are the ruling elite and their cronies who loot our national wealth with impunity. 
These are individuals who casually “lose” over $10 million to lovers, gift fleets of luxury SUVs and cash bundles to sycophants, and secure multi-million-dollar public contracts without going to tender—often failing to deliver, yet receiving even more contracts. 
They freely smuggle our gold to cities like Dubai to buy lavish properties, while their destructive mining activities devastate local communities for zero return. 
Today, a staggering 85 percent of Zimbabweans languish in poverty, while a tiny elite prospers. 
Statistics reveal that just 10 percent of the population controls over 59 percent of national income, and a minuscule 0.01 percent reigns as “High Net-Worth Individuals.”
This reality leads to an insidious, rarely discussed question: why is today’s generation not standing up against this injustice? 
Why are young Zimbabweans not confronting those who are stealing their inheritance and destroying their future, just as the 1970s generation confronted their oppressors?
Observer theories often cite the brutal intolerance of the regime, which bans peaceful protests and deploys heavily armed security forces, as demonstrated by the horrific street massacres in Harare in 2018 and 2019. 
Fear of state violence is valid, but it does not fully explain the silence. 
The teenage fighters of the 1970s did not ask the colonial regime for permission to fight, nor were they met with roses and hugs. 
They faced bullets, prison, and landmines, yet they fought on.
The difference today lies in the psychological impact of a betrayed struggle.
People who believe in a cause and trust they will reap the rewards of their sacrifice do not fear danger. 
That conviction animated the 1970s generation. 
But history has taught us a devastating lesson: those fighters bled and died only for their cause to be hijacked by a new 0.01 percent. 
Who today would risk their life for an uncertain outcome? 
What guarantee is there that replacing the current regime will not simply empower a new set of masters?
Politicians are adept at portraying themselves as messiahs, preaching justice and prosperity until they gain power, only to discard the people back into misery. 
The faces at the top may change, but the math stays the same: we risk everything only to crown a different 0.01 percent.
The true, subconscious reason Zimbabweans hesitate to confront repression is not merely fear of state brutality, but a pervasive sense of futility. 
What would we be fighting, suffering, or dying for? 
The tragedy of our parents’ hijacked revolution is that it shattered our faith in meaningful change. 
People do not fear the regime’s bullets half as much as they fear dying for another lie. 
Until we believe a new struggle will actually bring freedom, the silence will remain.
Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to contact him on +263715667700 or mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com

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Source: Former G40 kingpin, Walter Mzembi, applies to rejoin ZANU PF ⋆ Pindula News

Former cabinet minister Walter Mzembi has formally applied to rejoin ZANU PF after being expelled from the party following the 2017 military-assisted transition that ousted Robert Mugabe.

Mzembi, once regarded as a key member of the G40 faction, served as tourism minister and later foreign affairs minister.

He was appointed foreign affairs minister at the height of ZANU PF factional battles between G40 and the Lacoste faction.

His application was heard during an emergency Provincial Executive Council (PEC) meeting held recently at Masvingo Polytechnic, where members deliberated on his request for readmission.

Muzembi’s letter, which was tabled before the PEC, reads in part: “I write to respectfully apply for readmission into ZANU PF. My membership was rescinded by a special emergency central committee meeting on November 19, 2017.

“I sincerely wish to renew my membership and contribute positively to its programmes and activities. ZAU PF is a party of depth, and I wish to contribute to its development. I commit to uphold the constitution of the party if readmitted.”

During the debate, some party members said they will welcome his return on condition that he becomes a card-carrying member at cell level and does not occupy any leadership position.

Others opposed his readmission, arguing that Mzembi had been attacking the party on social media.

The debate continued until provincial political commissar Brian Munyoro proposed that Mzembi be summoned to the Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) to answer questions about his case before a decision is made.

The PEC also resolved that some of his Facebook and X posts should be printed so he could respond to allegations that he had been critical of the party.

Following the November 2017 coup, Mzembi was expelled from ZANU PF, fled into exile in South Africa and later Zambia, and faced corruption charges linked to his tenure as tourism minister.

He returned to Zimbabwe in June 2025 and was arrested on outstanding warrants for criminal abuse of office and theft of trust property.

However, in May 2026, he was acquitted of charges relating to the donation of four LED television sets valued at US$200,000, which he had given to churches including Emmanuel Makandiwa’s United Family International Church without Treasury approval.

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Source: House demolitions: the cost of giving more time to a leader who no longer needs people’s votes

When you are no longer needed, the rejection is brutal.

Across the dusty landscapes of rural Zimbabwe and the densely populated townships of our cities, the roar of government bulldozers has once again become the defining sound of state authority. 
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What we are witnessing—from the flattened homesteads in Murombedzi in Zvimba district, to the razed structures in Whitecliff, Stoneridge, St Martins, and Belvedere—is nothing short of Operational Murambatsvina 2.0. 

It is a ruthless campaign that reduces families’ life savings, brick by brick, into piles of rubble. 
From urban peripheries to communal lands, homes that took years to construct are being flattened in a matter of minutes, leaving citizens stranded in the cold without shelter or recourse.
The official justification from local authorities and government ministries is always impeccably clinical. 
They cite spatial planning, the protection of agricultural reserves, the enforcement of municipal bylaws, and the need to restore order. 
Yet, these bureaucratic explanations ignore a glaring, common-sense question: where were these enforcement officers when the foundations were being dug? 
A house does not mushroom overnight. 
Bricklaying, roofing, and utility connections take months and years of visible, open activity. 
To allow citizens to pour their hard-earned money into these structures for years, only to show up with heavy machinery today, reveals a deeper, more sinister agenda.
The truth is that these illegal settlements were permitted to thrive out of pure political expediency. 
Those in power, acutely aware that the allocations were unlawful, deliberately turned a blind eye because they desperately needed the public’s votes during election cycles. 
They weaponized the land hunger of vulnerable citizens, offering informal plots as currency to secure political support. 
This deception was further reinforced when top government offices began issuing title deeds to previously unregulated land occupants, broadcasting a false guarantee to the masses that if they built now, their illegal occupancy would eventually be regularized. 
It was a cruel political game designed to harvest votes from a desperate electorate.
This system was powered by influential figures within the ruling establishment—ZANU-PF officials, government actors, and traditional leaders—who profited by selling land they had no authority to convey. 
For years, traditional chiefs and village heads carried out notorious ‘Sabhuku deals’ in full view of the state. 
The government permitted these illegal transactions precisely because it relied on these traditional leaders to mobilize rural communities and maintain a tight grip on voter turnout.
Furthermore, rural areas have traditionally been considered ruling party strongholds.
Then came the Constitutional Amendment No. 3 Act (CAA3), which extended the terms of office for the president, members of parliament, and local councilors without a public vote or national referendum. 
Ironically, the very people whose homes are being crushed today in areas like Seke, Murombedzi, and Harare South were likely among those mobilized under the banner of ‘development and prosperity’ to endorse these term extensions.
Barely two months after these constitutional amendments were signed into law, the masks have fallen. 
The same authorities whose mandates were artificially prolonged have unleashed bulldozers on the very communities that cheered them on.
 
What we are witnessing is the brutal logic of a ruling elite that was awarded extra time and is now serving out a tenure where they no longer depend on the people’s ballot. 
Under the new constitutional framework, even if another term were pursued through further legal trickery, the president would be selected by parliament rather than a direct popular vote. 
The necessity to court the electorate has been entirely removed.
These house demolitions validate what constitutional defenders repeatedly warned: a political leadership that no longer needs to be elected by the people stops caring, or even pretending to care, about the people. 
The imperative to please voters vanishes the moment public accountability is detached from power. 
This reality becomes exponentially more dangerous during an elite’s final stretch in office, where the incentive to maintain popular goodwill disappears completely.
More unearned time in office simply equates to more time to execute anti-people policies without fear of retribution at the ballot box. 
Instead of two remaining years of governing with an eye on the next election, ordinary Zimbabweans are now locked into at least four more years of unmitigated hardship. 
A prolonged period where the state can destroy livelihoods with absolute impunity. 
We are entering a dark era where the governable have given up their leverage, leaving an unchecked administration free to make the lives of ordinary citizens a living hell. 
Giving more time to leaders who no longer need your vote is an invitation to your own destruction.
Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to contact him on +263715667700 or mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com

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Source: Sinomine secures additional Zimbabwe lithium export quota | CNBC Africa

• China-headquartered mining firm secures additional 300,000 ton quota
• Sinomine says supply from Bikita mine back to normal after stoppage
• Chinese firms have invested about $2 billion in sector since 2021

HARARE, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Sinomine Resource Group has secured an export quota for an additional 300,000 metric tons of lithium concentrate from Zimbabwe, the company has said.

Zimbabwe, Africa’s top producer of battery metal lithium, introduced export quotas in April after temporarily halting concentrate shipments in February over alleged malpractice and leakages.

The country has been pressing mining firms operating within it to process more of the battery metal locally as it seeks to maximise the economic benefits of extractive industries. It will ban the export of lithium concentrates from January 2027.

Sinomine, which operates the Bikita lithium mine in Zimbabwe, said in a half-year report seen by Reuters on Tuesday it was granted the additional export quota in July after getting the first, for 200,000 tons, in April.

The Chinese company said the supply of lithium concentrate from Bikita had returned to normal after the February to April stoppages and was sufficient to meet the raw material requirements of its smelting operations in China.

CHINESE FIRMS DOMINATE ZIMBABWE’S LITHIUM SECTOR

Sinomine operates two plants at Bikita with a combined capacity to produce 600,000 tons of spodumene concentrate, the dominant feedstock for many lithium plants, as well as petalite concentrate, another lithium-bearing mineral concentrate.

A recent technical upgrade will boost Bikita’s yearly spodumene concentrate production capacity to 400,000 tons, Sinomine said.

Sinomine says it is building a 100,000 ton per year lithium sulphate plant at Bikita which is expected to be completed in mid-2027.

Lithium sulphate is an intermediate product that can be refined into a battery-grade material such as lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate used in battery manufacturing.

Another Chinese miner, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, currently operates Zimbabwe’s sole lithium sulphate plant, from which it began Africa’s first ever lithium salt exports in April.

Sichuan Yahua is also building a lithium sulphate plant at its Kamativi mine in western Zimbabwe.

Chinese firms dominate Zimbabwe’s lithium sector after investing about $2 billion in mining and processing plants since 2021, consolidating the Asian giant’s grip on the global battery metal supply chain.

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Source: Army-owned NRTV property up for auction over unpaid salaries ⋆ Pindula News

Nkululeko Rusununguko TV (NRTV), the television station owned by the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), is in dire financial straits, with some of its movable property set to go under the hammer as employees seek to recover money owed to them.

According to NewZimbabwe.com, the auction follows a High Court order authorising seizure of the station’s property over failure to pay salaries in excess of US$200,000.

Seventy employees approached the Labour Court, where arbitrator Patience Kavuru found that the company had defaulted on paying its workers and ordered it to settle a debt of US$278,479.88.

However, NRTV, which is owned by Nkululeko Rusununguko Holdings, a company in which the ZNA has a substantial interest, did not comply with the order.

The employees then sought relief from the High Court, which granted an order for the attachment of the company’s property.

According to an auction notice issued by KM Auctions (Pvt) Ltd, motor vehicles with a combined value of US$76,000 have been put up for sale.

Office property such as refrigerators, printers and television sets has also been included in the auction that was scheduled for Wednesday, 26 August.

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