An estimated US$2 million worth of gold has been spirited out of the gold-rich Mutare River at the point it flows through Penhalonga, after politically-connected cartels and “protected” politicians escalated a brazen looting spree in open defiance of a Supreme Court ruling.
According to an independent investigation obtained by the Zimbabwe Independent, the Centre for Research and Development (CRD) says the much-reported plunder of Penhalonga was not mere speculation but “a systematic criminal enterprise” involving powerful political actors operating under what it described as “immunity.”
The 20-page dossier claimed that between May 15 and July 10, about 18 kilogrammes of gold — valued at approximately US$1,9 million — were extracted from the river during what CRD described as “56 days of chaos.” The rampage unfolded on a 5 000-square-metre island inside Mutare River, adjacent to the Penhalonga Low Residential Area, after word spread that high-grade ore had been discovered there.
Efforts to get a comment from Mines ministry permanent secretary Pfungwa Kunaka over the past few weeks were unsuccessful.
CRD claims the gold rush drew nearly 1 000 miners, smugglers, vendors and political sponsors, who quickly transformed the area into a lawless pillage hotspot. Control of the island was allegedly seized by a company with strong political connections whose flamboyant owner has emerged among Zimbabwe’s richest individuals — even after taking part in the degradation of the site.
The watchdog alleges the company’s arrival attracted state agents, local groups, including one known as Boys Dzamudhara (“the old man’s boys”), gold millers and over 600 illegal panning syndicates. Some officials deployed to restore order reportedly joined the smuggling networks instead.
Redwing Mine, which lies within the ravaged gold fields, was recently taken over by a foreign investor in a deal worth about US$300 million.
Sources familiar with developments at Penhalonga said the latest rush could mark the final act of a system aware that tighter controls may soon be enforced.
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For two months, residents and CRD pleaded with authorities to halt the looting, citing environmental violations, breaches of mining laws and public safety risks. Sustained pressure eventually forced the Environmental Management Agency (Ema) to issue a stop order citing Statutory Instrument 188 of 2024, which prohibits riverbed mining. The directive echoed an earlier High Court ruling obtained by residents and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights banning mining in the Rezende section of Mutare River.
However, CRD claims the politically-connected firm and its associates ignored both the Ema order and the court judgment.
The watchdog said its investigators later interviewed small-scale miners working under the company during the rush. They reported that roughly 28 000 bags of high-value ore, averaging 500 bags a day from 25 pits, were extracted at the height of the frenzy.
“Calculations made by mining experts based on information gathered by CRD indicated approximately 18 kilogrammes of gold worth US$1,925 million were lost to illegal mining syndicates under (the company’s) control,” the report claims.
Miners told investigators that after surrendering a token share of ore to the company, they were allowed — and in some cases encouraged — to smuggle the remainder to illegal hammer mills and leaching tanks spread across Penhalonga. Many of these mills were built directly on the riverbanks for “easy concealment and transport”, the report noted.
CRD says these operations feed a thriving black market gold network that bypasses Fidelity Gold Refiners, the state’s official buyer.
“The operations remain profitable because mining cartels evade taxes and environmental obligations,” the watchdog added.
Despite a Supreme Court ruling overturning the corporate rescue arrangement that had handed Redwing Mine to the politically-connected firm, the company has continued operating — shielded by shifting government positions and high-level political protection, the report claimed..
A prior eviction notice issued by the Mines ministry’s permanent secretary in August 2024 was reversed less than a year later in a letter dated July 11, 2025, days after police enforced a ban on the island. The reversal effectively legitimised the company’s continued presence in Penhalonga, according to CRD.
One senior mining official told CRD investigators: “(The company) has immunity. No one can touch them.”
Economists say the revelations expose deep-rooted state capture within Zimbabwe’s gold sector, one of the country’s top foreign currency earners. They estimate that over US$1,5 billion worth of gold is smuggled out of Zimbabwe each year through illicit routes, mainly to Dubai and South Africa, starving Treasury of desperately-needed revenue.
