Every September, the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba (ZAMI) brings together a powerful mix of voices: communities from mining areas, civil society organisations, academics, activists, government officials, and, increasingly, private sector players. This year, from the 17th to the 19th, I joined comrades and colleagues who, for more than a decade, have been pushing for accountable, just, and people-centred governance of our mineral wealth.

For me, ZAMI 2025 was more than just a conference. It carried it’s spirit of being an “indaba”, a space of  dialogue, learning, solidarity, and a challenge a microcosm of Zimbabwe’s broader struggle to transform natural resources into a foundation for justice and shared prosperity.

Signs of Progress

The first thing that struck me was the sheer diversity of the space. Over the years, ZAMI has grown into a platform that attracts actors across the spectrum ministries, parastatals, private sector actors, researchers, and, crucially, mining-affected communities. This diversity matters. It signals that the issues of mining are no longer just a “community problem” or a “civil society agenda”; they are national questions of justice, economy, and survival.

The power of community voice was also evident. In past years, government officials would often sweep in, give their formal opening remarks, and quickly leave. This time, the questions and testimonies from communities were so compelling that both the Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development and the Minister of State for Matebeleland province stayed on, sitting through tough discussions and even agreeing to hold a special one-hour public dialogue session the next day. That moment captured the essence of ZAMI: people power forcing accountability.

I was equally inspired by the solidarity among communities. A villager from Mutoko could stand and speak about the struggles of another community hundreds of kilometres away, as if they were their own. That sense of shared struggle and camaraderie is the lifeblood of movements for justice.

Another highlight was the visibility and confidence of women. Women in small-scale mining, now more organised, looked stronger, healthier, and more assertive than in past years. Their journey is proof that when women are intentionally supported, they can reshape industries that were once closed off to them. In Hurungwe, women exhibited gemstones they are mining and adding value to locally as a reminder that the story of mining does not need to end with raw extraction; it can be a story of creativity, entrepreneurship, and community upliftment.

Even accountability frameworks are shifting. In Mutoko, communities have successfully pushed to expand Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) into Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs). This shift ensures that mining companies cannot simply tick a box through consultants but must engage communities directly and sign binding agreements. I was proud to see one of The Trust, Silveira House, leading this innovation that places communities at the centre of decision-making.

These are not small victories. They are signs that with investment in communities, civic actors, and social accountability tools, change is not only possible but already happening.

The Stubborn Challenges

Yet, as much as ZAMI inspired me, it also reminded me of the battles we are still fighting. Too many stories remain the same after 14 years of ZAMI.

Gender-based violence in the mining sector continues unchecked, preventing women from fully participating in mining value chains. Mining contracts are still shrouded in secrecy, controlled by central government and local traditional leaders, often without community consent. Artisanal and small-scale mining, despite employing thousands, remains informal, unsupported, and criminalised.

Workers, especially under Chinese investors face exploitation daily: low wages, unsafe conditions, harassment, and lack of protective equipment. Communities continue to bear the social and economic costs: child marriages fuelled by poverty, diseases from pollution, and forests and rivers destroyed by extraction. Women and girls, in particular, carry the heaviest burdens, walking longer distances for firewood and water as local sources are depleted.

At a systemic level, the mining sector remains capitalist, patriarchal, and unsustainable by design. The idea that Zimbabwe’s vast mineral wealth is simultaneously a blessing and a curse is not a paradox but it is a reflection of power structures that benefit the few at the expense of the many.

Meanwhile, the global discourse on the Just Energy Transition (JET) is often presented as a silver bullet. But if JET is not grounded in justice, equity, and lived realities, it risks becoming just another chapter of extractivism; green on the surface but still unjust at the core.

Charting a Way Forward

So, what is to be done? For me, ZAMI 2025 offered several lessons for how we can consolidate gains and confront the challenges ahead:

• Build a common narrative for justice: Communities, activists, and allies need to articulate solutions that reflect local realities. Justice in mining is not one-size-fits-all it may mean community share ownership in one place, infrastructure access in another, and skills development elsewhere.
• Recentre power: We must actively decentre corporate narratives in discussions of the future. Equity, dignity, and people’s rights must underpin mineral value chains.
• Strengthen collaboration: Government ministries cannot continue working in silos. Mining affects health, education, the environment, gender equality, and more it requires inter-ministerial responses. Within the civic movement, collaboration is equally critical to expose the full spectrum of mining’s impacts.
• Support the informal economy: Women who cook for miners, sew uniforms, or run micro-finance schemes are part of the mining economy. They deserve recognition and investment, not marginalisation.
• Invest in public goods: Mining communities should not live without potable water, clinics, or schools while corporations profit. True transformation will only come when mining revenues build sustainable, people-centred infrastructure.

Linking Local Struggles to Global Agendas

Perhaps the most important reflection is that ZAMI is not just about Zimbabwe. The issues we are grappling with here are deeply tied to global debates on climate, care, and economic justice. As the world races to secure new energy minerals for the green transition, questions of justice in mining become even more urgent.

Three questions stood out for me as ZAMI concluded:

1. How do we connect the extraction of new energy minerals with their impacts on local communities?
2. How do we ensure global mining governance frameworks align with national laws and policies in ways that strengthen not undermine community rights?
3. How do we advance a Just Energy Transition that is truly people-centred, feminist, and transformative?

Why ZAMI Matters

ZAMI is not perfect. It is not the solution to all our mining challenges. But it is a vital civic space a space where communities, activists, and allies come together to hold power to account, to learn from one another, and to imagine alternatives. For me, participating this year reaffirmed the importance of continued engagement in ZAMI. But more than that, it reminded me that our reflections from Zimbabwe must not remain within our borders. They must find their way into regional and global spaces on natural resource governance. Because ultimately, the struggle for just mining is inseparable from the struggle for a just global economy. My closing thought on the ZAMI is that it is more than an annual event. It is a mirror of our struggles and a map of our possibilities. If we can sustain the solidarity, deepen the accountability, and link local struggles to global agendas, then perhaps minerals will no longer be remembered as a curse but as the foundation of justice and dignity for our people.