Barely a week after three Chinese nationals were fined for illegal mining activities in Karoi, two Zimbabwean men have been sentenced to two years in prison each for a similar offence, highlighting a continuing disparity in sentencing that has drawn public scrutiny, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Sublion Phiri (33) and Only Zivhane (24) were convicted by the Zvishavane Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 5 September 2025, for prospecting for gold without a licence. According to a bulletin released by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the two were arrested on 29 August at the Save River in Zvishavane following a tip-off.
The court heard that the pair was found extracting gold ore from the riverbank using shovels, a pick, an axe, digging bars, and buckets. They could not produce a prospecting licence when arrested by detectives from the CID Minerals, Flora and Fauna Unit.
Their two-year prison sentence stands in stark contrast to the outcome of a case concluded on 2 September in Karoi, where three Chinese nationals — Li Taisen, Wang Jinyan, and Xia Lin — were arrested for illegal alluvial mining along the Angwa River and operating without work permits. They were fined US$200 each, with an alternative two-month imprisonment if they failed to pay.
The recent convictions reinforce a pattern that has sparked debate about consistency in judicial outcomes for mining-related offences. While the Chinese offenders were fined for using machinery in a banned riverbed mining operation, Phiri and Zivhane have been imprisoned for using hand tools to prospect along the riverbank.
The NPA bulletin carried the hashtags #CrimeDoesNotPay and #NoToIllegalGoldPanning, echoing the government’s ongoing campaign against illegal mining, which it says causes severe environmental damage.
Legal observers and mining advocacy groups have begun questioning the factors influencing these sentences, including the specific charges brought by prosecutors, the representation of the accused, and whether national origin plays an unintended role in judicial discretion.
The two cases, occurring within days of each other, continue to fuel discussion on the need for transparent and uniform sentencing guidelines within Zimbabwe’s mining sector.
