When some South Africans speak about Zimbabwe, the narrative is often one of a failed state that offers nothing but desperate migrants and economic chaos. But the trade and mining data tell a dramatically different story, one in which South Africa extracts billions of dollars from Zimbabwe’s mining sector while offering comparatively little in return.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
This article examines the deeply one-sided economic relationship between the two neighbours, focusing on how South African companies, suppliers, and service providers capture the lion’s share of value from Zimbabwe’s mineral wealth.
The Numbers Don’t Lie: A US$3.8 Billion (R62.4 billion) Import Bill
In 2025 alone, Zimbabwe imported goods worth US$3.804 billion (R62.4 billion) from South Africa, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database via Trade Map. This represents a steady increase from US$3.697 billion (R60.75 billion) in 2024 and US$3.499 billion in 2023.
To put this in perspective, Zimbabwe imports roughly US$7 from South Africa for every US$1 it exports to South Africa. South Africa’s imports from Zimbabwe in 2025 stood at just US$526.42 million (R8.66 billion), according to UN COMTRADE data.
South Africa is the largest source of Zimbabwe’s imports, consistently accounting for 34.5% to 38.8% of Zimbabwe’s total monthly imports throughout 2025. In December 2025, South Africa supplied 38.8% of Zimbabwe’s imports, while China followed with just 15.5% and Bahrain with 13.5%. China, the second-largest source, supplies less than half of what South Africa does.
For the first seven months of 2025 alone, imports from South Africa dropped by over 6% to around US$2 billion (R32.87 billion), down from more than US$2.3 billion (R37.8 billion) during the same period in 2024, a reduction of more than US$140 million (R2.3 billion) as Zimbabwe’s manufacturing industry began to rebound. Despite this decline, South Africa remains Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
The key mining-related imports from South Africa in 2025 included machinery and mechanical appliances valued at US$526.57 million (R8.65 billion), mineral fuels and oils at US$252.51 million (R4.15 billion), and cereals at US$506.93 million (R8.33 billion). Machinery maintained its dominance among imports from South Africa, reflecting the mining sector’s continued reliance on South African equipment.
The Mining Sector: Where the Real Money Flows
According to the Zimbabwe Embassy, approximately US$2.1 billion (R34.5 billion) of the mining sector’s US$5.4 billion (R88.76 billion) revenue is spent on imported machinery, equipment, and services, mainly from South Africa. An Afreximbank report further revealed that 80% of Zimbabwe’s intra-African mining-related imports, totalling US$4.7 billion (R77.25 billion), originate from South Africa.
Yet Zimbabwe’s local manufacturing sector contributes only about 15% of the mining industry’s requirements. The remaining US$2.1 billion (R34.5 billion) in sector revenue leaves the country, much of it flowing directly into South African pockets.
South African Ownership of Zimbabwe’s PGM Sector
Zimbabwe holds the world’s third-largest platinum group metals (PGM) resource along the mineral-rich Great Dyke, after South Africa and Russia. Yet all three of the country’s operating PGM mines are majority-owned by South African companies.
Zimplats, Zimbabwe’s largest platinum producer, is 87% owned by South Africa’s Impala Platinum Holdings (Implats). In FY2025, Zimplats’ 6E production in matte fell by 6% to 606,300 ounces, down from 645,900 ounces in FY2024, driven primarily by poor fleet performance and the lock-up of concentrates during the commissioning of its expanded smelter complex. Despite the short-term decline, the smelter expansion represents a significant long-term investment in beneficiation and value addition in Zimbabwe, although the expanded smelter is expected to reduce reliance on toll treatment in South Africa over time.
Mimosa Mining Company is jointly owned by two South African giants, Impala Platinum (50%) and Sibanye-Stillwater (50%). In FY2025, Mimosa produced 253,900 ounces of 6E concentrate, a slight 1% decline from 255,400 ounces in FY2024. The dip was driven primarily by intermittent regional power disruptions that impacted plant throughput and recovery efficiency. The mine employs more than 1,400 workers directly and supports thousands more indirectly through supply chains.
Unki Platinum Mine is wholly owned by South African-headquartered Valterra Platinum (formerly Anglo American Platinum). Unki produced 219,700 ounces of PGM concentrate in 2025, representing approximately 7% of the group’s total concentrate output. However, the mine recorded an 8% year-on-year decline in production during Q3 2025, producing 57,500 ounces compared to 62,500 ounces in the same period of 2024, primarily due to lower ore grades.
Tharisa’s Karo Platinum Project is also setting up and is expected to be in production in the second half of 2027.
Overall, Zimbabwe’s platinum production is projected to have declined by approximately 4% in 2025 to 491,000 ounces, retreating from the record levels achieved in 2024, according to the World Platinum Investment Council.
It’s not just platinum but Gold too!
Namib Minerals, founded by South African mogul Mzi Khumalo, owns multiple gold mines in Zimbabwe, namely How Mine, Mazowe Mine (Jumbo) and Redwing Mine.
Currently, How Mine is the fourth-largest gold-producing mine in Zimbabwe after Freda Rebecca, Blanket Mine, and Eureka gold mines. With the addition of Redwing Mine and Mazowe Mine, Namib Minerals has the potential to become Zimbabwe’s largest gold producer if all its mining operations are successfully revived and brought back to full production.
South African-headquartered companies such as Caledonia Mining extract gold from Zimbabwe while basing their management and decision-making in Johannesburg.
Not to mention South Africans who are trading in the Chrome mining industry.
Jobs Exported: Where the Refining Happens
Beyond equipment and consumables, South Africa also captures the high-value refining and beneficiation jobs.
Zimplats dispatches its matte to Impala’s refinery in Springs, South Africa, under a life-of-mine agreement with Impala Refining Services. The expanded smelter at Zimplats produces matte that is transported to South Africa for refining.
The refinery jobs, tax revenues, and value addition, the highest-value stages of the mining value chain, accrue to South Africa, not Zimbabwe. While Zimplats’ US$398 million smelter expansion project is a step toward local beneficiation, the vast majority of Zimbabwe’s PGM output is still processed outside the country.
Another South African Export to Zimbabwe’s Mines
Zimbabwe’s mining sector is heavily reliant on imported electricity, and South Africa’s Eskom remains a major supplier.
In the first quarter of 2025, Zimbabwe’s electricity imports declined by 37.4% to 305.5 GWh, down from 487.8 GWh in the previous quarter, driven by strong domestic generation. However, the import breakdown shows that 34% of the electricity still came from South Africa’s Eskom, while Mozambique’s HCB and EDM supplied 37.5% and 10.2%, respectively.
Overall, Zimbabwe spent US$117 million (R1.92 billion) on electricity imports in 2025, the lowest full-year figure in five years by a considerable margin. However, every kilowatt-hour powering Zimbabwe’s mines still represents another revenue stream for South Africa.
The Narrative That Needs to Change
The perception that South Africa “gets nothing” from Zimbabwe is not just false, it is dangerously misleading.
South African companies own Zimbabwe’s three PGM mines (Zimplats, Mimosa, and Unki). South African suppliers capture 80% of Zimbabwe’s mining-related imports. South African refineries process Zimbabwe’s minerals, generating jobs in that country. South African banks and shareholders receive the dividends.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s manufacturing capacity utilisation stands at just 56.2%, far below the mining sector’s 81%–84% capacity. The gap between what Zimbabwe could produce locally and what it imports from South Africa represents billions, lost jobs, lost industrialisation, and lost economic sovereignty.
South Africa enforces a strong local content strategy, requiring at least 70% of mining goods and 80% of services to be sourced locally. Zimbabwe approved its Local Content Strategy in 2019 with ambitious targets, but as of 2025, only 15% of the mining sector’s requirements are met by local manufacturers.
Zimbabwe’s mining sector continues to grow, but if the supply chains continue to flow to South Africa, the benefits will continue to leak across the border.
When South Africans question what Zimbabwe contributes, the answer is clear:
Zimbabwe contributes billions of dollars annually to the South African economy through mining imports, equipment purchases, refinery throughput, electricity sales, and shareholder dividends. That is equal to much-needed jobs, jobs, jobs.
The question is not whether South Africa benefits from Zimbabwe.
The question is whether Zimbabwe will ever benefit as much from its own minerals as South Africa does.
