Zimbabwe’s largest mine workers’ union has thrown its weight behind the government’s immediate suspension of raw mineral and lithium concentrate exports, describing the move as aligned with continental best practice while urging authorities to ensure that workers are not left behind in the transition to local processing, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
The Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union (ZDAMWU) issued a statement on 28 February 2026, welcoming the ban as a step towards in-country value addition and beneficiation consistent with the Africa Mining Vision (AMV).
“This policy direction is consistent with broader African efforts to move away from exporting unprocessed minerals and to anchor mineral wealth in industrialisation, decent jobs, and sustainable community development, and Zimbabwe is moving in tandem with continental best practice,” said ZDAMWU General Secretary Mr Justice Chinhema.
The union explicitly linked Zimbabwe’s policy shift to the Africa Mining Vision, a continental framework adopted by African Heads of State in 2009 aimed at transparent, equitable, and optimal exploitation of mineral resources.
“As ZDAMWU, we support this move by government because it reflects the AMV’s call for a mining sector that is safe, healthy, inclusive, and socially responsible,” Mr Chinhema said.
However, the union also underlined that all policy and investment decisions in the critical minerals value chain must be guided by robust Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) standards, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
“Companies and state entities must identify, prevent, mitigate, and account for actual and potential adverse impacts on workers and communities at every stage of extraction, processing, transport, and trade,” the statement read.
Workers’ Concerns: Jobs Must Not Be Sacrificed
While endorsing the government’s objective of maximising national benefit from minerals, ZDAMWU expressed concern about the potential impact of sudden policy shifts on mine workers’ jobs, incomes, and working conditions.
“We are concerned about the potential impact of sudden policy shifts on mine workers’ jobs, incomes, and working conditions,” Mr Chinhema said.
The union respectfully called on the Honourable Minister of Mines and Mining Development to adopt a more inclusive and consultative approach going forward, in full alignment with the AMV’s emphasis on participatory, rights-based mineral governance involving workers, communities, and other non-state actors.
“All new beneficiation and value addition projects in the critical minerals sector must incorporate enforceable HRDD obligations, including respect for freedom of association, safe and healthy working conditions, non-discrimination, gender equality, and effective access to remedy,” the union stated.
ZDAMWU outlined specific practical measures it expects from the transition:
- Structured social dialogue with trade unions on implementation modalities
- Clear timelines and transition measures
- Binding safeguards to prevent job losses or unpaid lay-offs
- Guarantees that any new processing plants are unionised, safe, and fully compliant with labour, health and safety, and environmental laws
“The noble goal of increasing local value addition must not be achieved at the expense of mine workers and their families,” Mr Chinhema emphasised.
Instead, the union argued, the transition should translate into more secure and decent jobs, better wages, skills upgrading, improved living standards, environmental quality, and social services for people residing in mining communities — as envisaged in the Africa Mining Vision.
ZDAMWU positioned itself not as an obstacle to the government’s agenda but as a constructive partner in its implementation.
“ZDAMWU stands ready to work with the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, employers (Chamber of Mines), and other stakeholders to ensure that Zimbabwe’s new export framework for critical minerals delivers both increased national value and genuine respect for human rights and decent work, in the true spirit of the Africa Mining Vision,” Mr Chinhema concluded.
The union’s statement adds a crucial worker perspective to the growing chorus of support for the government’s export suspension, which has been endorsed by the Zimbabwe Miners Federation, civil society organisations like ZELO, and now organised labour.
The ban, announced by Mines and Mining Development Minister Hon. Dr. Polite Kambamura and subsequently cemented by Cabinet, responds to revelations of massive illicit stockpiling of Zimbabwean lithium in a neighbouring country. Government spokesperson Mr Nick Mangwana characterised the behaviour as “plunder of our national heritage” and a direct undermining of sovereignty.
With processing plants already under construction by investors, including Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and Sinomine, the transition to local beneficiation is underway. ZDAMWU’s message is clear: as the industry transforms, workers must transform with it — not be left behind.
The coming months will test whether the inclusive, consultative approach the union advocates can be realised in practice, and whether the promise of the Africa Mining Vision can be translated into tangible benefits for the women and men who dig Zimbabwe’s wealth from the ground.
