Online Reporter
Sunday News Reporter
DURATION Gold Public Relations Manager Robert Mukondiwa has been honoured with the Emerging Sustainability & ESG Leader Award by ESG Network Zimbabwe, marking him out as one of the country’s emerging voices in responsible business and mining communication.
Mukondiwa received the award at a ceremony held at a Bulawayo hotel last week, with Deputy Minister Raj Modi and ESG Network Zimbabwe executive director and ESG trailblazer Willard Razawo presenting the accolade.
The citation recognised his five years at Duration Gold, during which he has championed a new generation of mining communication — humanising the industry, opening conversations where silence once prevailed and advancing humanitarian ESG and sustainability initiatives, particularly in Gwanda and Matabeleland South.
Accepting the award, Gwanda-based Mukondiwa attributed his achievements to the corporate environment in which he operates.
“No individual shines in isolation. My ultimate success would not have been possible without belonging to a solid brand that gives people the room to grow, pursue excellence and imagine the impossible — then gives them the confidence and freedom to make it reality,” he said.
He said modern ESG leadership demanded more than compliance or polished corporate messaging.
“The future of mining belongs to organisations that understand that their social licence is earned every day. Communication must build trust, ESG must create measurable value, and sustainability must become part of how a business thinks, not simply what it reports.”
Mukondiwa was the only individual recipient among the corporate awardees on the night. The other individual recognition was posthumously bestowed on national hero Edward Raradza.
Paying tribute, Mukondiwa said Raradza had influenced his character long before the award.
“I worked with Cde Raradza in Muzarabani during my days of political mobilisation. He was inspirational, formidable and deeply human. He was also a business acquaintance of my late father, Pascal Mukondiwa, and men like them taught me that character is built through service, courage and how one carries responsibility. I carry those lessons with me.”
For Mukondiwa, the award is not an arrival point but a platform.
“I regard this as a beginning. The responsibility now is to shine even greater — and to prove that African mining can communicate, operate and lead at a standard that is genuinely world-class.”
