Online Reporter
Conrad Mupesa
Features Writer
WHEN Edesi Musimbi watched her husband disappear into the night last Monday, she had no idea it would be the last time she would see him.
It was an ordinary goodbye, hurried, hopeful and filled with promise.
Minutes before leaving for work, the young artisanal miner held his wife close and spoke of brighter days ahead.
He promised to take her and their two young children to Chegutu, about 20km away, to merry-make, buy new clothes for Christmas and bring food home.
An hour later, he was dead.
Ms Musimbi’s world collapsed as suddenly as the mineshaft that claimed her husband’s life.
Barely an hour after he left home, she received a frantic call saying there had been an accident at Alfisha Steward 3 Mine in Chegutu District, Mashonaland West Province.
Hoping against hope, she rushed to the site. What greeted her was devastation. Boulders and tonnes of earth had sealed off the entire shaft.
The pit where her husband had been working had vanished beneath the rubble. As rescuers scrambled and anxious miners looked on, Ms Musimbi knew in her heart that her husband was gone.
Her fears were confirmed moments later when his body became the first to be retrieved.
“When I saw the shaft completely covered, I knew there was no life left in there,” she said, tears running down her cheeks.
“That was when it hit me that I was now alone with the children. An hour ago, he had come home from a nearby bottle store to collect his torch, gear and opaque beer container.”
Ms Musimbi’s husband was among seven artisanal miners who lost their lives on Monday night when a shaft collapsed at Alfisha Steward 3 Mine after miners allegedly undercut a high wall.
As Ms Musimbi struggled to process her loss, a few metres away, 23-year-old Amos Ncube was clinging to life after surviving the same collapse that killed her husband and six others.
Ncube, still nursing head injuries, said he had been buried alive when the earth suddenly gave way moments after they began working underground.
“We had just started when everything collapsed,” he recalled.
“I was hit on the head by falling stones and the earth covered me. I don’t remember what happened after that until I was pulled out.”
Three of his colleagues working close to him died instantly, and they were all young and energetic.
“I consider myself lucky to be alive. Many of my friends did not make it after the shaft’s high wall collapsed,” he said.
The collapse buried the victims about seven metres underground. A combined search and rescue operation involving locals and mining companies was immediately launched — all seven bodies were retrieved.
Four miners were rescued alive with minor injuries. The bodies were taken to Chegutu District Hospital mortuary for post-mortem.
Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson, Commissioner Paul Nyathi, confirmed the fatal accident.
“The ZRP confirms a fatal mine accident which occurred at Stewart 3 Mine, Pickstone, Chegutu on 15/12/25. Seven miners were killed while four others were injured when the shaft they were working in collapsed,” he said.
Speaking at the accident site, Mashonaland West Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Marian Chombo, said the continued loss of lives due to unsafe mining practices was deeply troubling.
“Artisanal mining contributes more than 60 percent to both provincial and national gold output. While we commend that contribution, it is heartbreaking that lives continue to be lost because basic safety procedures are not being followed,” she said.
Mines and Mining Development Minister, Dr Polite Kambamura, echoed the concern, issuing a stern warning to miners operating without proper risk assessments.
“Thorough risk assessments must be conducted before miners enter underground shafts. If danger is identified, operations must stop immediately and only resume when it is safe,” he said.
Chegutu District mines engineer, Mr Blessing Mangwanda, said preliminary investigations had established that the collapse was avoidable.
“The miners undercut a high wall that was not properly supported, leading to the collapse. Adhering to proper mining methods could have prevented this tragedy,” he said.
The accident claimed the lives of five artisanal miners and two security guards, some from Chegutu and others from neighbouring Mhondoro District.
For fellow artisanal miners Tinashe Mutukwa and William Matambo, the tragic event cast a dark cloud over their operations, leaving them troubled and shaken.
“When the mineshaft collapsed, we were at the nearby bottle store, enjoying ourselves. We rushed to the scene and managed to rescue four who had sustained minor injuries. We had to wait for the escalators and rescue teams to come and search for other artisanal miners who had been trapped,” Mr Mutukwa said.
“We weren’t aware that people were mining at that time as operations had since been banned for night working.”
While he grieved the loss of friends, colleagues and drinking partners, Mr Matambo had the chance to urge fellow miners to conduct proper assessments before conducting any operations. He believed and alleged that little or no risk assessments were done by his colleagues who are no longer available to defend themselves.
Perhaps, it was just fate, an accident that was waiting to happen.
Grief has engulfed the affected families, with widows and children struggling to comprehend the sudden loss of their breadwinners. Now a young widow, Ms Musimbi faces an uncertain future, raising two children alone. Like many bereaved families, she said she did not know how she would manage to bury her husband, but found some comfort after learning that the Government, through the Civil Protection Unit (CPU), had intervened to assist with funeral arrangements.
As Christmas approaches, the trip her husband promised will never happen. The new clothes, the laughter in Chegutu town, and the family joy he spoke of, now exist only in memory, buried beneath the rubble of a collapsed mineshaft and the dreams of seven families forever altered.
dyton mupawaenda