Kwekwe, Zimbabwe – Dorothy Moyo says a prayer every time she walks, runs or drives around her neighbourhood in central Zimbabwe – afraid that the earth will give away from beneath her feet, dragging her underground.

The 36-year-old’s fear is not uncommon among the hundreds of families living in the Globe and Phoenix community, a mining compound in Kwekwe, more than 200km (125 miles) from the capital Harare.

Last year, on an afternoon in mid-May, Moyo had visited the local school – Globe and Phoenix Primary – to check on her daughter and get an appraisal from the teacher when suddenly the ground began to shake.

She vividly recalled the moment she heard the noise of the falling desks and chairs followed by the screams of children.

“I was just a few feet away from the scene, clearly indicating that I was also in the danger zone. It was scary,” Moyo told Al Jazeera. “Instead of going to rescue those who were crying, I ran to safety,” she admitted.

Fourteen children were injured when the class caved in as illegal small-scale miners burrowed beneath the pillars that had held the school up for more than a century.

Although only one classroom collapsed, findings from the Department of Civil Protection said the whole area was in danger.

In the aftermath, the school was permanently shut down and 900 of the 1,500 affected children were transferred to the neighbouring school, while others use offices at the Globe and Phoenix Mine as classrooms.

After the collapse, there have been other similar incidents caused by illegal mining in Kwekwe.

In communal areas around the city, livestock have been the main victims of the earth giving in. But in another incident near the Globe and Phoenix compound last May, a house collapsed and was swallowed by a mine tunnel, authorities said.

Tonnes of gold

As part of Zimbabwe’s broader macroeconomic roadmap towards achieving an upper-middle-income economy by 2030, the government unveiled plans in October 2019 to revitalise the mining sector and create a $12bn economy by the end of 2023 (the latest available figures from 2022 put the value at around $5.6bn).

This plan would be driven by the mining of gold – which is Zimbabwe’s biggest export – along with platinum, diamonds, chrome, iron ore, coal, lithium and other minerals, the government said.

Kwekwe, in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province, is a key site for minerals and mining.

The city of more than 100,000 people houses the headquarters of Zimbabwe’s largest steelworks, a major power-producing plant, and the country’s largest ferrochrome producer.

It is also known for its rich gold alluvial soils and is home to one of the biggest gold mines in the country, the privately owned Globe and Phoenix Mine, which was founded in 1894 but has been operating on and off since 2002.

Exploration in the surrounding area, as well as the emergence of new mines, shows the existence of tonnes of gold. As a result, in the past three decades, thousands of small-scale miners searching for their fortunes have made their way to the city, digging pits on the surface and tunnelling underground.

After last year’s cave-in at the school, the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) issued a statement expressing concern about the ways mining was being conducted.

“The collapse of the classroom block at Globe and Phoenix Primary School is once again a reminder that irresponsible mining is retrogressive and should not be tolerated at any level,” the environmental watchdog’s statement said.

Although ZELA said it appreciates that mining is the backbone of economic recovery, and that strategies like the $12bn mining economy are important for development, it noted that a successful strategy must take cognisance of the environment, the communities, and be supported by a strong regulatory and monitoring framework.

“This incident must be a clarion call for authorities to act on the best possible ways to regulate the artisanal and small-scale mining sector to discourage illegal activity and noncompliance,” warned ZELA.

Kwekwe’s mayor, Councillor Albert Musungwa Zinhanga, told Al Jazeera the city has bylaws in place with regards to trespassing on private property, which they are enforcing. However, others need to be updated.

When it comes to environmental safety laws, for example, the city is instituting bylaws to protect the central business district from mining activities, he said. “Some of them we are going to be working on, so that we enforce the things … not covered when those bylaws were formulated.”

A ‘web of tunnels’

Illegal miners – many of whom travel from place to place in search of gold – often burrow on the outskirts of official mine territory, or in the now disused underground tunnels that were mined previously.

According to residents and environmental activists in Kwekwe, illegal miners do not abide by responsible mining practices, often targeting the support pillars within these underground tunnels.

Runyararo Priscilla Mashinge is the current chairperson of the Midlands chapter of the national human rights organisation ZimRights. She is also a small-scale miner herself, working in a group with other artisanal miners in Kwekwe.

She said illegal miners burrowing underground put people at risk, and she feels that the authorities must ban all mining activity near the central business district and residential areas in order to save people’s lives.

“At Globe and Phoenix, we saw a classroom sinking; many other houses have been affected,” Mashinge said. “In Gaika [another mining area] also, it’s the same issue. We are in a total mess especially with no legal action being taken. This is affecting surrounding communities.”

Mashinge said that in the now disused parts of the Globe and Phoenix Mine, the underground pillars have been left untouched for “strategic” reasons, so that the mine would not collapse. But now illegal miners are threatening those foundations.

“The whole city is on top of a web of tunnels,” she said. “But now the artisanal miners when they see gold on the pillars, they burrow through, posing danger to human lives.”

The pillars are blocks of untouched rock that are purposefully left underground to support the overlying strata, as mined material is being extracted. While big mining companies leave the pillars – and the gold they contain – untouched to protect the stability of the whole operation, illegal miners looking for any bit of gold often target the pillars in old mines without regard for the structural consequences.

“The economy has contributed to this,” Mashinge said, “but it is regrettable.”

Speaking to Al Jazeera, small-scale miner Patrick Hokoyo said miners like him do not usually dig further underground, but often follow existing tunnels in search of the yellow metal.

“In some cases, things are hard as you will be tracking gold underground, only to see it on the pillars. To us, it’s about gold. It is only when something happens that we are told it was a support pillar,” Hokoyo explained.

Despite the imminent danger, Mayor Zinhanga said artisanal mining will not hinder the future of programming in Kwekwe and its “master plan” to use resources found in the city to improve infrastructure.

“We are actually seeing the reduction of ‘makorokoza’ because most of the people that used to be roaming around the town during the day and in the night have been driven away,” the mayor said, using the local Shona term for the illegal miners. Zinhanga said most miners are now city residents or people with formal claims to a piece of land with gold deposits.

Above the law?

Kwekwe residents have been calling for illegal miners to be actively blocked from using disused underground shafts. Despite the recent cave-ins and warnings from authorities, though, these miners have resisted and continue their operations.

“We do not own the pits, in fact, we do not have permission. We get access [to the mines] from ‘mabosses’,” one miner who wanted to be identified only as Charles told Al Jazeera.

Locally, ‘mabosses’ are politically linked individuals who illegally run some mining pits yet have unchecked power. They do not go underground themselves, but are paid a cut by miners who are desperate for areas in which to search for gold.

“They [mabosses] man the entrances to the mines, and to have access means we pay in return in the form of gold,” Charles said.

Another miner, Ngonidzashe Chisvetu, said that because their operations are illegal, they need protection from people connected with government officials.

“If you look, this Globe and Phoenix is operated by a mining company. Truly, I can’t just come from home and enter then start mining without someone shielding me. [Mabosses] are the people we literally work for … We are shielded by them,” he told Al Jazeera.

Most artisanal miners fall under the Zimbabwe Miners Federation, headed by Henrietta Rushwaya, a niece of Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Early this year, Rushwaya was arrested after allegedly duping Indian investors of $1.5m in a botched mining transaction.

Last year, Rushwaya was convicted after attempting to smuggle 6kg (13 pounds) of gold to Dubai. She was fined $5,000 and handed a wholly suspended three-year jail sentence. She also featured as a central figure in Al Jazeera’s documentary series Gold Mafia, which exposed gold smuggling and money laundering by senior Zimbabwean public office bearers. Rushwaya remains free.

Commenting on the illegal mining in Kwekwe, Farai Maguwu, the director of the Centre for Natural Resource Governance, said politicians are behind the illegal mining activities taking place in Kwekwe and the town of Kadoma about 70km (45 miles) north.

The head of the Zimbabwean natural resources watchdog added that artisanal miners orchestrating illegal underground digging were also being sent by the same politicians.

“The Kwekwe incident was long coming. It was a matter of time. Residents have been raising alarm on the issue for some time and it’s unfortunate that the same people and other innocent lives are the victims,” Maguwu said.

Al Jazeera contacted the provincial police spokesperson for a response to the Kwekwe allegations, but he was not available to comment.

Speaking at a recent expo organised by the Ministry of Public Works on the way forward regarding artisanal miners, Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Owen Ncube highlighted the need to formalise and empower artisanal miners to expand their business operations.

“It is important to note that in addition to the main actors in the mining sector, there are also artisanal miners who require support to increase production, as well as environmentally friendly and sustainable mining,” said Ncube.

Meanwhile, Minister of Mines and Mining Development Winston Chitando said in a presentation last year that small-scale mining makes a significant contribution to the country, but that “every mining activity should follow the law”.

Frightening new findings

In Kwekwe, a network of illegal mining tunnels extending as deep as 1.5km (0.9 miles) beneath the central business district and residential areas is posing a significant risk to residents, according to a 2024 study conducted by the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA).

There are growing concerns that these areas might cave in due to the widespread underground pits.

ZINGSA’s study, which employed advanced geospatial mapping techniques, revealed an extensive network of tunnels. The results were alarming – exposing a sprawling maze of tunnels that are undermining pillars essential for structural support.

“The mapping has shown us the severity of the situation. We are literally sitting on a ticking time bomb,” said a ZINGSA official, who requested anonymity due to the nature of the issue. “These could lead to disastrous collapses of buildings.”

The report further details the numerous hazards these illegal mining tunnels pose to the city’s infrastructure and environment. Sinkholes, resulting from the collapse of underground voids, have emerged as a significant concern. Ground vibrations from blasting activities within the tunnels also contribute to structural damage and further instability.

On having mining activities near the central business district and residential areas, Mayor Zinhanga emphasised the need to re-look at the bylaws and realign them with current priorities. But he also said the city faced challenges from illegal miners who burrow underground at night, a practice common in Kwekwe.

Meanwhile, back at the Globe and Phoenix compound, since the cave-in over a year ago, residents have been living in increased fear.

Moyo – who remains cautious – said although the collapse at the school was shocking, it was not surprising, as the issue of illegal mining has been raised several times – but with no action taken.

“People used to jokingly say, the city has been left with nothing underneath as artisanal miners have harrowed it in search of gold,” Moyo said. “[Now] it is becoming evident.

“We are living in a city where any time, you can fall underneath. This is a death sentence role. Any time, you can fall and die.”