A city at risk of collapsing: The cost of the search for gold in Zimbabwe
Al Jazeera
How illegal gold mining is leaving a trail of destruction and threatening lives in the mineral rich city of Kwekwe.
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.
