By Stephen Chadenga
Clad in a blue work suit and black rubber gumboots Gweru businesswoman Smelly Dube joins four male workers in a mine cage that transports them underground at Tebekwe gold mine in Shurugwi where they spend hours scouting for the precious mineral.
This has become a daily routine for Dube who owns the mine that employs over 160 workers, ironically predominantly men.
The Echo News this week caught up with Dube who revealed her deep passion for mining.
“As we were growing up we were socialized in a cultural environment that suggested mining was for men,” she said.
“But it was after the birth of movements that challenged gender stereotyping and defined gender roles for females in society.
“We realized women were capable of venturing into jobs previously prescribed as men jobs.”
MINING NOT A STROLL IN THE PARK
She however, admitted that mining was not a stroll in the park and required a high level of courage.
“Women are increasingly joining the mining sector but few have the courage to last,” she said.
“You would hear most of our (women miners) saying i am delivering food to my boys at the mine.
“But few would partake in the actual mining activities. They prefer to do cellphone mining in the comfort of make-up,pedicures and manicures back in the city.”
But Dube said she preferred to be on the ground and actively participate in the mining activities.
The businesswoman who has won local and international awards in
entrepreneurship and philanthropy also runs a successful land developing company, River Valley Properties.
She could have chosen to conduct business in her spacious and comfortable office in the city yet she said she prefers to spend most of her time in the “mining jungle.”
A Midlands Miners Association official Isaac Chivendera told The Echo News that Dube was “a rare breed” of women miners in the province.
“She is just unique in the way she approaches mining,”Chivendera said.
“You rarely find our women mining colleagues spending the whole day at
mining sites let alone hours underground.
“If you visit Tebekwe mine you can’t separate the owner, Dube and her male employee. They are just work colleagues.”
PHILANTHROPICÂ WORK
Chivendera who is also a Shurugwi based war veteran said Dube has used proceeds from her mine to support widows of liberation fighters, orphans and the less privileged.
“In Shurugwi five best students at Advanced Level will be sponsored to study at abroad universities courtesy of Dube,” he said.
“We also have hundreds of school children whose fees are being paid by Tebekwe mine.”
Dube urged women to defy the odds and venture into mining.
“Our place as women is no longer in the kitchen it’s in gold, chrome,
diamond or any other mineral sector you can think of,” she said.
So impressive is the gold production at Tebekwe that the mining company has immensely contributed to the country’s total gold output.
Gold is Zimbabwe’s single largest export earner averaging US$3 billion annually over the past few years.
According to the Chamber of Mines in the last year the country produced 30 metric tons of gold, 15% less than in 2022 (37,3 tons) mainly due to power outages affecting mining operations.
