Some Mhondoro-Mubaira villagers have appealed to President Emmerson Mnangagwa to halt or force the redesign of a mining project, which they say is a threat to the graves of First Chimurenga icons Sekuru Kaguvi and Chinengundu Mashayamombe.
The villagers also accused GritMine Minerals, a company they say is foreign-owned, of conducting illegal gold mining, scooping ore, and carting it away.
They claimed that more than a hundred trucks have already left the site loaded with material. The appeal was made at a meeting held at the Kaguvi shrine recently.
Villagers said they had tried everything to save the shrine, but the construction of a private dam near the site has continued, suggesting that government institutions responsible for protecting national monuments were failing.
The shrine has been a place of worship and spiritual consultation, and a site for rain-making ceremonies, for more than a century.
The meeting was led by former Harare South legislator Shadreck Mashayamombe, whom the Mashayamombe family has nominated as acting Chief Mashayamombe to end a four-year period without a leader.
Mashayamombe said the community had appealed to Mnangagwa and first lady Auxilia Mnangagwa because the shrine, which serves the whole country, was under threat.
"We have come here as the Mashayamombe and Chivero families to fight and preserve our heritage and cultural sites," Mashayamombe said.
"We have decided to appeal to President Mnangagwa because our national heritage is being violated.
If this dam is built, we will lose the very sites that define our chieftainship, because our most sacred heritage places will lie beneath this dam."
Mashayamombe said Mnangagwa had the historical consciousness and cultural understanding to appreciate the significance of these heritage sites.
"These heritage sites must be preserved for future generations so they can understand who Chinengundu Mashayamombe and Sekuru Kaguvi were and the role they played in Zimbabwe’s history," he said.
He said he was also appealing to the first lady because she has been active in reviving cultural practices around the country, and preserving the Kaguvi shrine would be important to her.
He explained the roles played by Sekuru Kaguvi and Chinengundu Mashayamombe in leading many wars of resistance.
"Their skulls, taken to Britain, are expected to return. How will they be reburied if this area where their bodies lie is submerged beneath a dam?" he asked.
A villager, Taferinyika Shumba, asked: "What heritage will our children and future generations inherit if our sacred cultural sites continue to be destroyed?"
He said they had petitioned Parliament, but received no meaningful response.
Headman Tobias Rusere Gumboreshumba described the developments as deeply disturbing for local families.
"This sacred land in Mhondoro is the heartbeat and soul of our cultural history," he said. "It is saddening that these mining operations are desecrating our heritage with such impunity."
Members of the Mashayamombe royal family say the disputed area has for centuries served as a centre for traditional governance and spiritual consultation.
Chamunorwa Kaseke said the mountains and shrines remain active cultural sites used by local families.
He said the problem the Mashayamombe family faces stems in part from delays at the Ministry of Local Government in confirming their acting chief, who would lead the family until a substantive chief is appointed. One elderly woman, Ambuya Gumbo ReShumba, said the mountains, forests, and river formed part of the community’s spiritual identity.
Another elder, Claudios Mahachi Chafausipo, warned that the loss of the sites could sever traditions passed down for centuries.