http://news.radiovop.com
06/04/2010
12:04:00
Harare, April 06, 2010 - The Attorney General's office has
declined to
prosecute MDC treasurer general Roy Bennett on charges of
holding to maize
nine years ago in matter that has been described as
persecution rather
prosecution.
Bennett was last week served with
fresh summons last week at the High Court
where he is on treason trial and
he was supposed to appear before a Chipinge
magistrate for breaching the
Grain Marketing Board Act.
Chief Law Officer Chris Mutangadura in the
AG's office on Tuesday said the
AG's office is no longer pursuing the matter
on the grounds that there was
no justifiable reason why the matter was not
heard in 2001 when the summons
were issued.
"We are not going to
pursue that matter at the moment. We have told Bennett's
legal practitioners
to wait to hear from us on the way forward. What we need
to check now is who
was holding on to those summons because this is a
straight forward case
which could have been dealt with back then," said
Mutangadura.
Bennett's lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa of Mtetwa and Nyambirai
said they
approached the AG's office to intervene after realizing that the
trial was
not going to go ahead.
"What we did last was to approach
the AG (Johannes Tomana) to intervene
because we had not been offered the
docket and the witness statements. The
AG agreed that there was no need for
Roy Bennett to travel all the way to
Chipinge when we knew that the trial
will not proceed," said Mtetwa.
She said the AG said he will make a
determination after going through the
docket which "he is yet to receive
from police officers from Chipinge".
The charges against Bennett arose
after he allegedly violated the Grain
Marketing Board (GMB) Act for failing
to declare 92, 289 metric tones of
maize to the authorities nine years
ago.
The State alleges that on October 22, 2001 and at Charleswood Estate
Chimanimani Roy Leslie Bennett wrongfully and unlawfully was found in
possession of 92, 289 metric tones of maize which he did not declare to the
authorities in terms of the GMB act.
According to the Constitution of
Zimbabwe any person charged with a criminal
offence shall be accorded a fair
hearing within a reasonable time.
Therefore it is a fundamental breach of
a person's human rights if
prosecutions are not brought expeditiously
against a person accused of
crime. If there is a delay a person accused of a
crime may not, for example,
be able to call witnesses in his
defence.
Meanwhile David Coltart, secretary for legal Affairs in the
smaller Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) faction and Education Minister
was quoted by the
Prime Minister's Website condemning the move to prosecute
Bennett on charges
that happened nine years ago.
"In short it is not
open to the police to bring charges now when they should
have been brought
years ago when the crime was allegedly discovered. The
police cannot keep
charges locked away in a drawer to be brought out at an
"appropriate"
moment. If a crime has been committed by a person known to the
police then
charges should be brought immediately against that person.
Accordingly the
prosecution of Senator Bennett at this late stage appears to
be a clear
breach of section 18 of the Constitution. The Attorney General
has a duty to
explain to the public why it is that this prosecution was not
brought
earlier. If he cannot do so then the public will assume that there
has in
fact been a breach of section 18 and a denial of a fundamental right
to
Senator Bennett."
http://www.thedailynewszw.com/?p=28613
April 6, 2010
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono on Monday
maintained that the
recently enacted empowerment regulations were
susceptible to abuse by
well-heeled officials.
His comments
appear to have created tension with the architect of the
regulations,
Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere.
Gono, who was speaking during
a tour of his Donnington Farm by visiting ANC
Youth League president Julius
Malema, railed against the empowerment
regulations.
He and Kasukuwere
have openly clashed over the controversial empowerment
law.
After a
tour of Gono's massive farm supposedly to trumpet the land grab as a
success
story to the visiting ANC delegation, Gono delivered another
unrestrained
attack on the empowerment regulations.
The regulations seek to give
foreign owned companies, including banks and
mines, 45 days to submit
proposals on how they plan to sell 51 percent of
their shares to black
Zimbabweans within the next five years.
"Honourable people," said Gono;
"be on the look out for those who would want
to be greedy; those who would
use connections to get into factories. Let's
guard against vices that might
draw us back. The process cannot benefit the
same people who have benefited
over the years."
Kasukuwere fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat as Gono
said this.
Gono first attacked the empowerment regulations in an
interview with a local
financial weekly, where he said he was against the
"content, style and
approach" of the policy.
Gono warned against
farm-type "jambanja" (gang violence) this time around.
He was referring
to President Mugabe's land grab programme that saw prime
farmland seized
from white commercial farmers and redistributed to landless
blacks, but with
serious consequences on agricultural production and exports
in the
agro-based economy.
"We are all witnesses to what can inadvertently
happen when that is allowed
to take place and we cannot be a people who do
not learn from yesterday's
implementation shortcomings," Gono said in the
interview.
Kasukuwere fought back, accusing Gono of proffering "megaphone
advice" and
"seeking relevance."
Kasukuwere also accused Gono of
shutting down indigenous-owned banks, saying
the governor had no moral
ground to lambast the empowerment regulations.
At Donnington Farm,
Kasukuwere, who was chaperoning the visiting ANC
delegation, cut a lonely
figure. In his speech, the minister steered clear
of commenting on the
regulations.
Informed government officials say Kasukuwere enacted the
regulations with
the full support, if not encouragement of President
Mugabe.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai has declared the regulations "null and
void"
because they were enacted without consultation with him as the global
political agreement and Constitution Amendment No 19 prescribes.
The
regulations also bypassed a Cabinet committee that looks at the legality
of
regulations before they are gazette.
But Kasukuwere said last week: "I am
empowered to publish. When I became
Minister of Indigenisation the Act was
already there. What was I supposed to
do, sit around and not gazette the
regulations? I only consult when there is
need."
Mugabe himself has
wondered why Zimbabweans would be opposed to a scheme
that seeks to empower
them.
But critics say the timing of the enactment of the regulations was
out as
they came as the country was desperately trying to attract foreign
investors.
Observers say the regulations have dissuaded many
investors, who have put
plans to invest in Zimbabwe on ice.
Just last
week, the German African Business Association in Hamburg and the
German
Southern African Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Johannesburg put
on
hold plans to bring German investors into Zimbabwe, describing the
country
as a "no go area'' for foreign investors.
http://www.zimeye.org/?p=15821
Harare - Controversial African
National Congress (ANC) youth league
president Julius Malema on Sunday told
Youth Development, Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment Minister Saviour
Kasukuwere to respect the Zimbabwe
Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono's
opinion pertaining the Indigenisation
Act.
Gono and Kasukuwere have
clashed seriously over the law with the former
saying it was going to
destroy the economy while the later insists that it
was meant to empower the
black majority.
Speaking at a ZANU-PF meeting held at Dr Gono's Norton
farm Sunday night,
ANC youth leader Julius Malema said Gono was better
qualified to oppose the
Indigenization Act because he knew the economy
better than Kasukuwere.
"You must understand the role of a Governor; he
at all times has a
responsibility of balancing his Act. It is him who
must balance both the
confidence of the people and the investor and in
most cases you are
going to fight with him more than five times,
because he seeks to
balance his actions.
"He at times must not sing
slogans because he is neutral and during the
execution of his duties he must
be patient and ready to take that heat
because he has entered the kitchen.
If he cannot take the heat he is
sometimes told to get out and we do not
need that to happen.
"If you have areas of disagreements, do not fight
through the media", he
said.
Gono said he was not opposed to the Act
but was worried by the way it was
going to be implemented.
"We have
done a number of empowerment programs over the years which have not
bore the
required resources. We have witnesses of good polices that have
failed our
people on the altar of implementation. We have people who have
had access to
land and they have not had an excellent result and we are
saying that action
should not be repeated. We are also sounding a warning
bell to the
government that please be on the lookout of those who want to
be greedy
,those who want to use connections to get into these factories
and others
to just be smart about it. We are saying let's guard against
those vices
that want to draw us back to where were where, "said Gono.
Kasukuwere
maintained that there was no going back in implementing the law.
"Those
who are opposed to the Act must go and die. We have no reverse gear
in our
gear box. Journalists please emphasize that Kasukuwere has said 50%
in the
country's minerals are for us. If there is an insane Zimbabwean who
is
opposed to that he must go and die", he responded at the same meeting.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Violet Gonda
6 April 2010
Anglican
parishioners from Harare were barred from going to church this
Easter by the
notorious Nolbert Kunonga, the former Anglican Bishop of
Harare. This
resulted in at least a thousand Anglicans having to celebrate
Good Friday in
the Unity Square Gardens, after being shut out of their
parishes and the
Cathedral over Easter, in spite of a court order
instructing the warring
factions in the Church to share access to the
property, pending the outcome
of the dispute in the courts.
"It was a very moving service, especially
when you consider that Jesus
Christ was crucified out of the city, and there
we were meeting for Good
Friday outside of our churches and in this case
outside of the Cathedral.
For us it was very symbolic," Bishop of Harare
Chad Gandiya told SW Radio
Africa on Tuesday.
He said even one of the
Vice Presidents tried to appeal to Kunonga but it
just didn't work. "Vice
President John Nkomo tried to talk to both of us
together and asked us if we
could just work in peace, obviously observing
Justice Makarau's judgement -
that we share until such a time the courts
determine the matter that is
before them. And I understand that this is the
thinking of most people in
government that the law should be upheld, but to
our surprise it wasn't and
again as is always the case, the police were
prohibiting us."
The
Bishop would not divulge what exactly went on in the meeting with the
Vice
President, except to say that the request to share the building was not
accepted by Kunonga. As Vice President Nkomo is dealing with issues of
National Healing and Reconciliation.
Bishop Kunonga was
excommunicated by the Church in May 2008 after he tried
to unilaterally
withdraw the Diocese of Harare from the regional Anglican
Province of
Central Africa. To this day the Bishop refuses to accept this
decision by
the Church and also refuses to give up possession of St. Mary's
Cathedral in
Harare. His successor is Bishop Gandiya, who has not been
allowed to conduct
church services in the diocese.
The disputes have reached the courts,
with the High Court ordering both
factions to share church property while
the matter is still being dealt
with, but Gandiya's faction is still forced
to conduct church services in
the open and Kunonga and the police are in
clear violation of the High Court
order.
Anglican parishioners who
attended the open mass over Easter said popular
support is with Gandiya,
because he still commands huge numbers of
parishioners to his service,
including support from respected and retired
Bishops like Peter Hatendi and
Sebastian Bakare.
Our correspondent Simon Muchemwa said there were only
about 100 church
members loyal to Kunonga in the Cathedral, which was
heavily guarded by the
police. He said: "The service was held upstairs and
not in the main arena of
the Cathedral because the congregation was small,
and this service was held
while hundreds of other Anglican worshipers were
forced to worship in the
Unity Square Gardens on Good Friday."
Some
observers say Kunonga must have the backing of Mugabe - because without
this
he wouldn't have the constant police support that he has access
to.
Bishop Gandiya said the tragedy of the whole situation is that people
know
there is a law to be obeyed and yet continue to flout it, with the help
of
the police.
A frustrated parishioner sent an email to SW Radio
Africa saying: "I'm
Anglican and the issue of the persecution of our church
here in Harare
Diocese has escalated to ridiculous levels. We are
worshipping outside
locked, empty churches and we are having priests
arrested for giving mass,
etc."
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own Correspondent Tuesday 06 April
2010
HARARE - Zimbabwe's government is now considering auctioning
parts of the
Chiadzwa diamond field to firms that have applied to mine in
the area,
senior government sources told ZimOnline last week.
However
the sources said the government was caught up in quandary because
not all of
Chiadzwa (also known as Marange) has been surveyed to establish
the value or
size of deposits that the state would need to know to be able
to set prices
for the various portions of the field to be auctioned.
"We are thinking
of auctioning the Chiadzwa diamond fields," a senior
government official
said, speaking on condition that his name was not
published.
"The
problem is that we do not know the value of the diamonds there. The
major
problem with Chiadzwa is that other parts of the area have diamonds
and one
area has nothing, so how do you put a proper valuation of the gems
there?"
Currently two firms Canadile Miners and Mbada Investments are
operating in
the diamond fields in joint ventures with the government's
Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC) in line with Kimberley
Process (KP)
standards.
Both Canadile and Mbada are said to be just
each using 1 000 hectares of the
69 000 hectares the ZMDC has in
Chiadzwa.
The source said the firms which will most likely be considered
are part of
the 20 from which the government has received
applications.
"There is a feeling that although we have shortlisted four
firms out of 20
that have applied, if we auction off the area there could be
more revenue
for the state," the official said.
"However our biggest
worry is that we do not know the value of the diamonds
that in
Chiadzwa."
Most of the diamonds in Chiadzwa are classified as alluvial
diamonds.
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu was not immediately available for
comment.
Chiadzwa is one of the world's most controversial diamond fields
with
reports that soldiers sent to guard the claims after the government
took
over the fields in October 2006 from British-based Africa Consolidated
Resources that owned the deposits committed gross human rights abuses
against illegal miners who had descended on the field.
Human rights
groups have been pushing for a ban on Zimbabwean diamonds but
last November,
the country escaped a KP ban with the global body giving
Harare a June 2010
deadline to make reforms to comply with its
regulations. - ZimOnline
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
Zuma sends his negotiators back
Apr 5, 2010 11:01 PM |
By DOMINIC MAHLANGU
President Jacob Zuma is to send his team of
negotiators back to Zimbabwe
after power-sharing talks between Zanu-PF and
the Movement for Democratic
Change stalled again.
Zuma, who last
month visited Zimbabwe as the African Development Community's
chief
mediator, set a deadline of March 31 for the political parties to
resolve
their differences.
But President Robert Mugabe, MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai and Arthur
Mutambara, of the breakaway MDC, failed to meet the
deadline and gave Zuma's
facilitation team only a verbal
update.
Zuma's spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, yesterday said the team was
heading back
to Zimbabwe. It hoped to secure a written agreement between all
parties.
"The deadline was missed and the negotiators representing the
political
parties asked for more time. The president is hopeful that all
outstanding
issues will be concluded this week and that a full report will
be presented
to him," Magwenya said.
Since the signing of the Global
Political Agreement in 2008, Mugabe and
Tsvangirai have blamed each other
for the lack of progress in their unity
government. Tsvangirai has blamed
Mugabe for reneging on key provisions of
the deal and continuing to
undermine MDC ministers.
Mugabe accused Tsvangirai's party of working
with the West to impose
sanctions on Zanu-PF ministers and others loyal to
him.
The dispute is also about Mugabe's continued refusal to remove
central bank
governor Gideon Gono, and attorney-general Johannes Tomana,
from their
posts. Mugabe has also refused to appoint the MDC's Roy Bennett
as deputy
minister of agriculture.
Magwenya said that though the
negotiations were moving at a snail's pace,
Zuma was confident that an
agreement on all outstanding issues would be
reached.
http://www1.voanews.com/
Zimbabwe's national dairy herd is down to just 22,000 cows
from 192,000 in
2000 when supporters of President Robert Mugabe started
seizing white-owned
farms
Gibbs Dube & Loirdham Moyo | Washington
05 April 2010
Zimbabwe's dairy industry has declined to the verge of
collapse following a
decade of land reform, experts say, with the national
dairy herd down to
just 22,000 cows from 192,000 in 2000 when supporters of
President Robert
Mugabe started seizing white-owned farms.
Chairman
Wesley Tose Sansole of Parliament's Committee on Industry and
Commerce said
his panel heard from managers of the state-controlled
enterprise Dairibord
Zimbabwe that it is being supplied by just 60 dairy
farmers compared with
215 providers in 2000.
Deliveries have plunged to 38 million liters a
year from 138 million liters
of milk 10 years ago.
Sansole told VOA
Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that the industry has suffered
because white
commercial dairy farms were seized by ZANU-PF militants who
failed to
maintain milk-production operations.
He also said chronic electric power
outages are also hurting the dairy
industry.
Meanwhile, some newly
resettled commercial tobacco farmers are complaining
that they don't have
enough laborers to harvest the current crop.
As correspondent Loirdham
Moyo reported, farmers in Nyazura and Rusape,
Manicaland province, among
other areas, have warned that if tobacco leaves
are not picked in time, the
quality of the crop could suffer.
http://www.thedailynewszw.com/?p=28605
April 6, 2010
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE – War veterans’ leader Jabulani Sibanda has
described as peanuts
payments given to the former freedom fighters by
government thirteen years
ago.
He says the payments did not take into
consideration the number of years
spent in the
struggle.
Sibanda, wrestling for control of Zimbabwe National
Liberation War Veterans
Association (ZINLWVA) with Joseph Chinotimba said
former liberation war
fighters deserved better than the gratuities they
received from government.
“You say war veterans were paid for
participating in the struggle,” said
Sibanda. “How much were they paid? How
long were they in the struggle? Were
the gratuities consistent with the
number of years spent in the struggle? ”
“The answer is no, because war
veterans were given peanuts to get them off
the streets where they were
demonstrating after 17 years of independence.
In 1997, the government
acceded to demands by the ex-combatants and paid
them Z$50 000
each.
“Former Rhodesians are receiving pensions and war veterans receive
nothing,”
said Sibanda. “That was gross injustice on the side of the freedom
fighters
by a free government that had come into power by the sacrifice of
the same.”
Meanwhile, cracks continue to widen within ZINLWVA. Sibanda
was re-elected
chairman of the organisation at a congress last
month.
But Chinotimba has refused to recognise Sibanda’s
leadership.
“We do not even recognise the congress and we do not even
believe that it
took place,” said Chinotimba. “If it did then who was the
presiding officer?
He (Sibanda) cannot be a presiding officer and the
winner.
“It was not the war veterans because the real war veterans’
congress is
going to be held soon.
However, Sibanda, who has been at
the helm of the association since 2000,
said the congress was conducted
above board. He was retained unopposed.
The elections took place at
Chaminuka Training Centre in Bindura.
War veterans have over the years
been loyal supporters of President Robert
Mugabe, patron of the
association.
The ZNLWA fired one of its top members after he denounced
Mugabe for holding
on to power.
Maxwell Marange, who was the
association’s chairman in Manicaland Province,
chanted slogans denouncing
Mugabe at the Meikles Park in Mutare during a
march organized to support the
aging leader’s presidential candidacy in the
2008 elections.
But
Marange took everybody by surprise when he took to the podium and
chanted:
“Pasi naMugabe! (Down with Mugabe).”
Marange was among Zanu-PF supporters
who felt Mugabe was not the appropriate
candidate to stand on behalf of
Zanu-PF in the 2008 harmonized poll.
Mugabe went on to lose to Morgan
Tsvangirai, the MDC leader. However,
official results suggested Tsvangirai
had failed to secure 51 percent of
votes to take over presidency,
necessitating a runoff.
Tsvangirai pulled out of the second round citing
violence.
http://news.radiovop.com
06/04/2010
08:28:00
Gutu , April 06, 2010 - Despite enjoying a propaganda
monopoly on the public
media, beleaguered Zanu PF party, in its quest to
discredit the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party, has launched two
newsletters, The Insider,
and The Zimbabwe Today, which are circulated free
of charge in rural areas,
and ae being seen as a counter to the MDC
publications.
The MDC, under Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, publishes
two newsletters,
The Changing Times, for the party, as well as The Prime
Minister's
Newsletter, which highlights the party's position and
developments in the
inclusive government. The two publications have proved
to be a people's
favorite.
Not to be outdone, president Robert Mugabe
has so far published two issues
of the two new publications following the
closure of the party newspaper,
The Voice, which also churned party
propaganda.
Radio VOP recently witnessed the two tabloids - which have
the same colours
and masthead as those of the MDC-T - being distributed by
Zanu PF youth,
free of charge, to information starved villagers in
Domborembavha and
Munyaradzi communal areas in Gutu.
The Insider had
a lead story titled, 'MDC paying lip service to corruption'.
The story
alleges that the anti corruption drive in the party is targeting
'small
fish', amid allegations that Tendai Biti, who is the party secretary
general
and Finance Minister in the inclusive government, is involved in a
$13 000
000 scam. Quoting un-named sources, the paper alleges Biti bought
Tsoko
lodge in Nyanga from the misappropriated funds from donors which he
held in
the absence of MDC-T treasurer general, Roy Bennet, who was in exile
in
South Africa and now facing treason charges.
The Zimbabwe Today carried
long columns from well known Zanu PF
sympathisers, Reason Wafawarova and
Tafataona Mahoso,
denouncing the West over sanctions.
Zimbabwe Today's
motto, 'What the man on the streets needs to know about
Zimbabwe', does not
live true as some its articles carry difficult words
that would need the
reader, the ordinary man in the street, to constantly
consult the
dictionary.
Political analyst Takavafira Zhou said he got wind of the two
newsletters
being circulated in Masvingo, but rubbished them as
a
'desperate attempt by a desperate party'.
"They are trying in vain
to discredit the MDC-T, despite having control of
Zimpapers and The Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH). But I know the
people will no longer buy their
propaganda," Zhou said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
06 April
2010
Concern is high after this weekend’s controversial visit by ANC
Youth League
(ANC-YL) leader Julius Malema, who used a ZANU PF rally to sing
a song
already deemed as ‘hate speech’ by his country’s
courts.
Malema visited Zimbabwe as a guest of ZANU PF’s Youth League, to
learn
‘lessons’ on nationalisation. The firebrand ANC-YL leader, who rose to
notoriety by stating that he would ‘kill’ for South African President Jacob
Zuma, addressed a number of ZANU PF rallies over the weekend. It was on this
platform that Malema once again sang the apartheid era protest song ‘Shoot
the Boer’ (Dubula’ibhunu), which a court barred him from singing after
declaring it a form of hate speech.
But this didn’t stop him from
singing it in Zimbabwe, where a senior ZANU PF
youth official substituted
the word ‘ibhunu’, with ‘Roy Bennett’ - in
reference to the MDC Treasurer
General.
“We are not against whites at all, we are only against those
whites who do
not see blacks as human beings,” said ZANU PF youth secretary,
Absalom
Sikhosana.
There is grave concern over this echo of Malema’s
chosen song, which he has
used to incite and stir up racial tensions in
South Africa. The ANC led
government has also declared it would appeal the
court decision ruling the
song as hate speech, saying it is a part of the
country’s heritage. But
rights groups, such as civil rights initiative
AfriForum, have warned that
the singing of the song in recent weeks is
increasing racial tensions and
violence.
AfriForum’s Ernst Roets, who
has led the legal challenge to force Malema to
stop singing the song, told
SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that the song is
encouraging ‘racial
polarisation’ and violence. He explained how many of
their members have
spoken of increased threats against them, threats that
have only increased
since Malema started using the song as his personal
anthem. Roets also
expressed concern that at least seven South African
farmers have been killed
since Malema first sang the song last month,
echoing statistics that one
farmer is killed every two days in South Africa.
Roets however hesitated in
linking the murders with the singing of the song.
ZANU PF’s worrying
twist on the song came at the same time that racial
tensions almost boiled
over in South Africa, after a controversial white
supremacist was murdered
over the weekend on his farm. Eugene Terreblance
was killed by two of his
farm workers, allegedly in a dispute over pay, but
his far right wing AWB
group has accused Malema and the singing of the
‘Shoot the Boer’ song as the
real reason behind the murder.
The ANC led government, under the helm of
Jacob Zuma, has called for calm
and police have stated that the murder is in
no way political. But as Roets
pointed out on Tuesday there has been no
condemnation of the song or Malema’s
contempt of court by singing it. Roets
said it is gravely concerning that
the country’s leadership refuses to
denounce hate speech in this way,
despite what many say are the obvious
consequences.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Tuesday,
April 06, 2010
Herald Reporter
SIX
people died yesterday when a Peugeot 504 sedan they were travelling in
burst
a tyre and collided with a Masvingo-bound Mhunga bus along the
Harare-Masvingo Road near Lanark Store, about 30km outside Harare bringing
to 44, the road fatalities in one of the bloodiest Easter holidays in
years.
Last year 19 people died over the four-day holiday
period.
All the passengers on the Harare-bound Peugeot died on the spot
while the
injured, who were on the bus, were ferried to Chivhu District and
Harare
General hospitals.
The Peugeot was coming from Zinatsa area in
Chivhu but it could not be
ascertained if the passengers were related by the
time of going to print.
The number of injured people was not immediately
confirmed. Ambulances
sounding sirens were seen heading for Harare by late
yesterday evening.
Beatrice police spokesman Simon Dube, who was at the
scene of the accident,
said the injured were ferried to Chivhu and Harare
but did not give further
information, referring The Herald to
Harare.
However, eye witnesses said when the Peugeot burst a tyre,
another vehicle -
a Mazda 323 - that was travelling behind it tried to avoid
a collision and
encroached onto the other lane.
On seeing the Madza
in his lane the Mhunga bus driver swerved onto the
opposite lane and
ploughed into the Peugeot killing all six on impact.
The bodies were
ferried to Chitungwiza General Hospital mortuary where
families who suspect
their relatives could have been travelling in the
Peugeot should go and
identify the bodies.
The Peugeot was reduced to a mangled wreck, with the
engine and gearbox
being detached from the chassis.
Police spokesman
Superintendent Andrew Phiri on Sunday said 10 749 tickets
were issued to
various traffic offenders while 433 unroadworthy vehicles
were
impounded.
Police have attributed most of the accidents to human error
with the
remainder blamed on driving without due care and inattention,
overloading
and defective vehicles.
http://www1.voanews.com/
South African facilitator Lindiwe Zulu said her team will
have a copy of the
report by Wednesday and review it with President Zuma
before returning to
Harare to press the power-sharing parties for broader
agreements
Ntungamili Nkomo | Washington 05 April 2010
The
three principals in Zimbabwe's troubled power-sharing government have
received a report summarizing the state of talks by their negotiators, who
have again deadlocked on key issues and are expected to meet soon to try to
resolve those so-called outstanding issues with the help of South African
mediators.
Negotiator Elton Mangoma of the Movement for Democratic
Change formation led
by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told VOA on Monday
that Mr. Tsvangirai,
President Robert Mugabe and Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara were
reviewing the report from negotiators for their
parties. Mutambara is the
president of a rival MDC formation.
Sources
said the report states that negotiators could not agree on the fates
of
Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana,
whose appointments in late 2008 by President Mugabe in the interim between
the September signature of a power-sharing agreement and the formation of a
national unity government has been a bone of contention.
Following
mediation by South African President Jacob Zuma in March,
political sources
said one of the two men was supposed to step down as part
of the "package of
measures" assembled by Zuma, mediator on behalf of the
Southern African
Development Community.
President Robert Mugabe and other ZANU-PF
officials since then have denied
there was such a deal.
South African
facilitator Lindiwe Zulu said her team will have a copy of the
report by
Wednesday and review it with President Zuma before returning to
Harare later
in the week to push for broader agreements.
Bulawayo-based political
commentator Qhubani Moyo told VOA Studio 7 reporter
Ntungamili Nkomo that
the only solution may be new national elections - but
this is possible only
if a new constitution is put in place.
http://www.thedailynewszw.com/?p=28609
April 6, 2010
By Our
Correspondent
BULAWAYO - The mainstream MDC youth assembly has described
Africa National
Congress (ANC) youth president Julius Malema's remarks
during his just-ended
visit to Zimbabwe as provocative.
ANC Youth
League leader Julius Malema, left, from South Africa meets with
President
Robert Mugabe during his visit to Zimbabwe Monday, April 5, 2010.
Malema,
the militant leader of South Africa's ANC youth league, arrived in
Zimbabwe
on Friday and addressed several Zanu-PF meetings and a rally before
meeting
President Robert Mugabe.
He described MDC as imperialist an organization
which the ANC youths would
not befriend.
However speaking to The
Daily News on Tuesday, mainstream MDC deputy
national youth chairman, Amos
Chibaya, who is also legislator for Mkoba,
dismissed Malema's remarks as
unnecessary provocation.
"He just came here to provoke the situation,"
said Chibaya. "As MDC youths
we respect ANC leaders so much. They are
mediators between parties in the
inclusive government here. And for Malema
to just come and insult us; it's
just unacceptable.
"Malema should
not act as if he is the youth leader to all African political
parties by
going around labelling others puppets of the West".
He said they were
going to file a complaint with ANC leaders over Malema's
sentiments.
"As the MDC youth assembly, we are going to formally
engage leaders of his
party on this issue," he said.
During his
four-day visit, Malema toured platinum giant Zimplats in Ngezi
where he was
told of proposed black empowerment plans at the mine.
Zimplats and
beverages conglomerate Delta are some of the big
foreign-controlled firms
that have submitted empowerment proposals in
compliance with government's
indigenization regulations.
Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere
described proposals presented to
him by Zimplants as "crazy".
The
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, gazetted in February and
effective from March 1, states that foreign firms valued at a half a billion
dollars or more should cede 51 percent of their shareholding to
locals.
Zanu-PF invited Malema to buttress its indigenisation agenda and
the
much-criticised regulations.
In South Africa opposition parties
have sought to draw a link between the
weekend murder of white supremacist
Eugene Terreblanche with Malema's
insistence on singing a liberation song
"Dubul' ibhunu", which means "shoot
the Boer."
The song has been
banned by the courts but the ANC says it will appeal
against the decision.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
Tuesday 06 April 2010
Kimberley
Process Certification Scheme, Fact Finding Mission
By Abbey Chikane, KP
Monitor for Marange, Zimbabwe
21 March
2010
Introduction
The author prepared this report to confirm the
understanding of the mandate
of the KP Monitor for Zimbabwe. The report is
written with a view to
ensuring that the KP Monitor's approach to the
implementation of the Joint
work plan is consistent with Kimberley Process,
Working Group on Monitoring
expectations. The terms of reference and joint
work plan incorporate in this
report provide further details of the KP
Monitor's respective
responsibilities and; the fact-finding visit to
Zimbabwe facilitated an
on-the-spot assessment of the situation. Further,
the fact-finding-visit has
enabled him to determine his approach to the
assignment and confirmed his
operational requirements.
The
fact-finding-mission occurred from 1-3 March,
2010.
Background
Appointment of the KP Monitor
Abbey
Chikane, founder chairman of the Kimberley Process was nominated KP
Monitor
for Marange, Zimbabwe by the Kimberley Process Working Group on
Monitoring,
in consultation with the current chairman of the Kimberley
Process.
Following communication between Mr. Chardon, chairman of the
Working Group
on Monitoring, and the Honourable Obert Mpofu, Minister of
Mines and Mining
Development, Chikane was accepted by the government of
Zimbabwe.
Understanding the Mandate
The Seventh Annual Plenary
of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme met
from 2 - 5 November, 2009
in Swakopmund, Namibia. At this meeting, the
Plenary adopted an
Administrative Decision on a joint work plan aimed at
bringing Zimbabwe's
diamond trade into full compliance with the minimum
requirements of the
Kimberley Process. This follows acknowledgement by
Zimbabwean government
representatives that there have been certain
challenges in complying with
the minimum standards of the Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme. The
government noted its commitment to urgently
addressing issues identified in
the reports of the Working Group on
Monitoring (WGM), Working Group on
Statistics and the report of the
Kimberley Process Review Mission to
Zimbabwe that took place from 30 June to
4 July 2009.
The joint work
plan was developed by Zimbabwe and the Kimberley Process
Certification
Scheme to implement recommendations of the Review Mission
(2009). The joint
work plan is expected to be supported by technical
assistance from
Participants and Observers in the Kimberley Process. Plenary
also urged
Kimberley Process Participants and Observers to promote regional
cooperation
and outreach in support of this plan. The implementation and
progress of the
plan will be reviewed by the Intersessional and Plenary of
the Kimberley
Process in 2010.
To oversee and support the implementation of the joint
work plan, Plenary
resolved that a Kimberley Process Monitor for Zimbabwe
(KP Monitor) be
appointed. As stated in the Joint work plan, the role of a
KP Monitor is to
examine and supervise shipments of rough diamonds from the
Marange area. The
Joint work plan provides for a supervision of export
mechanism under which
exports of Marange diamonds are subject to Kimberley
Process verification
and confirmation that those rough diamonds were handled
in full compliance
with the minimum standards of the Kimberley Process. The
Administrative
Decision also provides for a review mission to assess
progress in the
implementation the joint work plan.
Although the
terms of reference and joint work plan eloquently explained the
task, the KP
Monitor would like to restate his understanding of the
assignment. The main
objective of the KP Monitor is to support the
implementation of the
Swakopmund Plenary Administrative Decision and Joint
work plan and work with
the Zimbabwean authorities towards full compliance
with the minimum
requirements of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
The main
activities of the KP Monitor involve monitoring the implementation
of the
Joint work plan and reporting on a regular basis, with the frequency
of such
reporting still to be mutually agreed, to the chairman of the
Working Group
on Monitoring with copies to the Kimberley Process chair and
the
Minister of Mines and Mining Development of Zimbabwe. The
Kimberley Process
and the government of Zimbabwe have agreed that the KP
Monitor will have
full and unhindered access to all relevant diamond
production and processing
sites as well as to all stakeholders from the
point of mining to the point
of export, including representatives of
government, industry and civil
society.
On request, the KP Monitor
will prepare an Interim Progress report for the
Kimberley Process
Intersessional meeting, to be held in June 2010 and/or for
the preparation
of the Kimberley Process Review Mission which will be
conducted in terms of
the Joint work plan, as well as a Final report for the
Plenary which is
scheduled to convene in November 2010. The calendar for
submitting regular
progress reports will be provided to the KP Monitor for
consideration by the
Chair of the working group on monitoring.
In addition, prior to each
export, the KP Monitor will examine, at the
request of the Zimbabwean
Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, diamonds
shipment from any
producing areas in the Marange diamond fields to confirm
whether diamonds
selected for shipment meet Kimberley Process minimum
requirements and
confirm their certification for export.
The KP Monitor will conduct a
thorough examination of individual shipments
and their chain of custody to
confirm their compliance with Kimberley
Process requirements, according to
the following procedure:
- When the KP Monitor assesses that an export
shipment has been produced and
prepared in accordance with Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme minimum
requirements, the KP Monitor is required to
confirm this on the relevant
Kimberley Process Certificate with his
signature and stamp, and will
digitally photograph the certificate and
shipment. A specimen of the KP
Monitor signature and stamp will be provided
to the Kimberley Process Chair
for prior distribution to Kimberley Process
Participants.
- When the KP Monitor assesses that an export shipment has
not been produced
and prepared in accordance with Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme
minimum requirements, the KP Monitor will provide to
the Ministry of Mines
and Mining Development specific written indications as
to the reason(s),
including any possible means of remediation. Any such
proposed export will
be held until the necessary remedial action is
completed, after which the KP
Monitor will reexamine the export and, if
fully Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme compliant, certify the shipment
and sign the Kimberley
Process Certificate.
After each examination,
the KP Monitor is required to prepare a specific KP
'export examination
report', providing summary conclusions on exports that
have been reviewed
against specific Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
requirements. Such
KP 'export examination reports' are to be submitted
within one week of the
certification examination to the chair of the Working
Group on Monitoring,
with a copy to the Ministry of Mines and Mining
Development of Zimbabwe.
Pictures of certificates and shipments must be
attached to the 'KP export
examination reports'. Finally, the KP Monitor
will perform his tasks under
the aegis and supervision of the Kimberley
Process Working Group on
Monitoring, and will refer any related issues to
this working group. The KP
Monitor may be invited to take part in the
meetings or teleconferences of
the working group, at the discretion of the
chair of the working
group.
KP Monitor Meetings in Zimbabwe
Courtesy visit to the
Ministry of Mines and Mining Development
On 1 March 2010, the KP Monitor
arrived in Harare on a three-day visit to
begin the fact-finding mission. He
met Mr. Thankful Musukutwa, Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Mines and
Mining Development. At this meeting the
Permanent Secretary proposed a three
day programme, including logistics and
resources allocated for the success
of the visit. The meeting was followed
by a courtesy visit to the office of
the Honourable Obert Mpofu, Minister of
Mines and Mining Development. The
Minister assured the KP Monitor that he
would have full access to all
relevant government representatives, relevant
diamond production and
processing sites as well as to all relevant
stakeholders from mine to the
point of export. He reiterated his government's
desire and commitment to
comply fully with the minimum requirements of the
Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme.
Meeting with KP Joint work plan
stakeholders
The KP Monitor then met with officials of numerous
state-owned entities and
departments. These included representatives of the
Ministry of Mines and
Mining Development (MMMD), Minerals Marketing
Corporation of Zimbabwe
(MMCZ), Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation
(ZMDC), the Ministry of
Finance represented by the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority (ZIMRA), Minerals
Unit, and Zimbabwe Republic Police. In addition,
industry representatives of
several private companies were present,
including Marange Resources, Mbada
Diamonds, Canadile Miners and Global
Diamond Valuators, Namibia.
At this meeting, the Permanent Secretary of
Mines and Mining Development
introduced the KP Monitor and requested all
present to introduce themselves.
He then requested the KP Monitor to present
himself to elaborate on the
purpose of his visit. The KP Monitor explained
that this was a
fact-finding-mission to Zimbabwe to make preliminary
assessments on
operations at the Marange diamond field and to determine his
requirements
for technical support in fulfilling his mandate.
Visit
to Mbada Diamonds sorting facility
The KP Monitor visited the Mbada
Diamonds sorting and valuation facility
housed in a hangar at Harare Airport
(referred to as the hangar). The KP
Monitor was received by Dr. Mhlanga,
chairman of Mbada Diamonds, chief
executive officer, Mr. Rhuhwaya, and Mr.
Dave Kassel, chairman of Reclam, a
company associated with Mbada Diamonds.
The Monitor was also received by a
contingent of government department
representatives most of whom are
responsible for the monitoring and
implementation of the Kimberley Process
Joint work plan.
At Mbada
Diamonds, the line management team demonstrated the process of the
movement
of diamonds from Marange diamond fields to the Harare sorting and
valuation
facility. The team also explained security and control systems at
the
facility, chain of custody, as well as policies and procedures for
handling
diamonds in and around the 'hangar'. Mbada Diamonds operational
policies and
procedures were designed and implemented by Global Diamond
Valuators of
Namibia, a consulting firm retained by Mbada Diamonds and
Canadile Miners.
Most importantly, management explained and demonstrated
company production
pipeline procedures, audit processes, administrative and
document handling
procedures.
Findings:
(i) Policies, processes and procedures
applied at Mbada Diamonds are world
class on paper and the company needs to
build the necessary capacity to
implement them. The company also needs to
inculcate a culture of full
compliance with Kimberley Process minimum
requirements.
(ii) At the 'hangar' there is an area of the sorting and
valuation facility
without cameras. This creates 'blind-spots' and risks
breaking the chain of
warrantees. It also creates an opportunity for rough
diamonds to be removed
from the security and monitoring control system. The
KP Monitor believes
this situation compromises the audit
process;
(iii) There is inadequate security around the helicopter landing
pad. While
the heli pad is in a secured area, it is also close to a standard
fence that
could be ripped apart;
(iv) Representatives of state
security agencies present at the 'hangar' do
not seem to be adequately
trained or experienced enough to ensure that the
manner in which rough
diamonds are handled is fully compliant with Kimberley
Process Certification
Scheme minimum
requirements;
(v) There is no visible paper trail
to track the movement of rough diamonds
from the safe to cubicles.
Management of Mbada Diamonds would like to
believe that the current paper
trail is adequate; however the KP Monitor
believes the system can and should
be improved.
(vi) The sorting and valuation site requires a senior
well-trained and
experienced Diamond Auditor. At present the company has
entrusted this
responsibility to a person who does not qualify for the job.
However,
management promised they will employ a qualified person to take
full
responsibility for implementation of audit policies, processes and
procedures.
Meeting with Global Diamond Valuators
At the end
of the Mbada Diamonds visit the KP Monitor requested a
presentation by
Global Diamond Valuators Namibia to explain its role and the
nature of
contractual relationships between the firm and its clients.
Representatives
explained they are retained by Mbada Diamonds and Canadile
Miners as
technical advisors to establish policies, processes and procedure
to meet
Kimberley Process minimum requirements, particularly the industry
chain of
warrantees. In addition, the KP Monitor requested soft and hard
copies of
manuals, policies and procedures recommended to Mbada Diamonds and
Canadile
Miners. These were provided and are in the custody of the KP
Monitor.
Findings;
(i) Methodologies and tools used by Global
Diamond Valuators are consistent
with international best practice, however,
there is a possibility that Mbada
Diamonds and Canadile Miners management
may receive all the required
knowledge and information but fail to implement
systems due to lack of
capacity.
(ii) The duration of the contractual
involvement of Global Diamond Valuator
is not certain. This poses a concern
on the implementation and
sustainability of the systems.
Meeting with
the diplomatic community
The KP Monitor was invited by the Head of
Delegation of the European Union
to Zimbabwe, His Excellency, Ambassador
Xavier Marchal who hosted a dinner
at his residence for the Heads of the
Missions accredited to Zimbabwe from
countries or entities that are
Participants in the Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme. Ambassador
Marchal advised the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Zimbabwe
through a note verbale that he had
invited Heads of the Missions accredited
to Zimbabwe to the dinner. About 20
representatives of participating states
and regional economic integration
organisations attended.
In his
speech, the KP Monitor explained that he was on a
fact-finding-mission to
assess operations at Marange diamond fields and to
determine his staff
requirements. In response, members of the diplomatic
community raised a
number of issues, including press statements by both
Honourable President
Robert Mugabe and Minister Mpofu that the government of
Zimbabwe still had
an option to trade diamonds outside the Kimberley Process
Certification
Scheme. However, members emphatically shared their commitment
and support
for the implementation of the Joint work plan and that revenue
generated
from the sale of rough diamonds should be used to rebuild the
Zimbabwean
economy and improve the livelihood of its people, particularly
children.
Findings;
Most member countries represented at the
dinner fully supported the
implementation of the Joint work plan with some
expressing concerns on the
political uncertainty in Zimbabwe.
Visit
to Chiadzwa, Marange
On 2 March 2010, the KP Monitor visited the
Chiadzwa, Marange diamond fields
for first hand information on mining
operations in that area before touring
Forbes, a border post between
Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The visit to Forbes
followed claims that diamonds
from Chiadzwa were being smuggled through the
borders between the two
countries. Chiadzwa, Marange is a group of
diamondiferous, largely alluvial
gravel properties in the province of
Manicaland, Zimbabwe. Mining takes
place on surfacial alluvial and alluvial
blocks, with open pits hardly
reaching three metres depth.
The ground is broken with excavators, loaded
into dump trucks using a
backhoe excavator and hauled to the ore bin or
stockpile at the plant.
Geologists explain that the ore consists of
sands, gravels and pebbles with
minor portions of boulders of conglomerates.
All material from the mining
block is processed as discrete batch and thus
results can be compared with
the sampling forecast for the block to check
the efficiency of the recovery
process. It is estimated that an area of 66
648 hectares (ha) held under 4
special grants that belong to ZMDC. The
special grants are identified as
follows:
SPECIAL GRANT NO. AREA
COVERED (ha) % OF REA
SG 4718 600 0.90
SG 4719 400 0.60
SG
4720 2100 3.15
SG 4765 63 548 95.35
TOTAL 66 648
100.00
Based on the geological exploration carried out by ZMDC, 11 889
hectares or
18% of the total concession is prospective for diamonds. The
remaining 54
759 hectares show low prospects, and further exploration is
underway in this
area. The prospective concession area has been demarcated
and issued to two
investors with some demarcated but not issued
yet.
SPECIAL GRANT NO. AREA COVERED (ha) STATUS
SG 4718 600
Demarcated, not issued
SG 4719 400 Demarcated, not issued
SG 4720
1 100 Issued to Mbada Diamonds
SG 4720 1 000 Issued to Canadile
Miners
SG 4765 8 789 Demarcated, not issued
TOTAL 11
889
Aside from the visit to Forbes border post, the KP Monitor's
objective was
to (a) identify the total area under the control of ZMDC in
Chiadzwa,
Marange, (b) subdivision of resources into manageable areas and
(c) assess
mining operation at both Mbada and Canadile mining
sites.
Visit to Canadile Miners sorting site
The KP Monitor
visited the Canadile Miners sorting and valuation site in
Mutare, Manicaland
province.
At the site, the delegation was received by line management and
shareholders
of the company. Overall, the sorting and valuation site
appeared non
compliant with the Kimberley Process minimum requirements,
largely because
their security and monitoring control systems were
in-adequate, and diamond
audit systems were equally not up to standard.
Understandably, the offices
were only recently occupied and some if not most
of their staff had been
recently employed. When the KP Monitor randomly
selected an employee, who
happens to be an employee of the MMCZ, for
questioning, it became apparent
that he had no idea of activities at the
sorting and valuation site, despite
his role as the representative of a
state owned entity.
Findings;
(i) Canadile Miners sorting and
evaluation site does not meet a voluntary
system of industry self-regulation
aimed at facilitating the full
traceability of rough diamond transactions by
government authorities;
(ii) Policies, processes and procedures applied
at Canadile Miners are world
class in theory and therefore need the company
to build the necessary
capacity to implement them. The company also needs to
inculcate a culture of
full compliance with Kimberley Process minimum
requirements;
(iii) At the sorting and valuation site there is an area
without cameras.
This creates 'blind-spots' and risks breaking the chain of
warrantees. It
also creates an opportunity for rough diamonds to be removed
from the
security and monitoring control system. The KP Monitor believes
this
compromises the audit process;
(iv) There is inadequate security
around the premises;
(v) Representatives of state security agencies on
site are not adequately
trained or experienced enough to ensure that the
manner in which rough
diamonds are handled is fully compliant with Kimberley
Process Certification
Scheme minimum requirements;
(vi) There is no
visible paper trail to track the movement of rough diamonds
from the safe to
cubicles. Management of Canadile Miners believes the
current paper trail is
adequate; the KP Monitor believes the system can be
improved;
(vii)
The sorting and valuation site requires a senior well trained and
experienced Diamond Auditor;
(viii) Back-up of footage from the
electronic security system is inadequate;
(ix) Roles and responsibilities
of shareholders, management and staff are
blurred and confusing. The KP
Monitor was unable to identify the public
office or accounting officer, even
though the Managing Director was present
at the meeting;
(x) The KP
Monitor deducted, without conclusive evidence, that Canadile
Miners may be
encountering financial difficulties. This conclusion, if
correct,
contradicts the assertion that the company had committed US$100
million to
develop its operation in Marange.
Visit to Mbada Diamonds mining
site
The KP Monitor visited the Mbada Diamonds mining site where a
relatively
new, but highly mechanised, mining operation was established. The
KP Monitor
was received by the same team that met him at the sorting
facility; Dr.
Mhlanga, Mr. Rhuhwaya, and Mr. Dave Kassel. The KP Monitor was
also received
by representatives of government. At the mine Mbada Diamonds
demonstrated
the process of the
movement of diamonds from the mine
site to screening, weighbridge, surge
bins, sort boxes, all the way to the
lock boxes. The company also
demonstrated health and safety procedures,
operational procedure and process
flows. An elaborate security and
monitoring control system was demonstrated.
All machines and equipment found
at Mbada Diamonds mine site are relatively
new; this includes all mining
machinery and equipment. The KP Monitor
concluded that Mbada Diamonds,
especially when compared to Canadile Miners,
appears to be funded heavily by
a large and established financial
institution.
Findings:
(i)
Mbada Diamonds mine is highly geared;
(ii) The company has been mining in
the Marange area since late 2009 and
has, stock-piled diamonds;
(iii)
Comparing like with like, Mbada Diamonds mine is equipped on par with
medium
to large mining operations in Botswana and Namibia. Management
believes the
company has built a 'hands-free' mining operation;
(iv) During the visit,
security arrangements in and around the mine were
elaborate and highly
visible (see section on security situation below);
(v) Operational and
geological staff demonstrated knowledge of their mining
operation;
(xi) Representatives of state security agencies present at
the mine are not
adequately trained or experienced enough to ensure that the
manner in which
rough diamonds are handled meets a voluntary system of
industry
self-regulation aimed at facilitating the full traceability of
rough diamond
transactions by government authorities;
(vi) The Mbada
team (shareholders and management) is intimately involved in
running the
business.
Visit to Canadile Miners mine site
The KP Monitor
visited the Canadile Miners mining site where a mechanised
mining operation
was established. The KP Monitor was received by management
team under a tree
where he was briefed about the programme and activities of
the day. Apart
from government and parastatal officials, present at the mine
were directors
and management of the company. These included, Mr. Rob van
der Merwe, Marco
Chioppi, Adrian Taylor, chief executive office, Z Ncube,
Deputy chief
executive officer and Gwiba, office Manager. This is the same
team that the
KP Monitor had met at the sorting offices.
At the mine Canadile
demonstrated the value chain and the process of the
movement of diamonds
from mine site to the sorting and valuation office in
Mutare. Canadile
machines and equipment at the mine site are 'work in
progress. The splitting
of diamonds and non-diamonds is done in a container.
Whilst the KP Monitor
was at the mine site, there was construction underway.
The Canadile staff
appeared to be working hard to meet Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme
minimum standards before the next visit by the KP
Monitor. The Canadile
Miners management team has also undertaken to engage
the services of Global
Diamond Valuators to expedite implementation of
minimum requirements before
the next visit of the KP Monitors and that of
Kimberley Process Review
Mission.
Findings:
(vii) Canadile Miners may be experiencing
financial challenges;
(viii) The company has been mining in the Marange
area since late 2009 and
has stock-piled diamonds;
(ix) Comparing
like with like, Canadile Miners mine is currently the size of
a small-scale
miner with machinery and equipment that can be moved from one
site to
another without much difficulty. ;
(x) During the KP Monitor's visit
security arrangements in and around the
mine were sufficient to prevent
intrusion;
(xi) The operational and geological staff demonstrated
knowledge of their
mining operation;
(xii) Representatives of state
security agencies present at the mine are not
adequately trained or
experienced enough to ensure that the manner in which
rough diamonds are
handled meets a voluntary system of industry
self-regulation aimed at
facilitating the full traceability of rough diamond
transactions by
government authorities;
(xii) The Canadile miners managing director did
not demonstrate active
involvement in running the business. Although he was
present, he never
participated in company briefings.
Security at the
plant
MBADA
Screened concentrate weighed with truck on a weigh
bridge
Weight of concentrate from head feed is captured Weight-o-meters
used to
weigh concentrate
Process at DMS double-locked by security
and mine management
Process in recovery up to vault is also double
locked
Glove boxes have cameras inside to monitor the sorting
operation
Sorting operations are hands free
Exporting boxes use
self-locking mechanism
Exporting boxes locked with two
locks
Access to all diamond areas are controlled by centralised access
control
system
Exit from mining area is via an X-ray
machine
CANADILE
Count number of scoops from tipper into head
feed
Weight concentrate from surge bin recorded again Security personnel
on
horses doing rounds
DMS plant is hands free
Conveyor belts
screened off with wire mesh
Recovery up to vault is double
locked
Glove boxes have cameras inside to monitor the sorting
operation
Sorting operations are hands free
Exporting boxes use
self-locking mechanism
Export boxes locked with three locks
Access
to all diamond areas controlled by centralised access control system
Exit
from mining area is via a thorough physical search
Security at the
mine
MBADA
Entrances and security exits manned 24
hours
Static security space at 100m intervals
Motorbike units
conduct rounds every hour
Dog unit right around the fence
area
Control towers Watch towers at corners of the
perimeter
CANADILE
Entrances and security exits manned 24
hours
Static security at 100m intervals
Security personnel doing
rounds on horses
Night vision cameras along the fence and mining are-
linked to central
control tower
Visit to Forbes border post
En
route to Harare, the KP Monitor toured the Forbes Border Post. At the
border
the delegation was able to briefly meet the head of Zimbabwe Revenue
Agency
who explained that she was not authorised to speak on behalf of her
organisation.
Findings:
(i) The government of Zimbabwe has
designated Harare International Airport
as the country's official point of
export for diamonds and that no border
gate or other exit point was equipped
and/or authorised to facilitate the
export of rough diamonds;
(ii)
Rough diamonds exported from a border gate or any other domestic
airport is
deemed illegal;
(3) On the other hand, the KP Monitor was unable to
obtain regulations or
legislation that supports this desired situation. It
appears that if a
diamond trader met Kimberley Process minimum requirements
and obtained the
Kimberley Process Certificate, he/she could apply for
permission to use a
border of his/her choice.
Workshops with
Stakeholders in Harare
On 3 March 2010 the KP Monitor arranged one-hour
long workshops with
individual key stakeholders at the offices of the
Ministry of Mines and
Mining Development. The purpose was to outline
individual implementation
plans to prepare templates. The workshop also
provided further clarification
for the implementation of the Joint work
plan.
Meeting with the Reserve Bank
In a separate meeting with
officials of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(Reserve Bank), two
representatives of the bank, Messrs. Manase and Chiremba
explained that as
part of the court order, the Reserve Bank was requested to
provide custody
for the diamonds in question during the dispute period. The
bank received
all the diamonds referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the High
court order
in judgment no. HC 6411/07 for safekeeping pending determination
of the
appeal noted against the judgment. In fulfilling this request, the
Reserve
Bank established a monitoring committee comprising representatives
of the
following institutions:
1. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
2. Minerals
and Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe
3. Ministry of Mines and Mining
Development
4. Office of the President
5. Zimbabwe Republic
Police
6. Deputy Sheriff
7. African Consolidated Resources (legal
representative)
The Reserve Bank further appointed Mr. Jamal Joseph
Ahmed, a diamond
valuator from Premier Diamonds, a company registered in
Belgium with offices
in Antwerp. Premier Diamonds was assigned to confirm
the weight and value of
the diamonds. members of the monitoring committee
were invited to witness
the valuation and sealing of the diamonds. The
diamonds were placed in a
trunk and one key was kept by the deputy sheriff
and another by African
Consolidated Resources legal representatives. The
deputy sheriff also issued
a receipt presented to African Consolidated
Resources. The Ministry of Mines
and Mining Development has informed the KP
Monitor that its team is
currently seeking legal interpretation of the court
order and the
implications.
Meeting with cabinet task force on
Marange production
The KP Monitor met with the Zimbabwean cabinet task
force on Marange
production. The Task Force was established by government,
to monitor
developments in Marange, among other issues. The committee
comprises
Honourable Mpofu, Chairman of the Committee and Minister of Mines
and Mining
Development, Honourable Biti, Minister of Finance, Honourable
Ncube,
Minister of Industry and Commerce, Honourable Mnangangwa, Minister of
Defence, and Honourable Mangoma, Minister of Economic Development and
Investment Promotions.
At this meeting, the KP Monitor briefed the
Task force on his activities in
Zimbabwe as part of his factfinding mission.
He assured them that Zimbabwe
has the capability and potential to meet
Kimberley Process minimum
requirements.
Second meeting with the
Minister of Mines and Mining Development
The KP Monitor met the minister
at the end of his fact-finding mission. At
this meeting, the KP Monitor
informed the Minister that his fact-finding
mission was successful and that
he was able to visit every site possible and
met all relevant stakeholders
in the time frame provided. The KP Monitor
also informed the minister that
he would be preparing a report on his
findings and that a copy would be sent
to the minister.
Media Briefing
At the end of the visit, the KP
Monitor met members of the media at the
Ministry of Mines and Mining
Development. He informed the media that his
mission was accomplished and
that he would be reporting to Mr. Stephane
Chardon, chairman of the Working
Group on Monitoring who, in turn, would
report to the chairman of the
Kimberley Process and the Minister of Mines
and Mining Development,
Honourable Obert Mpofu. The KP Monitor ended his
fact-finding mission and
returned to South Africa.
Agencies and companies actively involved in
mining Marange diamonds
Mining in Zimbabwe is administered and managed by
the Ministry of Mines and
Mining Development. Among other issues, the
ministry is responsible for
granting mining rights by issuing certificates
of registering mining claims,
special grants, mining leases exclusive
prospecting orders etc. The ministry
discharges some of its functions
through state owned entities such as the
Zimbabwe Mining Development
Corporation (ZMDC), a company created by act of
parliament.
Another
wholly-owned state entity is the Minerals Marketing Corporation of
Zimbabwe
(MMCZ). Its mandate is to sell and coordinate the export of
minerals, for
which it receives a commission of (0.875%). It also purchases
rough diamonds
from the local market and sell them to diamond manufacturers
and dealers.
MMCZ is Zimbabwe's Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
exporting
authority. The MMCZ authority is required to keep diamond
production
statistics and other related production and export information.
The ZMDC
is mandated to invest in the mining industry of Zimbabwe on behalf
of the
state. ZMDC operates 26 separate mining companies in Zimbabwe. Some
of its
operations include four special grants in the mining area of
Chiadzwa, which
are held directly by ZMDC. Together, the company owns
approximately 125 000
hectares of diamondiferous area.
Initially, ZMDC attempted to produce and
sell rough diamonds without
partnering with commercial entities. This
attempt, which produced 1 366 872
carats over less than three years, was
later reconsidered and it was
concluded that joint ventures were the
preferred way to grow its technical
and financial capabilities. As at
October 2008, the company was allowed to
sell rough diamonds in the open
market. An estimated 876 000 carats valued
at US$8,3 million were sold to
the open market and a balance of 490 000
carats were kept in stock. Of the
US$8,3 million, US$837 000 was paid to the
national fiscus.
Formation
of Joint Ventures
Following the Kimberley Process Review Mission, 2009, a
report outlining
levels of non-compliance, including the security situation
around the
Chiadzwa and Marange diamond fields, the Ministry of Mines and
Mining
Development and ZMDC resolved to revise their mining business model.
A
decision was taken to consider partnering with commercial mining
companies.
According to representatives of the Zimbabwean government,
unsolicited
expressions of interest from the mining fraternity were received
from
various local and international operators and a file was opened for
applications.
When the government revised its business model, the
need arose to select
potential partners. The simplified version of the
selection process can be
summarised as follows; prospective investors were
selected by the Ministry
of Mines and Mining Development, which was preceded
by establishing "a
special purpose vehicle" that represented ZMDC commercial
interests. This
company was later named Marange Resources Private Limited
(Marange
Resources), a wholly owned subsidiary of ZMDC.
Marange
Resources although wholly owned by ZMDC is a private company
registered
under Zimbabwe's Companies Act Chapter 24:03. The company was
originally
registered as Block Wood Mining and later the name was changed to
Marange
Resources.
In July 2009, two companies, namely Core Mining, registered in
South Africa
and Grandwell Holdings, registered in Mauritius were considered
for joints
ventures with Marange Resources. ZMDC would hold its interests in
the joint
venture through Marange Resources. According to a report based on
ZMDC oral
evidence to the parliamentary committee on mines and energy, on 8
February
2010, Core Mining Resources is a diamond mining company operating
in
Kimberley, South Africa and Grandwell Holdings is a company involved in
the
reclamation business with strong a financial and administrative capacity
to
put in place a fully fledged mining operation.
Due diligence was
conducted on both companies and subsequently the ZMDC
signed a suspensive
Memorandum of Understanding with Core Mining and
Grandwell respectively. The
report states that the Memorandum of
Understanding with both companies was
superseded by the shareholders
agreements signed on 13 and 14 August 2009.
The joint venture for Grandwell
was signed on 13 and Core Mining on 14
August 2009.
Issuing special grants
ZMDC then released special
grants named 4720 measuring 2100 hectares to Core
Mining and Grandwell
Holdings. The special grants were divided in two almost
equal parts. The
companies pledged US$100 million investment in the form of
equipment and
machinery that would be used for building physical,
processing, water, road
and security infrastructure. The agreement also
undertakes to relocate
communities within and around the mining fields. An
inter ministerial
committee was established to oversee the relocation
programme. This
committee included the ministries of local government,
public works, mines
and environment.
These joint ventures have resulted in the formation and
incorporation of two
distinct companies in which ZMDC (through Marange
Resources) has 50% shares.
Grandwell and Marange Resources hold their 50/50
shares in a joint venture
company called Condurango, trading as Mbada
Diamonds. Condurango has entered
into a management agreement with joint
venture partners, with the
understanding that Condurango will be responsible
for the day-to-day running
of the mining operation.
For Core Mining
Resources, a new company called Canadile Miners Private
Limited was formed.
Unlike Condurango, Canadile Miners partners have agreed
to jointly manage
their operations. Both joint ventures have board of
directors. Condurango
has ten seats, while ZMDC is allocated five directors
and Grandwell five
directors. The chairmanship of the board rotates after
two years. The same
arrangement applies to Canadile Miners.
Relocation of affected
villagers
A total of 4,207 households have been identified for
resettlement to pave
the way for diamond mining operations. Total costs of
resettlement have been
calculated by the Ministry of Public Works and
Housing at $11,791,644 (Table
1). The investors currently have committed to
share the cost equally. New
investors in the area will share the cost on
pro-rata. The government has
already identified ARDA Transau farm for
resettlement of affected
households. The first phase of the resettlement
exercise will see 1,800
households being moved to ARDA Transau farm where
each household will get
one hectare for a homestead and half a hectare for
crop farming.
The investors have so far built two sample houses at ARDA
Transau and sunk
10 boreholes. The existing school and clinic have been
renovated. The
investors will install irrigation infrastructure for the
settlers.
Small scale miners
The Ministry of Mines and Mining
Development is drafting policy and
procedures on handling small scale
mining. Among other issues, the ministry
is investigating the roles of each
government department and other relevant
key institutions. It is also
looking at the definition of small scale miner,
particularly size. To date,
no small miner has been licensed to mine. The
ministry indicated that a
framework document will be completed by June 2010.
However, mining
operations by small miners will begin at a much later stage.
Country
internal controls
Mining titles are issued by the Ministry of Mines and
Mining Development
(MMMD) after evaluation of the application and due
diligence on the
investor. The MMMD carries out periodic mine audits and
inspections. The
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Minerals Unit also monitors
the movement of
diamonds from the mining stage up to the export stage. MMMD
and the Minerals
Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) are responsible
for authorising
exports of diamonds after satisfying themselves that the
diamonds comply
with Kimberley Process Certification Scheme requirements. No
diamonds can be
exported without the KP certificate.
At the port of
exit ZIMRA insists on Kimberley Process certificates being
produced before
diamonds can be exported. The diamonds must be sealed and
accompanied by a
commercial invoice with the seal number and number of
carats being exported.
There is a statutory instrument in place which makes
it mandatory for all
diamond producers to comply with minimum Kimberley
Process
requirements.
Marange production and sales statistics
For the
period October 2006 to 28 February 2010, a production and sales
account of
the Marange diamond field is obtainable from the activities of a
number of
players as summarised in the table below.
Marange Diamond Field
Production Summary, October 2006 to 28 February
2010
Source
Product
volume
(carats) Sales volume
(carats) Stock (carats)
Marange
Resources 1,363,566.55
1,083,840.36 279,726.19
Mbada 2,005,298.44 0 2,005,298.44
Canadile
346,551.92 0 346,551.92
MMCZ mop-up 531,222.01 525,167.76
6,054.25
Police/MMMD 25,932.88 25,932.88 472.87
ACR 129,031.87 0
129,031.87
TOTAL 4,401,603.67 1,634,941.00
2,767,135.54
Source:MMMD (2010)
Marange Resources annual
production volume, 2007 - 2009
Production Period Diamond recovery
(carats)
2007 494,181.95
2008 460,017.20
2009
409,367.40
Total Production 1,363,566.55
Source: MMMD
(2010)
Marange Resources Sales Summary, 2008 -2010
Sales
Carats
Tender 1 01-Oct-08 101,550.00
Tender 2 01-Mar-09
87,307.09
3,706.63
328,305.01
Tender 3 16-Jun-09
64,305.44
2,445.32
104,260.86
2,005.31
61,028.61
Tender
4 20-Aug-09 17,930.11
30,263.06
73,221.52
Tender 5
27-Jan-10
2,753.73
3,678.18
10,387.95
17,445.83
81,056.81
63,297.66
28,891.24
Total
sales 1,083,840.36
Closing stock at 28
February 2010
279,726.19
Source: (2010)
Marange Resources only started sales in
October 2008. The slow issuance of
CD1 (currency declaration) forms by the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe slowed the
export process causing the accumulation
of product/stock pile. A paper trail
is available for all transactions
entered by Marange Resources. The Ministry
of Mines and Mining Development,
through the comptroller and auditor general
is engaging a forensic auditor
to reconcile production and sales figures for
Marange diamonds as stipulated
in the Joint work plan, Strategic Issue 8.
The exercise will include
reconciliation of all diamonds bought by MMCZ and
those from police
seizures.
National Production Statistics,
2009
Marange
Resources Mbada Canadile Murrow River Ranch
TOTAL
409,367.40 302,115.08 57,537.00 121,863.19 72,617.23
963,499.90
In 2009, Mbada and Canadile only started production in
December 2009.
Cooperation and Transparency
In 2009, cabinet set
up an inter ministerial task force to oversee Kimberley
Process compliance
issues on Marange diamonds, to include investment in the
Marange diamond
field and relocation of affected households. The three
political parties to
the Global Political Agreement (GPA) are represented in
the
inter-ministerial task force whose members include:
Hon O.M. Mpofu (MP) -
Minister of Mines and Mining Development, (chair) Hon
T. Biti (MP) -
Ministry of Finance
Hon E.D. Mnangagwa (MP) - Ministry of
Defence
Hon Professor W. Ncube (MP) - Ministry of Industry and
Commerce
Hon E. Mangoma (MP) - Ministry of Economic Development and
Investment
Promotion.
In addition, there is the parliamentary
portfolio committee on mines and
energy which monitors compliance with best
practices. It also monitors the
implementation of relevant legislation and
corporate governance by all
players in the diamond industry. A steering
committee chaired by the
Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, monitors
implementation of the
Joint work plan agreed to with the Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme.
Other members of the committee include MMCZ, ZMDC,
ZIMRA and ZRP - Minerals
Unit. There is also a committee on border control
made up of the ZRP -
Border Control and Minerals Unit, ZIMRA and immigration
officials who work
with their counterparts in Mozambique.
A
provincial committee chaired by the Ministry of Local Government has been
set up to deal with the relocation process for affected
households.
The Committee is made up of officials from:
· Ministry
of Local Government
· Ministry of Lands
· Ministry of Public
Construction
· Department of Irrigation
· Department of Physical
Planning
· District Development Fund
· Environmental Management
Agency
· Mutare Rural District Council
· Ministry of
Agriculture
· Ministry of Mines and Mining Development
· Zimbabwe
Mining Development Corporation
The committee reports to the provincial
governor for Manicaland.
Security situation in
Marange
Demilitarisation of Marange diamond field appears to be ongoing,
in
accordance with the Kimberley Process Administrative Decision and Joint
work
plan. As resource areas are demarcated and allocated to joint venture
companies, investors take full responsibility of their areas and are
compelled to secure their areas and operate on hands free auditable systems.
The KP Monitor was informed that there is now complete demilitarisation of
areas under Mbada and Canadile's operations. Both Mbada and Canadile have
secured their areas of operation through physical security barriers (fences
etc) and electronic means.
Industry voluntary
self-regulation
The global diamond industry has undertaken to implement a
voluntary system
of self-regulation by ensuring an effective internal
control system of
diamonds based on the international certification scheme
for rough diamonds.
This system includes a chain of warrantees underpinned
through verification
by independent auditors of individual companies and
supported by penalties
set by industry, which helps facilitate the full
traceability of rough
diamond transactions by government authorities. The KP
Monitor attempted to
establish levels of compliance by mining companies at
Marange diamonds
fields. The results were as follows:
Security
situation at Sorting and Valuation facilities
MBADA CANADILE
·
Screened concentrate weighed with truck on a weigh bridge
· Count number
of scoops from the tipper into head feed
· Weight of concentrate from
head feed is captured
· Weight-o-meters used to weigh
concentrate
· Weight concentrate from surge bin recorded again
·
Security personnel on horses doing rounds
· Process at DMS double-locked
by security and mine management
· DMS plant is hand free
· Process
in recovery up to vault is also double locked
· Conveyor belts screened
off with wire mesh
· Recovery up to vault is double locked
· Glove
boxes have cameras inside to monitor the sorting operation
· Glove boxes
have cameras inside to monitor the sorting operation
· Sorting operations
are hands free
· Sorting operations are hands free
· Exporting
boxes use self-locking mechanism
· Exporting boxes use self-locking
mechanism
· Export boxes secured with 3 locks
· Exporting boxes
are secured with 2 locks
· Access to all diamond areas controlled by
centralised access control
system
· Access to all diamond areas
controlled by centralised access control
system
· Exit from the
mining area is via X-ray machine
· Exit from the mining area is via
thorough physical search
Security at the mine
MBADA
CANADILE
· Entrances and security exits manned 24 hours
·
Entrances and security exits manned 24 hours
· Static security at 100m
intervals · Static security at 100m intervals
· Motorbike units conducts
rounds every hour
· Security personnel doing rounds on horses
·
Dog unit right around the fence area
· Control towers
· Watch
towers at corners of the perimeter
· Night-vision cameras along fence and
mining area- linked to central
control tower
Landing air strip and
security control tower
The KP Monitor visited the well-publicised air
strip that is being built in
the area. The mine management team informed the
KP Monitor that the airstrip
will be used to transport rough diamonds from
the mine to the sorting and
valuation facility in Harare. The KP Monitor was
also taken to the security
control tower. The tower is being built on the
highest point in the Marange
area.
Matter between Ministry of Mines
and Mining Development and African
Consolidated Resources
The KP
Monitor was informed by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development
that
African Consolidated Resources Plc, a public company listed on the
London
Stock Exchange, has over the past several years, declared a dispute
on
mining claims in the Marange diamond fields with the ministry and its
associated institutions. The dispute between the parties culminated into a
High Court ruling in September 2009 with a court order stating the following
(as paraphrased):
· The African Consolidated Resources claims issued
to Dashaloo Investments,
Possession Investments, Heavy Staff Investments and
Olebile Investments,
which are within the area previously covered by
Exclusive Prospecting order
1523 held by Kimberlit Searches are valid and
have remained valid since the
date they were originally pegged, and the
right granted to a company that is
associated with African Consolidated
Resources, shall not apply in respect
of the African Consolidated Resources
claims as indicated on Annexure 'B'
(of the application). In that regard it
is hereby ordered that Zimbabwe
Mining Development Corporation cease its
prospecting and diamond mining
activities in the said area.
· The
Court Order further instructs that 129 400 carats of diamonds seized
from
African Consolidated Resources offices in Harare January 2007 be
returned to
African Consolidated Resources, and the Police be directed to
cease
interfering with the African Consolidated Resources prospecting and
mining
activities. And that the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development
and/or its
associate institutions pay African Consolidated Resources lost on
a legal
practitioner and client scale, the one paying the other to be
absolved.
The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development advised that
this matter is sub
judice and therefore cannot be discussed in detail until
a legal opinion is
obtained from its advisors.
The matter between the
ministry of Mines and Mining Development and African
Consolidated Resources
is of serious concern. Indications are that the
African Consolidates
Resources may file an urgent application to stop
shipment of rough diamonds
that were mined from Marange diamond fields. This
action may require
Kimberley Process participants and observers to apply
their minds on the
matter.
The KP Monitor is of the opinion that the Kimberley Process is
mandated by
its participants and observers to ensure that Zimbabwe complies
fully with
minimum requirements of the Kimberley Process Certification
Scheme. And that
the matter between the ministry of Mines and Mining
Development and African
Consolidated Resources is a subject of Zimbabwe's
national laws and court
decisions. An attempt to handle the matter outside
the courts could easily
draw Kimberley Process participants and observers
into a political and
diplomatic disagreement.
The KP Monitor
recommends that Kimberley Process should focus on the
implementation of the
joint work plan, as envisaged, to ensure that Zimbabwe
is in full compliance
with Kimberley Process minimum requirements. In the
event of an urgent
application by African Consolidated Resources, Kimberley
Process actions
should be guided by a court decision on the matter.
The Way
Forward
The following challenges and recommendations are not listed in
any
particular order, but focus on issues that may have a negative impact on
the
implementation of the joint work plan, directly or indirectly. In
listing
these challenges and recommendations, an attempt is made to list
only those
that address issues covered in the joint work plan, and relevant
to
Kimberley Process minimum requirements.
Challenges
Recommendations
· Government agencies have recently deployed civil
servants to monitor and
report on the diamond production exports and
imports, however, most of these
individuals are not adequately trained or
inducted into this new
responsibility
· Ongoing onsite training and
coaching be provided to civil servants. Among
other issues, the focus should
be on system leakage and audit processes and
procedures. Others may be
trained as diamond sorters and valuators.
· Too many government agencies
are involved in monitoring and handling rough
diamonds. This poses the
danger of diamonds being swapped or stolen in the
process.
· Only the
MMCZ, ZIMRA and ZRP should handle rough diamonds. Even with these
three
agencies, movement of rough diamonds should be subjected to a
monitoring and
security mechanism that can detect the loss or of diamonds.
· ZMDC has
issued some special grants and is issuing more such grants.
· ZMDC should
accelerate the process of issuing special grants in the
Chiadzwa area since
illegal miners may seek to occupy unfenced areas.
· ZRP is permitted by
legislation to hold confiscated rough diamonds as
exhibit. The legislation
allows ZRP to transport rough diamonds to court as
required.
·
Legislation be amended to reduce the risk of diamond swap or loss. In the
event that legislation need not be amended, government may consider the
safe-keeping of rough diamonds at MMCZ (on confiscation and during court
proceedings) and only release them when necessary.
· Zimbabwe Reserve
Bank currently holds rough diamonds for safekeeping
pending the court order
and Appeal of the court order by the government of
Zimbabwe.
·
Zimbabwean Reserve Bank be encouraged to keep rough diamonds only under
extraordinary circumstances, otherwise be discouraged from handling rough
diamonds.
· Mbada Diamonds and Canadile need to increase the chances
of providing
accurate rough diamond statistics from production to sorting
and valuation.
· These companies be encouraged to install Torex and
counting machines at
the mines.
· Mbada Diamonds and Canadile Miners
do not have adequate diamond audit
systems.
· These companies need to
employ, a full time qualified diamond audit to
increase their chances of
complying fully with industry self-regulating
mechanism as agreed by the
global diamond industry and Kimberley Process
participants.
· Mbada
Diamonds and Canadile Miners have not been able to demonstrate that
their
sorting and valuation centres have no blind-spots.
· These companies need
to put cameras all around their sorting and valuation
facilities.
·
Mbada Diamonds and Canadile Miners claim their sorting and valuation
facilities are fully secured and insured.
· Both companies are
requested to submit insurance report from a current
insurer of the sorting
and valuation facility stating that the facilities
are fully insured at a
value equivalent to the value of its production
· Mbada Diamonds and
Canadile Miners claim their electronic surveillance
systems are fully
fraud-proof and they guarantee an off-site back-up.
· Both companies are
requested to submit an assurance letter certifying that
the electronic
security system installed at their sorting and valuation
facilities cover
all areas in the facilities and that on request from the
Kimberley Process,
they can provide footage of at least three years of
coverage, assuming that
their operations continue for such a period.
Other Challenges and
Recommendations
In addition, the following additional related challenges
and recommendations
should be taken into consideration.
Challenges
Recommendations
· Marange diamonds field is a resource-rich region on the
one hand but a
politically and economically charged piece of land on the
other. The
political and economic leadership in and outside government faces
the
challenge of ensuring that revenue generated from the sale of rough
diamonds
is used to reconstruct and develop the economy. The challenge is
for all
parties
involved to communicate clearly the strategic
direction the country would
like to take in exploiting diamond resources in
the interest of all people
of Zimbabwe.
The KP Monitor recommends
that the Cabinet Task Force on Marange production
must lead an economic
strategy aimed at developing and growing the diamond
mining industry in
Zimbabwe to create a significant source of revenue for
the state. The
strategy will have to be communicated clearly at all levels
of government
and industry to solicit the buy in of all key players in the
industry.
The communication of clear messages to communities and
other relevant
stakeholders in and around Marange needs to be led by the
Cabinet Task Force
and/or its representative bodies.
· Communities in
Chiadzwa, Marange are not connected to the mining
activities in the area.
They have seen a fence being erected around the
diamond fields, an air strip
being constructed, and trucks and bulldozers
working. And they have been
informed that they will be relocated. The
national, provincial and local
government representatives and their
implementing authorities need to
develop an inclusive and well-coordinated
relocation strategy aimed at
building consensus on the way in which
relocation should be
implemented.
Such relocation of the community may require a well thought
out and well
orchestrated plan with involves the participation of all
stakeholders,
particularly the local communities and their representatives.
It might also
help to remember that the decision to relocate was taken at
the height of
the diamond rush and that the circumstances have since changed
following the
end of diamond rush.
A national and regional
communication strategy and plan is required to
educate and inform the
community and all relevant stakeholders on the
rationale, goals and
objectives of the relocation.
There must be room for new ideas on the
nature of the relocation since this
decision was taken during or around the
diamond rush period. New ideas may
include; classification of communities
that need to be relocated and
categories of communities such as (a) those
members of the community who
would like to secure jobs at the mine (b) those
who may want to be paid cash
and start a new life elsewhere; and (c) those
who are ready to relocate to a
designated area.
· The government and
its associate institutions face a financial crisis, as
a result certain
fundamentals are not in place to develop and grow diamond
production in
Marange. It might be relevant to consider development
institutions in Africa
and the world at large that are mandated to provide
developmental assistance
of all types.
The government needs to appoint a team that will research
development
institutions such as the African Development Bank, Development
Bank of
Southern Africa, Industrial Development Corporation and the European
Community, etc. This takes into account that there are sanctions imposed on
government and government officials.
· The selection of joint venture
partners to invest and mine diamonds in the
Marange diamond fields has
received much criticism from several quarters.
Numerous documents suggest
prospective investors normally apply for grants
and these applications
accumulate over time. At a later stage relevant
government institutions
process these applications and select some.
The Ministry of Mines and
Mining Development may want to consider a more
transparent, credible and
predictable system that will enable the ministry
to select applicants for
consideration. Such a system will ensure
credibility and accountability in a
more transparent and predictable manner.
· The certification and shipment
of Zimbabwe's rough diamonds is certainly
going to create a revenue base for
the government. The communities where
diamonds are mined are most likely to
expect return on the diamond
resources.
The Ministry of Mines and
Mining Development may want to consider releasing
statistics on the
royalties and company taxes paid to government as well as
dividends declared
by the MMCZ annually to demonstrate how the diamond
industry is contributing
to the national fiscus. The ministry may also want
to demonstrate how mining
in the area is contributing to the development of
infrastructure, job
creation, wealth, health and educational development.
· The development
of small scale mining is a daunting task for government
due to its
complexity and magnitude. The programme that the Ministry of
Mines and
Mining Development and other stakeholders have embarked on is
commendable.
The ministry of Mines and Mining Development may want to
conduct a benchmark
study on small-scale mining in countries that have
similar economic and
mining circumstances. These include Ghana, Sierra Leon
and Angola.
· The implementation of the joint work plan Government needs
to expedite the
process of requires technical and financial support from
participants.
Apparently, that the government has written letters to
countries such as
South Africa to solicit technical support engaging these
countries to
support speedy implementation of the joint work plan. South
Africa and
European Community may be ready to assist government with
immediate effect.
The government should direct specific requests for
assistance to those
countries that have offered technical assistance, in
order to ensure that
areas of greatest need are addressed as a matter of
priority.
· Experience has shown that illicit trade in Zimbabwe is most
likely to
spill over to its neighbouring countries. There is need for
regional
cooperation as recommended by the Working Group on Monitoring and
as
foreseen in the joint work plan. Such co-operation may include internal
monitoring controls, security, technology, and coaching and or training. The
DRC as the Vice Chair of the Kimberley Process may wish to consider
championing efforts to promote strengthened regional co-operation, in
consultation with the government of Zimbabwe, in order to ensure that such
regional co-operation is designed to address specific challenges being faced
by Zimbabwe in meeting the minimum requirements of the Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme.
Support for the KP Monitor
· Following
the fact-finding-mission, the KP Monitor was able to establish
the magnitude
of the tasks ahead and has concluded that to fulfill his
mandate in a
professional and diligent manner he needs secretarial and
technical
expertise. It would be unrealistic to expect him to fulfill this
task
without secretarial and technical support.
Recommendations on the
Secretarial and Technical support
· The secretarial support that is
required includes the facilitation of
constant communication with all key
stakeholders; planning and coordination
of KP Monitor visits to Zimbabwe;
compilation of supporting documentation in
preparation for writing periodic
reports; monitoring media coverage of the
Marange diamond fields and general
administration of the activities of the
KP Monitor. The envisaged
secretarial support will ensure that the
collection and, verification of
data, as well as certification of
information provided by the Zimbabwean
government and industry is accurate.
It will also ensure that periodic
reports written by the KP Monitor are
prepared professionally. Additional
information may reach the KP Monitor
through sources such as KP
Participants, Observers and the Zimbabwean
government.
· The
following recommendations are made to expedite the task of the KP
Monitor.
The individuals who are recommended are highly competent and are
known
professionally to the KP Monitor and with whom the KP Monitor feels
comfortable working. The fact that they are based in the region helps to
keep costs down and makes the co-ordination of regular visits to Zimbabwe by
the KP Monitor easy to co-ordinate, especially in the area of technical
support on site in Marange.
Secretarial
· The KP Monitor
recommends Ms. Thuli Magubane, an experienced and
professional project
coordinator, be engaged to provide the envisaged. For
the past seven years,
she has served the corporate world as an administrator
and coordinator. Her
strengths are in establishing programme management
offices (PMOs) designed
to administer and coordinate large projects. She has
implemented PMOs in the
financial and property industries in South Africa.
Thuli has attended
various training courses in programme management office,
project management
methodologies and project coordination. For more
information, please consult
the resume, which accompanies this report.
Technical
· The KP
Monitor recommends Ms. Jennifer Posthumus, an experienced diamond
expert, be
engaged to provide the envisaged. With over 20 years of
experience in the
diamond industry, Jennifer has sorted and valued large
quantities of rough
diamonds into various assortments for optimum yield. In
the past six years,
she acquired experience in negotiations with buyers and
sellers in the open
market. Jennifer attended various training programmes in
South Africa,
Antwerp, London and Israel. She has worked for the De Beers,
group of
Companies, including Diamdel, South Africa. Currently, she works
for Degas'
Love a rough diamond trading company. Her professional integrity
and ethical
standards are beyond reproach. For more information, please
consult the
resume which accompanies this report.
Next visit to Zimbabwe
· The
KP Monitor is available to visit Zimbabwe from 6 -8 April 2010,
subject to
confirmation with chair of the working group on monitoring and
the
government of Zimbabwe. The purpose of the visit is to conduct a
thorough
examination of individual shipments from any producing area in
Marange and
their chain of custody to confirm whether rough diamonds
selected for
shipment were produced and prepared in accordance with
Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme minimum requirements.
· If compliant, the KP Monitor
is required to confirm the certification on
the relevant Kimberley Process
Certificate with his signature and stamp, and
will digitally photograph the
certificate and shipment. If not compliant,
the KP Monitor will provide to
the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development
of Zimbabwe written indications
as to the reasons, including any possible
means of remediation. During this
period, the shipment will be held until
remedial action is completed, after
which the KP Monitor will reexamine the
export and, if fully compliant,
certify it and sign the certificate, as
provided in the joint work
plan.
· The KP Monitor would like to be accompanied by a diamond expert
and a
project coordinator when he visits
Zimbabwe.
Conclusion
· The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
remains the only international
system that has successfully responded to
conflict resource issues
worldwide. The scheme has successfully and
drastically reduced resource
issues on the continent and has contributed to
the political and economic
stability of fragile states such as Zimbabwe. The
scheme is known for
imposing extensive requirements on its members to enable
them to certify
shipments of rough diamonds as 'conflict free' and prevent
conflict diamonds
from entering the legitimate global trade.
· Under
the terms of Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, participating
states
must meet minimum requirements and must put in place national
legislation
and institutions; export, import and internal controls; and also
commit to
transparency and exchange of statistical data. Participants can
only legally
trade with other participants who have also met minimum
requirements of the
scheme, and international shipments of rough diamonds
must be accompanied by
a Kimberley Process Certificate guaranteeing they are
conflict
free.
· The implementation of the joint work plan is critical for meeting
these
minimum requirements. - ZimOnline
http://www.businessday.co.za/
Published: 2010/04/06 07:49:02
AM
Tim Cohen
timcohen@yebo.co.za
THE slaying of
Eugene TerreBlanche is a call to arms, but precisely not the
call to arms
that either he or his mirror image, Julius Malema, would ever
issue. His
death is a call to arms for the rest of us, the people who are
not seduced
by their darkest suspicions, the people who still believe in a
future that
will be not defined first and foremost by race, the people who
feel
themselves to be the minority but who are actually the majority.
It's a
typical South African irony that TerreBlanche, the quintessential
Boer,
should be killed at the precise time when Malema is trying to whip up
Zanu
(PF)-style hatred about people he describes as "Boers" - in Zimbabwe.
Malema's endorsement of the "Ayesab' Amagwala" song will strike
TerreBlanche's
benighted supporters not as a historical artefact but as an
explicit
endorsement of farm killings. It's not, of course. It's just the
normal,
usual, run-of-the-mill Malema politics at its most typical -
pressing into a
grey zone with all the delicacy of an elephant intent on
gaining notoriety.
The deeper irony is that TerreBlanche and Malema are
flip sides of the same
coin: their techniques, their style, their general
ham- fistedness, their
faux-populism, their carefully constructed
"outrageousness", their bizarre
media appeal, all come from the same
political copybook.
The difference is that TerreBlanche's bubble had long
ago been pricked, and
Malema's appears to be inflating at extraordinary
speed, with the bewildered
and stunned assistance of the African National
Congress's (ANC's) chronic
do-nothing culture.
There was a time when
TerreBlanche was as feared at Malema is today. He was
recognised as
"extreme", yet he was also given credence as a tip of the
iceberg - a symbol
of what Afrikaners would be if they gave in to their
fears.
TerreBlanche always styled himself as a "boer", a farmer, but
I once visited
a real farmer whose farm in the Ventersdorp area neighboured
that of
TerreBlanche. He told me TerreBlanche was a terrible farmer, and
that he
generally farmed nothing.
He also noted with a grin that
TerreBlanche did not even study agriculture.
"Hy was a drama student," he
revealed.
Far from representing Afrikaners, TerreBlanche was in fact the
opposite of
the "nation" he sought to represent; flamboyant, immodest,
arrogant, and
generally a klutz - all terrible sins among ever-capable,
ever-modest,
ever-resilient, God-fearing farmers. He even struggled to ride
a horse.
It's interesting to recall how TerreBlanche collapsed under the
weight of
his own falsities. Perhaps this is Malema's ultimate fate.
TerreBlanche was
caught having an affair with an attractive, blonde
journalist, Jani Allan.
Within his own movement, the affair was a terrible
betrayal; he was married,
she was English. So he denied the affair, despite
Allan's gushing admission
in her Sunday Times column that, "Right now I've
got to remind myself to
breathe ... I'm impaled on the blue flames of his
blowtorch eyes."
His denial rebounded on him, and TerreBlanche's
extremism came to be
recognised for what it was, a giant paper tiger.
TerreBlanche was peddling
hatred, and ordinary people may be intrigued, they
may attend his meetings.
The weak-minded might even be inspired. But it
takes special circumstances
for hatred to work as political
ideology.
One of the things we may have to get used to over the next week
or so is the
repeated use of that old Marx quote, "history repeats itself
first as
tragedy and then as farce". The problem is that although Terre-
Blanche's
death is a personal tragedy, it is not a political tragedy. It's
symbolic
not of an attack on farmers, it's an attack on the vulnerable and
the
isolated everywhere.
Neither is Malema's repetition of the
TerreBlanche methodology a farce. It's
dangerous because the ANC is so
scared of itself that it cannot represent
ordinary South Africans who now
generally joke about their racial
differences. Racial problems and
inequalities exist, but race hatred is an
indulgence of the extremes that
belongs to TerreBlanche's generation. He
would do his country its greatest
service if he took it with him to his
grave.
- Cohen is a freelance
writer.
BILL WATCH
15/2010
[5th April
2010]
The
House of Assembly has adjourned until Wednesday 30th
June
The
Senate has adjourned until Tuesday 16th June
Update on Inclusive
Government
The “Agreed
Package” announced by
President Zuma on 18th March is still shrouded in secrecy, raising the question
- did President Zuma really forge an acceptable agreement or is he playing for
time until after the FIFA World cup? On 26th March President Mugabe told the
ZANU-PF Central Committee there had been no agreement on the Gono, Tomana and
Bennett issues, or on sharing of provincial governorships, and also said “there
cannot be any further concessions from us unless the illegal sanctions are
gone”.
Negotiators report
ready: The party teams
resumed negotiations on 25th March and presented a “verbal report” on 31st March
to the South African facilitation team. The written report was finished on 2nd
April and is being reviewed by the three party principals. The facilitation
team are returning to Harare to discuss it and have said they will insist on
broad agreement. It has already missed the 31st March deadline and this will
further delay the comprehensive report which President Zuma is to give to the
SADC Organ. The negotiators have remained tight-lipped about what they have
achieved, but Minister Chinamasa has said that the report will list both points
of agreement and of disagreements – so it is reasonably clear that points of
disagreement remain. Sources report that unspecified electoral reforms have
been agreed but that the Gono, Tomana, Bennett and provincial governors issues
have not been resolved.
Prime Minister wants
SADC to break deadlock: In a statement on
31st March Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai praised President Zuma’s “dedication
to breaking the impasse” but also said: “after the most recent
round of negotiations it appears that the issues that have stalled progress for
more than a year are still being used to avoid creating the open, free and
prosperous society that our people demand and deserve. If this situation
continues, I will ask President Zuma to call upon SADC to break the deadlock
once and for all.” [Electronic version of PM’s full
statement available on request.]
Indigenisation
Regulations
No
amendments to the regulations have been gazetted, so the 15th April target date
for submission by businesses of completed form IDG01, showing current extent of
indigenisation and, if appropriate, indigenisation plans, remains
unchanged.
The Minister of Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment announced that changes,
if any, would come only after indigenisation plans submitted by businesses under
the regulations had been considered by sectoral inter-ministerial committees and
the committees had reported on appropriate changes.
The
Regulations are being Examined by the Parliamentary Legal
Committee
[PLC] which has asked the Speaker for extra time within which to consider the
constitutionality and validity of the regulations. If the PLC reports that
provisions in the regulations are inconsistent with the Constitution and if the
PLC report is endorsed by the Senate, the offending provisions will have to be
repealed by the President unless the House of Assembly resolves they should
stand [Constitution, Schedule 4 paragraph 8]. If the PLC reports that
the regulations are consistent with the Constitution, but are ultra vires.
i.e. beyond the powers conferred on the Minister by the Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment Act, or are otherwise legally unsatisfactory, it will be up
to the Minister to decide whether to do something about it – if he does nothing
an adverse report would strengthen the case for affected businesses to challenge
the regulations in court. [Veritas
Bill Watch commentary on the indigenisation regulations available on request;
also available – Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights submission to the PLC and the
Portfolio Committee.]
No
Parliamentary Committee Meetings This Week
No
Thematic or Portfolio Committee meetings have been scheduled for the week after
the Easter break. Most committees have wound up pending business ahead of the
anticipated April commencement of the constitution outreach programme, which
will involve nearly all Parliamentarians.
The
State v Roy Bennett: Judgment Postponed to 10th May!
Justice
Bhunu was to have given his decision on the defence application for Mr Bennett’s
discharge on Wednesday 31st March. But the judge said his judgment was not
ready and postponed the case to 10th May, after the court vacation. Mr Bennett
has now also been summoned to answer charges of contravening the Grain Marketing
Act in 2001 – but this appears to be a police initiative not sanctioned by the
Attorney-General’s Office, which is to review the docket.
Farmers
Latest Efforts to Have SADC Tribunal Rulings Enforced
A
group of dispossessed commercial farmers have applied to the SADC Tribunal for
[1] a declaration that Zimbabwe continues to be in contempt of the Tribunal’s
earlier orders in the land cases and [2] for an order directing the SADC Summit
to take action on Zimbabwe’s failure to uphold the Tribunal’s orders. [Under
the SADC Treaty the Tribunal cannot enforce its orders against a member State;
that is a matter for the SADC Summit.] The Tribunal made a finding of
contempt against Zimbabwe in July 2008 and referred the finding to the SADC
Summit “for appropriate action”, but the Summit has not yet acted.
Chiadzwa
Parliamentarians
refused access: the Portfolio
Committee for Mines and Energy, under the chairmanship of Hon Chindori-Chininga
of ZANU-PF, arranged to visit Chiadzwa last week and travelled to Mutare for the purpose, armed with
clearance from the Ministers of Home Affairs. But the committee was prevented
from carrying out its intended
inspection of operations, apparently because the Minister of Mines would not
grant authorisation for the visit.
In the Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee: Following the in
camera appearance of the Permanent Secretary and Minister before the
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy the previous week,
representatives of the Mbada and Canadile companies appeared before an open
meeting of the Committee on 23rd March. [After initial resistance the
Permanent Secretary, the Minister and the company directors eventually
recognised the Committee’s right to insist on their presence under the
Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act.]
The Kimberley Process
Monitor for Zimbabwe, Mr
Abbey Chikane, has compiled a report on his fact-finding visit to the country in
early March. One of his observations on the operations at Chiadzwa is:
“Too many government
agencies are involved in monitoring and handling rough diamonds. This poses the
danger of diamonds being swapped or stolen in the process.” [Full report available on request.]
Urban
Councils to get Special Interest Councillors
Statutory
Instrument
79/2010
[Electronic
version available on request.] was
gazetted on 2nd April and specifies the numbers of non-voting special interest
councillors to be appointed to each of the country’s urban councils by the
Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development in terms of section 4A
of the Urban Councils Act. [Section 4A was added to the Act when it was
amended in January 2008 as part of the package of reforms agreed by the three
political parties ahead of the 2008 harmonised elections.]
Under
section 4A each urban council consists of:
·
one
elected councillor for each ward of the council area, and
·
a
number of appointed councillors “representing special interests” fixed by
Minister for the particular council by statutory instrument, the number fixed
not to exceed one quarter of the number of elected councillors.
In
statutory instrument 79/2010 the Minister has fixed the maximum possible number
of special interest councillors for every urban council, e.g., in Harare, which
has 46 elected councillors, there are to be 11 appointed; in Bulawayo, which has
29 elected councillors there are to be 7 appointed.
Note:
Special interest appointed councillors have been a feature of rural district
councils for some years. The Minister’s appointment of councillors to rural
district councils has been criticised as not truly representing special
interests, the complaint being that he has simply appointed former ZANU-PF
councillors to councils now dominated by MDC-T. The Minister has claimed his
appointees have local government experience that new MDC councillors do not
have. There are no criteria controlling the Minister’s use of the power to
appoint special interest councillors. They hold office “at the pleasure of
the Minister” [which means they can be removed by the Minister at any time
without any reason given, making it likely that they will follow his
instructions]. They do not have a vote at council meetings but otherwise are
entitled to participate in the business of the council and to receive the same
benefits as elected councillors, e.g., allowances.]
Legislation
Update
Acts: Four
Acts were gazetted this week:
Financial
Adjustments Act
(8/2009), gazetted and into force 2nd April. [Passed by Parliament 3rd
December 2009]
Public
Finance Management Act
(11/2009), gazetted and into force 2nd April. [Passed by Parliament 17th
December 2009] This Act repeals the State Loans and Guarantees Act and the
Audit and Exchequer Act, but loans and guarantees previously contracted are not
affected and all existing statutory instruments under those Acts continue in
force.
Audit
Office Act
(12/2009), gazetted 2nd April 2010, but not yet in force [Passed by
Parliament 17th December 2009.] This Act will come into force on a date to
be fixed by the President by statutory instrument.
Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe Amendment Act
(1/2010), gazetted and into force 31st March 2010. [Passed by Parliament 9th
March 2010.] [Electronic
version available on request.]
All Acts
of 2009 have now been gazetted.
Bill in
House of Assembly:
Public Order and Security Amendment Bill. [Private Members Bill in second
reading stage]
Statutory
Instruments: SI
79/2010 provides for Ministerial appointees on all urban councils [see note
on Urban Councils get Special Interest Councillors above]. SI 80/2010
provides for customs duty rebates on engine spares, motor vehicles and
components for the National Railways.
Veritas makes every
effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for
information supplied