Mawere behind indig policy

Mawere behind indig policy 23 October 2014

Saviour Kasukuwere, the former Indigenisation minister, planned to set up a company to provide black empowerment consultancy services to government, it has emerged.

A highly placed source who participated in meetings where the plan was mooted told The Zimbabwean that during a 2011 trip to South Africa Kasukuwere met businessman Mutumwa Mawere and some unnamed entrepreneurs from the mining sector.

He said Kasukuwere heavily depended on Mawere’s advice regarding the indigenisation policy – despite the fact that Mawere was a specified person regarded as undesirable by government.

Mawere, who holds South African citizenship, is fighting to get back the now dormant Midlands based Shabanie-Mashava Mines (SMM), an asbestos mining concern that government controversially seized from him a decade ago.

SMM was specified on August 26 2004 in terms of the Prevention of Corruption Act and placed under reconstruction on September 6 2004, with Afaras Gwaradzimba being appointed by government as administrator.

“Contrary to Kasukuwere’s claim that he is the brains behind the indigenisation policy, he depended heavily on Mawere for ideas. At no time has government acknowledged that Mawere was involved as a consultant. In any case, why Mawere, who government had specified together with SMM?” said the source.

“There was no agreement on the proposed company, so the idea of a consultancy was abandoned.

It seems some people out there were already thinking of milking the government through this shady company. Moves would be made to ensure that Parliament ratified the idea, after which a tender would be flighted for consultancy on indigenisation.

“It was anticipated that foreign companies would respond together with the local consultancy and an argument would be pushed through to give the tender to our company as it was indigenous,” added the source.

The plan entailed using the company fronted by black businessmen to claim millions of dollars from government in purported consultancy, with the money being shared between top government officials and some private individuals.

A trail of email communication between Kasukuwere and Mawere shows that the minister, now in charge of Water and Climate, might have breached government policy by widely consulting the self-exiled Zimbabwean businessman.

Kasukuwere held numerous telephone conversations with Mawere as indicated in the e-mail trail as he sought his ideas on how to successfully wrest majority shareholding from foreign companies which are now compelled to surrender 51 percent of their shares to black locals in compliance with the Indigenisation law.

The e-mails also show that Kasukuwere, through his permanent secretary then, begged for funding from Mawere to facilitate an external trip to consult a South African group, Royal Bafokeng, on mineral rights and community share ownership schemes.

Royal Bafoken successfully lobbied the South African government to grant it mineral rights. In a letter dated January 31 2011 and signed by Prince Mupazviriho, the permanent secretary, Kasukuwere requested Mawere, through his organisation called Africa Heritage Society (AHS), to fund a study tour to the Bafokeng Community Development Programme in South Africa.

Wrote Mupazviriho: “Follow up to our telephone conversation please kindly assist by facilitating and sponsoring a study tour to Bafokeng, South Africa for a group of thirteen (18) people led by the Honourable Minister S. Kasukuwere (sic).”

Curiously, the proposed entourage also included local government minister Ignatius Chombo and several chiefs. David Chapfika, a Zanu (PF) politician and chairperson of the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board (NIEEB), the CEO, Wilson Gwatiringa and five unnamed journalists were part of the three-day trip.

Mawere, in subsequent communication dated February 1, 2011 with Kura Sibanda—an entrepreneur and member of AHS—acknowledged the proposed familiarisation trip and advised that “we plan to host a dinner…for the delegation and a number of stakeholders including mining companies that have existing and potential interest in Zimbabwe”.

Sibanda also owned Top Harvest (Pty) Limited which, according to Mawere, incurred accommodation, transportation and stipend costs when the Kasukuwere delegation travelled to Pretoria for the Bafokeng tour.

Top Harvest expected to recoup the expenses from the proposed consultancy, but was unceremoniously dropped by Kasukuwere even though it was initially appointed advisor to set up community share ownership structures in Zimbabwe. While Kasukuwere could not be reached for a comment, the emails that The Zimbabwean has in its possession show that he personally communicated with Mawere, whom he saluted by his Dziva totem. In one of the e-mails, Kasukuwere described Mawere’s ideas as “excellent”.

The exchanges between the two, particularly a lengthy message from Mawere to Kasukuwere sent on March 31 2011, showed that they discussed a wide range of issues that included how government would pay for the 51 percent shares that it would force foreign companies to surrender.

The two also discussed who would value available minerals, the possible effects of indigenisation in external investment and who would benefit from the policy.

Contacted for a comment, Mawere said: “I can’t say I was responsible for crafting the indigenisation policy. Kasukuwere was the minister and he takes credit but where there is need for ideas, I can give them”.

In a statement issued last year, Mawere acknowledged that Kasukuwere had been consulting him, remarking that “there is silence from people like Hon. Kasukuwere who sought and obtained valuable advice but lack the courage to confirm it publicly”. He added: “It would be obvious that at the material time, the ministry had no idea as to how to proceed otherwise there would have been no need to visit South Africa.”