http://www.diamondintelligence.com/
31 December
2012
The Zimbabwe government will halve mining levies next year after
companies,
including Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP), complained that
increases
instituted in 2012 harmed development, according to Deputy Mines
Minister
Gift Chimanikire.
"We have proposed to the Ministry of Finance
that the mining fees be reduced
by 50 percent," he said in an interview with
Bloomberg News. "We're now
waiting for the Ministry of Finance to approve
the new fee structure, which
will happen in the new year."
"Preference
will be given to small-scale miners since they are the ones who
extensively
lobbied government compared to established miners, although
their
considerations are also being looked at," Chimanikire adds.
Zimbabwe, which
has the biggest platinum and chrome reserves after South
Africa, in February
increased diamond-mining licenses five-fold to US$5
million from US$1
million.
Meanwhile, applications for a platinum-mining license soared to
US$500,000
from US$200, according to the Government Gazette, Bloomberg
reports. The
government justified the revised fees by explaining that they
were meant to
prevent speculative holdings of mineral claims. The government
said in April
that would review the level duties as a result of the
complaints.
Increasing the mining license fees has hit the mining industry's
outlook
said Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines earlier this month.
The chamber's
members include Impala's Zimplats unit, Rio Tinto Group,
China's Sinosteel
Corp. and Metallon Corp Ltd. Rio mines diamonds at Murowa
in Zimbabwe, while
Sinosteel produces chrome, and Metallon is a gold miner.
Zimbabwe earned
US$1.6 billion from mineral production from January to
October, the chamber
said in a December 11 statement.
http://www.theafricareport.com
Posted
on Monday, 31 December 2012 14:10
Speculation on when Zimbabwe will hold its elections
continues to grow, with
analysts saying it was highly unlikely that the
polls will be held in March.
President Robert Mugabe, 89 in February,
favours elections in March, but he
has just taken a month long holiday, with
some saying upon his return there
would be little time to plan for the
polls.
Political analysts and civil society say his absence all but confirms
that
Mugabe is actually planning for an election much later in 2013,
possibly
well after June.
Mugabe and his Zanu PF party resolved that
elections should be held no later
than March.
In a statement, his
spokesperson George Charamba downplayed Mugabe's
absence.
"The president
goes on annual leave regularly. It is timed to coincide with
that time when
there is general slowdown in business and that does not take
away Zanu PF's
resolution (to have elections in March)," Charamba said in a
statement.
Mugabe left for his Far East holiday as an impasse over the
drafting of a
new constitution, which he is supposed to help break,
continues.
A new constitution is one of the key reforms to holding credible
polls in
the southern African nation.
"When he comes back, there should
be progress, but if the document is not
ready, that means there will be
something that still needs discussion with
the (inclusive government)
principals," Charamba said.
Pedzisai Ruhanya, the Director of the Zimbabwe
Democracy Institute, a local
research think tank, accused Mugabe of standing
"against the return to
political sanity in this country".
He said if
Mugabe was a true nationalist, he should have suspended his
holiday and
addressed the constitutional draft impasse that his party has
largely caused
through unreasonable and undemocratic demands.
Douglas Mwonzora, MDC-T
spokesperson said Mugabe has been posturing
throughout 2012.
"The public
stance taken by President Mugabe is political posturing. He knew
that given
the obstacles put by his party to the constitution, it was going
to be
impossible to complete the new constitution before Christmas," he
said.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CZC), an umbrella body representing
different
civil society groups claimed Mugabe's absence will slow down the
pace of
reforms expected before elections next year.
"We urge the
president to cut short his vacation and help resolve the crisis
at home so
that Zimbabwe can make democratic progress before the next
elections," CZC
said in a statement.
CZC cited US President Barack Obama who was forced to
abandon his family
holiday last Thursday to deal with the so-called "fiscal
cliff" that will
trigger tax increases for all Americans if Republicans and
Democrats do not
strike a deal.
Mugabe, who traditionally takes a
vacation in January, left the country last
week for Asia where he will spend
between three and four weeks with his
family.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Monday, 31 December 2012
00:00
Sydney Kawadza Assistant News Editor
Zimbabwe should hold
its elections as scheduled so that it prepares for the
successful co-hosting
of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation
General Assembly, a Cabinet
minister has said.
In an interview recently, Tourism and Hospitality
Industry Minister Walter
Mzembi dismissed fears that the forthcoming
elections would disrupt
preparations for the general
assembly.
Zimbabwe and Zambia will in August next year host the 20th
Session of the
UNWTO General Assembly in Victoria Falls.
Stakeholders
in the industry had expressed concern over suspected
disruptions of
preparations.
The industry also indicated that tourists had cancelled
bookings made for
March when Zimbabwe is expected to hold national
elections.
“There are growing concerns and conflicting positions on the
impact of
elections on the sector.
“Although officials and industry are
entitled to their opinions in a
democracy such as ours, the official
position is that the sooner we have
elections the better for the
sector.
“The traditional month of March, without usurping presidential
prerogatives
on the matter, is the most ideal,” he said.
Minister
Mzembi said holding early elections would allow Zimbabwe sufficient
time for
healing and repositioning ahead of the general assembly.
“It will be a
unique branding opportunity for a post-election Government.
“President Mugabe
has said as much, that we needed to keep our 2013 calendar
clear of
elections when he was calling for them last year and in 2012.”
Minister
Mzembi said there were other challenges facing the industry.
“The sector’s
pricing of products leaves them out of reach of the domestic
market and
pricing is a national emergency problem which needs a holistic
response.
“A dollar in Zimbabwe carries the purchasing weight or
parity of a rand in
South Africa, and this can’t be allowed to go on
unchecked.”
Minister Mzembi urged authorities to deal with challenges
faced at Zimbabwe’s
ports of entry.
“Our visa regime is not friendly to
travel. Let’s fix our Sadc uni-visa
first.
“Statistics already show
that 89 percent of our arrivals are intra-Africa.
So why not make that even
easier for ourselves?
“Business tourism is being frustrated by our visa
regime, which is too
bureaucratic, lengthy and expensive and literally
discourages travel into
Zimbabwe,” said Minister Mzembi.
He called
for a lasting solution to issues affecting Air Zimbabwe.
“Market
accessibility cannot be overemphasised,” he said.
Minister Mzembi said
only elections could solve the policy gridlock that has
characterised this
Government.
“Fiscal prioritisation of other sectors like tourism, which
has clearly been
lacking in the current Government, would then be clarified
by having
elections,” he said.
Minister Mzembi said Zimbabwe would
receive a projected three million
visitors in 2013.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Monday, 31 December 2012 00:00
Wenceslaus Murape
Labour Reporter
The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare has completed
crafting modalities
for exporting thousands of jobless nurses to other
countries across the
world. Health and Child Welfare Deputy Minister Dr
Douglas
Mombeshora last week said the document had already been submitted
to the
Attorney General’s office.
“When the AG’s office finishes
scrutinising and approves the document, we
will then submit it to Cabinet
for final approval,” he said.
Deputy Minister Mombeshora said the idea
was mooted for Government to
re-coup funds used in training the
nurses.
“Cuba is benefiting financially from exporting doctors to
Zimbabwe, hence we
should also benefit by exporting our jobless nurses,” he
said.
Deputy Minister Mombeshora gave Government’s assurance that the
welfare of
the nurses would be its priority.
“We will ensure that the
nurses are not exploited in any way when recruited
abroad,” he said.
“Government will retain all their certificates and
countries employing them
will be required to remit their pensions to
Zimbabwe.”
Zimbabwean
nurses were in demand all over the world including Europe,
Australia and the
Sadc region.
Government has frozen recruitment of nurses in its hospitals due
to a
strained fiscus. Labour experts have said Government’s failure to
employ
bonded nurses was illegal.
Earlier this year, the number of
jobless nurses bonded to the State was put
at 1 800 by the Zimbabwe Nurses
Association. Experts have cited
contravention of labour laws — particularly
the Manpower Development Act —
by the Government in failing to employ the
nurses, or release their
certificates.
A prominent Harare lawyer
recently said Government was also in contravention
of ILO Conventions 29 and
105 that deal with bonded labour.
“If Government can’t provide employment
for the nurses, it should release
their certificates and allow them to work
elsewhere,” he said.
“What is happening is not being applied to other
sectors where Government
provides training.”
Section 15 of the MDA
provides that the nurses can work for other employers
and Government would
recover money used to train them through the employers.
Many aggrieved
nurses have for long been contemplating suing the Government
for breach of
contract, and failing to provide promised jobs.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Monday, 31 December 2012
00:00
Herald Reporter
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority last week
launched a solar system power
supply at Nyamapanda Border Post to alleviate
power shortages that delay
customs clearance.
It is the first solar
system power supply of its kind to be installed in the
country. The system
consists of 125 solar panels and an inverter with a
capacity to produce
20KW.
Through the installation of the power system, the border post would
generate
50KW per hour of energy everyday if the weather conditions are
favourable.
This enables the system to sustain 31 computers, 22 connected
to the
commercial office and nine to the motor traffic
section.
Speaking during the ceremony Zimra Commissioner General Mr
Gershem Pasi said
they had decided to launch the solar system power
alternative at Nyamapanda
because it was the most affected by power
outages.
“The climate is favourable here in Nyamapanda where on average
we enjoy
eight hours of sunshine a day. Plans are underway for the Plumtree
border to
follow suit.
“We realised that plans to install the solar
system at Beitbridge were
moving slowly and we decided to split the
equipment between Nyamapanda and
Plumtree borders,” said Comm Gen
Pasi.
He said the solar system would provide energy for lighting,
computers,
printers and essential services including perimeter lighting at
the
commercial office.
“Zimra is honoured to harness what the
environment can provide for us and we
want to mark this day as the day Zimra
goes green,” he said.
Comm Gen Pasi said the system would take over the
fall back plan from
generators.
“In September 2009, we commissioned a
powerful generator as a back up, but
it consumed 200 litres of fuel everyday
which means US$100 000 per year goes
to the fuel without mentioning
maintenance.
“Now with the increased environmental consciousness and
congested cross
borders we decided to make use of nature to curb the
erratic power supplies
here in Nyamapanda,” he said.
He said the
installation of solar system would spread to all other Zimra
border
stations.
He added that the system would enable them to quicken clearance
procedures.
“As a revenue administrator and a member of the World Customs
Organisation
we continue to be guided by the WCO theme which states ‘Borders
divide;
Customs connect’.
“We are making sure that we stay online,
improve facilitation of trade and
ensure that ultimately we stay connected,”
he said.
He said Zimra was in the process of digitalising border posts to
improve the
“single window” system of managing all operations under one
roof.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Monday, 31 December 2012 00:00
On my
birthday on April 18, 1980, I did not cry like other newly borns, I
smiled.
I smiled because I had everything, anything that would make a great
nation.
I was even referred to as the Breadbasket of Africa.
The farms,
industries, banking sector and in fact, all sectors were in full
swing. My
natural resources which were being fully utilised are still there
because I
have so much; even envied by everyone around me and even abroad.
Not many
are as blessed as I am in terms of resources.
At 32 years I should be
among the best but am not, neither do I match the so
called better ones. My
health is deteriorating; I am becoming thinner and
weaker everyday. Why
should I become an eyesore as if I do not have children
of my
own?
Where are my children, why are they not rescuing me by producing and
manufacturing? Why are they not utilising the resources that I have? What is
the problem?
Is it that I gave birth to less talented children? I get
confused as I hear
my neighbours boasting of how they are benefiting from
the expertise of you
my children.
In 1980 I only had one university
(University of Zimbabwe), today I have
plenty. I thought the more literate
children I have the better for me. Is it
that my children are studying for
degrees which are not relevant at home but
good enough for my neighbours?
You will all tell me that the money here is
not good for you.
The
economy needs indigenous takers to rejuvenate it, have the courage and
determination to build your own economy. Yes, you can do it. When the
industries, farms and mines were producing at their best, it was you my
children who provided the labour. Even my neighbours tell me you are hard
working and it’s true you are hard working.
When most of you were
retrenched under Esap, as a parent I was very saddened
but I started smiling
when you ventured into small business, I said Esap was
a blessing in
disguise.
I saw a ray of hope and smiled. At 32 my smile has turned into
sorrow. I
thought you will grow your small business and turn back the hands
of time.
When economic saboteurs started abandoning industries and different
business
sectors I thought you would take over and continue just as good as
them or
better.
Again I am disappointed, most of you cry capital but
you have been given
loans by financial institutions and failed to pay back.
Most of you have
bought luxury cars with money borrowed for inputs and raw
materials.
Some of you have even married second and third wives with
money borrowed to
grow business activities. Some of you have even moved
around streets
showering people with money borrowed for business purposes.
Some of you have
bought designer suits and shoes others became “pleasure
managers” overnight.
As a result financial institutions have lost faith
in you. Instead of your
companies being entities to partner with, they are
now regarded as business
risks. No financial institution can give you money
without asking for
security.
Your behaviour my children has affected
everyone. Even your innocent
brothers and sisters with genuine business
proposals and want to correctly
use the loans but without security have been
caught in cross fire. In the
few schemes where they do not want security
it’s mostly small amounts, good
enough for dog food not a serious business
project.
Even when my other children took over farms in the name of
correcting land
imbalances, I did not see anything wrong with it.
I
even smiled when your leaders started supporting you by giving you
different
capital inputs. You were given free fuel, what did you do with it,
did you
use it for farming? Some of you sold it and used the money on non
farming
related activities.
You were given fertiliser and seeds some of you sold
everything to satisfy
your other egos without even thinking of
farming.
Some were even lucky enough to receive tractors and others used
those
tractors as means of transport to different drinking spots and what
happened
next?
They were involved in accidents due to intoxication.
Others used the
tractors to ferry firewood from the trees cut down from the
newly acquired
farms and concentrated on doing rounds selling firewood and
channelled the
money to other non farming activities. Others took over farms
with all the
farming equipment and infrastructure in place, and what did
they do?
They sold most of the expensive machinery and vandalised the
infrastructure
to make a quick buck not knowing farming is a long-term
project, capital
intensive and needs a lot of patience.
Today you still
cry for the same inputs and machinery which you abused long
back.
As
a result, I now have to import maize and all the other farm produce which
I
used to export. Do not tell me most of you stopped maize farming because
tobacco is paying more? Then how do you expect me to retain my position as
the breadbasket of Africa.
They might all disown you my children but
as a parent, I will not. I love
you all my children and now I want you to
listen and listen very carefully.
I am crying for producers and
manufacturers. It’s the solution to my poor
health and lost
weight.
Get serious with your producing and manufacturing. It’s time you
start
producing and manufacturing with a target to sustain the whole nation.
How
do I feel when 70 percent of the products in all the major retail
outlets
are imported? I no longer have many products to identify my self
with.
There is a very small difference now between someone doing his/her
shopping
in Johannesburg or Harare, all their shopping trolleys are filled
by the
same products, manufactured by the same manufacturer.
The only
difference is that the Harare shopper is paying more because of the
landing
cost and the retailers’ mark-up. If my memory serves me right I had
a whole
lot of products with my identity. If one of my children brought
groceries
from outside you could notice the difference because the shelves
here were
filled with Zimbabwean products with my identity.
Today if one does his
or her shopping along First Street and go to Roadport
and call his/her
people to come and help carry no one will doubt that they
did the shopping
in South Africa.
Producers and manufacturers should start competing with
their foreign
compatriots.
Some of you will want to tell me that the
foreign producers and
manufacturers are financially stronger. I do not agree
to that because no
one is as stronger as all of you put together. Identify
yourselves as one
family first, then in the different sectors come together
for a unity of
purpose.
Have you ever realised how much you will save
if you pool your resources
together and make a bulk order for your raw
materials, instead of 50 of you
travelling to buy the same raw materials in
small quantities you can make
one bulk payment through the net.
The
advantage is you will get discounts associated with bulk orders,
transport
costs will be cheaper as you will share, your business operations
will not
be disturbed.
In business, time is money and you will have saved a lot of
it and you can
arrange with your freight agent to deliver right to your
doorstep. Others
will say the same manufacturers and producers who were here
are the ones
doing it from outside with their products finding their way
back here, which
maybe true but this is where my producers and manufacturers
should come in.
You are to blame for the influx of so many imported
products. Some of you
especially SMEs, your products are of very bad
quality.
You need to work with the Standards Association of Zimbabwe to
improve the
quality of your products. Please stop rushing semi- finished
products to the
market.
Try to involve skilled personnel in areas you
are not well versed with. My
children, I have noticed with interest that
some of your products branding
is not quite appealing, it’s very dull.
Sometimes the branding is okay but
the product tells a different story.
Today it’s good, tomorrow it’s
something else and you easily fail to
maintain quality standards.
I give you an example, one of your brothers
bought a 750ml bottle of engine
cleaner and it was very effective, he even
recommended it to his employer
but when the employer ordered he was very
disappointed as the engine cleaner
was of very poor quality.
The
manufacturer deliberately put poor quality products on the market
because he
or she wanted to maximise on profit forgetting the negative
effects it will
have on the brand. Our customers have lost faith in your
products preferring
imported brands. Stop this habit as you are stabbing
yourselves in the back.
How do your fellow brothers and sisters support you
when they do not have
confidence in your products? Charity begins at home;
it’s time you start
building confidence in your brothers and sisters by
producing good high
quality products.
Do not feel insulted my children in the SME sector, I
am putting more
emphasis on you because you are contributing about 60
percent of the GDP and
also employing around 65 percent of the employed
population, so you are very
important to my rehabilitation. You have
challenges which are well known
like infrastructure, high utility bills,
load shedding and unavailability of
capital.
These should only affect
your product quantity not quality. Your efforts my
children should also be
supported by Government policies, it should be
teamwork, for example if
Zimra can reduce or completely exempt duty on all
imported raw
materials.
This will bring competitive prices on your products and will
stand against
imported products. The Government as the biggest buyer should
also be biased
towards locally produced products and not accept imported
products when the
same product is available locally. If locally produced
products are
expensive, let’s look at the costs of producing and come up
with a solution
to cut costs. You can still build confidence among financial
institutions by
learning to pay back in time what you borrow.
There
are still solutions with the financial institutions; you can let them
control the finances which they lend to you until you can stand on your own.
That way the risk of them loosing their money is very minimal and along the
way you will learn how to control finances. I have also realised most of you
my children despite your potential to do well, you lack corporate governance
basics in your business.
The same person normally the owner of the
business does almost everything
including the sensitive bookkeeping part
which he or she has no knowledge
of. Please you should have division of
labour, let accountants do your book-
keeping, let marketers do your
marketing, let researchers help improve your
products quality, let HR people
employ and manage your employees
professionally.
Do not call your
cousin who cannot even write his name to come and manage a
business you
started from zero because you are afraid employees will steal
when you are
away. There are a lot of consultant companies who have a lot of
business
security systems that suits your business requirements and with
today’s
technology you can actually know whatever is happening at your
workplace
from anywhere in the world. All these different departments
complement each
other and bring growth to your companies. You should also
attend different
business training seminars to further your business
knowledge.
As for
you my children in farming you should know your soils, what they
require to
give you good yields. You should know the right time to prepare
for your
planting, should understand the changing rainfall patterns and know
the
right crops that suit the new pattern. You should know the farming
modules
that give you more tonnage per hectare. You also need the right
trained
personnel as farming is not just about putting seeds in the soil and
waiting
for germination. You should also know when to practise crop rotation
so as
to maintain your good soils. If we do the right things at the right
time
even with our tight budgets there will not be any need to import
chickens,
milk, tomatoes, maize, wheat or even eggs.
Yes, you can do it my
children; I still have faith in you. Please my
children I want my smile
back, let me smile again as I look forward to
celebrating my 33rd birthday
next year.
Melvin Marembo is the Vice Chairman of the Harare Chamber of
SMEs and also
the chairman of Emancipated Entrepreneurs of Zimbabwe. Email
at
melvinmarembo@gmail.com
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 31st December 2012.
My opinion piece yesterday
‘Zimbabwe: The Problem with Drones’ , has
elicited interesting feedback
except that it was not about the dreaded these
inventions also called
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
It was about a mistake that I made when I
referred to the white rhino as an
endangered species. From the conversation
below, you can see how it was
resolved after which I checked on the official
position(quoted with full
acknowledgements). But, it’s the emails first
before the New Year!
kizitomm@yahoo.com 3:58 AM (10 hours ago)
to me
Mashiri, it is the black rhino that is endangered and not the white
rhino.
Even a grade 1 pupil know this and u say u are doing phd !
Reply
Forward
Clifford Mashiri <zimanalysis2009@gmail.com>
11:38
AM (2 hours ago) to kizitomm
Hi Kizito,
Sorry for the error. Just an
oversight. That won't take away my PhDs!!!
Others have done worse things
than misclassify rhinos.
Considering the distance from Africa, and the time
since I left, I think
many will pardon me for that mistake.
I am enjoying
my studies like anything. Have a nice new year.
Kind regards,
Clifford
Chitupa Mashiri
According to the Worldwildlife:
“Southern white rhinos
were thought to be extinct in the late 19th century,
but in 1895 a small
population of less than 100 individuals was discovered
in Kwazulu-Natal,
South Africa. After more than a century of protection and
management, they
are now classified as Near Threatened and about 20,000
animals exist in
protected areas and private game reserves. They are the
only rhinos that are
not endangered” (available on their website
worldwildlife.org/species/white-rhino).
It is my sincere hope that the
good intentions of my paper will not be
drowned by typographical errors made
unintentionally to beat the publishers’
deadline. Many thanks are due to
the zimbabwesituation.com.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, PhD candidate in
International Relations (COU) and
Social Sciences (LSBU). Zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
