Mines Amendment Bill aims to plug externalisation

THE Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill will put in place measures to stop externalising money through a clause which stipulates that mining title holders must bank in Zimbabwe, an official has said. by VENERANDA LANGA

Source: Mines Amendment Bill aims to plug externalisation – NewsDay Zimbabwe September 28, 2016

Mines ministry deputy legal adviser Thammary Viriri told stakeholders during a public hearing on the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill in Harare at the weekend that government had seen it fit to curb capital flight after noting that many mines had bank accounts outside the country.

Section 59 of the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill states that every holder of a mining right should conduct his or her financial transactions related to mining at financial institutions registered in Zimbabwe.

“Government discovered that there are many people doing mining activities that are banking offshore,” Viriri said.

“This has resulted in the country suffering from cashflow problems, and so, Section 59 of the Bill seeks to ensure mines use local facilities for banking activities.”

A participant at the hearing, Pisirayi Mangwengwende, said there should be separation between the powers of the Mines ministry and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

“We want local financial markets to benefit, but there must be differences between mining legislation and banking, companies or indigenisation regulations,” Mangwengwende said.

“The issue of mining companies banking in Zimbabwe is best regulated by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe under appropriate exchange control regulations. It may not be necessary for the section to be considered under the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill.”

Zimbabwe Federation of Small-scale Miners chief executive officer Wellington Takavarasha said the Bill must ensure small-scale miners get support from local financial institutions.

“There should be a clause which indicates financial support for small-scale miners because commercial banks have been shunning them. One finds that if there are any loans available for miners, there is nothing reserved for small-scale miners, yet businesses that do not bring in a lot of money, like bottle store operators, get bank loans compared to small-scale miners,” he said.

Cosmas Sunguro, from Marange, said women in mining must be supported with loans and access to mining rights.

Recently, Parliament heard that diamond miner Jinan Mining Company, a joint venture between Marange Resources and Anhui for Economic Construction Company (Afecc) of China, allegedly smuggled out of the country more than $500 million diamond proceeds from Chiadzwa and deposited the money into its Botswana bank account.