NewsHawks 5 November 2021

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Friday 5 November 2021

WHAT’S INSIDE NJuEstWicSe Mushore BNUcuSIbNe’Es S2S022 SCPaOraRwTins Fan
still AWOL budget likely to Vote for
after ruling maintain squeeze International
against Malaba on poor Hall of Fame

Story on Page 4 Story on Page 20 Story on Page 48

Immunity
insulates me
from civil or
criminal
prosecution:
Mnangagwa

Page 2 News NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE Mnangagwa claims immunity
on being illegal Zanu PF leader
ZIMBABWEAN President Emmerson Mnan-
gagwa says he cannot be taken to court over his High Court Rules 2021, which provides as fol- President Emmerson Mnangagwa
alleged unconstitutional and illegal seizure of lows: Zanu PF member Sybeth Musengezi
Zanu PF leadership as he is now a sitting state
President protected by the national constitution. “No summons or other civil process of the
He also says he cannot be sued in his personal court may be sued against the President or
capacity, although the applicant is suing him as against any of the High Court judges without
leader of the ruling party. leave of the court granted on court application
of that purpose. It follows that the purpose of
This suggests Mnangagwa is raising a straw- the rule 12 (21) is to protect the president from
man’s argument. frivolous and vexatious litigation such as this
one,” he says.
A strawman is a fallacious argument that dis-
torts an opposing position in order to make it “No leave has been sought to sue the second
easier to attack them. Essentially, the person respondent (Mnangagwa) in this matter. The
using the strawman pretends to attack their op- first respondent (Zanu PF) is improperly before
ponent’s stance, while in reality they are actually the court and the relief sought against him can’t
attacking a distorted version of that, which their granted. The matter is defective and cannot go
opponent does not necessarily mean or support. beyond this point. The whole application falls
away on this point alone. It must be struck off
Zanu PF member Sybeth Musengezi has tak- the roll with costs.”
en Mnangagwa to court — not in his personal,
but official capacity as Zanu PF leader — saying Mnangagwa’s lawyers also say Musengezi does
he was not properly elected as head of the ruling not have locus standi (legal standing), underlined
party by the central committee on 19 November by sufficient interest or competence to bring the
2017 after the coup. proceeding. They also say the applicant failed to
exhaust internal remedies to address the issue.
As a result, Musengezi is seeking a declaratur The applicant, Mnangagwa argues, took too
against Mnangagwa that the special session of long to bring the case beyond the prescription
the Zanu PF central committee meeting after years. Further Mnangagwa says the application
the coup at party headquarters in Harare from is now moot (academic) and is incompetent in
10am to 4pm was ultra vires the party constitu- terms of the law. On merits, Mnangagwa says
tion, unlawful and thus null and void ab initio. Musengezi is not a member of Zanu PF.

He also wants the court to rule that all the He also denies that the central committee was
resolutions of the central committee meeting convened illegally. These arguments were filed
passed during its unlawful gathering to install by Zanu PF Secretary for Administration Ob-
Mnangagwa as party leader were “unlawful, in- ert Mpofu on behalf of Mnangagwa and other
valid and are accordingly set aside”. respondents with their consent, according to the
court papers. In the explosive lawsuit, Musen-
However, Mnangagwa says: “The President’s gezi is demanding that the court should follow
capacity in the party must not be confused with the precedent set by the opposition MDC-T
his official capacity as the President of the Re- case in the Supreme Court and resultantly force
public of Zimbabwe”. Mnangagwa to step down pending resolution
of the issue. Mnangagwa’s lawyers completely
He further argues he has immunity: “I am ignored the Supreme Court precedent in rela-
advised that Section 98 of the Constitution of tion to the MDC-T and how it impacts on the
Zimbabwe 2013 provides for presidential im- Musengezi application.
munity. It reads as follows: While in office, the
President is not liable to civil or criminal pro-
ceedings in any court for things done or omitted
to be done in his or her personal capacity; civil
or criminal proceedings maybe installed against
a former president for things done or omitted to
be done or before he or she became president or
while he or she was president;

“The running of prescription in relation to
any debt of liability of the President arising be-
fore or during his or her term of office is sus-
pended while he or she remain in office;

“In any proceedings brought against a former
president for anything done or omitted to be
done in his official capacity while he or she was
President, it is a defence for him or her to prove
that that thing was done or omitted in good
faith.

“It follows that section 98 (1) creates presi-
dential immunity. The literal import of the sec-
tion is very clear. There is no need for any aids to
interpretation of this section. The import of .sec-
tion 98(1) is that whilst in office, the President
of Zimbabwe is not liable to any civil or crim-
inal proceedings in any court for things done
or omitted to be done in his personal capacity
whilst in office. The section confers immunity
to prosecution to a sitting President,” the papers
say.

“It is important to note that the theory of
presidential immunity is not found in Zimba-
bwe alone. It is one that is common in most de-
mocracies. Section 98 entitles the President of
Zimbabwe to absolute immunity for civil and
criminal infractions whie he is still in office. The
immunity insulates him from any civil or crim-
inal prosecution.

“The High Court therefore has no jurisdic-
tion to try the President for any cause against
him in his personal capacity whilst he is still in
office. The provision is part of our constitution
which is the supreme of the country and hence
is authoritative on that point. The inescapable
conclusion is that section (98) of the constitu-
tion creates presidential immunity,’ the papers
say.

“This court has no jurisdiction to try the pres-
ident of Zimbabwe. The court must therefore
decline to exercise jurisdiction over the president
of Zimbabwe. The court must therefore decline
to exercise jurisdiction over the president of
Zimbabwe.”

Mnangagwa also says the applicant (Musen-
gezi) did not seek leave of the court to sue the
President, as is required by rule 12 (21) of the

NewsHawks News Page 3

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

ZANU PF Secretary for Administration Obert Letter shows Mpofu caught
Mpofu is behind the illegal seize of a farm belong- up in messy farm grab saga
ing to human rights lawyer Siphosami Malunga
and his business partners. Esidakeni Farm co-owner Siphosami Malunga
Due to their productivity, they have already re-
An offer letter dated 25 June 2021 written by paid US$110 000.
Agriculture minister Anxious Masuka to Mpo-
fu’s Mswelangubo Farm shows that the Zanu PF They started working on five hectares, but
bigwig was given 145 hectares of land at Esidak- quickly increased that to 30ha and this year they
eni Farm already owned by Malunga, Zephaniah are going up to 55ha. The total irrigable part of
Dhlamini and Charles Moyo. The trio own the the 530ha farm is 85ha, which they intend to uti-
farm. lise as their business grows.

“I’m pleased to offer to Mswelangubo Farm the Apart from horticultural activities, Malunga,
following farm, which was compulsorily acquired Dhlamini and Charles Moyo have a commercial
in uMguza District Matabeleland North province beef herd of 150 cattle, 50 goats and 4 000 free
for use by the Mswelangubo Farm,” Masuka’s let- range Sasso chickens. They are planning to in-
ter says. crease those numbers significantly.

Mpofu is working with the Central Intelli- The farm employs 45 permanent workers and
gence Organisation co-deputy director-general 250 seasonal employees.
Gatsha Mazithulela and Zanu PF Matabeleland
North provincial minister Richard Moyo to take The farmers have invested over US$100 000
grab the farm which the owners bought. this year alone and planted eight hectares of on-
ions, six hectares of butternut, six hectares of to-
Mazithulela, a distinguished scientist, is ac- matoes (150 000 plants).
cused of trying to squeeze himself into the Esida-
keni Farm horticultural project and intimidating “Ever since we took occupation, we have man-
its owners with arrest or seizure if they did not aged to turn the farm into the envy of many. It
accommodate him to offer them political protec- therefore did not surprise me that sometime in
tion. The farm owners also say they hold Mazith- December 2019, the fourth respondent, Gatsha
ulela accountable for the disappearance of some Mazithulela, who was then pro-vice-chancellor
of their documents at the provincial land offices at Nust, and work colleague, approached me and
in Bulawayo as at one time he communicated in asked to be included in Esidakeni Farm project.
the middle of the night with one of them while in I must point out that he is known to the second
possession of those missing documents. (Malunga) and third (Charles Moyo) respondents
as well,” Dhlamini says in court papers.
These details emerged after shareholders of
Kershelmar Farms (Private) Limited, which owns “The untenable request that he made still re-
the farm, approached the High Court seeking an quired that I run it by my fellow shareholders and
order to stop the government from seizing their directors. I did and they took the position that
land for redistribution and barring Mazithulela there was no room for additional shareholders.
and others from illegally interfering with their Gatsha was however awkwardly insistent.”
business. The owners have got an eviction order
from the invaders. After a series of meetings, exchanges and events
marking the intensification of the battle over the
The case on the ownership and contested ac- farm, Dhlamini says: “On 24 December 2020, I
quisition of the farm is still pending in the courts. received a call from Gatsha who advised me that
our farm had been acquired by the state. I was
Kershelmar is co-owned by businessman obviously concerned about the levels of Gatsha’s
Charles Moyo, Zephaniah Dhlamini, a scientist interest in matters that pertain to the farm. I was
working at the National University of Science particularly perplexed that Gatsha seemed to
and Technology (Nust), and Malunga, the Open know more about the farm than us the owners.”
Society Initiative for Southern Africa executive
director and son of the late nationalist Sydney Malunga also made it clear in a no-holds-
Malunga. barred account that Mazithulela is behind the
attempted farm seizure.
The court challenge was a culmination of a
series of recent events that characterised the bat- The farm owners say it is clear beyond rea-
tle over the farm. The court action by Malunga sonable doubt that Mazithulela is acting out of
and partners comes after they were issued a 14- self-interest and malice, while abusing his top
day notice to vacate a portion of Kershelmar, a CIO office to grab private property using govern-
productive farm that has purportedly been allo- ment departments to facilitate the unlawful sei-
cated to, among other beneficiaries, Dumisani zure of land from local indigenous people, which
Madzivanyathi, a Bulawayo businessman who in itself is illegal.
is also a lecturer at Nust where Mazithulela was
partly educated and worked as pro-vice-chancel- In a letter to Masuka — who has distanced
lor. himself from the farm seizure, dated 14 June,
conteskting the property grab, Malunga, Dhlami-
Madzivanyathi is known barred from interfer- ni and Charles Moyo said they stand to lose over
ing with tne farm operations. ZW$60 million in potential revenue from their
horticultural project if the greedy and malicious
Mazithulela, who has a colourful curriculum disruptions do not stop. — STAFF WRITER.
vitae, graduated with a PhD in genetic engineer-
ing at the age of 27, and worked in the United
Kingdom, United States and South Africa in sci-
entific, biotechnology and nuclear facilities. He
also previously worked in the government.

The applicants in main case are Dhlamini,
Moyo and Malunga, as well as their company
Kershelmar, while the respondents include Lands
and Agriculture .Masuka, Matabeleland North
chief lands officer, registrar of deeds, Mazithulela,
Madzivanyathi, CIO officer Reason Mpofu and
minister of State for Matabeleland North prov-
ince Richard Moyo — who is spearheading the
farm seizure.

Reason Mpofu, who has also been allocated a
piece of land on the farm, is Zanu PF adminis-
tration secretary Obert Mpofu’s nephew. Obert
Mpofu, a former minister, visited the farm in
March. The farm owners say Mazithulela, Rich-
ard Moyo and Obert Mpofu are the prime movers
behind the attempted property seizure.

They also say the three misled the minister,
Masuka, into gazetting the farm through false-
hoods, including that the property had previously
been acquired by the state when it was not and
that it was being underutilised when it is highly
productive.

Malunga, Dhlamini and Charles Moyo say
they bought the farm from its previous owner and
own it, hence they are heavily invested in it. After
buying the farm, they invested in infrastructure,
rehabilitating boreholes, main water reservoir, ir-
rigation system and homestead.

To do this, the farmers obtained two loans of
about US$230 000 for their horticultural project.

Page 4 News NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE Justice Mushore still Awol
after ruling against Malaba
THE Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is keen on
establishing why High Court judge Edith Mushore High Court judge Edith Mushore (left) was part of the three-member panel which ruled on Chief Justice Luke Malaba’s extension of term case.
has not been reporting for duty for weeks on end,
amid concerns over the safety and health of the ex- She is a sharp legal mind, who was a long-time ad- rica) of the International Organisation of Consumer research assistant at the House of Commons. Before
perienced judicial officer, The NewsHawks has learnt. vocate based at the Advocates Chambers in Harare. Unions at The Hague. that, she had served as the corporate legal adviser for
insurance giant Old Mutual.
Sources say Judge President Maria Zimba-Dube From 1993 to 1999, she was the legal adviser (Af- Between 1987 and 1989, she was a parliamentary
has asked the JSC to establish where she is after she
went absent without official leave.

Mushore was part of the three-member panel,
together with Jester Helena Charewa and Happias
Zhou, which ruled on Chief Justice Luke Malaba’s
extension of term case.

JSC secretary Walter Chikwana confirmed to The
NewsHawks that Mushore has not been coming to
work for some time now.

“We are not sure why she is not coming. We are
trying to reach her and find out what’s happening.
The JP (Judge President) has asked about the issue,
so did the CJ (Chief Justice). We are even trying to
check with her relatives.

“But so far we have been unable to reach her; we
will continue trying to talk to her.” Chikwana said.

Sources said Mushore is related to James Mush-
ore, the former CEO and founder of NMB Bank,
who almost became Harare’s town clerk after a long
career in banking, only to be scuttled by political
schemers.

Insiders said Justice Mushore, just like other VIPs
in government, is entitled to security from the Zim-
babwe Republic Police protection unit (PPU), as
well as the Prison Service.

Justices Mushore, Zhou and Charewa ruled that
Malaba’s tenure as Chief Justice ended when he
turned 70 on 15 May, after President Emmerson
Mnangagwa extended his term by five years follow-
ing a controversial amendment of the constitution to
allow for the extension.

The ruling was however overturned by Constitu-
tional Court judges, despite the apex court judges
being cited in the case.

Before the judges heard an application by the
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum executive
director Musa Kika — consolidated with that of the
Zimbabwe Young Lawyers Association — against the
extension of superior courts judges’ tenures, Justice
minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and the, the JSC tried in
vain to block the justices from hearing the case, fear-
ing they would scuttle the power consolidation plan.

Justice Mushore is an experienced practitioner
who has worked at The Hague in the Netherlands
and at the House of Commons at Westminster in
London.

MPs challenge sweeping Presidential powers

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE

THE continued use of Presidential Powers Temporary Legislators argue that Parliament’s primary law-making powers shall not be delegated.
Measures Act by President Emmerson Mnangagwa is
unconstitutional, legislators have argued in court. or Parliament to an extraordinary sitting to conduct application reads. mentary Legal Committee in terms of Section 134(f) of
special business; “(d) Making appointments which the They also argue that the Act goes against the provi- the Constitution,” the application reads.
High Court judge Justice Philda Muzofa reserved constitution or legislation requires the President requires
judgement in the case in which opposition legislators to make; (e) Calling for elections in terms of the consti- sions of the constitution on separation of powers. “Therefore we seek a declaratory to the effect that the
Willias Madzimure and Allan Markham had taken tution; (f) Calling referendums on any matter in accor- Madzimure and Markham said the Act was a direct statutory instrument made in terms of delegated legis-
Mnangagwa and Attorney-General Prince Machaya to dance with the law; (g) Deploying the Defence Forces; lation should only come into being after approval by
court over the abuse of power. (h) Conferring honours and awards; (i) Appointing am- infringement of section 134(a) and (d) of the consti- Parliament’s Legal Committee consistent with section
bassadors, plenipotentiaries, and diplomatic and con- tution of Zimbabwe which proffers and makes it clear 134(f) of the constitution.
Madzimure and Markam want the court to declare sular representatives; and (j) Receiving and recognising that Parliament’s primary law-making powers shall not
the Presidential Powers Temporary Measures Act inval- foreign diplomatic and consular representatives.” be delegated and that any law delegating power must “Furthermore, it is a breach of section 134 (d) of the
id. Their argument is that the Act is unconstitutional as define the limits of that power. constitution. In that it fails to specify he nullity of the
it gives the President sweeping powers for making laws “In none of these functions is the President empow- power, the nature and scope of the statutory instrument
on virtually any subject and to make laws that override ered to make laws as he is allowed to by the Act,” the “We further seek a declarator to the effect that any and the principles of tendency. In short, it gives the Pres-
Parliament. statutory instrument made, should only come into ex- ident a blank cheque.”
istence after scrutiny by the Parliament and the Parlia-
“We also seek an important declaratory to the effect
that consistent with Section 134(f) of the constitution
of Zimbabwe, a statutory instrument should not come
into effect until it has been scrutinised by Parliament in
particular by the Parliamentary Legal Committee before
it comes into operation,” the court application reads.

“The practice for all statutory instruments including
regulations made by the President in terms of the Act is
that they are published and gazetted and they take op-
eration immediately. Yet section 134(f) makes it clear
that they must be laid before Parliament and scrutinised
by the Parliamentary Legal Committee. The anomaly
is that by the time that Parliament is vested with the
statutory instrument and the time that the Parliamen-
tary Legal Committee meets, the regulations will be in
operation.”

“In the case of regulations made under the Act some-
times the six months life of the particular statutory in-
strument would have been reached.”

The lawmakers said Mnangagwa did not have a con-
stitutional mandate to enact laws. “Under chapter 5, I
draw this honourable court’s attention to the powers of
the President which are clearly spelt out in section 110
of the constitution. The functions of the President ac-
cording to section 110 are the following: (a) Assenting
to and signing bills; (b) Referring a bill to the Constitu-
tional Court for opinion an advice on its constitutional-
ity; (c) Summoning the National Assembly, the Senate

NewsHawks News Page 5

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Glasgow trip a missed opportunity

NYASHA CHINGONO President Emmerson Mnangagwa at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. ed any such outreach from Mnangagwa’s people,”
he said.
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s visit to She expressed dissatisfaction with Mnangagwa’s by Canadians against Zimbabweans’ and in the
Glasgow, Scotland, was a missed opportunity for failure to act on badly-needed political and eco- end I invited him to come to Zimbabwe, but he While other world leaders made headlines, the
Zimbabwe to meaningfully engage world leaders nomic reforms. In the aftermath of last month’s said no. In the end he said it would be better that Zimbabwean delegation hogged the limelight for
on climate matters, but instead he reduced the bloody military crackdown, the President said any he sends in a minister and thereafter we can devel- booze and partying in Glasgow.
all-important summit to optics and grandstand- soldier found to have committed crimes would be op a relations.”
ing on re-engagement with the West, analysts brought to book. Images of Zanu PF supporters clad in party re-
have said. Chan said Mnangagwa’s visit had no signif- galia and pushing trolleys full of expensive booze
Baldwin had earlier promised to support Hara- icance for the country’s re-engagement drive were a public relations disaster for Mnangagwa.
This comes as neighbouring South Africa se- re’s return to the Commonwealth. Mugabe with- which has gone off track in the past three years.
cured a US$8.5 billion deal from the United drew Zimbabwe from the club of mostly former The “raise a glass to save the planet” headlines
Kingdom, United States and the European Union British colonies in 2003 after the bloc condemned “Most of the British public had no idea Mnan- hogged UK media as Information secretary Nick
to curb high carbon emissions and develop new the callous killings of white farmers at the height gagwa was visiting Britain. There were a huge Mangwana defended the beerfest on social media.
renewable energy projects. On the contrary, Zim- of land reforms and presidential polls marred by number of important world leaders gathered
babwe’s leader returned home empty-handed. violence. briefly together in one place and many of them Chan said besides addressing merrymaking
said important things about the environment — Zanu PF supporters and a group of investors,
While South Africa was scoring big in climate Since then, Britain has slapped Zimbabwe with which is what the COP26 was all about,” Chan Mnangagwa’s itinerary did not involve high-pro-
change initiatives, Mnangagwa was relishing pho- sanctions, with the latest being February this year. said. file engagements with the ability to help the coun-
to opportunities with British Prime Minister Bo- try’s re-engagement drive.
ris Johnson and US President Joe Biden. Since the coup that toppled longtime-leader He added: “In terms of re-engagement initia-
Robert Mugabe, but behind the scenes, the UK tives while in Britain, there was no impact what- “Zambia’s Hichilema, for instance, secured a
Mnangagwa arrived back home yesterday in had been campaigning for Zimbabwe’s debt clear- soever.” prime speaking slot with the Royal African So-
pomp and fanfare, to thousands of bused sup- ance plan and mediating with international finan- ciety. Ambassadorial and ministerial personnel
porters celebrating a “successful” re-engagement cial institutions to support a bailout for Harare. Chan chided Mnangagwa’s communication will likely attend. But there seems to have been
drive. team for failing to seize the moment through no effort to secure prestigious speaking venues for
Mnangagwa also revealed he had spoken to global Press engagement and securing the Presi- Mnangagwa,” he said.
While the world was seized with pressing cli- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: “To dent interviews with big media houses.
mate change issues, which include funding mech- Justin Trudeau of Canada I said, ‘can you tell me, He also tore into Mnangagwa’s assertions that
anisms for migration from coal to more sustain- Mr Prime Minister, what offence the people of “Whereas other world leaders bombarded the he had made meaningful contact with Johnson.
able energy, Mnangagwa was looking to mend Zimbabwe have committed against Canada be- Press with news releases and their media special-
relations with the West. cause we do not know of any offence committed ists almost begged for inclusion on the big inter- “There were no secret side meetings between
view shows, none of my journalist friends report- Mnangagwa and Boris Johnson and, as far as I
Mnangagwa went on a charm offensive, which know, no side meetings involving senior person-
yielded little to finally shake off Zimbabwe’s pari- nel in the Zimbabwean delegation with senior
ah tag, according to analysts. personnel in the UK Foreign Office. My Foreign
Office friends report no such activity or efforts
“Basically, in British terms, and in terms of to initiate any side meetings,” Chan said, adding
contact with other high-level delegations to that despite Mnangagwa’s grandstanding, any
COP26, the Mnangagwa visit accomplished al- re-engagement with the West would have to be
most nothing. It seemed under-planned, without premised on genuine political reforms.
a clear strategy, and without any discernible lob-
bying or media expertise. It was a very expensive Political analyst Eldred Masunungure however
trip with no concrete results,” political analyst Ste- believes Mnnagagwa’s visit to Glasgow was poten-
phen Chan said. tially game-changing, depending on the regime’s
post-Glasgow behaviour.
Mnangagwa’s regime maintains that the
79-year-old scored major diplomatic goals, which “Whatever lenses one looks at this, it is beyond
include steps towards normalisation of relations doubt that this is a momentous development for a
with the West. Ahead of the United Nations Cli- regime long regarded as a pariah state by the West-
mate Change Conference held in Glasgow, Scot- ern international community. It is potentially
land, government communications teams went game-changing, depending on the post-Glasgow
into overdrive, suggesting Mnangagwa’s invite to behaviour of the ED regime,” Masunungure said.
COP26 was a major endorsement of his re-en-
gagement drive. He added that the clash between the Look East
Policy adopted in 2003 when Zimbabwe exited
At a media briefing in Glasgow, Mnangagwa the Commonwealth and the Western re-engage-
admitted that he had used the climate summit ment drive was inevitable, as such Mnangagwa
to engage world leaders, who have maintained a should guard against old timers in his party who
tough stance on the southern African nation. may deliberately scuttle his new thrust.

Mnangagwa, who lost the goodwill of the UK Masunungure admits that Glasgow has inject-
in 2019 after a spate of state-sponsored violence ed new impetus in Zimbabwe’s foreign policy.
on citizens that included the killing of dozens of
protesters, said his engagements with Western “The West had been driven to the position that
leaders were meant to “correct” the “wrong” nar- ED was incapable of fulfilling his own agenda and
rative on Zimbabwe. his own promises and that he was no different
from his master, Robert Mugabe. Now, Glasgow
“I am very pleased that the narrative about has injected some impetus and some enthusiasm
Zimbabwe which was misleading, it was an op- on both sides but, as I have said already, the onus
portunity to give the correct perspective about the is on ED to drive the momentum forward. He
situation in Zimbabwe and I am happy that with has more to gain from behaving properly,” he said.
all the leaders I interacted with there was a very
positive response and they are very willing to grow The Zimbabwean delegation hogged the limelight for booze and partying in Glasgow.
relations with Zimbabwe,” Mnangagwa said.

He said Johnson had agreed to dispatch to Ha-
rare the UK minister for Africa.

“I had three seperate chats with him and I
feel relations between Zimbabwe and the Unit-
ed Kingdom are set to improve as a result of the
chemistry that I see now developing between the
two countries. I have no doubt that his minister of
Africa is likely to come to Zimbabwe as we made
some discussion. I think that will trigger the pace
of normalisation of relations,” Mnangagwa said.

Mnangagwa’s re-engagement drive has gone off
rails over the past three years, despite spending
millions of taxpayer dollars on public relations
firms which have tried in vain to spruce up the
country’s battered image.

The UK had remained Zimbabwe’s major
cheerleader until January 2019 when Mnangag-
wa’s regime went on a rampage, killing 17 cit-
izens, bruitalising dozens while many were dis-
placed during widespread riots over rising fuel
prices.

The goodwill evaporated when the then minis-
ter for Africa, Harriet Baldwin, declared that the
UK would no longer support Zimbabwe’s bid to
rejoin the Commonwealth and the country’s at-
tempt to woo back foreign funders.

Page 6 News NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Climate change imperatives
scuttle Zim power projects

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE Zimbabwe affordable.”
heavily relies on coal Chinese President Xi Jinping recently said at
AS awareness on climate change improves, the for electricity produc-
Glasgow COP26 United Nations climate summit tion, with four out of the UN General Assembly that China — the
has quickened a move away from the use of coal five of its state-owned world’s largest public financier — “will not build
as a source of energy widely blamed for carbon power stations being new coal-fired power projects abroad”.
emissions.
thermal powered. Chinese banks have already swung into action.
World leaders, including Zimbabwean Presi- Three days after Xi’s speech, the Bank of China
dent Emmerson Mnangagwa, converged on the Zesa Holdings Limited and policymakers are bwe were constructed on fossil fuel as the primary announced it would no longer provide financing
Scottish capital this week for the UN conference. deeply worried about the future of coal-fired elec- energy source,” Gata said. for new coal-mining and power projects outside
Countries of the global south currently play tricity projects in the country following China’s the country from the last quarter of this year.
catch-up with industrialised nations which have recent move to stop funding projects that are “The economy of Zimbabwe has been touted
for decades been relying on fossil fuel to power outside its borders to flatten its carbon emissions as the fastest growing economy in Africa by the Xi’s statement is expected to affect at least 54
their thermal stations, among other uses. curve to limit global warming and climate change. IMF and the World Bank. This growth was based gigawatts — which involve Zimbabwe’s projects
on a fossil fuel economy. Hence decisions to cut — of proposed China-backed coal plants that are
Zimbabwe has one of the largest coal reserves Zesa executive chairperson Sydney Gata re- funding on fossil fuel energy will leave a profound not yet under construction. Shelving these would
on the continent and may in future find itself in cently told journalists visiting Hwange Power gap in the economic and social stability of the save carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to three
a Catch-22 situation as traditional source markets Station that China’s decision has instantaneously Sadc countries. Their targets for United Nations months of global emissions.
shift to renewable sources of energy such as hydro affected two major projects in Zimbabwe. (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
and wind. will be missed, as all the SDGs are predicated on Before China’s move, Zimbabwe was embark-
“It must be noted that the economies of coun- electricity supply which is available, accessible and ing on a spree of coal-fired power projects to gen-
Africa’s most industrialised nation, South Afri- tries such as Botswana, South Africa and Zimba- erate about eight gigawatts, to be mostly built and
ca, got a shot in the arm when it secured commit- financed by Chinese companies.
ments for US$8.5 billion over the next five years
from Britain, France, Germany, the United States Last year in July, President Mnangagwa toured
of America and the European Union to reduce eight companies building new coal mines, cok-
carbon emissions and develop new renewable en- ing coal plants and power generation plants in
ergy projects. Hwange, a coal-rich district in Matabeleland
North province.
Zimbabwe heavily relies on coal for electrici-
ty production, with four out of five of its state- During the tour, local firm Western Areas an-
owned power stations being thermal powered. nounced plans to build two 300MW coal plants,
The country could find itself in a fix when the while Zimbabwe Gas and Coal said it would
ban on coal comes into effect. build a 750MW plant.

World leaders committed to shift away from Chinese companies were also undertaking coal
coal at the Glasgow climate summit, with signa- projects.
tories pledging to end all investment in new coal
power generation domestically and international- For instance, Zimbabwe Zhongxin Electrical
ly. They also agreed to phase out coal power in Energy, a joint venture with the Zimbabwe De-
the 2030s for major economies, and the 2040s for fence Forces, was building a 50MW power plant
poorer nations. with plans to expand that to 430MW. Dinson
Colliery, the coal-mining subsidiary of steelmak-
Data shows Zimbabwe holds 553 million er Tsingshan Holding Group, was working on a
tonnes of proven coal reserves, ranking 38th in US$300 million coking plant. Jinan Corporation
the world. was planning a 600MW plant.

Zimbabwe has no capacity to migrate from Other major coal projects were in the pipeline,
coal-fired power stations to alternative renewable especially the US$3 billion 2 800MW thermal
energy sources, spelling doom for the country fol- power plant in Gokwe that
lowing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s announce-
ment to end investment in thermal power plants. RioZim Energy was building with engineer-
ing and financial support from China Gezhouba
Top executives at Zimbabwe’s power utility Group Company, and PER Lusulu Power’s pro-
posed 2 100MW power plant in the north-west-
ern district of Binga.

NewsHawks News Page 7

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Glasgow: A costly charade for Zim

NYASHA CHINGONO President Emmerson Mnangagwa (wearing scarf) and his entourage arrive in Glasgow, Scotland, for the recently held United Nations Climate Change Summit.

WHEN Zimbabwean President Emmerson Desperate for attention . . . President Emmerson Mnangagwa with Prince William (second from left). (CJ) costs an average US$415 000 to hire for a
Mnangagwa and his entourage left for the re- one-way trip from Harare to Glasgow, the Scot-
cent United Nations Climate Change Summit in One story bursting Harare’s propaganda bub- climate summit as he flew to Scotland last Sunday tish capital, according to privatefly.com. The
Glasgow, Scotland, they had two things in mind: ble indicated that while he blamed sanctions for on a private jet hired from former Soviet Republic estimate suggested the Zimbabwean leader was
The anti-sanctions campaign and international the country’s financial dire straits, Mnangagwa Azerbaijan, even as poverty deepens at home. spending close to USS$1 million on travel alone.
re-engagement to end choking global isolation had spent US$1 million on a luxury flight to the
and attendant pariah state status. The luxuriously-outfitted Airbus A319-115 The Airbus Corporate Jetliner, registration
4K-8888, was one of slightly over 190 exclusive-
Before the conference, they had stated their ly-outfitted jets in the range for private customers
mission loud and clear. Their social media plat- — typically “companies, individuals such as bil-
forms and posts by their publicists showed excite- lionaires and governments,” according to David
ment amid a propaganda blitz that was to reach Velupillai, the Airbus marketing and communi-
fever pitch at the summit. cations director. The corporate jets cost at least
US$87 million.
By the time the summit came, they had mobil-
ised supporters to show solidarity and put pres- Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s civil servants, includ-
sure on the big global powers that have imposed ing teachers, nurses and doctors, have been pro-
targeted sanctions on Harare, mainly the United testing over low pay and poor working conditions.
States, to pay attention to the issue. Even war veterans, staunch Zanu PF supporters,
have been demanding better remuneration. The
The European Union has lifted most of the economy remains in a parlous state. Service deliv-
restrictive measures against Zimbabwe and its ery is poor or has collapsed in some cases.
leaders. Britain, after leaving the EU, has however
been retooling and sharpening its own measures The United Nations estimates that over six
against Zimbabwe. million Zimbabweans require food aid. All this
amid growing corruption and abuse of public re-
However, Mnangagwa’s supporters proved to sources.
be a mixture of genuine backers, duped people
just roped without an idea of what was going on Yet that could not stop Mnangagwa from em-
and chancers who treated the summit as an occa- barking on a costly charade to Scotland, which
sion for merrymaking — a moment for drinking, did not achieve anything in relation to the lifting
dancing and partying. of sanctions and international re-engagement.

There were even damaging jokes to the effect
that some people were mobilised to await Mnan-
gagwa’s arrival thinking he was actually a famous
rumba star from Africa coming to perform at the
summit.

The optics were not good.
And that inevitably soon turned into a public
relations disaster. It was a botched PR job which
cost millions. The sponsored enthusiasm, bois-
terous visibility and partying created unintended
consequences. The British media picked on that.
For instance, an article in the influential Brit-
ish Daily Mail showed Mnangagwa’s supporters
stocking up on booze at Costco in Glasgow, push-
ing trolleys full of expensive whiskies and alcohol.
The question immediately arose: Who paid
for that? Was it the supporters themselves, the re-
gime’s funders or taxpayers?
The story headlined Our country’s falling apart
. . . never mind, lets party! came to symbolise the
venality of the Mnangagwa regime and the cost-
ly propaganda charade that unfolded behind the
scenes at the summit.
“Unemployment and inflation in Zimbabwe
are currently sky-high. And the country’s leader
is accused of presiding over a regime as oppres-
sive and ruthless as that of predecessor Robert
Mugabe. But the regime’s supporters didn’t seem
to care as they threw a boozy welcome party for
President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Scotland,”
part of the story read.
Exposed and in a bid to contain the damag-
ing narrative of a wasteful regime bribing peo-
ple to support it, the Zimbabwean government
could only offer a lame explanation, claiming it
is Zimbabwean culture to make a party of most
occasions.
Pictures of Mnangagwa desperately hobnob-
bing with British royalty, officials and trying to
secure photo opportunities with world leaders to
push his agenda and addressing an empty audito-
rium made things worse.
Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba
could barely hide his frustration, insinuating that
his boss was in Glasgow not to talk to summit
delegates as such, but other invisible audiences.
Evidence of extravagance, underlined by reck-
less teenage-like partying, also quickly emerged,
putting the Mnangagwa entourage to further
shame.
While other leaders from the region and with
similar modest means like Zambian President
Hakainde Hichilema used commercial flights
with small delegations to the summit, Mnangag-
wa hired a private plane and took with him more
than 100 delegates for the same event.
Hichilema had several serious meetings ar-
ranged for him by his team, while Mnangagwa
worked through encounters with junior London
officials as he showed open desperation to chat to
top British and American leaders.

Page 8 News NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

BERNARD MPOFU Mnangagwa’s cocktail encounters
and futility of summit diplomacy
ZIMBABWEAN President Emmerson Mnangag-
wa and his publicists climbed Mount Everest cele- 1 The picture collage shows: (1)
brating inevitable chats with British Prime Minis- President Emmerson Mnangagwa
ter Boris Johnson and happenstance exchanges at (with scarf)’s encounter at a cocktail
a cocktail with United States President Joe Biden with US President Joe Biden (centre in
at the recent United Nations climate change sum- the background); (2) Canadian Prime
mit in Glasgow, Scotland. Minister Justin Trudeau (3) Mnangag-
wa with British Prime Minister Boris
Mnangagwa excitedly bragged to journalists in Johnson (left); and (4) with Com-
Glasgow about his chats with Johnson — who as monwealth secretary-general Patricia
the host had no choice but to talk to him — and Scotland.
Biden whom he encountered during the summit’s
cocktail function. 2
3
“I had an opportunity to chat with President
Joe Biden and the spirit which he has towards 4
Zimbabwe is totally different from what we see
from the US Embassy in Harare. In fact, he called In addition, leaders who make decisions at provide a platform for negotiations and image ably be hoped for — just like the Mnangagwa ad-
a staffer and said ‘please make sure that I have a summit without the expertise and consultation building or prove to be a public relations disas- venture in Glasgow which has proved to be like a
chat with the President (referring to President could be led by personal agendas. ter depending on how they are handled — is that tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signi-
Mnangagwa)’,” he said. expectations tend to rise beyond what can reason- fying nothing.
The trouble with summitry — which may
Mnangagwa’s attempt to decipher Washington
DC’s current position on targeted sanctions on
Zimbabwe through a fortuitous and fleeting chat
with Biden rather than from sustained engage-
ments with diplomats in Harare is widely seen as
amateurish and naïve.

“It is diplomatically disingenuous for President
Mnangagwa to make such unfounded remarks
on an important issue like this and try to drive a
wedge between President Biden and his adminis-
tration’s diplomats in Harare,” a Western diplomat
said.

“Biden and other leaders of democratic states
work through institutions, processes and ad-
vice; they are not arbitrary authoritarians. To say
Biden’s attitude is different from that of American
diplomats in Harare — on the basis of an encoun-
ter which lasted some seconds or a minute — is
rather ill-advised and unhelpful.”

Biden was central to the targeted sanctions issue
from the beginning.

The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic
Recovery Act was passed by the US Congress im-
posing targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe and se-
nior Zanu PF officials in 2001. Senate passed the
Bill on 1 August and the House of representatives
passed it on 4 December. Former president George
W Bush signed it into law on 21 December.

Beyond rubbing shoulders with Biden, Mnan-
gagwa said he also spoke with Johnson about three
times, a reference to the short encounters during
the summit. The President also engaged UK min-
ister of State for Africa Vicky Ford. He said Ford
is scheduled to visit Zimbabwe on a date yet to
be set.

Mnangagwa said he also spoke with Prince
Charles, heir apparent to the British throne as the
eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, who lowered the
Union Jack at midnight on 18 April 1980 — In-
dependence Day — for the last time and the new

Zimbabwe flag was raised.
Mnangagwa also met with Prince William. He
claimed the Prince told him to convey a message
of goodwill to Marvellous Nakamba whom he fol-
lows ardently.
Yet Nakamba, who plays for Aston Villa in the
English Premier League, had already previous-
ly met the Prince as way back as May without
Mnangagwa.
Other figures who chatted with Mnangagwa
include European Council president Charles Mi-
chel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
secretary of State for the Holy See Cardinal Pietro
Parolin and Commonwealth secretary-general Pa-
tricia Scotland.
Having gone to Glasgow without standing ap-
pointments, Mnangagwa resorted to capitalising
on exchange of pleasantries, courtesy calls and
ambush meetings, including chance encounters
during the cocktail, to give the impression of a
hectic schedule and serious engagements.
Summitry engagements sometimes yield de-
sired results, but largely do not deliver the goods.
Summits, a term first used by Winston Chur-
chill in 1950 in a speech on the Soviet Union on
14 February 1950, are basically meetings involv-
ing representatives of the highest level of states or
international organisations.
They have a high frequency involving heads of
state or government in debates on global issues.
But in some cases these meetings are criticised
because presidents or prime ministers may lack ex-
pertise in certain areas or the preparation of career
diplomats.
As Rwandan President Paul Kagame said, Af-
rican leaders usually attend those summits for a
photo opportunity.

NewsHawks News Page 9

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

The slow death Former
of key liberation South African
president Nelson

Mandela

movements in
Southern Africa

Former Former Former Former
Zimbabwean Mozambican Tanzanian Zambian president
president Robert president Samora president Julius
Kenneth Kaunda
Mugabe Machel Nyerere ment of national unity deal — remains in power
in the region. The Botswana Democratic Party by-election, but again received less than 1% of the through authoritarian repression, violence and
BRIDGET MANANAVIRE won 53% in the last general election in 2019, up vote. He remained the party’s presidential candi- killings, as well as corruption and patronage.
from 46.45% in 2014. This shows that the par- date for the 2016 general elections, but received
SOUTH Africa’s governing party, the African ty in power since the country’s independence in only 0.24% of the vote, with the party again fail- Although Zanu PF was previously popular,
National Congress (ANC) — the continent’s old- 1966 no longer commands the huge majorities it ing to win a seat in the National Assembly. over the years, it lost support due to its leadership,
est liberation movement — has for the first time used to enjoy in the past. policy and governance failures during the reign
since the 1994 democratic elections — dropped Then in this year’s presidential election, Unip of the late president Robert Mugabe. It has only
below 50% in local government polls after suffer- In Namibia, President Hage Geingob was in fielded Trevor Mwamba and he got 0.06% of the rebuilt through sheer brutality and intimidation.
ing heavy losses, amid rising social discontent and 2019 re-elected with a massive 31% drop in sup- vote. Hichilema was elected president. This story
serious voter apathy. port; his vote nosedived from 87% in 2014 to marks the painful death of a liberation movement. Beginning 2000, Zanu PF lost in all major cit-
56%, Swapo’s lowest-ever return for a presidential ies and towns to the opposition MDC, exiling it
The 2021 South African municipal elections election candidate in history. Swapo also retained In 1994, the Malawi Congress Party of Hast- to rural areas.
were held on 1 November to elect councils for all its majority in the National Assembly, but lost a ings Kamuzu Banda, which had governed the
local and metropolitan municipalities across the two-thirds super-majority. country since independence in 1966 to 1993 The ANC this week dropped below 50% and
country. It was the sixth municipal election since as the only party, was decisively routed by the lost control of major cities in South Africa in the
the end of apartheid in 1994. In Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda’s United National United Democratic Front (UDF). Former pres- country’s municipal elections, registering its worst
Independence Party (Unip) died in 1990. Found- ident-for-life Banda was defeated by the UDF’s electoral performance since the end of apartheid
According to the Electoral Commission of ed in 1959 under Mainza Chona while Kaunda Bakili Muluzi. in 1994.
South Africa, the ANC’s national support lev- was in jail, Unip ruled from 1964 to 1991 under
el dropped from 53.91% in the 2016 elections, Kaunda when it was the sole legal party between Between 1994 and 2020, Banda’s party was Liberation movements portray themselves as
when its decline accelerated, to 46.04% this year, 1973 and 1990. pushed into the political wilderness until Presi- the political aristocracy of southern Africa that
the party’s worst-ever performance in a democrat- dent Lazarus Chakwera brought it back to power have earned their legitimacy to govern through
ic election since the end apartheid in 1994. At the end of 1990, multi-party democracy was last year after a court-ordered election re-run. armed struggle in perpetuity. But they have, in
reintroduced, and Unip, which had enjoyed guar- fact, reinvented history — with particular empha-
Apart from that, the ANC lost and failed to se- anteed victories under the one-party state since In Kenya, the Kenya African National Union, sis on the armed struggle — to provide historical
cure majority control of major metros, including 1973, was roundly defeated in the 1991 general in power from 1963 to 2002, was defeated. legitimacy and solidarity in order to combat inter-
the commercial hub Johannesburg, encompassing elections by the Movement for Multi-Party De- nal and external threats to their purported nation-
the separate Ekurhuleni, Tshwane (which includes mocracy (MMD). Kaunda was defeated in the Mozambique’s first multi-party elections were al democratic revolutions.
the capital Pretoria), Cape Town and Durban. presidential vote by MMD candidate Frederick held in 1994 following the end of the civil war in
Chiluba, receiving just 24% of the vote, while 1992. General elections then took place in 1999, The armed liberation movements arose in
There were 66 hung councils. in the National Assembly elections Unip won 25 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 — all of them won southern Africa in the second half of the 20th
Main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA)’s seats to the MMD’s 125 in a spectacular collapse by the former liberation movement Frelimo. century to fight for an end to colonialism, white
national support also declined from 26.9% to of a liberation movement. minority rule and economic exploitation, all shar-
21.84%. The other key opposition party, the Eco- The polls have often been marred by boycotts ing an African nationalism and socialist ideology.
nomic Freedom Fighters (EFF), garnered 10.42% Following changes to the constitution which and violence, as well as accusations of fraud and
of the vote. Out of 213 municipalities, the ANC effectively barred Kaunda from running for pres- corruption against the ruling party. Participation Three or more decades later, some remain in
got 161 municipalities. The DA secured 13, while ident again, Unip boycotted the 1996 elections, in the elections has also been low, declining to a power, but they are steadily losing support in
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) garnered 10. although two members contested National As- mere 45% previously. Frelimo won a landslide in young and changing societies which demand
In the eight metros, the DA won Cape Town, sembly seats. The party returned to contest the 2019, but the ongoing conflict could shake the more competence, delivery and accountability.
while the ANC controlled Mangaung and Buffalo 2001 polls with Kaunda’s son, Tilyenji, as its pres- party’s grip on the electorate.
City. No party got more than 50% in the other idential candidate. He received 10% of the vote, The parties had common characteristics: they
five big cities. The elections were characterised by finishing fourth out of the 11 candidates. In the In Tanzania, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) were all African nationalist movements, they all
apathy. Out of 26.1 million registered voters, only national assembly elections, the party won 13 is still the dominant ruling party and the second embraced Marxist ideology and were involved in
12.3 million voted. Addressing the nation at the seats. longest-ruling party in Africa, only after the True armed struggle against white oppressors.
announcement of the results, President Cyril Ra- Whig Party of Liberia.
maphosa said a record 325 political parties, nearly Prior to the 2006 elections, the party joined Despite having similar contexts, struggles, na-
95 000 candidates and over 1 500 independent forces with the United Democratic Alliance During the 2020 elections, the late president tionalist purposes and socialist ideology, their time
candidates participated in the elections. alongside the other two largest opposition parties. John Magufuli, succeeded by President Samia in power has also encompassed different realities.
“This is a sign that multiparty politics is flour- Suluhu Hassan, received 12.5 million votes — or
ishing in South Africa, and that everyone has an United Party for National Development 85% — while his main rival Tundu Lissu of the Yet the common threat is that those that are
equal chance and opportunity to run for public (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema was the alli- Chadema party, got 1.9 million votes, or 13%. declining or have lost power failed to serve the
office,” he said. ance’s presidential candidate, finishing third. The CCM is still strong, but its supremacy is being people’s interests. They became captured by elites
The outcome of the elections rang an alarm alliance won just 26 seats in the national assembly, challenged. who then share the spoils and seek to reproduce
bell for the ANC at home and across the region. down from the 74 the three parties had won in themselves to ensure self-preservation, while
Although the party still controls well over 50% 2001. Angola’s ruling MPLA in 2017 won a general alienating the people who walk away and disen-
of the country’s parliamentary seats, its decline in election, taking 61.07% of the vote, which saw gage from politics and voting.
two consecutive polls, a plunge to unprecedent- Unip did not contest the 2008 presidential João Lourenço succeed José Eduardo dos Santos
ed levels, has brought into sharp focus not just its by-election, but nominated Tilyenji as its presi- at the helm of sub-Saharan Africa’s third-largest This has definitely been the situation from
waning popularity, but most importantly, the cur- dential candidate for the 2011 polls; he received economy. While the MPLA won big, the main Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Zimbabwe and now
rent state of former liberation parties in southern less than 1% of the vote, finishing sixth in a field opposition National Union for the Total Indepen- South Africa in different ways.
Africa. It is not only the ANC, which is in trouble of 10 candidates. The party also failed to win a dence of Angola (Unita) took 26.67%, with the
seat in the national assembly, receiving only 0.7% smaller opposition Casa-Ce garnering 9.44%. Long used to unchallenged dominance, liber-
of the vote. Tilyenji ran in the 2015 presidential ation movements have significant adjustments to
Zimbabwe’s experience is also compelling. make to rise to the challenge of a new era. Yet they
The ruling Zanu PF — which was defeated in may only have a limited window within which to
the 2008 general elections, but saved by a govern- act and reinvent themselves, or simply die.

Page 10 News NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Urban commuters lament transport crisis

AYESHA CHIDEMBO

IT was just another day at the bus station. Pas- Zimbabwe Republic Police continue to have running battles with pirate operators.
sengers were waiting in queue at a terminus ad-
jacent Harare Police Station charge office, endur- to transport and this system should be efficient,’’ “We always ensure that Zupco company gets hicle Inspectorate Department) before they go
ing hours before the next bus came by. Goliath said. serviced and worthy buses to be on the road, if on the road. We have heard some issues of buses
not we as usually impound the buses. We urge which are now transporting the public as Zupcos
The sweltering heat is good for vendors eking As the public transport crisis continues, Zim- commuters to report to any nearest police station while they are not under Zupco company and we
out a living by selling cool drinks to commuters babwe Republic Police and municipal police con- if they happen to see these kinds of Zipco buses are carrying out investigations.”
patiently waiting to board public buses. tinue to have running battles with pirate opera- on the road which are unroadworthy,” Nyathi
tors. Windshields have been smashed and tyres said. Speaking to the The NewsHawks at the charge
Momentarily, a few passengers jump out of the have been deflated as law enforcement agents office terminus, a man who identified himself as
bus and those queuing take chances to board a make frantic efforts to ensure that a ban on un- In September 50 new Golden Dragon bus- Mhofu from Chitungwiza said: “Zupco compa-
ramshackle vehicle that has become part of their registered transport operators is complied with. es from China were imported as the authorities ny has made life a little bit easy to get to and fro
daily lives. Sadly, the public risks being run over during such sought to mitigate the transport blues. work, but it’s the time we spend in queues and
a blitz. the inefficiency of the operators, which leaves a
With unconfirmed reports indicating that Evaristo Madangwa, Zupco chief executive, lot to be desired. With schools open, demand
nearly half of the buses currently being contract- ZRP spokesperson Paul Nyatho said officers however said transporters operating under the for public transport remains high and this means
ed by the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company manning checkpoints are ensuring that only banner of his organisation are roadworthy. waking up very early in the morning .”
(Zupco), public safety may be at risk as the gov- roadworthy operators are operating.
ernment maintains its stronghold on the sector. “Zipco buses are certified fit by the VID (Ve-

Following the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020,
the authorities in Harare barred operators not
registered with Zupco from plying their routes,
citing public health concerns. Ironically, obser-
vations and reports show that the bulk of those
registered are not only violating Covid-19 regula-
tions by exceeding their carrying capacity but are
also unroadworthy.

Zupco contracted companies such as CAG,
Inter Africa, Bless it UP Tours and some privately
owned commuter omnibuses for their services,
after it emerged that its fleet had been over-
whelmed following the ban.

On numerous occasions, passengers have wit-
nessed Zupco buses breaking down on their way
to or from work and have complained about the
long hours spent travelling from central Harare
to Chitungwiza or any other route and the time
taken waiting for another bus to arrive when a
certain bus breaks down and this is caused by the
poor road performance by the Zupc buses. Some
have been involved in road traffic accidents.

Tafadzwa Goliath, Passenger Association of
Zimbabwe president, said Zupco’s monopoly is
not good for service delivery.

“We have consistently opposed the govern-
ment monopoly. Government wants to centralise
transport system like they did using statutory
instruments 83 of 2020 and 200 of 2020. A
huge amount of citizens’ monthly salaries goes

NewsHawks News Page 11

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

NYASHA CHINGONO/ AYESHA CHIDEMBO/ Social exhaustion sinks deeper
KUMBIRAI MACHINGURA as growing poverty strikes hard

DRENCHED in sweat under the blistering No- Many unemployed Zimbabweans have resorted to brick-making to eke a living.
vember sun, Gilbert Chamunorwa (45) sits miser-
ably nearby a pile of bricks in St Mary’s, Chitung- stay, Maphosa would send his mother medical abject poverty. hunger by 2030, the cost of living in Zimbabwe
wiza, about 25 kilometres south of Harare. supplies and food. Reality on the ground shows that the govern- is rising, as incomes continue to be decimated by
inflation.
Clad in torn blue overalls and a brown hat “The love for my mother drove me out of ment has not provided social safety nets to cush-
which has seen better days, Chamunorwa toils South Africa. I was leading a decent life. Now I ion the poor. Zimbabwe’s economy remains fragile, with
daily, moulding bricks for a living. cannot even pay school fees for my siblings, who food inflation continuing to increase.
all look up to me,” he said. With urban poverty on the rise and economic
Life dealt him another heavy blow last year prospects bleak, humanitarian agencies say mil- “The annual inflation for October was pegged
when he lost his wife. Looking after two teenage He wishes to return to the neighbouring coun- lions of Zimbabweans will need food aid this year, at 54.49, which was a marginal increase from
boys has been difficult for Chamunorwa, who try, but his passport expired and due to delays at despite the much-touted bumper harvest. 51.55% recorded in September 2021, while food
feels abandoned by his relatives. the Registrar General’s Office, it could take an- inflation was estimated at 54.5% up from 50.5%
other two years before he can leave Zimbabwe. Economic fortunes have worsened during the in August 2021,” ZIMVac says.
His crestfallen face is testimony to the tough Covid-19 pandemic which, according to the
life he has led since losing his job as an artisan at Stuck in this country, Maphosa is battling epi- World Bank, plunged 7.9 million Zimbabweans The country’s inflation rose from 51.55% to
a local firm in 2011. He has never tasted formal sodes of depression. into extreme poverty. This is almost 50% of the 54.49% in October, leaving more than five mil-
employment since then. population. Over two million people were expect- lion people on the brink of hunger.
“The thought that as an adult I cannot take ed t o go hungry at the peak of the lean season
With unrelenting economic conditions spi- care of my family just depresses me. The worst (January-March), the latest report by ZimVac In September, the estimated number of people
ralling out of control, the father of two has been thing is there is no one to help,” he said. says. lacking food rose from 5.6 million to 5.7 million.
struggling to provide for his family.
While President Emmerson Mnangagwa in- In the urban areas 2.4 million faced a gruelling The number of people employing crisis-level
On a good day, Chamunorwa makes US$40 sisted that the economy is on a path to recovery food crisis, a 12% increase from 2019. coping strategies also increased to 8.53 million
from selling bricks, but as brick makers flood the during his State Of the Nation Address (SONA) people compared to 8.48 million at the end of
market, the returns have been meagre. last month, millions of Zimbabweans are living in While the government aims at achieving zero August 2021, ZIMVac reported.

“Life has been extremely difficult. Taking care
of two teenage boys who always want to eat, yet
you can afford only a meal per day, is also very
difficult,” he told The NewsHawks.

“With the change of the economy, I could not
go to work anymore; all hope was lost. I am tired
of begging relatives for school fees and rentals; this
job does not give me much.”

Introduced to brick-making by his friend two
years after he was almost evicted for not paying
rentals, Chamunorwa roped his two sons into the
trade. Strenuous and often aggravating his back
problem, Chamunorwa said brick-making threw
him a lifeline.

“I started brick-making with my two sons
because it was the only option available. After
school, my sons come to help me. It is tough for
them because they will be tired and hungry, but
that is all we have,” he said.

His partner Mernard Maphosa (34) looks on as
Chamunorwa relates his ordeal.

Burdened with taking care of a terminally ill
mother and four school going siblings, Maphosa
wonders when his breakthrough will come.

Toiling daily in an open field, making bricks,
which sometimes, may go for a month without
being bought, Maphosa rues the day he returned
home from South Africa.

He had left for South Africa in 2016 in search
of greener pastures, but was forced to return home
due to his mother’s illness.

“I think I should have just stayed there and
contributed from South Africa. Right now both
my mother and I are helpless. How does that
help?” he lamented.

Employed as a shop attendant in South Africa,
where an estimated three million Zimbabweans

Zim’s agric support mechanisms not increasing yield: ILO

THE quality of support being extended towards cated without any type of conditionality, and it is urgently consider key fundamentals like lack of farmers in Zimbabwe are “relatively new” to farm-
farmers in Zimbabwe is not doing much to in- unclear why a 100% inputs scheme is still in place infrastructure to avoid overdependence on rain- ing as they obtained land after the land reform
crease yields, hence the need to urgently address for cotton growers,” said the report. fed agriculture for operations. programme and they lack the skills needed to im-
other deeper structural problems bedevilling the prove productivity.
country’s agricultural sector, a recent report by the Regarding Command Agriculture (now re- “This limits their production as they must wait
International Labour Organisation (ILO) has ob- named Smart Agriculture), the LMDA observed for the single rain season and have the land fallow “Very few have market intelligence and knowl-
served. that evaluations showed that while farmers who the rest of the year, affecting returns from the land. edge of the requirements to enter export markets
benefited from the programme utilised more in- At the same time, electricity is a problem for those for specialised products in horticulture and flow-
The survey, titled Labour Market Diagnostic puts than the non-Command Agriculture farmers, farmers who use power for operations such as irri- ers. It is estimated that post-harvest losses in Zim-
Analysis (LMDA), says agriculture is one of the there was no significant difference in maize yields. gation and greenhouses,” the LMDA said. babwe are significant: 33% of the product is lost
sectors with huge potential to create employment before reaching the market,” the report said.
in the country, yet it remains choked by a num- The survey therefore urged the authorities to The survey observed that most commercial
ber of measures which are not addressing the real It observed that prevalence of “subsistence”
problems. farming also remains a problem with half of
the land that can be used for agriculture being
“Presidential Input Support Programme, intro- “owned” by small, subsistence, farmers who can-
duced in 2009, focuses on subsistence farmers of- not achieve the necessary economies of scale to be
fering a fully subsidised input package to produce competitive and access commercial markets on
grain on a limited area, typically less than each their own.
farmer’s full area of cropping,” LMDA said.
“Most farmers use “land offer letters” from the
The report observed that while the command government as the document to demonstrate land
agriculture programme did not involve subsidies, tenure. Most financial institutions do not accept
since farmers were bound to reimburse the loans these letters as collateral. With many new farmers
when they delivered their output to the Grain not having other assets, banks cannot finance their
Marketing Board, “In practice, however, non-re- operations, limiting framers’ access to working
payment rates range between 30% and 40%.” capital,” the LDMA said.

The LMDA report said these and other farming The report slammed the current system of out-
support programmes have not managed to turn put subsidies, and the government monopoly in
around the country’s agricultural sector. the purchase of grains, benefits a few producers.
On the other hand, it harms businesses that en-
“These programmes, however, have not been gage in processing activities and compromises the
able to increase output or productivity. The sub- development of value chains. — STAFF WRITER.
sidies for tobacco and cotton producers were allo-

Page 12 News NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE Court reserves judgement
in asset declaration lawsuit
THE High Court has reserved judgement in a
matter in which an opposition legislator launched a “Just the mere analysis of the audited statements MDC Alliance Harare North MP Allan Markham Kinsasha without declaring them to the Congolese
lawsuit against the government’s failure to actualise of the Auditor-General particularly for the years ister Sydney Sekeramayi, the late General Vitalis authorities; at Kinsasha, the money was changed
a law that forces public officials, including Presi- 2016, 2017 and 2018 (particularly the 2017 and Zvinavashe and the late Lands minister Perrence into Congolese francs and further transported to
dent Emmerson Mnangagwa and cabinet minis- 2018) will confirm this position. We have been Shiri, as well as Billy Rautenbach and John Breden- Harare and the eastern DRC. Oryx employees said
ters, to disclose their assets. shocked by the high levels of corruption in the kamp as playing critical roles in the looting. they were asked to pay Mnangagwa a commission
public service amongst government officials and on these transactions which contravened Zimba-
This comes at a time when there has been a lot of others.” “A forum has been established between Tremalt bwe law.”
criticism around public officials who unapologeti- and ZDF to plan strategy in the DRC and ‘look
cally splash wealth amid the high level of poverty He said the fuel sector, United States foreign at the interests of the Zimbabweans’. Meeting A number of the players named in the report
in the country. exchange, Command Agriculture, the country’s monthly, the forum’s main members are Zvina- such Zvinavashe, Moyo and Bredenkamp have
commodities in particular gold, chrome, platinum vashe, Moyo, air commodore Mike Karakadzai, since died.
In his application filed at the High Court, and diamonds, various forms of subsidies given in Bredenkamp, the managing director of KMC,
MDC Alliance Harare North Member of Parlia- the economy, procurement, as well as the Reserve Colin Blythe-Woodand the director of KMC Gary Markham said the levels of corruption are dire
ment Allan Markham, argued that public officials Bank’s quasi-fiscal activities had become hubs of Webster,” it said. and one of the reasons why the situation is out of
have been implicated in high-level corruption that corruption. hand is because there are no adequate legislative
has bled the country to economic ruin and poverty. “In one example, on 13 March 2000, Oryx of- tools for combating corruption or tools that keep
In the UN report, which Markham attached to ficials in Kinshasa loaded an aircraft belonging to those in positions of authority in state institutions
In his 239-page application, Markham present- his court papers, a panel of international experts Bredenkamp with eight crates of Congolese francs fully accountable, hence the need to actualise sec-
ed, among other documents, a United Nations concluded that Zimbabwean officials looted min- for shipment to Harare. The panel also has doc- tion 198 of the constitution “for it serves this par-
2002 report on the plunder of natural resources erals in the DRC. umentation substantiating information that an ticular purpose and more particularly subsection
in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Oryx employee regularly transported parcels of (1) a) of the same”.
in which Mnangagwa and the late Foreign Affairs “Although troops of the Zimbabwe Defence (US$500 000 at a time) that were withdrawn from
minister Sibusiso Moyo, among other officials, are Forces (ZDF) have been a major guarantor of the the Oryx account at Hambros Bank, London, to In their responses filed at the High Court on
implicated in looting. security of the government of the DRC against re- 31 December 2020, Ziyambi and Machaya said
gional rivals, its senior officers have enriched them- they had no constitutional obligation to actualise
Markham also listed other corruption scandals, selves from the country’s mineral assets under the section 198.
dealings and reports linking public officials to plun- pretext of arrangements set up to repay Zimbabwe
der, including in the areas of fuel; foreign exchange for military services,” the UN report said. “I aver that the responsibility to ‘prepare’ and
in particular the United States dollar; Command ‘initiate’ national legislation lies squarely with ‘cab-
Agriculture, the country’s commodities in particu- “The key strategist for the Zimbabwe branch of inet’ in terms of section 110 of the constitution
lar gold, chrome, platinum and diamonds; various the elite network is the speaker of the parliament of which deals with executive functions of the Pres-
forms of subsidies given in the economy; procure- Zimbabwe and former National Security minister ident and cabinet. In this application neither the
ment, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s quasi-fiscal Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa. Mr Mnan- cabinet of Zimbabwe nor even the government of
activities and through government entities. gagwa has won strong support from senior military Zimbabwe itself has been cited as respondents,” Zi-
and intelligence officers for an aggressive policy in yambi said.
He said the lack of legislative frameworks to the DRC.
promote good governance and curtail corruption “As our constitution was silent on the specifics
would jeopardise public officials’ accountability “Other prominent Zimbabwean members of of implementation it took some time to realise the
and transparency. the network include Brigadier-General Sibusiso effect of the possible delays in the implementation
Busi Moyo, who is director-general of Cosleg (a of the constitution.”
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs minis- Congo-Zimbabwe joint stock company). Brigadier
ter Ziyambi Ziyambi and Attorney-General Prince Moyo advised both Tremalt and Oryx Natural Re- In his response, Machaya said: “I respectfully
Machaya are the first and second respondents in sources, which represented covert Zimbabwe mil- aver that, in the light of my functions as set out in
the matter. itary financial interests in negotiations with state the said section 114 of the constitution this hon-
mining companies of the DRC.” ourable court should see it fit not to order any relief
In their responses, Ziyambi and Machaya said against me in this matter. I am under no obligation
they were not under any obligation to actualise the The report also mentions former Defence min- to enact the law which is the subject of this appli-
law, as it is a mandate of cabinet. cation.”

Justice Jacob Manzunzu however reserved Ziyambi had however revealed in response that
judgement in the matter last week. Machaya chairs an inter-ministerial committee that
oversees issues pertaining to the implementation
A few weeks ago, Finance permanent secretary of the constitution. Zimbabwe has unexplained
George Guvamatanga came under fire after host- wealth regulations under the Money Laundering
ing a lavish birthday and splurging on foreign ar- and Proceeds of Crime Act of 2013. Only one
tistes who provided entertainment at the event. person — Russell Mwenye, a former Parirenyatwa
Hospital stores manager — has been convicted and
Guvamatanga justified his spending, saying he jailed for corruption, and his property seized.
made his money before assuming public office.

Makharm, who was being represented by prom-
inent lawyer Tendai Biti, wants an order compel-
ling the government to actualise section 198 of
the constitution, which requires public officials to
make regular disclosures of their assists.

Almost eight years after the adoption of the con-
stitution in May 2013, the government is yet to
compete the aligning of laws to the supreme char-
ter.

Section 198 states that: “An act of Parliament
must provide measures to enforce the provisions of
this chapter, including measures — (a) requiring
public officers to make regular disclosures of their
assets; (b) establishing codes of conduct to be ob-
served by the public officers; (c) specifying the stan-
dards of good corporate governance to be observed
by government, controlled entities and other com-
mercial entities owned or wholly controlled by the
state; (d) providing for the disciplining of persons
who contravene the provisions of this chapter or
of any code of conduct or standard referred to in
paragraph (b)”.

“In the course of conducting the above-stated
duties I have been exposed, to the rot that exists
within our government institutions, wholly riddled
with corruption, thus being one of the overarching
reasons, why the country fails to realise its opti-
mum potential, for the growth and development
of its own citizens,” Markham argued in his appli-
cation.

Karoi town secretary charged with fraud
NHAU MANGIRAZI heard that the senior official will face two charges chairperson Abel Matsika was absent. can't dictate to council that way," said the source.
after he admitted that he advanced himself an un- A source revealed that a request by Mutikani The under-fire Mutikani is at the centre of an
SUSPENDED Karoi Town Council secretary authorised loan to buy materials for the diversion
Wellington Mutikani has been charged with of a Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) to have the hearing heard in-camera was turned ongoing scandal involving the irregular construc-
fraud and abuse of office. He will appear at a dis- pipe at his privately owned Champion Lodge last down. tion of his private lodge above the Zinwa main
ciplinary hearing on Monday. year in October. Acting town secretary Hastings water pipe. He is also accused of approving an
Makunda read the charges to eight councillors as "As council, we rejected Mutikani's request to "unsanctioned loan" to purchase pipe-diversion
A full special full council meeting on Thursday have the hearing held in-camera as it is about pub- materials.
lic funds. He will have his own legal rights, but

NewsHawks News Page 13

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

NYARADZO MUSHANYUKI Turmoil-stricken Zanu PF to
resume district restructuring
ZANU PF will resume restructuring the once dis-
banded district coordinating committee (DCCs) Zanu PF’s acting national spokesperson Mike Bimha
as the party looks to garner five million votes in
the 2023 polls, a party official has said. ed power within the top brass through purges of Mnangagwa has weak control mechanisms, as sions, bringing into question his ability to hold his
chief security officers involved in the 2017 coup shown by the ongoing infighting in Masvingo and lieutenants to account.
Following chaotic district and provincial elec- and subsequent replacement with his loyalists, dif- the Midlands, with analysts saying the President
tions, which were suspended indefinitely due to ferent dynamics are playing out at the grassroots. needs to rein in the warring factions if his bid for Before that, he openly condemned factionalism
violence among the faction-ridden party struc- 2023 is to be successful. during the party’s politburo meeting in Harare.
tures, Zanu PF’s acting national spokesperson Constant horse trading led to the postpone-
Mike Bimha says the process will now resume ment of provincial elections following chaotic During last week’s conference, Mnangagwa de- “Those who wantonly violate and desecrate our
under the watchful eye of the national leadership. scenes fanned by factional groups, triggering frus- nounced intra-party violence and factional fights, party constitution’s peaceful culture and values
tration at grassroots level. but did not name individuals fanning party divi- must be dealt with decisively without fear or fa-
This comes after violence reared its ugly head vour,” Mnangagwa said.
in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s political
citadel, the Midlands, where his loyalists Owen Intra-party violence and factional fights continue to rock Zanu PF.
Mudha Ncube and Daniel Mackenzie Ncube
were mired in open confrontation over the party
provincial chairperson’s position.

Initially, Mudha Ncube had shown interest in
challenging the current provincial chair Macken-
zie Ncube, as the battle for the control of the Mid-
lands intensifies. But in a sudden turn of events,
Mudha Ncube has given a nod to former youth
league leader Edison Chakanyuka to contest
Mackenzie Ncube.

“As preparation of the upcoming elections, we
are restructuring through the district coordinat-
ing committee (DCC). This is an exercise aimed
at quantifying our support base,” Bimha told The
NewsHawks.

“The ruling party is targeting to mobilise five
million votes. For now, the party has registered
four million members and the list continues to
grow daily. The exercise is being led by the party
leadership in various provinces across the country
to ensure there are proper structures at the lower
level up to the provincial level. This restructuring
is meant to ensure all party members are registered
in their respective cells.”

Bimha said the restructuring exercise is also a
reality check ahead of 2023.

‘‘We are doing all this in preparation for 2023
harmonised elections. If we put our house in or-
der and with a situation of having structures on
paper but having nothing, we will be heading in
the right direction for the upcoming elections,”
Bimha said.

“In the past, we could hear that there were dis-
tricts that existed only on paper, but the reality on
the ground was that there were no branches. We
are doing a good thing to know the number of
people through a physical check,’’ he added.

Ahead of this year’s conference held in Bindu-
ra last week, faction-ridden Zanu PF has endured
bloody DCC elections.

Last October, Zanu PF primary polls to choose
a Kwekwe Central parliamentary candidate for a
by-election turned bloody following intense clash-
es between rival groups at the party’s Kwekwe dis-
trict offices.

Police had to fire warning shots after being
called to contain the situation which had spiraled
out of control, as factions bludgeoned each other
over the voters’ roll. Mnangagwa’s loyalists have
been at the centre of mudslinging and social me-
dia smear campaigns.

Mnangagwa’s powerful allies in the Midlands,
including July Moyo and Mudha Ncube, and in
other provinces, were swept aside in district coor-
dinating committee (DCC) elections that left him
weaker. Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga
has gained some ground of late.

DCCs had been unconstitutionally dissolved
by the central committee in 2012. Amendments
to the Zanu PF constitution by the central com-
mittee are “subject to ratification by congress”.

Mnangagwa and Chiwenga are on a collision
course, with the vice-president intervening in
Masvingo.

Provincial Affairs minister Ezra Chadzamira is
under fire over corruption charges which have tak-
en a factional dimension, as the Chiwenga camp
now wants him out. War veterans are leading the
charge.

Chiwenga has previously been in Masvingo,
where he challenged Chadzamira’s leadership and
associated decisions, especially on land distribu-
tion, which The NewsHawks has covered relent-
lessly.

Zanu PF officials say Chiwenga has been in-
tervening in Masvingo and nationally through
his key ally, former political commissar Engelbert
Rugeje.

Although Zanu PF has perennially been
plagued by grand factionalism, the current wave
of squabbles, especially among Mnangagwa’s allies
in the Midlands, has turned nasty.

While Mnangagwa had somewhat consolidat-

Page 14 News NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Dejected drinkers lament Go-Beer’s demise

STEPHEN CHADENGA

In July 2014, Gweru residents woke up to devas- Gweru council meeting stopped operations at Go-Beer seven years ago to pave way for investigations into the brewery.
tating news that city council’s once thriving beer
concern Go-Beer would be shut down. Jobs were And true to Moyo’s words, in 2016, workers ing to Go-Beer being auctioned that same year to Makombe said council would engage private
lost and imbibers were left craving their tradition- at the beer concern wrote a petition to council settle outstanding salaries. Even some vital equip- partners in most of the projects, with some now
al brew. that they were “wallowing in abject poverty” since ment at the brewery went under the hammer to at “the stage of drafting agreements”.
they had not been paid their dues backdated to pay debts.
The collapse of yesteryear breweries such as 2012. But Gweru United Progressive Residents and
Ingwebu of Bulawayo, Pungwe of Mutare or Go- Although a few years ago, Go-Beer farms were Ratepayers Association Trust director David Chi-
Beer has over the years brought into sharp focus In that letter, the workers alleged that some unbundled as some of council’s business units, as kore said residents were “worried that successive
the administration of beerhalls which were run by workers at the defunct brewery had died before part of a process to revamp the beer entity, only councils” had promised to revive entities such as
local authorities. receiving their packages, while others relocated to last month, mayor Josiah Makombe announced Go-Beer with “no tangible results”.
rural areas after failing to meet expenses in town that council had resolved to “dissolve the entity’s
On that day, seven years ago, the councillors due to non-payment of salaries. (Go-Beer farms) current management” for mis- “It’s like a wild goose chase,” Chikore told The
made a resolution at a full council meeting that management and incompetence. NewsHawks.
the liquor entity should immediately cease op- The acting town clerk, during those days, who
erations to pave way for investigations into the was also finance director, Edgar Mwedzi, ac- According to Makombe, the farm managers This publication this week visited Go-Beer
brewery. knowledged the plight of the employees, but said had failed to perform to meet production stan- Breweries premises in the city’s light industrial
council “had nothing to do with most Go-Beer dards expected of crops planted at the coun- area, only to be greeted by a serene atmosphere at
And on that same gloomy day council securi- debts” since the firm operated as a standalone cil-owned land. the once bustling place, which trucks carrying the
ty personnel and auditors took over and locked company. much-beloved Go-Two and Go-Five beer used to
Go-Beer Breweries beerhalls, as the local author- But speaking to residents in recent months frequent.
ity moved to institute a probe into the way the In later years, reports of investigations at Go- during engagement meetings, an optimistic
company was being run. Beer showed that while the looting and plunder Makombe said Go-Beer was among other in- The derelict structures at the brewery would
of resources occurred unchecked, with shopfloor come-generating ventures council had resolved to need business partners committed to inject mil-
Most permanent workers were sent on forced workers bearing the brunt of the corrupt activ- revive. lions of United States dollars, according to Chi-
leave, except the finance, human resources and ities, those in management, who were the per- kore.
farm managers, whose services were required in petrators of such graft, went “scot free” and even “We have lined up business projects for the city
carrying out the investigation. benefitted from mismanaging the once buzzing and these include turning our aerodrome into an “Council, like most other local authorities
corporation. airport, quarry mining and the revamping of around the country, faces financial constraints
This week, The NewsHawks caught up with res- council’s beer concern, Go-Beer,” Makombe told in giving meaningful services to ratepayers. It re-
idents who have nostalgic memories of Go-Beer The plunder saw more than 300 cattle belong- stakeholders last month. mains to been seen if Go-Beer’s revival is not just
and how they regarded it as an iconic brand of the a pipe dream,” Chikore added.
Midlands capital.

“In 2014, l had just returned from my flea
market in town in the evening and went home to
Mkoba Four,” James Mutero said.

“As was the norm among many other imbibers,
I headed straight to Mkoba Four beerhalls, pop-
ularly known as Majikedhuze. To my surprise, I
found other beer drinkers milling outside the bar,
which had been locked. People were discussing
that council had closed the bar and it was not
clear why the beerhall had been shut down.”

Mutero said residents later learnt that council
had ceased the operations of Go-Beer to investi-
gate allegations of corruption.

Another resident, Nomatter Moyo of Mkoba
16, said she met with the same fate (as that of
Mutero) when she went for a drink at Mkoba 16
beerhall.

“Myself and other patrons were shocked to see
security guards at the premises, who advised us
that they had been instructed to close the beerhall
to pave way for audits,” she told The NewsHawks.

“That day was the beginning of successive years
of missing my favourite frothy and tasty Go-Beer
traditional brew. It also changed the way we so-
cialised, as we would pool resources during week-
ends to buy the beer in bulk and deliberate on
issues at our burial club.”

She said on that day, she began to understand
that corruption and plunder of resources could
lead to the demise of even big companies, with
dire consequences, not only for workers, but even
those indirectly involved with such entities.

At its closure, the beer establishment was reel-
ing under a $2.6 million debt and was failing to
honour its obligations at the Local Authorities
Pension Fund.

NOKUTHABA DLAMINI Next to Zambezi, Vic Falls goes thirsty

ELENA Ncube (31) walks more than five kilome- mounted as much as 10 water tanks per property, ty suburbs fail to get water. lenges.”
tres to access water at a Victoria Falls council-run making it difficult for Mkhosana high-density res- “It is up to you as council to monitor such un- The city of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe's tourism
reservoir in Chinotimba suburb, as her area has idents to access water, as they share the reservoir
gone for eight months without supplies of piped with low-density residents. Many of the proper- fair trends and make sure that you provide ade- crown jewel, has suffered perennial water short-
water. ties are houses which were converted to lodges. quate water to every ratepayer without looking at ages. The local authority says it inherited obsolete
the setting.” raw water abstraction and pumping infrastructure
She says everyday she wakes up as early as 5am “People are struggling to access water in Mk- from the Zimbabwe National Water Authority
from Ward 11’s Mfelandawonye suburb in order hosana and we are disappointed that as council In response, council advised residents to sub- (Zinwa).
to queue with others at the reservoir. you know very well that you have no reservoirs mit their suggestions regarding the regularisation
for Mkhosana residents, yet you keep giving these of private water tanks as the practice was not stip- Council won the tussle for the control of wa-
“On many occasions, we have met elephants sprouting lodges rights to mount 10 000-litre ulated in any law. ter infrastructure early this year after the gov-
and buffalos along the way as we walk from our Jojo tanks,” Christopher Ndiweni from Mayelane ernment’s intervention, but soon after obtaining
area to the reservoir, but we have no other choice Tours confronted council management led by the Ncube has witnessed first hand how women the full control, Zinwa hiked the water charges
because our area has no water,” Ncube says. town clerk Ronnie Dube. and children bear the brunt of water shortages. to ZW$4.5 million per month from ZW$1.1
million. Council officials say the pricing, obso-
The problem faced by Mfelandawonye also af- Another resident said: “These lodges have “I usually go with my children, while my hus- lete infrastructure together and the high cost of
fects families in other parts of the ward, including mounted about 10 Jojo tanks each on their prem- band remains sleeping. Even at the tank where we electricity for pumping water are the reasons why
Garikai, BC847 and Mkhosana. ises and, as a result, residents have failed to draw fetch the leaking water from, most of the people residents like Ncube are struggling to access clean
water because whenever water is available, those there will be women and children and that has and safe water in the comfort of their homes.
The grotesque irony is that the people live ap- people first have their tanks automatically filled put us into so many risks including being run over
proximately six kilometres away from the Zam- while the rest of the residents in these high-densi- by cars or being gored or trampled by elephants Council proposes to spend ZW$1.9 billion in
bezi River, Africa’s fourth-longest river. or buffalos. It is scary and our wish is to have a next year’s budget.
reservoir built for us in order to avoid water chal-
Their frustrations erupted during an all-stake-
holders’ pre-budget meeting in the council cham-
bers. They blamed the crisis on council’s failure
to regulate low-density private lodges that have

NewsHawks News Page 15

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

ROBOTICS and mechatronics pro- Mutambara clinches field and a trilogy of highly impactful
fessor and pan-African visionary Ar- top SA academic post books titled In Search of the Elusive
thur Mutambara has been appointed Zimbabwean Dream: An Autobiog-
executive director and full professor Robotics and mechatronics professor and pan-African visionary Arthur Mutambara. raphy of Thought Leadership. He is
of the Institute for Future of Knowl- in the process of completing a third
edge (IFK) at the University of Jo- to learn. They must acquire specific Prof Mutambara's other areas of con- As an academic, Prof Mutambara electrical engineering book. 
hannesburg in South Africa. and key competencies and capabili- sultancy, research and advisory work has lectured in UJ's Mechanical En-
ties that will make them employable. to private and public entities include gineering and Electrical & Electron- In 2007, Prof Mutambara was ac-
Mutambara is a renowned author, It cannot be business as usual in the 4IR and corresponding technological ic Engineering departments. He has corded the World Economic Forum
academic, engineer and independent academy. This is our disposition and advancements in the areas of distrib- conducted seminars and public lec- (WEF) Young Global Leader status
technology and strategy consultant. mandate at the IFK." uted networks, artificial intelligence, tures across the continent and glob- and subsequently attended WEF
automation and instrumentation; ally. events from 2007 to 2013 in Davos,
The IFK is a cross-disciplinary Under Prof Mutambara's leader- thriving under and beyond Covid-19; China, India, and Africa. Along-
ecosystem – an epistemological in- ship, the IFK will champion UJ's and mechatronics, robotics and con- Prof Mutambara is a prolific author side fellow principals prime minister
terface between the Fourth Industrial future-oriented research in South trols. who has published five books: two Tsvangirai and president Mugabe,
Revolution (4IR) and the humanities Africa, the continent and globally. globally in the Electrical Engineering Mutambara served as Zimbabwe’s
– devoted to understanding the rela- deputy prime minister (DPM) from
tionship between what is known and February 2009 to September 2013.
what will happen, for the purpose of He was one of three principals who
improving both. formed and led the county’s Govern-
ment of National Unity (GNU). As
The IFK comprises six research deputy premier, his key functions in-
groups, namely: Data Science Across cluded assisting the prime minister in
Disciplines (DSAD), Decentralised policy formulation and supervision of
Artificial Intelligence and Control policy implementation. He worked
Systems (DAICS), Metaphysics and on three national efforts: the Shared
Machines (MnM), the Future of National Vision, Rebranding Zim-
Health (FoH), Green Futures (GF) babwe, and a National Infrastructure
and the Future of Diplomacy (FoD). Master Plan. 
In addition to the overall leadership
of the IFK, Prof Mutambara will be From 2015 to 2017, Mutambara
establishing and directing the DAICS was president of the African News
Research Group and driving the Afri- Agency (ANA). His primary mandate
can Agency in Public Health (AAPH) included media technology innova-
initiative within the FoH. The latter tion, digital platform development
is testimony to his pan-African ideo- and harnessing social media tools. He
logical orientation. Further research was driving the use of artificial intel-
areas Mutambara will champion at ligence and the deployment of intelli-
the IFK include Law and Technol- gent algorithms in media, resulting in
ogy, Digital Sovereignty, the Future new business models.
of Work, AI and Medicine, Climate
Change and 4IR, New Ontology Prof Mutambara is a chartered
(Post-Humanism) and the Unified engineer, a fellow of the Institute of
Theory of Everything. Engineering and Technology (IET),
a professional engineer, a fellow of
Approached for comment on his the Zimbabwe Institution of Engi-
new appointment as executive direc- neers (ZIE), a fellow of the Zimba-
tor and full professor at the Univer- bwe Academy of Sciences (ZAS), and
sity of Johannesburg’s IFK, Mutam- a senior member of the Institute of
bara said: Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE). He was a research scientist at
"Today’s global problems, chal- the United States National Aeronau-
lenges and ambitions are complex tics and Space Administration (Nasa),
and interconnected. They cannot visiting professor at the Massachu-
be solved in the traditional academ- setts Institute of Technology (MIT), a
ic silos but through a multidisci- professor at FAMU-FSU, and a man-
plinary ecosystem approach. More agement consultant with McKinsey
significantly, national solutions are & Company.
woefully inadequate – only global ef-
forts will suffice. Equally critical, the Prof Mutambara holds a PhD in
products of higher education – the Robotics and Mechatronics and an
graduates – must go through blend- MSc in Computer Engineering, both
ed learning and be capable of critical from the University of Oxford, where
and structured thinking. They must he was a Rhodes Scholar. He graduat-
master how to think and develop ed with a BSc (Honours) in Electrical
problem-solving capacity anchored Engineering from the University of
in multidisciplinary ecosystem think- Zimbabwe. — STAFF WRITER.
ing. The students must learn how

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Page 16 News NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Special Covid-19

PANDEMIC coverage

NYARADZO MUSHANYUKI Eateries flout Covid-19
prevention regulations
FAST-FOOD outlets, nightclubs and restau-
rants may soon trigger a fourth Covid-19 wave, Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa
as business operators continue flouting pub-
lic health regulations meant to slow down the Zimbabwean restaurants are allowed to serve sit-in patrons who are fully vaccinated and in adherence to Covid-19 prevention protocols.
spread of the disease.
of best practices, adherence to the law and safe Police,’’ he said. during busy periods, but have not been able to
After forcing businesses to close doors at dining for all customers, and a safe working en- Since the initial lockdown of March 2020, do so, which has led to job losses due to the lock-
the peak of the third Covid-19 wave, the gov- vironment for staff. However, it should be noted down which negatively affected their business.
ernment eased the restrictions in September to that while ROAZ can undertake efforts to en- restaurants have not been able to operate at
allow the economy to recover. Desperate to re- courage compliance, it is not a body that can optimal capacity due to lockdowns. Players say The impact of the coronavirus on restaurant
cover from months of inactivity, some players in legally enforce such adherence and we fully sup- the sector has not received any financial relief operations has had a significant impact on reve-
the leisure and entertainment sector are now dis- port the bodies that do such as the Zimbabwe despite mounting costs, including paying full nue to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, as they
regarding regulations such as demanding vacci- Tourism Authority and the Zimbabwe Republic licence fees. traditionally contribute a portion of their turn-
nation cards from patrons and failing to enforce over to the ZTA in the form of levies.
social distancing. Restaurants normally employ casual workers

Last week, The NewsHawks witnessed how a
fast-food outlet along Robert Mugabe Road in
Harare was allowing diners without vaccination
cards.

The government announced that restaurants
have been allowed to operate from 8am to 10pm
for sit-in diners who are fully vaccinated.

Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa
announced in September that restaurant own-
ers have to observe the regulations, warning that
those who flout Covid-19 restrictions will be
forced to close their premises with immediate
effect.

Since the relaxation of restrictions, restaurant
owners have been clamouring for permission to
allow sit-in diners.

Restaurants are allowed to serve sit-in patrons
who are fully vaccinated and in adherence to
Covid-19 prevention protocols.

Following the new measures that were an-
nounced by the government, restaurants are al-
lowed to open for diners at 50% seating capacity.

The announcement came amid outcries from
restaurant owners that the continued lockdown
was endangering their businesses.

‘‘We are allowing people to sit in, even those
without vaccination cards, especially at lunch
hour, when most of the people come to buy
food. Before the relaxation of the pandemic, l
was not working due to the pandemic and the
associated lockdown restrictions to manage the
disease. This is the time where we have to work
to compensate for the lost time and also to in-
crease our sales,’’ a worker said.

Some restaurants are allowing people to buy
food without wearing masks, while others are
risking by allowing people to reach their serving
pots without having their hands sanitised.

‘‘For now, people are allowed to sit in restau-
rants, but the problem is some people are not
observing the Covid-19 regulations and re-
strictions. Some come in without wearing their
masks properly, which poses a danger to the
public. Allowing sit-in clients could turn out to
be a super spreader if we are not careful enough
as workers and customers,’’ the restaurant work-
er said.

Despite the falling infection and death rates,
people are urged to continue adhering to World
Health Organisation protocols to thwart the
possibility of a fourth wave.

Restaurant Operators Association of Zimba-
bwe (ROAZ) president Bongai Zamchiya said
his organisation is encouraging operators to
comply with the WHO regulations.

‘‘The current regulation governing the open-
ing of restaurants states that restaurants can be
open to all vaccinated people and that a con-
firmation of the vaccination status must be ob-
tained to allow those customers to sit down for
a meal. It is the position of the ROAZ that this
law is clear and must be adhered to. Failure to do
so places a restaurant at odds with the law. We
believe that all ROAZ members are complying
with the law, as they have consistently done since
the first lockdown in March 2020 and we are
satisfied that they comply,” Zamchiya said.

‘‘ROAZ encourages and promotes support

NewsHawks News Page 17

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Last week we erroneously published an Gukurahundi: Remembering
article on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s not to forget pursuit of justice
visit to Glasgow, Scotland, under the headline:
Gukurahundi: Remembering not to forget pursuit Diplomacy in Zimbabwe: The Cold War and De- Osisa director ing between the minister of State for Foreign and
of justice. We do hereby correct the anomaly by colonisation 1980-1984, narrated how Britain and Siphosami Commonwealth Affairs to Zimbabwe Cranely
publishing the correct article. We sincerely apolo- America were complicit in the genocide. Malunga Onslow and Under Secretary of State for Africa
Chester Crocker.
gise to our readers and stakeholders for “The US and UK had worked so hard to get The UK’s logic, he noted, was to keep away
inconveniences caused. a leader they wanted to take over in Zimbabwe from the “nastier side of African behaviour and “They talked about how to deal with news com-
after the 1980s, but from 1982 or 1983, they then what Mugabe was doing was something of normal ing out of Matabeleland and Midlands, how Rex
GUKURAHUNDI, which has kept Zimbabwe distance themselves from taking responsibility behaviour of African states after decolonisation”. Nhongo (Solomon Mujuru) planned at the time
locked in a tragic past, is a byword for all that is from what happened with Gukurahundi in terms to get rid of Zipra altogether from the Zimbabwe
wrong with the country today: It reflects misrule, of race while much of the 1970s discussion was He cited how then UK High Commissioner National Army which the British talked them out
violence, brutality, injustice and poor governance, protecting white interest in Rhodesia after decolo- to Harare Robin Byatt, a key figure in the setting of doing. Crocker was worried that clearly these
as well as impunity. These problems underlie Zim- nisation,” he said. up of BMATT operations in Zimbabwe, received atrocities were happening and were well-found-
babwe’s current problems, which include econom- intelligence on the Fifth Brigade in January and ed,” he said.
ic troubles. Scarnecchia also says former UK prime min- February 1983, but always downplayed it.
ister Margaret Thatcher and other officials knew “Crocker emphasised this was done by North
No matter how often the story is told and re- about the killings. “This is something Thatcher read and under- Korean-trained units not the British, but was wor-
told, it just will not go away. Not when those in lined from a telegram from February 17, 1983, ried about it having an effect on Congress and US
power and their callous supporters, who do not “On October 6, 1982, Secretary of Defence where Byatt said it was hard to get an account opinion. He thought this might jeopardise his
represent views of the majority, are trying to John Nott went to Zimbabwe for one day where of the extent of the Fifth Brigade brutality and larger Cold War plans for Southern Africa. More
whitewash the genocide. they met with Mugabe, (then minister of State for then his general, Major General Shortis, head of generally, he was primarily interested in getting
Defence in the Prime Minister’s office) Sydney Se- BMATT, gave an impression the situation was Cubans to leave Angola and to change dynamics
The Centre for Innovation and Technology keramayi and others during the time the British under control, downplaying the violence,” he said. with South Africa as well. Crocker hoped that
(Cite) has kept the issue burning in its relentless Military and Training Team (BMATT) had been Mugabe and Zimbabwe would cooperate with
pursuit of justice. helping create the Zimbabwe National Army In that telegram, Byatt said the level of atroci- him on those plans.”
(ZNA) with the different armies ex-Zipra, ex-Zan- ties was much higher than understood and there
As former liberation struggle fighter Vincent la and Rhodesia Front. Nott ordered BMATT out was clearly first-hand observation and evidence Scarnnechia noted Britain and America “de-
Hillary Ndlovu — dissident as they call him – said of the unit level and just trained officers to move of the brutality in communal areas both by this cided not to make public statements on what was
it is not about revenge, but justice. away from the growing army thuggery in Mata- doctor and religious leaders by 18 February 1983, happening but make internal requests for chang-
beleland,” he said, noting that this was in October Scarnnechia added. ing the policy”.
Ndlovu, author of the book Seeking Freedom 1982 yet people often talk about Gukurahundi
and Justice (Loyal, But Not Docile), says the late for- starting in January 1983. “After February, March 1983, many Fifth This was ironic, he said, indicating that in 1982
mer president Robert Mugabe, the Gukurahundi Brigade officers went through retraining with both the US and UK considered cutting off for-
architect and his enforcers, tried to use ethnicity He says the Zimbabwean army was already un- BMATT, including (Perrance) Shiri. The British eign and military aid to Zimbabwe for the mis-
to divide the nation and plunge it into bloodshed leashing violence against civilians in 1982 before spent a lot of time trying to distance themselves treatment of white air force men who had been
— like Rwanda — but they resisted the dastardly the Fifth Brigade was deployed. from the Fifth Brigade, but in fact, there were tortured and detained, but no such reaction was
politics of tribal conflict. crossovers so the violence in 1984, 1985 was seen made on Gukurahundi.
as something the British were involved in,” he said.
“In spite of being hunted down, insulted, de- “Mugabe had reacted very angrily to putting
spised, misunderstood and labelled bandits, we Scarnecchia said at the same time around 19 pressure on him by threatening to cut off aid over
still maintained integrity not to fall into Mugabe’s February 1983, in Washington there was a meet- these white soldiers. In this case, there was no
trap and take the tribal route,” Ndlovu told the direct idea of suggesting they would cut off aid
Asakhe Film Festival in a public lecture titled The based on the evidence of what the Fifth Brigade
Power of Memory: The Dissident’s Story. was doing. The British would sell 100 jets to the
Zimbabwean government through all this,” he
Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa said.
(Osisa) director Siphosami Malunga, whose farm
has been targeted for expropriation by the govern- “This is a distancing and racialised distancing
ment in a bid to gag him, this week vowed not of diplomacy that when hundreds and thousands
to be silenced on seeking justice for Gukurahundi of Ndebele civilians were killed, there was not
victims. The farm seizure is, however, being chal- enough cause for alarm to censure or to reduce aid
lenged in the High Court. in Zimbabwe.”

Malunga, son of the late Zapu nationalist stal- The historian claimed the diplomatic corps in
wart and national hero Sydney Malunga, has been Harare — Australians, Canadians, Germans and
vocal in criticising the Zanu PF government’s fail- others — settled on an idea that they would try
ure to resolve the Gukurahundi genocide which and influence the course of action, but would not
claimed at least 20 000 innocent civilians in Ma- threaten it.
tabeleland and the Midlands between 1982 and
1987. “They thought it would reach an acceptable
level of violence against civilians which is a sort of
Speaking during the launch of a Gukurahundi a cruel idea of the Cold War and of diplomacy.”
documentary titled One Night in 1985 on Mon-
day last week at the annual Asakhe Film Festival Professor Jocelyn Alexander, a lecturer in com-
hosted by Cite, Malunga said the government’s monwealth studies at the University of Oxford
taking away of Esidakeni Farm, which he co-owns and the author of Violence & Memory: One Hun-
with two other Zimbabweans, would not silence dred Years in the ‘Dark Forest’ of Matabeleland, also
him on Gukurahundi. gave a public lecture of Gukurahundi, among oth-
er outstanding powerful presenters.
“And I say always, some of us for our loud
mouths we have lost our farms,” Malunga said. — CITE/The NewsHawks

“We will lose more, but it’s ok. I always say my
father was only four years older than me when
he died. So, I only have four more years to beat
his record. But you will not keep us quiet. Nev-
er! I would rather die on my feet than live on my
knees. I will never keep quiet on Gukurahundi.”

He added: “Who is going to talk for those peo-
ple who disappeared? Who is going to talk for
them? Because you are afraid that you will disap-
pear. What is so special about disappearing? After
all, how many people have disappeared to date?
Thousands have so far disappeared, so what is spe-
cial about one person disappearing? It will be just
one more over the thousands and, mind you, you
only die once.”Malunga said nothing would deter
him from openly tackling Gukurahundi and de-
manding justice.

“For me I continue and I use this opportunity
to say we should all work towards resolving Guku-
rahundi,” he said. “We should support the gov-
ernment in its quest to resolve Gukurahundi. We
should tell the government how we think Gukura-
hundi should be resolved. We must not keep quiet
because there will be no resolution.”

Presenting on the topic, The Power of Memory:
Gukurahundi and the Cold War, Professor Timo-
thy Scarnecchia said the Cold War provided con-
venient cover for the massacres.

The United States and United Kingdom knew
of the atrocities being committed, but chose to
distance themselves as they wanted Mugabe, who
was prime minister then, to advance their inter-
ests and support their geopolitical designs, the re-
nowned historian said.

Scarnecchia, author of the book titled Race and

Page 18 Editorial & Opinion NewsHawks

CARTOON Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Africa has everything
except leadership

THE Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, delivered a re- ANC death spiral: Reform or die
markable speech at the just-ended United Nations COP26 climate like other liberation movements
change conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
SOUTH Africa’s governing party, the Afri- Addressing the nation at the announce- Africa.
Many Africans across the world would have been delighted to can National Congress (ANC) — Africa’s ment of the results, President Cyril Rama- Not only the ANC is trouble in the re-
witness such solid leadership. In many respects, she gave black peo- oldest liberation movement — for the first phosa said a record 325 political parties,
ple a voice. time since the 1994 democratic elections nearly 95 000 candidates and over 1 500 gion. The Botswana Democratic Party won
dropped below 50% in local government independent candidates participated in the 53% in the last general election in 2019, up
Mottley is not only a gifted orator, but also brings to the table polls after suffering heavy losses amid rising elections. from 46.45% in 2014. This shows that the
commendable clarity of thought, a rare attribute in these troubled social discontent and serious voter apathy. party in power since the country’s indepen-
times when political charlatans are celebrated as messiahs. “This is a sign that multiparty politics is dence in 1966 is on the decline as it used to
The decline started in 2016. It continued flourishing in South Africa, and that every- win huge majorities in the past.
In an inspiring speech — delivered ex tempore — she deftly a few days ago. And it will get worse unless one has an equal chance and opportunity to
identified the problem at the heart of the climate crisis, dissected the ANC quickly reforms and tackles the run for public office,” he said. In Namibia, President Hage Geingob was
the topic to its bare components and proferred a solution. It is death spiral it has plunged into. The prob- in 2019 re-elected with a massive 31% drop
one thing to outline a problem, but quite another to recommend lem is within the ANC and in the environ- Ramaphosa’s remarks are magnanimous in support; his vote nosedived from 87% in
a coherent solution. ment. It has to bravely confront both inter- and brave in the face of such a bloodbath. 2014 to 56%, their lowest return for a pres-
nal and external fundamental issues. Other liberation movement leaders would idential election candidate in the party’s his-
She did all this in a clear, confident manner, no doubt captivat- go berserk and resort to threats of violence tory. Swapo also retained its majority in the
ing many victims of climate crisis in the marginalised parts of the The 2021 South African municipal elec- and brazen brutality. National Assembly, but lost its two-thirds
world, especially in Africa and the Caribbean. tions were held on 1 November to elect super-majority.
councils for all local and metropolitan mu- When the late former Zimbabwean pres-
It was a masterclass in leadership. More importantly, it was a nicipalities across the country. ident Robert Mugabe lost a constitutional In Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda’s United
wake-up call for African leaders who are terribly failing to provide National Independence Party (Unip) died
inspirational leadership. When you look at the current crop of Afri- According to the Electoral Commission Hawk Eye in 1990. Founded in 1959 under Mainza
can leaders, which of them can be able to hold a candle to Mottley? of South Africa, the ANC national support Chona while Kaunda was in jail. Unip
She is no saint, of course — nobody is — but her resolve cannot level dropped from 53.91% in the 2016 Dumisani ruled from 1964 to 1991 under Kaunda
be ignored. elections, when its decline began, to 46.04% Muleya when it was the sole legal party between
this year, their worst-ever performance in a 1973 and 1990.
Here is a simple task: scan the African landscape today and point democratic election since the end apartheid referendum in 2000, he declared war on the
to a leader who provides inspirational leadership. There was a time in 1994. opposition forces. From that time until his At the end of 1990 multi-party democ-
when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed held great promise; removal in a coup in 2017, it was violence, racy was reintroduced, and Unip, which
but within a few shocking years he has morphed from Nobel Peace Apart from that, the ANC lost and failed brutality and murder against dissenters and had enjoyed guaranteed victories under the
laureate to alleged human rights violator and warmonger. to secure majority control of major metros, the opposition. one-party state since 1973, was roundly
including the commercial hub Johannes- defeated in the 1991 general elections by
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta once showed glimmers of burg, encompassing the separate Ekurhu- Of course, Mugabe had done worse be- the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy
greatness. He is, after all, scion of Kenya’s founding father Jomo leni, Tshwane (which includes the capital fore that; killed on a genocidal scale to crush (MMD).
Kenyatta. Pretoria), Cape Town and Durban. There opposition, secure, retain and consolidate
were 66 hung councils. power. He was a monstrous brute when it Kaunda was defeated in the presidential
Unfortunately, great leadership is not genetically transmitted. As came to seeking and keeping power. race by MMD candidate Frederick Chilu-
revealed by the Pandora Papers — the biggest collaborative jour- Main opposition Democratic Alliance’s ba, receiving just 24% of the vote, while in
nalism investigation of our time — Uhuru has turned out to be national support also declined from 26.9% The outcome of the elections rang an the National Assembly elections Unip won
just another typical African leader who stashes his secret wealth in to 21.84%. The other key opposition party, alarm bell for the ANC at home and across 25 seats to the MMD’s 125 in a spectacular
a vast network of offshore havens. the Economic Freedom Fighters, garnered the region. collapse of a liberation movement.
10.42% of the vote.
In South Africa, a country that has traditionally been a beacon Although the ANC still controls well over This story marks the painful death of a
of hope to all black people on the planet, there is nothing to write Out of 213 municipalities, the ANC got 50% of the country’s parliamentary seats, its liberation movement. It happened in Mala-
home about. The governing African National Congress has become 161 municipalities. The DA secured 13 mu- decline in two consecutive polls to plunge wi and Kenya.
so devoid of inspirational leadership that millions of disenchanted nicipalities, while Inkatha Freedom Party to unprecedented levels has brought into
South African voters have simply abandoned political participa- garnered 10. sharp focus not just its dropping populari- It can or will almost certainly happen
tion. ty, but most importantly the current state of in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Angola,
In the eight metros, the DA won Cape liberation parties of government in southern Mozambique and Tanzania are also not
There is a real danger that the ANC, the continent’s oldest liber- Town, the ANC controlled Mangaung and immune. The Malawi Congress Party was
ation movement, is now in terminal decline. Results of the recent Buffalo City. No party got more than 50% relegated to the political scrapyard in 1994,
municipal elections buttress that point. in the other five big cities. and only recovered last year. Zanu PF lost
in 2008, but survived. The ANC is now on
Botswana and Namibia, countries in this part of the world The elections were characterised by apa- a death spiral and needs to change before it
which have remained relatively stable in a sea of mayhem, have thy. Out of 26.1 million registered voters, is too late.
largely avoided some of the most damaging pitfalls of post-colonial only 12.3 million voted.
administration. However, the two countries lack the gravitas — at
the level of iconic leadership and sheer critical mass — to really
influence the behaviour of clueless African leaders.

We dare not mention the likes of Zimbabwe and Uganda, coun-
tries that are perfect caricatures of catastrophic African governance.

These nations have every necessary ingredient for prosperity —
except leadership. When racist agitators are keen on peddling the
idea that black people are inherently incapable of governing them-
selves in a civilised way, they often cite such broken countries as
perfect examples.

Zambia’s recently elected President Hakainde Hichilema has the
necessary attributes for greatness, but his long-time scorecard will
depend on his commitment to staying the course. He must bring
economic transformation to that country, while restoring Zambia’s
hard-won democratic dividend.

He is already a step in the right direction: clean hands, an aver-
sion to autocracy, solid managerial skills, a never-say-die attitude
and a sense of humility that keeps him constantly alive to the hopes
and aspirations of citizens.

Africa does not need charity; it needs leadership.

Reaffirming the fundamental impor- The NewsHawks is published on different EDITORIAL STAFF: Marketing Officer: Voluntary Media
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NewsHawks New Perspectives Page 19

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

“NIGERIA has become the first Currency debate: Would digital
country in Africa, and one of the first currency work for Zimbabwe?
in the world, to introduce a digital
currency to her citizens,” President Zimbabwe, which has been in a currency quagmire for many years, should be among the countries to consider having a digital currency that replaces cash transactions.
Muhammadu Buhari said in a tele-
vised speech at the launch in Abuja, circulation was growing, its use for states to launch a regional digital of days, as happens with the tradi- payments is an evolving phenom-
the capital. payments had been declining in currency. The Sadc-RTGS system has tional Swift network for cross-border enon. While making innovations,
most countries and the number of been in operation since July 2013. It flow of funds. The cost was about three factors are considered — over-
“The adoption of the central bank ATMs falling. At the end of 2019, is an automated interbank settlement half of that for conventional pay- all cost, settlement time, and safety
digital currency and its underlying cash holdings per capita ranged from system, which settles payment obli- ments. and security of payments. The flip
technology, called blockchain, can around US$500 to US$7, while gations between Sadc participating This is a major step forward in side, however is, it could increase
increase Nigeria’s gross domestic bank deposits per capita varied from banks on either real-time or delayed friction-free international payments. terrorism financing. Efforts need to
product by US$29 billion over the US$20 000 -US$100 000. Pandemic basis. The current system settles pay- Interestingly, the blockchain tech- be expended to ensure that this also
next 10 years.”. lockdowns have apparently amplified ments denoted in ZAR (South Afri- nology that underpins the distribut- gets minimised, if not completely
earlier trends, by driving a decline in can rand). There are considerations ed ledger is also capable of producing eliminated. Everything put together,
Zimbabwe has been grappling withdrawals and fewer opportunities to include additional currencies on smart contracts, that is contracts that it would seem that CBDC is set to
with a currency crisis. The growing to use cash, resulting in access con- the system in become a game changer, especially
awareness of digital currencies has cerns in some countries. the near fu- in the Sadc region. 
raised debate of whether this country ture. The Sadc- Econometrics
is a right candidate. As such, use of CBDC can ease RTGS system is In time, data from early CBDCs,
cross-border payments. The current operated by the including Nigeria which became
Cross-border transactions could financial infrastructure is a complex South African HawksView Africa’s first, should provide insight
get faster. Cheaper central bank dig- system of many entities. Conduct- Reserve Bank into their take-up. Until then, anal-
ital currency (CBDC) has become a ing a transaction between financial (SARB) as ap- ysis of CBDCs’ implications should
matter of considerable interest. Ac- institutions takes time and money pointed by the consider a range of potential uptake
cording to the Bank of International because they work in different tech- participating Tinashe Kaduwo scenarios, given the significant un-
Settlement (BIS), 80% of the central nological systems and regulation re- Sadc central certainties. In the coming year, data
banks around the world are now gimes. For cross-border transactions, banks. Partic- should start to become available on
studying the feasibility of this new for instance, the People’s Bank of ipants include central banks and execute themselves once payments the rollout of some early CBDCs,
form of digital central bank money China has combined with the Hong financial institutions, that is banks are made. notably the Bahamian “sand dol-
for cross-border transactions as well Kong monetary authority, the Cen- and non-banks in Sadc that are au- Digital currency could serve as a lar” launched in October 2020, the
as for internal benefits. CBDC is tral Bank of United Arab Emirates thorised by the central bank in the means of settling international pay- e-naira and the digital yuan current-
expected to ensure three basic prin- and the Bank of Thailand to explore country of origin to participate in ments without using a dollar. India ly in pilot testing. The authorities
ciples — those of “do no harm”, “co- the potential of making CBDC in- that country’s settlement system. and Singapore, for instance, said may also consider commissioning
existence”, “promote innovation and ter-operable between platforms. The People’s Bank of China com- they are working to link their digital research into consumer attitude or
efficiency”. The same model can be adopted in bined with the Hong Kong mone- payment systems to enable instant other aspects of the market as this
the Southern African Development tary authority, the Central Bank of low-cost funds transfer in a major may boost public awareness cam-
Zimbabwe, which has been in a Community (Sadc) region for in- United Arab Emirates, and the Bank push to disrupt cross-border transac- paigns for CBDCs, their features and
currency quagmire for many years, stance, taking advantage of the Sadc of Thailand, with the help of Bank tions between the two nations that interest in uptake across the popula-
should be among the countries to se- regional cross-border settlement sys- of International Settlement’s Inno- amount to over US$1 billion each tion.
riously consider having a digital cur- tem called the Sadc Integrated Re- vation Hub concluded a successful year.
rency that would ultimately replace gional Electronic Settlement System experiment of settling international The main advantage of digi- *About the writer: Tinashe
cash transactions. This is possible, (Sadc-RTGS), formerly known as payments using a distributed ledger tal money is that it speeds up the Kaduwo is a researcher and econ-
given the country’s relatively young SIRESS.  for their respective digital currencies. transaction, simultaneously cutting omist. He writes in his personal
population demography and also the The payments took seconds, instead back on costs. Innovations in such capacity. Contact kaduwot@gmail.
necessity of digital transformation. Given the already existing plat- com whatsapp +263773376128
form, it is therefore easy for Sadc
Digital currency exists purely in
electronic form. Digital money does
not have a physical or tangible form,
such as a Zimbabwe dollar note or a
coin, and is accounted for or trans-
ferred using online systems. The
CBDC will lower the economy’s reli-
ance on cash, and enable cheaper and
smoother international settlements.
Not just that, it will also promote
financial inclusion and simplify the
implementation of monetary and
fiscal policy. The transactions will be
made using distributed ledger tech-
nology (DLT).

In a DLT system, nodes or shared
ledgers connect to form a common
network to process transactions.
This network can also extend to oth-
er jurisdictions and minimise the
processing time for transactions. It
provides transparency to authorities
and stakeholders, improving the re-
silience of a financial network by
eliminating the need for a centralised
database of records.

CBDCs represent a unique oppor-
tunity to design a technologically ad-
vanced representation of central bank
money, one that offers the unique
features of finality, liquidity and in-
tegrity. That said, CBDC is expected
to promote financial inclusion. It can
help extend the typically insufficient
reach of existing payment systems by
implementing digital distribution
channels and ICT infrastructure to
provide access to central bank money
to majority population.

Where maintenance of high-vol-
ume, low-value payments and other
financial services is deemed unsuit-
able or commercially unattractive
for commercial banks, CBDC can
provide a government-authorised
solution for storing value and mak-
ing payments. 

Indeed money and payments are
changing fast. The Covid-19 pan-
demic has accelerated a number of
recent digital payment trends across
economies. Growth in e-commerce
has expanded online payments and
in-person transactions increasingly
use contactless debit and credit cards.
Before the pandemic, although cash

Business

MATTERSNewsHawks

MARKETS CURRENCIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE COMMODITIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE
EUR/USD 1.168 +0.001 +0.05 -1.402
USD/JPY 109.75 +0.03 +0.03 *OIL 62.61 -0.89 +0.123
GBP/USD 1.362 -0.002 -0.154 -0.39
USD/CAD 1.29 +0.007 +0.55 *GOLD 1,785.3 +2.2 +0.44
AUD/USD 0.713 -0.001 -0.098 +1.14
*SILVER 23.14 -0.09

*PLATINUM 975.5 +4.3

*COPPER 4.087 +0.046

DUMISANI NDLELA Ncube’s 2022 budget likely
to maintain squeeze on poor
AN increase in the size of a national budget is an
inevitable consequence of inflation. year (Ncube is projecting it at 7.7%), reflecting Finance minister Mthuli Ncube poverty in its pursuit of Sustainable Development
bumper agricultural output, increased energy fare situation in the population. Goals,” a September report by the CZI noted.
When inflation is taken into account in plan- production and resumption of greater manufac- “Inflation worsens poverty if the increase in in-
ning a budget, this is considered to be proactive. turing and construction activities. A 2% tax levied on all electronic transactions come is failing to keep up with the pace of infla-
Nevertheless, when the budget figures rise astro- in 2018 worsened the burden on the poor, and tion”.
nomically over a prior year’s, this may prompt bu- But the effort to stabilise the local currency, as calls for its removal have fallen in deaf ears. In fact,
reaucrats to make a hasty retreat to the boardroom well as lower inflation, which had been bolstered Zimbabweans are among the most heavily taxed The ZimStat food poverty datum line per per-
and rethink. Zimbabwe’s Finance minister Mthu- by contained budget deficits and reserve money people in the world. son for September went up to ZW$4 734.33,
li Ncube wants to project and paint a picture of a growth and introduction of a foreign exchange from ZW$4 516 in August 2021. This means a
blossoming economy. auction system, floundered soon after the IMF Poverty has remained as stubborn as a mule, family of five that earns less than ZW$24 000 per
report, forcing the authorities to launch a blitz rising since Vision 2030 was launched in 2018: month cannot afford basic food requirements, ac-
In his speech at a pre-budget seminar for Par- against business executives and parallel market The World Bank, in its overview on Zimbabwe, cording to the CZI.
liamentarians in Victoria Falls, Ncube said Trea- foreign currency traders. But Ncube reckons he said 1.3 million Zimbabweans became extremely
sury would propose a ZW$900 billion national is still in the right direction. The 2021 budget, he poor in 2020, making the total of the extremely The effect of this has been to undermine the
budget for the 2022 fiscal year, double the current believes, was well balanced: 32% of expenditures poor population 7.9 million, or 49% of the pop- ruling Zanu PF’s electoral base. Even independent
year’s figure of ZW$421.6 billion. Yet bids from went towards compensation of employees, while ulation. legislator Temba Mliswa had to angrily confront
government ministries, by his own count, “in- 36% went towards capital expenditures and 14% Ncube at the pre-budget seminar, accusing him
dicate resource requirements in excess of ZW$3 towards goods and services. Eighteen percent of Rising prices, economic challenges and lock- of impoverishing parliamentarians. He lambasted
trillion”. the budget went towards loan repayments. The downs caused by the Covid-19 pandemic that his budgetary approach, saying he was failing to
momentum, he said, will be maintained. resulted in closure of much of the country’s econ- review his national budget despite glaring evi-
“Surely, this is beyond our capacity,” Ncube omy between 2019 and 2021, can only mean the dence of runaway inflation. This had eroded the
told Parliamentarians. Undeniably, fiscal policy has failed to respond situation worsened this year. pool of their funds for constituency development,
to increasing wage pressures and the effects of the he said.
A ZW$3 trillion budget would represent a Covid-19 pandemic on the population. Ncube “Surveys conducted in 2020 indicate that near-
nearly seven-fold increase in the size of the nation- has parroted budget surpluses (the out-turn this ly 500 000 Zimbabwean households have at least “You get appointed, we get elected,” Mliswa
al purse, a glaring testament of economic manage- year will be a deficit) as the hallmark of his tight one member who lost her or his job, causing many told Ncube, explaining the finance Minister’s per-
ment failure. fiscal policy, despite evidence of a worsening wel- households to fall into poverty and worsening the ceived reason for his budgetary approach.
plight of the existing poor,” the report said.
Yet inflation has indeed already led to a spike in It is not just Mliswa who is unsettled; there
costs, which have also led to a further rise in infla- “The inflationary environment is militating are increasing ructions in Zanu PF over a budget
tion — a typical vicious circle. Prices have more against government efforts to end hunger and many fear will undermine their re-election cam-
than doubled during the current year, and the paign. War veterans, key members of the ruling
outlook, according to independent projections, party, recently joined the chorus against increas-
appears gloomy. ing poverty within their ranks. A number of them
were arrested a few days ago for protesting against
According to the Confederation of Zimbabwe low grants.
Industries, only workers who received more than
a 50% salary increment over the past 12 months “Government must come up with a holistic
were adequately compensated from inflation. approach because it’s not just the war veterans
in this situation. Everybody else is caught up in
The government increased civil servants’ sala- it,” Mliswa said, pointing out that legislators had
ries by between 45% and 50% yet, realistically, called for action by Ncube to deal with this.
their incomes still lag far below the poverty da-
tum line. The pressure for higher incomes will be Mike Bimha, the Zanu PF secretary for indi-
greater in the next budget. genisation and economic empowerment, who
was appointed acting party spokesperson a few
In laying out his fiscal plan before the legislators weeks ago, said they held their annual conference
at the pre-budget seminar, Ncube said compen- earlier than the budget presentation this year “so
sation of employees would gobble up ZW$290 that resolutions can feed into the budget process”.
billion, or 32% of the projected budget in 2022,
whose revenues are expected at ZW$800 billion, He said party parliamentarians should use the
up from an earlier projection in July of ZW$533 caucus platform to express their concerns on the
billion. The increase, he said, was due to changes budget, or even raise pertinent budgetary issues
in inflation and exchange rate dynamics. in Parliament if they believed these affected their
constituencies.
“This will be complemented by SDR (special
drawing rights) liquidation worth about ZW$40 As a party, he said, cabinet ministers periodi-
billion and domestic borrowing of ZW$64 bil- cally briefed party officials on critical issues “while
lion,” he said. This would bring the total budget we also raise our issues with them”.
envelope to ZW$900 billion.
In maintaining a tight fiscal policy, Ncube
The country received SDRs amounting to hopes to achieve fiscal consolidation, which he
US$960 million from the International Mon- said characterised the 2021 budget and will be
etary Fund (IMF) in August. By any measure, sustained in 2022. This, he said, will help en-
this was a huge windfall, and could provide the trench the prevailing macro-economic stability.
much-needed stimulus to the economy.
No recourse to the central bank overdraft is
Total expenditure is estimated at ZW$849.51 envisaged, and government will limit accumu-
billion, consisting of recurrent expenditure lation of domestic arrears and extra-budgetary
at ZW$610.60 billion; capital expenditure expenditures by rationalisation of the recurrent
at ZW$238.91; inter-governmental transfers expenditures and redirecting of savings towards
amounting to ZW$40.03 billion; and salaries. infrastructure development.
The balance would go towards debt servicing.
“The priority areas for the forthcoming nation-
Economic growth is projected to reach 5.5% al budget remain largely unchanged from 2021,
in the coming year, anchored on growth in sec- but reinforced (in 2022),” Ncube said.
tors such as mining, manufacturing, agriculture
and energy, among others. Ncube contends that Hoping this will improve people’s livelihoods,
this will help take the economy towards Vision this time.
2030, primarily aimed at creation of an upper
middle-income economy.

Granted, Ncube’s tight fiscal policy has won
plaudits. The IMF, which released a report last
month, said the economy, which contracted by a
cumulative 10% in 2019 and 2020, is now on
a recovery path; growth is expected at 6% this

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 21

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

‘TelOne must grab 25% market share’

GOVERNMENT has given state-owned tele- Information Com-
coms firm TelOne an ambitious target to secure a munication Technology
quarter of the market share, as cut-throat compe- minister Jenfan Muswere
tition intensifies in the sector. officially opens TelOne’s
Highlands Clients Experi-
Zimbabwe’s telecoms industry is one of the sil- ence Centre in Harare.
ver linings on the country’s floundering economy.

Information Communication Technology
minister Jenfan Muswere told delegates attending
TelOne’s launch of the Highlands Clients Expe-
rience Centre that the plan to claw back market
share is in line with the country’s economic blue-
print.

“As the shareholder, we have very high expec-
tations for you and it is my belief that once you
fix the client experience issues, especially around
quality of service and responsiveness, you will be
able to deliver on the five targets that we have giv-
en you,” Muswere said.

“Our expectation is for you to secure 25%
revenue market share, development of 10 new
data-centric products and services, reduction in
overheard expenses and infrastructure expansion
and sharing. Specific to market share growth, I am
sure your renewed focus on client experience will
be helpful together with other key investments
that are required.”

Speaking at the same event, Douglas Zimban-
go, the TelOne board chairperson, said the com-
pany would embark on an aggressive drive to grow
market share. He said TelOne is currently seeking
funding with a target to deploy 100 000 fibre-
to-the-home (FTTH) service lines in the next
five years as well as 150 000 long-term evolution
(LTE) lines in the next three years under the Na-
tional Broadband Phase Two project.

“Our strategic thrust is to transform into a
fully-fledged digital telco to create value and of-
fer convenience to our clients through a business
model that responds to emerging market needs
and technological trends. As such, we have been
on a transformation journey structured around
four main pillars, namely technology transfor-
mation, client experience transformation, culture
transformation and financial transformation,” he
said.

“To see this dream come into fruition, we have
embarked on several projects that include digital
solutions for convenience enhancement, upgrad-
ing client service outlets and aligning staff culture
to this trajectory.

“It is therefore with much delight that I share
our plans to roll out fibre network and LTE service
which, besides countering network vandalism, will
also improve service quality. To complement what
we have already started here with the refreshing of
the service centre and team, we will be prioritising
Highlands for the technology upgrade such that
the client experience transformation is compre-
hensive from all fronts. We believe that with this
in place, we will be well-positioned to grow our
market share, which we are targeting to reach 25%
by end of next year.” — STAFF WRITER.

Experts decry low debt extension
to Zim’s manufacturing sector

ECONOMIC experts have bemoaned the coun- for an economy which gives an impression of razeni added. Yona Menon, an analyst at Ethos Capital, also
try’s limited lending to key economic sectors wanting to steer economic growth. Agriculture Zimbabwe ranks lowly on competitiveness echoed similar sentiments, maintaining that more
amid calls for financial institutions to prioritise should be complemented by manufacturing be- credit should be channeled towards revamping
broad manufacturing sectors if tangible economic cause that is where value addition takes place. rankings, placed 127th out of 141 countries of the country’s productive sectors.
growth is to be realised. the world in the 2019 Global Competitiveness
“Exporting our farm produce raw limits our Report. Similarly, the country has not done so “I think, ideally it would be encouraging to
The remarks come against a background where export earnings. More still needs to be done to well on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business see more credit being extended to the productive
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) monthly capacitate the manufacturing sector,” he said. Index. sectors of agriculture and manufacturing. Like the
economic review for August 2021 reported that agro-processing sector because it’s a sector which
credit to the private sector was mainly extended Purazeni suggested that more manufacturing Several policies to revamp the growth of the can play a role in creating strong value chain links
towards agriculture, 30.20%; households 20%; sector-targeted credit lines need to be opened, sector have since been enacted, but market watch- that can, in turn, support agricultural develop-
distribution 11.48%; financial organisations with relaxed lending terms and conditions along- ers argue that their impact will be very minimal ment,” he said. — STAFF WRITER.
10.82%; manufacturing 9.85%; and services side affordable interest rates. outside clear and flexible lending mechanisms.
8.43%.
He said such measures need to be reinforced by
Economist Tawanda Prazeni said the level of a savings culture for onward transmission of such
credit being extended to the manufacturing sector funds towards loans for productivity.
is low, arguing that such thresholds will do little to
restore the much-needed productivity. “However, these are only immediate and
short-term measures, the only thing which can
“With just 9.85 % awarded to the manufac- take this country from the economic abyss is im-
turing sector, such allocation is a paltry amount proving the investment environment which will
resultantly bring in the much-needed FDI,” Pu-

Page 22 Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Seed Co exposed to delayed govt payments

DUMISANI NYONI

HYBRID seed production giant Seed Co Limit- Seed Co is one of two main suppliers of seed in Zimbabwe.
ed is facing serious liquidity and solvency risks as
the government, its largest customer, is struggling Co Limited’s long-run gross margin to improve ficial dryer, sustained rainfall and regional export pacity of the artificial seed drying facility in Hara-
to pay for deliveries on time, researchers at local to 51% by FY23,” it said. will be key to Seed Co’s seed sales volumes and an re, as well as replicating it in the region.
brokerage firm Morgan & Co have said. improvement in the gross margin in FY22 and
Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector is expected to beyond.” For the year to March 2021, the group post-
“Seed Co’s largest client, the government of grow by 34% in 2021 and 9% in 2022. ed a positive set of numbers, with total revenues
Zimbabwe, accounts for 30% of total revenues “This will be complemented by electioneer- jumping 60% to ZW$5.8 billion from ZW$3.7
and this poses concentration risk for the busi- Researchers are optimistic that Seed Co Limit- ing activity from the government as the country billion in the prior comparable period, largely
ness,” researchers said in a recent thematic re- ed is well positioned as an agriculture stock that prepares for the 2023 presidential elections,” the attributable to a 36% rise in volumes, as well as
search paper for the company. supplies the country’s staple foods seeds. Seed Co report said. price adjustments.
has begun lobbying for an upward revision in the
“The government has been fulfilling its payables price of seed which has been successful in the Seed Co completed setting up its new US$12 Profit after tax for the year amounted to
to the business in tranches and this has opened past. However, they noted that the government, million artificial seed drying plant at Stapleford, ZW$0.8 billion in inflation-adjusted terms, a
Seed Co to liquidity solvency and, to a lesser ex- which accounts for 30% of Seed Co’s revenues, Mt Hampden, which will enhance early seed significant improvement from last year’s infla-
tent, inflation risk. The delays in payments by the poses high concentration risk for the business. availability for sale post-harvest. tion-adjusted loss despite a jump in operating
government have resulted in payables equivalent costs.
to 69.8% of revenues using historical accounting “We anticipate that the completion of the arti- The group is also looking at increasing the ca-
figures, and the payments have been coming in
tranches spanning over six months.”

“The delays have rippled into Seed Co’s liquid-
ity and solvency and given constrained access to
credit facilities which are almost exhausted, this
has played a key role in the board’s decision to
forfeit a dividend in FY21 (full-year 2021) de-
spite the good performance,” the report reads in
part.

However, Morgan & Co said management
has expressed that 96% of receivables were set-
tled subsequent to the publication of the finan-
cial year 2021 results and this will likely show an
improved cash position in the first half of 2022.

Seed Co is one of the two seed suppliers in
Zimbabwe with extensive operations, from breed-
ing through to providing extension services. The
company’s open market share currently stands at
65%.

With regards to business from the government,
Seed Co has 95% market share on the Smart Ag-
riculture programme (formerly Command Ag-
riculture) and 34% on the Presidential Inputs
programme.

“The extensive vertical chain integration ex-
hibited in Seed Co Limited is key to the group’s
ability to defend its margin and maintain its mar-
ket leadership in Zimbabwe. We anticipate Seed

Cotton farmers still unpaid for last year’s crop

NHAU MANGIRAZI Cottco managing director Pious Manamike this of farmers have now received payment in full for ZW$104 million had heeded the call,’’ Manamike
week acknowledged that the company got a finan- 2020,’’ Manamike said in a statement. said.
ZIMBABWE’S projected cotton output may de- cial injection from Treasury and is about to settle
crease next year due to delays in paying farmers outstanding payments. However, he called on farmers to activate their He explained that Cottco submitted this list to
contracted by the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe bank accounts as this had delayed payments. Treasury for funding and disbursement.
(Cottco), it has been established. ‘‘I am pleased to give an update to farmers re-
garding 2020 and 2021 payments for cotton de- ‘‘The outstanding balances for that period were ‘‘We encourage the farmers owed the remaining
As preparations for the 2022 crop intensify, liveries as follows: the 2020 outstanding payment for farmers who had not submitted functional bank ZW$212 million to approach the nearest Cottco
some farmers in Mashonaland West province have farmer payments will soon be settled following accounts or mobile money accounts, amounting to depot and provide payment details so that transfers
raised concern over the failure by Cottco to pay the release of funds by Treasury (as a portion of ZW$316 million. can be made,” he said.
them for deliveries. the payment was subsidised to motivate farmers
to revitalise the growth of cotton). The majority ‘‘Cottco has been calling for these farmers to Mananike said the company is now geared for
Patrick Tembo (60), a Hurungwe-based farmer submit payment details and as of the 28th of Oc- the 2021 payments and subsidies.
under headman Goredema village Chief Nyam- tober 2021 farmers with balances amounting to
hunga, this week poured his heart out. ‘‘As previously advised, farmers are being paid in
three tranches including the first batch made up
He said several farmers are now destitute, as they of payments of ZW$34 per kg including a US$10
battle to get outstanding payments from the com- per 200kg bale.
pany. They are facing a cash crisis due to non-pay-
ment by the company. These payments exceed the regional average of
US25 cents per kg. Cottco has to date released
‘‘Cottco promised to pay us 22 cents per kilo- ZW$3.1 billion towards these payments. The sec-
gramme and nothing has come through. We have ond batch is a subsidy incentive for cotton farmers
no money to pay for school fees and our children of ZW$22 per kg. Payments have commenced this
are now being chased away from school due to week while additional tranches are expected to be
non-payment of fees. We do not know when we released on a weekly basis. Finally, farmers with
will get the monies. We are facing social challenges, Grade A or B seed cotton will be paid a top-up in
including access to medication, as we have nothing the form of a grade adjustment,’’ he added.
financially besides farming for the company. The
rains are upon us and we are ill-prepared for this He said the payments for the 2021 season of
over the delayed payments,’’ lamented Tembo. ZW$3.1 billion have improved the livelihoods of
farmers who reside in drier regions where Cottco
He is among at least 300 affected farmers in the operates.
district. His rural homestead is situated about 60
kilometres west of Karoi town. He delivered eight ‘‘We would like to appreciate cotton farmers
bales to the Cottco depot in Hurungwe. for their hard work and patience which has seen
cotton output grow from 82 400 metric tonnes in
Another farmer from Gokwe’s Chireya village, 2020 to 115 000 metric tonnes in 2021 with the
Tobias Batara, said they are “sick and tired” of support of government,’’ he said.
Cottco’s empty promises.
Worst affected are mostly communal farmers
‘‘We have had too many empty promises over who ventured into cotton production a few years
the outstanding payments. We were expecting to ago after the cash crop was “dumped” due to poor
buy our fertilizers during the off-season in prepa- incentives and unviable costs. Some farmers in-
ration for the oncoming farming season but all stead diverted their farming skills to tobacco, but
our plans are in disarray,’’ he said in a telephone the golden leaf has not been rosy either due to ex-
interview. ploitation in the form of inflated input schemes,
poor sales and undervaluing of the crop.

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 23

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

DUMISANI NDLELA A small windfall for Old
Mutual Zim shareholders
OLD Mutual shareholders on the Zimbabwe
register are expected to get at least US$9 million entitlement to unbundled Nedbank shares record- Nedbank shares held directly or indirectly by any Zimbabwe Old Mutual shareholders would be re-
worth of Nedbank shares on Monday, after the ed on the Corpserve nominee register will become Zimbabwean resident, and the disposal of such quired to include the gross dividend in specie in
group secured regulatory approval for the un- a Corpserve nominee participant in respect of the shares, may be subject to applicable exchange con- their taxable income, where it will be taxed at a
bundling of a portion of its shares in the banking Nedbank shares. The Corpserve nominee register trol restrictions, Old Mutual said. special rate of 20%.
group. will be credited with the beneficial entitlements to
unbundled Nedbank shares on the distribution In Zimbabwe, Old Mutual warned its share- “No Zimbabwean stamp duty should be pay-
Old Mutual announced in June that it would date, which is Monday, 8 November 2021. holders that the unbundled Nedbank shares are able by Zimbabwean tax-resident Old Mutual
unbundle all the Nedbank ordinary shares held by likely to be treated as dividends in specie in the shareholders in respect of their receipt of unbun-
Old Mutual Emerging Markets Limited, amount- Investment income arising from the unbundled Zimbabwean taxpayers’ hands. Therefore, the dled Nedbank shares,” the company advised.
ing to 62 131 692 Nedbank ordinary shares and
comprising 12.2% of the issued ordinary share
capital of the banking group, to shareholders by
way of a distribution in specie.

This, the group said, followed the conclusion
of a managed separation process in 2018, under
which Old Mutual retained minority sharehold-
ing in Nedbank, representing 19.4% of the Ned-
bank ordinary shares currently in issue.

An internal review of the Nedbank stake by the
board had however led to a realisation that it was
in the best interest of shareholders to dispose of
a majority of its Nedbank stake through the un-
bundling in order to simplify the group, allowing
investors to focus on the core operations of Old
Mutual.

There are approximately 62 700 000 Old Mu-
tual shares on the Zimbabwe register. Each Old
Mutual shareholder will receive 1.31954 Nedbank
shares, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
and the Namibian Stock Exchange, for every 100
Old Mutual shares held.

This implies that the total Nedbank shares due
to Zimbabwe shareholders will be about 831 310.

However, shareholders will receive small cash
payments for fractional shares as required by the
JSE listing requirements. This amount will be de-
termined with reference to the volume-weighted
average rand price of a Nedbank share traded on
the JSE on Wednesday this week, being the first
trading day in Old Mutual shares on the South
African register after the last day to trade the pre-
vious day, reduced by 10%.

The cash payment will be made in Zimbabwe
using the official exchange rate, which is far lower
than the parallel market rate.

Shareholders will hold their Nedbank shares
through a Corpserve nominee register. A beneficial

High farm inputs costs likely to dent output

DUMISANI NYONI

ZIMBABWE’S prospects of achieving a bumper Rising transport costs are a major challenge to farmers.
harvest in the current summer cropping season
appear gloomy due to rising prices of inputs, the swing in terms of preparation for the summer sea- However, Makombe said there is still enough for other summer crops to also be worked upon. It
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union (ZCFU) son, but without tilling the land, we cannot talk time for everything to be put in place in terms of also hinges on the input as well.”
warns. of any other preparations. Even in terms of inputs inputs and fuel.
like fertilizers the prices are out of the reach for He said transport cost is also another challenge
With year-on-year inflation gradually rising many,” he said. “It’s not all that late except, of course, for long the farmers face.
during the third quarter, as the domestic currency variety crops which need to be irrigated. It might
loses ground against the United States dollar, ex- “To make matters worse, wheat which was be a bit too late. So we expect all stakeholders to “So at the end of the day, the whole purpose
perts have expressed concern that millions may be meant to have been harvested is still in the field put their heads together for the farmer to succeed of being in farming, we are saying we are doing it
left food insecure in the coming year. and with these rains a lot of farmers may suffer because farming is the livelihood of the economy. as a business, but if farmers cannot realise profits
huge losses.” Without farming we are not talking of anything,” from their produce, we may just say bye-bye to
“Preparedness for the 2021/22 farming season he said. commercial farming and then people will resort
has got many challenges as it stands right now. “As it stands, it’s only those farmers who are to subsistence farming. But all this can be obvi-
The first one being cost of inputs, they are exor- standalone, but they are however not in the major- “When it comes to wheat which I have men- ated by pro-action and people quickly reacting to
bitant due to fluctuations as a result of the parallel ity. They are the ones now who are in a position to tioned, you should realise that the same fields address the challenges which are mushrooming,”
market rates, as well as the artificial rates,” ZCFU have started preparing but most of the farmers are which the wheat is on are the very fields which are he said.
president Shadreck Makombe told The News- still grappling with these challenges,” Makombe meant for summer crops. So the longer it takes for
Hawks. said. wheat to be harvested, the more challenging it is As for the irrigated tobacco, Makombe said
farmers were in full swing.
A 10 kilogramme bag of maize seed costs about
US$30 on the market.

Makombe said farmers were forced to buy fuel
using foreign currency, while they sell their pro-
duce in local currency.

“Already, it means you are selling using the Re-
serve Bank of Zimbabwe rate, yet you are expect-
ed to go and buy using the parallel market rate.
Already, before you have done anything, there is a
disparity, a loss,” he said.

“Fuel is a challenge right now, the RTGS fuel
which farmers would want to have is not yet read-
ily available, but the rains have already started fall-
ing. There should be RTGS fuel on the market in
order to ameliorate this,” he said.

Makombe said money was too expensive on the
market and very few can afford it from the finan-
ciers. In the past, farmers would use their land as
collateral to access funding from banks, but the
existing 99-year leases given to new farmers have
been rejected by banks.

“Given the situation, farmers should be in full

Page 24 Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

THEY say perception is reality. In public rela- Why media tours are brilliant
tions, it is the reality that changes perception. It strategy for your organisation
is as simple as that. We often wonder why corpo-
rate executives do not get it. It is a strategic flaw The NewsHawks Managing Editor Dumisani Muleya (left) and Zinef National Coordinator Njabulo Ncube (right), with Zesa Executive Chairperson Sydney
in leadership when one believes that inviting out- Gata (centre), at a recent tour of Hwange Thermal Power Station by editors from Zimbabwe’s media houses.
siders to their inner sanctums, particularly jour-
nalists, is an inherently dangerous move. at the beginning that the move by the power util- We attended a pre-tour briefing on arrival at needed to be and were also to the point. The in-
ity was indeed daring. the power plant where several speakers, mostly tention was to make sure they did not lose the
It all stems from a fundamental misunder- The success of a media tour lies in the plan- engineers, gave the editors an overview of the opportunity to present to the public what was
standing of the role of media as a major stake- ning. However, at strategic level, it is the un- power situation in the country. The messaging, being done to resolve the power issues and the
holder in their business. Media represents the derstanding senior management has of the im- obviously part of the elaborate preparations, was complications they were facing.
millions of people out there who can either be portance of the role of public relations and, by very clear. The problems with power outages will
their greatest supporters or their harshest critics. extension, that of the media, to their reputation, soon be a thing of the past, as long as the inter- From a PR standpoint, it set the stage for one-
It is far easier and prudent to deal with the few operations and impact. It is problematic for the ventions that the power utility had in place could on-one interaction with the man in charge and
who represent the many. PR person to inculcate this in a potentially scep- run their course. As long as there was coopera- his capable engineers. The impression we got was
tical senior management. The appointment of tion from various arms of government, notably that of a man who knows what he is doing and
Media relations are that part of public rela- Dr George Manyaya to the position of general the Finance ministry, who came under singular the high level of expectation of, and confidence
tions that has to do with building mutually bene- manager stakeholder relations and welfare is a attack for their lethargy on guarantees for inde- in, his charges. Dr Gata did well to guide the
ficial relationships between the fourth estate and masterstroke for Zesa Holdings. If there is a per- pendent power producers (IPPs). messaging throughout with fluent and expert
an organisation. Apart from the fact that the me- son who understands the media and its effect, it The tour of the 36-year-old generation plant articulation of his talking points. That provided
dia is an important stakeholder, as I have shown is him. and the new one under construction had all the the editors with a host of sound bites to latch
in many articles in this column, it is better to Here, Manyaya was in his element, backed by elements of what the late General Colin Powell onto.
be proactive and approach them with your story a dependable team referred to as
than to find them knocking at your door with comprising Prisca shock and awe The natural, yet business-like, environment
theirs. Utete and Shep- during Oper- defused any tension that may have previously
herd Mandizvidza, Corporate ation Desert existed between Dr Gata and the editors, and
There are many ways in which we can effec- who are themselves Storm. Talking the banter yielded an authenticity that trumped
tively deploy media relations for the benefit of seasoned former Communications about some- curated deliberations so common with such in-
the organisation. One of these is staging a media journalists of note, thing is one teractions.
or facility tour. Simply put, a media tour refers to as well as Fadzayi thing, but see-
a planned event where company executives meet Chisveto, Zimba- ing it with one’s In a world that has adopted virtual or hybrid
with journalists and exchange information. bwe Power LENOX L. MHLANGA eyes is a differ- events because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the
ent ball game. media tour which may seem like old school, took
They discuss something newsworthy that the C o m p a n y ’s All the senses advantage of the window of opportunity provid-
company is interested in announcing and the re- PR executive. ed by the relaxing of stringent protocols to pro-
porters could be interested in reporting on. This They could have not have had a more capable are engaged and, with it, the sense of apprecia- vide an effective and game-changing opportunity
may take the form of a visit to company premises team with such strong media connections. On tion of the situation heightened which without for Zesa to tell its story.
or a project site so that the journalists have a feel the Zinef side, there was national coordinator doubt made a lasting impression.
of the situation on the ground. Njabulo Ncube taking care of some of the lo- From the control room where one of Zesa’s The tour succeeded as a perception-shifting
gistics. talents extrapolated the hows and whys of load and myth-busting exercise for Zesa Holdings.
However, we should note that not all issues Hosting, transporting, and accommodating a shedding, to the generation and construction To quote Muleya, it changed the views some of
require that you summon the media cavalcade. team of over 30 high-level journalists from most sites, editors were front-row spectators of an them had about the organisation and of Dr Gata
This may fail spectacularly and achieve the op- of the media outlets in the country is no mean engineering marvel. There is no idleness in the himself, whom they had previously assumed to
posite of what it intended when it is not planned feat. I am sure that they were under no illusion boast made by Dr Gata earlier that Zesa engi- be a “crony” of sorts, much to the mirth of the
properly. Media tours take lots of experience and how delicate organising such an important tour neers run Escom in neighbouring South Africa erudite engineer.
meticulous planning for them to achieve the was. In that, they left no stone unturned. and plants in other far-flung countries such as
intended purpose. We were part of such a tour Zesa Holdings spared no cost because “media Australia. The entire tour created a lasting impression,
organised by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply tours have the effect of guaranteeing coverage What was admirable was that from Dr Gata translating into positive coverage of the issues on
Authority Holdings (Zesa) and the Zimbabwe in prominent platforms within a brief space of right down to his engineers, there was no at- various media platforms. The editors left Hwange
Editors Forum (Zinef ). I should say that it took time, making them both resource and cost effi- tempt to gloss over the challenges that the power Power Station informed and wiser, and through
a lot of courage for the organisation to invite cient,” to quote Robertson. utility was facing. They were blunt when they them their readers, viewers, and listeners.
media gatekeepers, the very people who okay or
spike a story. Zesa Holdings as hosts ticked all the right box-
es. The visitors appreciated the level of hospital-
Dr Sydney Gata, the executive chairperson, in ity, without me going into detail. At the end of
his invitation to the editors, laid it bare what the it all,
intentions of the exercise were. The media en-
gagement, he said, was part of initiatives to reach
out, engage and enlighten the media, one of their
valued stakeholders, on Zesa Holdings’ mandate
and operations. He said the tour was a realisa-
tion of the fact that power issues being of stra-
tegic importance to the nation, and the role that
the fourth estate played in information dissem-
ination, the engagement would familiarise the
editors with the plant at Hwange Power Station
and Insukamini sub-station. Unfortunately, due
to time constraints, we could not visit the latter.

The tour was also to provide the media a plat-
form to meet Zesa Holdings senior management
to provide them with factual and informed con-
tent on critical questions that they and the na-
tion would want to know. The first question to
be asked is whether there was an issue or a story
worth leaving the newsroom for. Zesa Holdings
had to create that need for the tour to be worth
the editors’ while. Janine Robertson, in a Forbes
article, asks whether your story can cut through
the clutter and whether it is truly remarkable
enough to inspire interest from journalists.

“Is it newsworthy and in alignment with other
stories being put forth? With traditional news-
rooms dwindling and editors and producers
covering extensive ground, your story better be
strong,” Janine says.

And so the story was indeed worthwhile, one
that currently touches every Zimbabwean: that
of the debilitating (and irritating) load shedding
and when it will all end.

One pundit put it this way: if you have an is-
sue that affects everyone and people are talking
about in less glowing terms, then you decide to
invite journalists, it is like having the proverbial
Barbarians at the gate, baying for blood.

One certainly cannot control what they will
write eventually, a fact that was made clear by
the chairperson of Zinef and THe NewsHawks
managing editor, Dumisani Muleya, when he
made his remarks at Hwange Power Station to
the host, Dr Gata.

Muleya said Zesa and the media cannot al-
ways be friends. The role of the media is to seek
the truth, interrogate the facts and come up with
a story, warts and all. Which is why I mentioned

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 25

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Page 26 Stock Taking NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Price Sheet A MEMBER OF FINSEC & THE ZIMBABWE STOCK EXCHANGE

Friday, 05 November 2021

Company Sector Bloomberg Previous Last VWAP (cents) Total Total Price Price YTD Market
Traded Traded Change Change (%) Cap
AFDIS Consumer Goods Ticker Price (cents) Traded Volume Value ($) (cents) ($m)
African Sun Consumer Services (%)
ART Price -
Ariston Industrials 400
Axia Consumer Services AFDIS: ZH 10980.00 - 10980.00 - - - 357.50 13,120.50
BNC ASUN: ZH 1065.31 1070.00 1070.00 - 4,280 4.69 0.44 529.41 15,236.07
BAT Consumer Goods ARTD: ZH 1013.75 1013.75 221,900 112.39
CAFCA Basic Materials 361.33 - 355.16 - - - 165.04 4,429.86
Cassava ARISTON: ZH 4000.00 375.00 4000.00 - 788,098 -6.17 -1.71 336.68 5,779.86
CBZ Consumer Goods AXIA: ZH 536.72 504.36 56,800 32.73 22,086.01
CFI Industrials BIND: ZH 274000.00 - 274000.00 - - - 398.18 6,419.15
Dairibord 17000.00 500.00 17000.00 - 286,477 -32.36 -6.03 89.10 56,535.84
Delta Technology BAT: ZH 4491.26 4502.22 - 592.65 1,484.97
Econet Banking CAFCA: ZH 9500.00 - 9203.57 1,234,600 - - - 116,633.49
Edgars 5915.00 - 7095.00 109,200 - - - 7.69 48,103.51
FBC Industrials CSZL: ZH 4900.17 4600.00 4900.00 1,000 55,584,400.00 10.96 0.24 9928.27 7,523.60
Fidelity Consumer Goods CBZ: ZH 16070.82 9500.00 16538.23 23,400 10,050,300 -296.43 -3.12 274.05 17,542.04
First Capital Consumer Goods CFI:ZH 8075.56 7095.00 8272.06 109,900 70,950 1180.00 19.95 626.93 215,687.56
FML Telecommunications 4900.00 229,100 1,146,600 -0.17 -0.00 775.35 214,294.07
FMP Consumer Services DZL: ZH 16565.00 300 18,175,510 467.41 2.91 316.67 3,021.24
GBH DLTA: ZH 8255.00 - 18,951,290 196.50 2.43 113.14 21,502.40
Getbucks Banking ECO: ZH 1,100 1,500 65.62 15.11 322.84
Hippo Financial Services 23,700 - - - 217.83 878.31
Innscor EDGR: ZH 434.38 500.00 500.00 - 8,870 -0.64 -0.08 119.05 7,550.93
Lafarge Banking FBC: ZH 3200.00 - 3200.00 2,500 82,858 -10.18 -2.83 270.06 15,873.29
Mash Financial Services FIDL: ZH 807.00 806.36 700 - - - 837.50 14,845.51
Masimba FCA: ZH 359.79 800.00 349.61 - 29,975 -1.00 -0.08 5900.00 1,207.32
Medtech Real Estate 2300.00 350.00 2300.00 11,100 1,575 25.00 12.50 234.48 8,723.39
Meikles Industrials FMHL: ZH 1200.00 1199.00 49,200 - - - 373.38 58,106.14
Nampak FMP: ZH 200.00 - 225.00 2,500 3,341,500 115.14 0.38 900.00 99,893.59
NatFoods Financial Services GBH: ZH 750.00 1195.00 750.00 1,000 8,624,265 -4.28 -0.02 326.59 7,680.00
NTS Consumer Goods 29988.46 225.00 30103.60 11,500 240,000 - - 346.43 7,375.50
NMBZ GBFS: ZH 17533.27 17528.99 2,116,700 3,967 59.62 17.69 102.53 12,082.69
OK Zim Industrials HIPO: ZH 9600.00 - 9600.00 800 575,000 - - 995.79
Proplastics Industrials 337.11 30500.00 396.73 186,400 338,714 0.43 2.76 385.10 486.36
RTG Real Estate INN: ZH 5000.00 17775.00 5000.00 11,100 192,900 3042.93 14.44 3019.73 60,919.29
RioZim Industrials LACZ: ZH 9600.00 100 2,063,875 -0.18 -0.02 2085.79
SeedCo Healthcare MASH: ZH 15.57 16.00 6,300 20,812,000 -4.50 -0.00 242.02 8,366.76
Simbisa Industrials MSHL: ZH 21069.57 400.00 24112.50 184,500 600 -100.00 -14.29 199.95 128,247.12
Star Africa Industrials MMDZ: ZH 1107.41 5000.00 1107.23 237,100 86,200 -31.75 -2.27 247.28
Truworths Consumer Goods MEIK: ZH 187500.00 187495.50 100 4,980,640 7.89 0.29 199.87 1,523.23
TSL Industrials NPKZ: ZH 15.60 - 7,089,290 -5.00 -0.17 147.46 5,530.08
Turnall 700.00 20700.00 600.00 10,800 575 - - 443.48 34,712.83
Unifreight Banking NTFD: ZH 1400.00 1200.00 1368.25 38,600 - - - 725.00 7,532.88
Willdale Consumer Services NTS: ZH 187500.00 343,400 1,350,000 - - 410.15 14,349.10
ZB NMB: ZH 5,400 3,827,120 517.33 5.50 715.39 4,515.09
Zeco Industrials 600.00 - 473,008 -2.23 -1.59 378.26 30,900.33
Zimpapers Consumer Services 1400.00 19,700 12,960 -19.46 -7.48 545.71 55,739.61
Zimplow - - - - 20330.11 6,494.56
ZHL Basic Materials OKZ: ZH 2691.64 2700.00 2699.53 2,000 118,300 -4.78 -0.79 1012.19
TOTAL Consumer Goods PROL: ZH 2995.00 2990.00 2990.00 - - - - 225.00 923.84
Consumer Goods 575.00 575.00 575.00 - 7,118 -3.71 -1.03 1100.00 29,460.95
Consumer Goods RTG: ZH 3700.00 3700.00 100 - - - 226.53
Consumer Services RIOZ: ZH 12500.00 - 12500.00 6,300 - - - 318.41 2,960.76
Consumer Goods SEED: ZH 9397.49 12500.00 9914.82 32,000 320 -30.00 -8.57 4,046.02
9810.00 5,291,300 131,800 -26.61 -1.26 8.67 6,327.91
Industrials SIM: ZH 109,014 -10.57 -3.01 13,664.87
Industrials 159,561,849
Industrials SACL: ZH 139.97 139.00 137.74 1.11
TRUW: ZH 260.00 240.00 240.54 1,843.20
Banking 8250.00 8250.00 7,208.83
Industrials TSL: ZH 605.29 - 600.51 6,194.13
Consumer Services TURN: ZH 3800.00 600.00 3800.00 1,435,565.69
Industrials UNIF: ZH 359.61 355.90
Financial Services WILD: ZH 7800.00 - 7800.00
ZBFH: ZH 355.00
ZECO: ZH 0.24 0.24
350.00 - 320.00
ZIMP: ZH 2118.67 - 2092.06
ZIMPLOW: ZH 351.24 320.00 340.67
2100.00
ZHL: ZH 340.00

ETFs OMTT.zw 441.15 450.00 447.91 12,602 56,445.40 6.76 1.53 346.93 358.33
Old Mutual ZSE Top 10 ETF

FINSEC Financial Services OMZIL 7100.00 7100.00 7100.00 - -- - 167.92 5,893.83
Old Mutual Zimbabwe

VFEX (US cents) US$m

Padenga Consumer Goods PHL:VX 19.58 - 19.58 - -- - -45.61 106.04

SeedCo International Consumer Goods SCIL:VX 28.00 - 28.00 - -- - 55.56 106.81

Index Close Change (%) Open YTD % Top 5 Risers Price Change % YTD %
ZSE All Share 11,846.33 +1.48 11,673.80 +350.54 CFI 7095.00c +1180.00c +19.95 +9928.27
Top 10 7,513.24 +1.97 +354.11 Mash +17.69 +326.59
Top 15 8,298.69 +1.76 7,368.20 +326.00 Edgars 396.73c +59.62c +15.11 +316.67
Small Cap +5.48 8,155.12 +3012.48 Meikles 500.00c +65.62c +14.44 +995.79
Medium Cap 369,643.93 -0.09 350,441.68 +299.10 GBH 24112.50c +3042.93c +12.50 +837.50
22,207.30 22,226.89 225.00c +25.00c

Top 5 Fallers Price Change % YTD %
NTS 600.00c -100.00c -14.29 +2085.79
Zimpapers 320.00c -30.00c -8.57 +226.53
Truworths 240.54c -19.46c -7.48 +715.39
BNC 504.36c -32.36c -6.03
CBZ 9203.57c -296.43c -3.12 +32.73
+7.69

SALES & TRADING: Davide Muchengi: [email protected] | Lungani Nyamazana: [email protected] | Tatenda Jasi: [email protected]

RESEARCH: Batanai Matsika: [email protected] | Precious Chagwedera: [email protected] | Tafara Mtutu: [email protected]

Tel: (+263) 08677008101-2 | Email: [email protected] | Address: 1st Floor, Block D, Smatsatsa Office Park, Borrowdale, Harare

MORGAN & COMPANY has issued this document for distribution to its clients. It may not be reproduced or further distributed in whole or in part for any purpose. This document is not and should not be construed as
an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe to any investment. MORGAN & COMPANY has based this document on information obtained from sources it believes to be reliable but which it

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NewsHawks Cancer Awareness Page 27

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Stanbic Bank donates US$20 000 to fight Cancer

STANBIC Bank has donated US$20 000 to the thought-out CSI initiatives in the areas of need the lives of many cancer patients.
Cancer Association of Zimbabwe (CAZ) for pur- such as health, education and the environment. “The organisation is forever indebted to Stanbic
chase of chemotherapy drugs as part of its annual
contribution to the fight against cancer in Zimba- CAZ board chairperson Eugene Mlambo ap- Bank for the support it renders to CAZ on behalf of
bwe. plauded Stanbic Bank, saying the financial services cancer patients in Zimbabwe. We doubly appreciate
institution’s support would go a long way in saving this donation,” he said.
The drugs are meant for the less privileged cancer
patients.

Speaking during the handover ceremony, Stan-
bic Bank non-executive board member Simbarashe
Mhuriro said the financial institution was aware
that cancer is now a public health concern hence its
commitment to fight against the disease.

“Today’s donation marks eight years since Stanbic
Bank started this relationship with CAZ in which
the leading financial services institution puts its
shoulder to the wheel in the fight against cancer. We
cherish our relationship with CAZ, which is being
cemented each year on the realisation that cancer is
fast emerging as a major public health concern in
Zimbabwe,” said Mhuriro.

He said the donation was part of Stanbic’s flag-
ship corporate social investment (CSI) health-relat-
ed initiative which seeks to help, support and fa-
cilitate the growth and sustainable development of
public health services in Zimbabwe called USIZO-
RUYAMURO.

The initiative kicked off in 2019 when Stanbic fa-
cilitated the reopening of Tariro Hostel, a halfway
house for cancer patients run by CAZ.

Tariro Hostel provides rent-free accommodation
for cancer patients who do not stay in Harare when
they come for their chemotherapy and radio thera-
py treatments at Parirenyatwa Hospital and Harare
Central Hospital.

The hostel had been lying idle since 2007 and
Stanbic Bank refurbished it in 2019 in addition to
purchasing bed linen and other utilities.

Mhuriro also said the donation by Stanbic Bank
is part of its commitment to plough back into the
community in which it operates through well-

Stanbic Bank non-executive board member Simbarashe Mhuriro
(right) hands over the US$20 000 cheque to CAZ chairperson
Eugene Mlambo (left) at the ceremony yesterday.

Page 28 News Analysis NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Fluid political landscape portends
bruising 2023 elections campaign

NYASHA CHINGONO

POWER struggles and heightened Zanu PF leader and Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa. MDC-Alliance president Nelson Chamisa.
political scheming, two years before a
decisive 2023 general election, reveal is now in election mode with polit- rallies, engagement with grassroots every single time,” he said.  On the other hand, Mnangagwa is
that President Emmerson Mnangag- ical temperatures expected to reach and widely ridiculed pictures of Despite attracting large crowds, presiding over a divided party with
wa is uncertain about his future as boiling point as the nation hurtles Mnangagwa posing with children massive infighting in his political cit-
the country’s leader.  towards the crucial plebiscite.  who were visibly terrified of the Pres- Chamisa is still considered a political adels, Midlands and Masvingo. 
ident.   midget and a spent force by Zanu PF
Over the past three weeks, Zim- Everywhere Chamisa’s entourage faithfuls. During last week’s Zanu PF con-
babwe has plunged into de facto went, Zanu PF would unleash an State propagandists have also been ference in Bindura, he denounced
electoral mode, with frontrunners orgy of violence through hired hood- working overtime online to convince After losing the battle for the par- intra-party divisions without men-
Mnangagwa and his main rival lums who blockaded roads, pelted the public that Mnangagwa is the ty headquarters and failing to protect tioning names of his loyallists Owen
MDC-Alliance president Nelson cars with stones and disturbed the candidate of choice.  parliamentary seats from controver- Mudha Ncube and Daniel Mckenzie
Chamisa seen on the campaign trail peace. The police have not taken ac- sial recalls by former MDC secre- Ncube who has been bickering in the
meeting supporters.  tion against this naked lawlessness. Political analyst Stephen Chan tary-general Douglas Mwonzora, Midlands. 
said: “Being in such early election critics were of the opinion that the
One would be mistaken for think- Analysts say violence, which has mode suggests that the ruling party young opposition leader had seen his Unlike his predecessor Mugabe
ing that Zimbabwe’s election will be reared its ugly head on the political is uncertain about its popularity.” better days in politics.  who had a penchant for naming and
held a few weeks from now.  landscape, could be a precursor of shaming party cadres, Mnangag-
2023 and reminiscent of the bloody Chan said despite an otherwise But the question Zanu PF will not wa is afraid of widening the fissures
Triggered by Chamisa’s unexpect- 2008 presidential vote when scores of successful plot against the opposi- answer is: If Chamisa is a political ahead of 2023, which his main rival
ed visit to one of Mnangagwa’s per- opposition supporters were maimed, tion, Mnangagwa’s lack of success in midget as they claim, why is there vice-president Constantino Chiwen-
ceived political citadels, Masvingo, killed and abducted.  turning around the economy would palpable panic whenever he seeks ga is also eyeing, said Mandaza.
in early October, political tempera- work against the 79-year-old.  to interface with citizens? What ex-
tures hotted up in the countdown to Invigorated by the Zambian elec- actly are they afraid of? The violence “He is scared to widen the divi-
the Zanu PF annual conference last tion, which saw former opposition “This is despite its successful di- unleashed by Zanu PF on the oppo- sion, which is already there. The con-
week.  leader Hakainde Hichilema trounce viding of the opposition. But its sition in Masvingo last month is a ference is meant to inspire euphoria
Edgar Lungu, Chamisa believes economic policies simply are not stark reminder that the 2023 presi- and foster a sense of unity,” Mandaza
A week is a long time in politics. Zimbabweans can emulate the feat.  working, people see the oligarchs dential bid is still open. said. 
This old dictum is holding true on flourishing, and this spectacle in it-
Zimbabwe’s ever-fluid political land- Immediately after Hichilema won, self is enough to make people feel Attacks on Chamisa show he is ca- “It was hashed up at the confer-
scape where the fortunes of parties Mnangagwa issued a thinly veiled disenchanted,” he said.  pable of repeating the 2018 shocker ence. These are very unusual times
and leaders can change in the blink warning that the opposition should where he garnered more than two and Emmerson cannot expect an
of an eye. not expect a repeat of what happened Chan added that Zanu PF feared a million presidential votes.  easy run.” 
in Zambia.  Chamisa win come 2023, hence the
Zimbabwe’s political landscape, panic.  This could also explain why the Mnangagwa is also under a bar-
which had become laid back for The chilling statement stoked fears country’s political temperatures are rage of attacks, with party bigwigs
months due to the Covid-19 lock- of politically motivated violence, “Disenchantment does not auto- hotting up each passing week.  questioning his legitimacy after he
downs that were used as a pretext which has often been employed by matically mean people will turn to took power in a military coup that
for barring the opposition from con- Zanu PF to intimidate the opposi- Chamisa. But the ruling party fears “The political demise of his ad- toppled longtime leader Robert
vening meetings, has suddenly come tion in past elections.  they will and so the target becomes versaries, mainly Thokozani Khupe Mugabe in 2017. 
alive in recent weeks. Chamisa -- rather than upgrading and Mwonzora, has saved him from
Chamisa’s invite to Hichilema’s in- government policies and asking the political oblivion. The recall of MPs Zanu PF member Sybeth Musen-
Zanu PF claims the Masvingo in- auguration sent political shockwaves oligarchs to give up some of their would have finished him, but it has gezi filed a High Court application
cident where 200 supporters besieged among Zanu PF loyalists amid fears wealth. Some parts of Borrowdale discredited Mwonzora politically. challenging Mnangagwa’s rise to
Chamisa’s convoy was stage managed of a widespread revolution across Af- Brook make Beverley Hills look like a His opponent is seen to be unelect- power and the resultant dubious
and meant to embarrass Mnangagwa rica.  slum. Dollarisation, a wealth tax, and able so he has a lot in his favour. mandate through the infamous 19
ahead of  the United Nations Con- dialogue in which Mnangagwa plays The level of contest between the two November 2017 central commit-
ference Climate Change Conference Seeing that Chamisa had gained the very public role of the statesman throws him as a front runner, nat- tee meeting, which he says was not
(COP26). traction, Mnangagwa also activated would do far more for Zanu PF than urally,” political Science professor lawfully convened, constituted and
his campaign.  reaching for bludgeons and cudgels Ibbo Mandaza said.  conducted.
Ridiculous as that would sound
— considering there is video footage Social media was awash with his
of a Zanu PF leader demanding that
Chamisa be blocked from entering
Masvingo — it beggars belief that
Zanu PF foot soldiers believe Cha-
misa actually faked the violent at-
tacks.

Information ministry secretary
Nick Mangwana emerged as a veri-
table joker when he claimed, against
all evidence, that the violence in
Masvingo was stage managed by the
MDC Alliance. 

Zanu PF acting political commis-
sar Patrick Chinamasa also made
threadbare assertions that Chamisa
was repulsed by the people of Mas-
vingo after foisting himself upon the
masses.

Despite several incidents of politi-
cally motivated violence by maraud-
ing Zanu PF supporters who pelted
his motorcade while gunshots were
heard in Mutare two weeks ago in an
incident described by the opposition
as an assassination attempt, Chami-
sa has relentlessly trudged the cam-
paign trail, daring to visit the ruling
party’s so-called strongholds. 

Although allegations of an assa-
sination attempts have not been in-
dependently verified by The News-
Hawks, it is apparent that Zimbabwe

NewsHawks News Analysis Page 29

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

LIZWE SEBATHA Political violence signals peace structures, they are embedded
sectarian strife ahead in the local communities and these
ZIMBABWE could be on a slippery are very important to ensure that at a
slope as politically motivated vio- level of intolerance in the country is likely to square up with Chamisa File pic. very local level, village, ward level we
lence escalates and intolerance reigns and within political parties, we will whom he narrowly beat in the disput- need to ensure those responsible for are able to facilitate dialogue among
supreme ahead of the  2023 general see more violence as the election gets ed 2018 elections. the killings and rights abuses are held different stakeholders,” Sibanda said.
election, analysts have said. closer,” sais Obert Hodzi, a United accountable.
Kingdom-based Zimbabwean inter- Mnangagwa received 50.8% of the “It is also important that the Zim-
The country will hold the next national relations scholar and politics vote against Chamisa’s 44.3%. However, three years on, there babwe Electoral Commission (Zec)
polls against the backdrop of wide- lecturer at the University of Liver- have been no prosecutions and ar- works closely with churches to ensure
spread poverty which, according the pool. On 1 August after the disputed rests. Anti-riot police claimed to have that we have a peaceful and transpar-
World Bank, has increased in the past 31 July 31 2018 polls, soldiers un- failed to quell the protests, leading to ent electoral process.”
decade, as well as drug abuse and “A major challenge is that unlike der the command of former Presi- the army stepping in.
intolerance. Zimbabwe is emerging in previous elections, this time, the dential Guard commander Anselem Analyst Dumisani Nkomo said
from two years of economic con- drug use and unemployment crisis Sanyatwe fatally wounded six civil- Useni Sibanda, the Christian Alli- Zec must also ban political activists
traction triggered by poor policies, provide a mass of young people that ians when security forces opened fire ance executive director, said the cler- who engage in violence from contest-
droughts and Covid-19. politicians are mobilising to intim- on protesters demanding the imme- gy has created local peace structures at ing elections.
idate internal and external political diate release of election results. grassroots level to facilitate dialogue
The country is witnessing a surge opponents.” among political parties in the wake of “Violence has become a culture
in inter-party and intra-party vio- Mnangagwa appointed a commis- the resurgence of political violence. that is embedded in the political
lence as political temperatures are President Emmerson Mnangag- sion  of  inquiry  chaired by former DNA of the country.  We have to deal
rising two years before the next elec- wa, who was endorsed as the ruling South African president Kgalema “We have early warning signs that with the culture and structures that
tions. Zanu PF presidential candidate at the Motlanthe to investigate the killings. we could potentially have a very vi- perpetuate and promote violence.
party’s annual conference last week, Some of the recommendations of the olent electoral period. However, it is Seeing that all these protagonists also
Zanu PF has been forced to post- Motlanthe commission included the possible to avoid all that.  As Chris- come from the churches, I believe the
pone provincial elections in the tian Alliance, we have created local church also needs to bring them into
Midlands, Mashonaland Central, line by excommunicating them from
Mashonaland West, Manicaland and their churches,” Nkomo said.
Masvingo following violent clashes
between rival camps fighting for the The country’s elections have been
control of the provinces after the re- marred with political violence since
structuring exercise. 1980, with the 2008 polls cited as the
worst after leaving over 200 MDC-T
In Mashonaland Central, provin- supporters dead, several thousand
cial chairperson Kazembe Kazembe, displaced and injured.
who is also the Home Affairs minis-
ter, faces charges of even roping in the Zanu PF was forced to enter into
police to intimidate opponents. a unity government with the op-
position following the  presidential
In October, reports emerged that run-off election boycotted by the late
police officers beat up a whole village MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
in Musana communal lands as intim-
idation of opponents vying for the Mfundo Mlilo, the executive di-
post of Mashonaland Central chair rector of the Combined Harare Resi-
escalated. dents Association (CHRA), said civil
society has a role to play to calm the
Main opposition MDC Alliance rising political temperatures.
leader Nelson Chamisa has also been
a victim of political violence after “Civil society has a critical role to
he was attacked by alleged Zanu PF play in documenting violations of
supporters who attempted to disrupt human rights particularly in a tense
him during his “meet the people” environment like the one develop-
tours in Masvingo, Manicaland and ing in Zimbabwe, promoting peace-
Mashonaland West recently. ful coexistence among communities
through civic education, raising the
The opposition party claims there early alarm to regional and interna-
was also an attempted attack on Cha- tional bodies to take notice since they
misa’s life on 19 October. are also target of this violence, and to
engage the government of Zimbabwe
Zanu PF acting political commis- to respect and promote democratic
sar Patrick Chinamasa accused Cha- competition,” Mlilo argued.
misa of provoking locals in Masvingo
when “the opposition leader want- Hodzi, who is also board mem-
ed to force himself on an audience ber of the Chinese in Africa/African
which did not want to listen to him.” in China Research Network added:
“There is need for a holistic approach,
Analysts said the reports of in- and address the economic and social
ter-party and intra-party political vi- challenges that young men are facing,
olence were clear warning signs of a because as long as they are on drugs
violent election ahead. and unemployed, the cost of recruit-
ing them for political violence is just
“Violence  seems to be the default too low for the politicians, which is
campaign method in both intra-par- why I think instead of punishing the
ty elections and national elections. violent youths only, those that are
Unfortunately, this might be the perceived to be benefiting from the
beginning of a bloody election, be- violence should be held to account as
cause based on the presidential results well.”
of the previous election; it will be a
tightly contested election. With the

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Page 30 The Big Debate NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

How sanctions became shield
Alex T. and weapon for the regime
Magaisa

A hatchet job the suffering people of Zimbabwe was just as predicted. They have used it as President Emmerson Mnangagwa. which they are designated as non-com-
FEW issues divide public opinion like understandable, I was concerned that a shield against regional criticism. In- pushing it down people’s throats as the pliant. Once blacklisted like this, busi-
sanctions. Debate is not so much over sanctions would eventually become stead, they have harvested solidarity in country moves towards the next elec- nesses in member states are prohibited
their existence, but their nature and both a shield and weapon for the Mug- the face of glaring human rights viola- tion.    from doing business with businesses in
impact. abe regime. I was sceptical about the tions and gross electoral irregularities. the blacklisted state.
effectiveness of sanctions and there was Even some people in the business com- Exercising power
As with most political issues, the literature to back up that scepticism. munity who notoriously shy away from To be sure, sanctions are controversial Sanctions also come in various
sanctions issue is framed in binary But worse, I thought sanctions would commenting on corruption, human instruments wherever and whenever forms. They can be general econom-
terms. We have already observed in become a shield because the regime rights violations and electoral cheating they are deployed, and many scholars ic sanctions that prevent trade with
previous analyses that binary framing would use them as a scapegoat for the arguing that they do not dabble in pol- do not believe that they are effective. a state or they can be targeted in that
tends to conceal more than it reveals. country’s economic ills, deflecting at- itics suddenly find their voices when it Sanctions are an instrument of foreign they focus on specific individuals or en-
Complex matters are not amenable to tention from its failings. I worried that comes to the issue of sanctions. It is an policy by the imposing state. There are tities within a state. In either case, they
“either/or” framing because a lot that they would become a weapon because easy subject because it does not ruffle several logics or rationale of sanctions, represent an exertion of power by the
lies in between or beyond tends to get the regime would use them to beef up government feathers.  which I shall examine in this article. imposing state. The regime of sanctions
lost.  its attack on the opposition as a West- However, by and large, when sanction- in Zimbabwe falls into the latter type.
ern puppet and regime change agent.  However, ordinary people have more ing is used, the imposing state or organ- Mugabe, his allies, and associated cor-
The issue of sanctions has drawn the wisdom than regional and business isation is exerting its power and influ- porate entities were specifically target-
limelight following the visit of Alena Mugabe had already built a powerful elites. They know that the cause of their ence over the target state or group. The ed. The restrictive measures included
Douhan at the invitation of the Zimba- narrative that caricatured the MDC as problem lies within, not outside. A re- imposing state or organisation wants travel bans, financial restrictions, and
bwean government. Douhan who hails a Western-sponsored party. cent survey by Afrobarometer  shows the target state or group to comply with asset freezes.           
from Belarus, a country that is equally that 65% of Zimbabweans believe that its standards or expectations or simply
notorious for human rights violations, These narratives were easy to sell to the country’s economic meltdown is to pay a penalty for non-compliance.  As we have already observed, the
came to Zimbabwe in her capacity as a the largely rural population, especially down to mismanagement and corrup- question of whether sanctions have
UN Special Rapporteur on the matter the hundreds of thousands that had tion by the government. By contrast, It is not only states that impose sanc- caused economic damage in Zimbabwe
of sanctions. She presented her prelim- recently got land from the farm inva- only 29% blame sanctions with the tions against others. They can be im- usually attracts a binary response. This
inary report on 28 October 2021, urg- sions. Mugabe told them the sanctions remaining 7% being non-committal or posed by organisations and networks is in keeping with the political polarisa-
ing the lifting of sanctions and calling were imposed to punish him and his refusing to answer the question. Clear- the biggest of which is the United Na- tion in the country. The first, favoured
for dialogue. If she was supposed to be government for taking back the land.  ly, while the anti-sanctions propaganda tions. At the informal end are organi- by Zanu PF and its allies is that sanc-
an impartial and objective investigator, has been incessant, most Zimbabweans zations like the Financial Action Task tions have grossly harmed Zimbabwe’s
her itinerary which the government Events over the past two decades know that the source of their problems Force (FATF) which is sets rules and economy. The second, favoured by the
shared betrayed her mission as a hatch- have shown that this cautionary note is within. Still, it is important to take standards in the global fight against MDC Alliance and its allies is that Zim-
et job. It was a pro-government line-up was not far from the target. Both a closer look at this issue of sanctions money laundering. It expects both its babwe’s economic problems are a result
with no sign of other stakeholders.  Mugabe and his successor, Emmerson because the regime is not going to stop members and non-members to comply of mismanagement and corruption,
Mnangagwa have, as predicted, used with its set of recommendations failing not sanctions. They see sanctions as a
In the process, she did meet a few sanctions as a shield and a weapon, red herring. We have already seen from
other stakeholders but if this was meant the results of the latest Afrobarometer
to cover the glaring bias of the original Report  the majority (65%) share the
itinerary, the end was as embarrassing view that is held by the MDC Alliance
as the beginning after a press release of while only 29% share Zanu PF’s view. 
her report was released while she was
in a meeting with representatives of Nevertheless, as with most binary
the MDC Alliance, the major oppo- approaches, it conceals more than it
sition party which is persecuted and reveals. Perhaps a multi-factorial ap-
ostracised by the regime. This revealed proach is better in that all factors have
that the meeting was no more than a a role in weighing down the economy
box-ticking exercise and the report was and the real difference is a matter of de-
written before the investigation was gree. Let us move on now and examine
completed. the logic of sanctions and assess the im-
pact and success or failure of sanctions
Douhan’s report has also been red 20 years after they were imposed.   
flagged for plagiarism. She has been ac- The logics of sanctions
cused of lifting chunks of material from In his paper “How EU sanctions work:
her previous reports in other countries A new narrative”, Francesco Giumelli
and used them in her report on Zim- provides a useful account of the logic of
babwe. This unethical conduct strikes a sanctions. The three logics of sanctions
blow at the credibility of her report and that he identifies are Coercion, Con-
must be a source of embarrassment to straining, and Signalling. I will explain
the United Nations under whose name each in turn, demonstrating why a full
the work is performed.  appreciation of this logic matters to the
debate concerning sanctions in Zimba-
That it was a hatchet job was never bwe. It might shed more light on why
in doubt. The timing of her visit, when they were imposed, why they took the
the regime hosts its anti-sanctions day form of targeted sanctions, and what
on 25 October each year was not a co- the impact has been over the years. An
incidence. Her visit with the UN flag examination that looks at the differ-
being touted for authority was designed ent logics reveals that the question of
to bolster and amplify the Zanu PF whether they have succeeded or failed
regime’s anti-sanctions campaign. To is more complex than first appearances
the extent that the sanctions issue has suggest.
dominated the headlines and drawn the Coercion
attention of both the sanctioning coun- The first and most cited logic of sanc-
tries and the sanctioned targets, one has tions is that they are meant to coerce
to admit that the regime’s strategy to the target into changing its behaviour
make sanctions the issue has worked. It or policies under the threat of damage.
has successfully mobilised most region- The purpose of coercion is to lead to
al leaders to support its anti-sanctions behavioural or policy changes. As Gui-
cause and, in the process, carved out a melli points out, this is based on the so-
useful image of victimhood.   called “Pain-Gain” equation whereby a
A cautionary note from 2005 party is subjected to pain so that it is
Back in 2005, writing in the Zimba- forced to reform. A domestic equiva-
bwe Independent, I made a cautionary lent is the withdrawal of an allowance
note regarding the targeted sanctions
that had recently been imposed by the
US, the EU, Australia, and Canada.
Although the show of solidarity with

NewsHawks The Big Debate Page 31

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

by a parent to force the child to com- bilities. Guimelli gives the example of erty rights during the FTLRP was a countries. As for loans from the World The problem here is that sanctions
ply. In this view, sanctions impose costs an international terrorist group, where serious cause for concern for Western Bank and the Paris Club lenders, Zim- give credence to the rhetoric that the
that a party must avoid by changing there is very little prospect of causing governments. It could not be allowed babwe simply needs to clear its arrears problem is external – that the fight is
its behaviour. A party must weigh the behavioural change through the co- to pass without rebuke. The message and get back into its good books. Sanc- about sovereignty.”
costs and benefits and conclude that it ercive effect of sanctions. The logic of was relevant, not just to the target, in tions are not the reason why the coun-
is better to comply than to defy and in- sanctions in such a situation is to weak- this case, Zimbabwe, but to a broader try cannot access credit. Zimbabwe was My objection was not that I did not
cur costs. en the group’s ability to organize and audience in the region. In this regard, long blacklisted by creditors before the believe perpetrators of violence and
carry out terrorist attacks. South Africa and Namibia, states with sanctions were imposed.    electoral cheating did not deserve inter-
One might cite sanctions that were similar historical imbalances regarding The boomerang effect national censure. It was because I feared
imposed on Smith’s Rhodesia following This could take several measures land ownership rights, were part of the The problem with sanctions in whatev- a set of sanctions that did nothing to
his unilateral declaration of indepen- such as financial restrictions, asset freez- audience. Sanctions in Zimbabwe rep- er form is that they can have a boomer- cause behavioural or policy changes
dence (UDI) in 1965. They were UN- es, travel bans, etc on the targets. In this resented an important symbol of disap- ang effect.  would only become a weapon by the re-
backed comprehensive sanctions that case, you cannot measure the success proval to the type of land reform that gime. To the extent that sanctions have
were designed to prevent trade with of sanctions by assessing if there is any had taken place there, which was essen- In a situation where they impose an not caused any significant behavioural
Rhodesia. The Black nationalist parties behavioural change in the group, but tially expropriation without compensa- economic burden on citizens and cause or policy changes, the coercive logic of
such as Zanu and Zapu called for those probably by whether its capacity to or- tion. If we look at the sanctions from hardship, the logic is that citizens must sanctions has not been fulfilled. Admit-
sanctions as an advocacy tool to get the ganize and launch terrorist attacks has this angle, one might argue that with see that their government is a problem. tedly, they may have had a signaling
Smith regime to back down and pave been weakened. This logic of sanctions South Africa and Namibia both stalling But it might have a counterproductive effect deterring countries like South
the way for majority rule and indepen- does not seem to have much applica- on land reform, the signaling effect of effect where citizens see the sanctions, Africa and Namibia from taking the
dence. They were designed to cause tion to the case of sanctions in Zimba- the sanctions has been quite successful. and not their government as the prob- Zimbabwean path.
damage to the economy and put pres- bwe except in two instances: the arms Generating dissent lem. A government that is adept at
sure on the Smith regime. The regime embargo against the Zimbabwe De- Guimelli’s taxonomy of three logics of turning a bad situation into a weapon However, given the way African
managed to stay afloat for some time, fence Industries (ZDI) and the finan- sanctions is useful but it may be ar- can make effective use of sanctions for countries have rallied around the Zim-
thanks to sanctions-busting strategies cial restrictions on corrupt individuals gued that there are more than three. its own survival. It will use the existence babwean regime on sanctions despite
and assistance from its ally Apartheid and networks. The restrictions are de- One is that sanctions are designed to of sanctions as the scapegoat for the its authoritarian rule, human rights vi-
South Africa. However, as the Apart- signed to weaken their capacity to move increase the wedge between the target economic ills of the country. As Guil- olations, compromised elections, their
heid regime threatened to withdraw illicit funds through the international government and the citizens. In the lem points out,  “Target governments existence has had a boomerang effect.
its backing, the Smith regime was left financial system. However, since these case where the pain of sanctions is felt tend to blame sanctions for their coun- Far from weakening the regime, they
vulnerable and had little choice but to logics are not mutually exclusive, such by the citizens, if the government does try’s economic problems and strength- have strengthened its bonds with its
capitulate in 1979. But sanctions were restrictions might also have a coercive not comply, they might be spurred into en the will of the people to resist the peers, making the task a lot harder for
only one of the tools in use. There were effect as they are designed to coerce cor- action against it to prevent further suf- pressure as a way of stirring up national the opposition.
other tools, such as the armed struggle rupt targets to change their behaviour. fering. The logic is that faced with in- pride and protecting national indepen- Missing the targets
and international diplomacy which all Signaling tense hardships, citizens will rise against dence”. When sanctions were introduced, they
contributed to the successful outcome. The third logic of sanctions according their government. This might be called were referred to as “targeted sanctions”.
to Guimelli is their signaling effect. a sanctions-induced uprising. This is a You will recall that this was the warn- The idea was that these were different
We have observed that in terms of This means sanctions against a target subset of the coercion theory because ing that I wrote in 2005 that the Zanu types of sanctions that would not af-
this logic of sanctions, coercion is all are designed for a broader audience be- a government that wants to avoid a PF regime would use sanctions to its fect the generality of citizens. They are
about forcing behavioural change in yond the target. The aim is not so much sanctions-induced uprising will take advantage. This is what I wrote back based on the theory that because they
the target or producing a specific policy to hurt the target but to send a signal pre-emptive action of compliance so then in an article entitled “Smart Sanc- are targeted, they only affect the tar-
change. In this regard, the US Congress’ to a broader audience. For example, that citizens are spared the full effects tions: Who do they really hurt?”, geted individuals and entities. They in-
Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic if a target is violating an international of sanctions.   clude, as we have observed, travel bans,
Recovery Act (ZDERA) is an example norm, a state might impose sanctions “Sometimes the government plays financial restrictions, and asset freezes.
of a tool that was designed to promote on it as a way of sending a message re- In the case of Zimbabwe, this logic victim – arguing to its citizens that it
behavioural and policy changes by the garding the importance of that norm. would be more applicable if there were is the victim of powerful Western states The problem is that this type of
Zimbabwean government. The same Sometimes a state imposes sanctions comprehensive economic sanctions that hate the country. The government sanctions is easy to circumvent so that
applies to the executive orders and the as a way of expressing solidarity with against Zimbabwe as a whole. They presents itself as the heroic saviour of the personal inconvenience they cause
restrictive measures that were imposed another sanctioning state or persecuted would not be targeted at specific indi- the people against imperialists with the is limited. While Mugabe loved his
by the EU. Its success or failure may groups. One might also add that one viduals and entities. Zimbabwe is not duty to guard jealously the country’s regular trips to Britain and might have
therefore be judged on whether it has signal might be a deterrent effect. This under trade restrictions. It can and does sovereignty. wanted his children to get educated at
produced the required behavioural or is where sanctions are designed to deter trade with all the countries that have its exclusive public schools, when he
policy change. Much depends on the others in the audience from taking a imposed targeted sanctions. That’s why Those who are exposed to other was banned, he simply switched to the
questions that are asked. If we assume similar path. Zimbabwean produce can be found on sources of information and therefore Far East.
that the sanctions were designed to supermarket shelves in all these coun- able to exercise informed judgment
change the Zanu PF government’s at- The right to private property is re- tries, just as Zimbabwe can buy Ford might dismiss the effect of such rheto- Other individuals who were target-
titude to human rights and democracy, garded as a basic norm in Western Rangers and Range Rovers manufac- ric as nonsense. But they also underesti- ed did the same with places like Dubai
then so far, they have failed to produce economic society. The rampant disre- tured by companies in the sanctioning mate the effect of such messages on the offering alternative destinations of lux-
the desired behavioural changes. gard and destruction of private prop- general population, which is repeatedly ury and convenience. As the Panama
bombarded with the same messages Papers and the Pandora Papers showed,
The comprehensive change to the that they end up believing it is true. the wealthiest Zimbabweans who were
constitution in 2013 and related laws
however might count as positive steps
in the fulfillment of policy changes. 

Also, if we assume that they were
designed to coerce the government into
holding free, fair, and credible elections,
the sanctions have so far failed to pro-
duce behavioural change. However, if
we assume that land reform and prop-
erty rights were at the core of concerns,
then the signing of the Global Com-
pensation Agreement under which the
government promised to pay compen-
sation to white farmers who lost their
farms during the FTLRP, the sanctions
might be seen as a success. The Zim-
babwean government has moved from
the rhetoric of expropriation without
compensation to making a legal com-
mitment to pay compensation. The
Mnangagwa regime took that step hop-
ing to pacify the sanctioning states.

However, as Guimelli points out, it
would be erroneous to see coercion as
the only logic of sanctions. He is crit-
ical of most of the analyses that limit
the assessment of sanctions to the logic
of coercion.
Constraining
The second logic of sanctions is they
have a constraining effect on the target.
This is where sanctions are imposed to
weaken the target by limiting its capa-

Page 32 The Big Debate NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

under targeted sanctions were still able take an overly cautious approach to ev- gle to do business with entities from regional front, where it has gained soli- complex problem like Zimbabwe.  
to move their millions through com- eryone from that country which ends other countries. Since Zimbabwe has darity from peers who should be calling Every policy instrument however
plex corporate structures in offshore up affecting innocent persons. Ideally, not been fully compliant with the rec- it to order. Thankfully, as the Afroba-
finance centres like Mauritius and the targeted sanctions are supposed to af- ommendations of the FATF, this might rometer Report shows, the majority of requires regular review. Such reviews
Cayman Islands. fect only the targeted individuals and lead to financial institutions from other Zimbabweans do not blame sanctions would tell whether the targeted sanc-
entities. But in practice, because of the countries taking an overly cautious ap- for their economic ills. They place the tions regime is working effectively;
The targeted sanctions may have duty to avoid breaching targeted sanc- proach when dealing with Zimbabwe- blame on the government, where it whether it is producing positive results
caused the targets some minor per- tions, businesses over-comply and end an entities and individuals. In addition, belongs. The Afrobarometer survey is or whether it has become counter-pro-
sonal inconveniences, but ultimately, up hitting innocent parties. When this Zimbabwe’s perennial currency chal- the scientific poll that we have had in ductive. I was always skeptical of the ef-
they always found a way to carry out happens, the personal inconvenience lenges and extremely limited foreign recent years. The government has ref- ficacy of the targeted sanctions regime,
their nefarious activities. If anything, of targeted sanctions goes beyond the currency reserves impact the ability of erenced it when its findings favour it, but my greater worry was that they
the levels of corruption have increased targets and becomes a problem for the entities to perform international trans- therefore it cannot now dismiss it be- would be weaponised by the regime
despite the targeted sanctions. If there- general population. Innocent citizens actions. The fact that the country is in cause of this finding.   and I think this has come to pass. 
fore sanctions were designed to cause a become “collateral damage” because arrears going back more than 20 years
behavioural change, they have failed to of over-compliance with targeted sanc- limits its ability to access credit. How- Perhaps a more important point to I conclude with some food for
achieve that purpose. But the problem tions. It is for this reason that some ever, for the regime and others who appreciate is that sanctions are not the thought: there is a distinction between
is while the targeted sanctions are not Zimbabweans and businesses have look at these issues without a critical only foreign policy tool but one of sev- actual sanctions and the threat of sanc-
effective in changing the targets’ be- quite legitimately protested that the eye, all these impediments are lumped eral. They are certainly not worse than tions, and in my opinion, the latter
haviour, the regime still finds sanctions targeted sanctions have affected them together and blamed on sanctions.  war, but there are other tools such as might be more effective than the for-
as a useful shield to deflect attention even though they are innocent parties. Conclusion diplomacy and negotiation. It was im- mer. The power of a threat lies in its un-
and a weapon to attack the opposition. Conflating issues I have never been a fan of sanctions, portant for Zimbabweans who were known quality. It is better when some-
To the regime, sanctions are the gift However, targeted sanctions are not the general or targeted because I do not fighting authoritarian rule to get the at- one does not know what might happen
that keeps on giving. only reasons why ordinary individuals believe they work effectively as instru- tention of the international communi- if the threat is carried out than if the
Over-compliance and businesses suffer inconvenience on ments of behavioural or policy change. ty. If the international community had threat is carried out it turns out it is not
While the theoretical distinction be- the international markets. For example, The targets often dig in or circumvent not acted, it would have been accused that bad after all. Once the target has
tween general and targeted sanctions there are other impediments to access- them. Ove-compliance might lead to of willful negligence just like what had discovered that the threatened experi-
sounds persuasive, in practice it is limit- ing credit or performing international collateral damage beyond the targeted happened during Gukurahundi just 20 ence is harmless, it will carry on misbe-
ed. This is because while targeted sanc- transactions which have nothing to do individuals and entities. But more sig- years earlier when it stood by and ig- having. At that point, the sanctioning
tions are designed to be narrow in their with sanctions. Take the Financial Ac- nificantly, authoritarian regimes are ad- nored the plight of the people of Mate- authority will have to find a new way
effect, the outcome is more general tion Task Force’s restrictions for exam- ept at turning the adversity of sanctions beleland and the Midlands as they were to handle the problem. I suspect every
because of the problem of over-compli- ple. into an advantage. The Zimbabwean butchered by the Mugabe regime. The parent or guardian has a fair apprecia-
ance, one of the more valid points iden- regime has worked hard to turn the EU has adapted to the times, using di- tion of this challenge. 
tified by Douhan. Over-compliance The FATF blacklists countries that lemons of sanctions into the lemonade alogue, diplomacy, and technical assis-
occurs when businesses dealing with are not compliant with its rules and of political capital. It has won on the tance as other tools to achieve the same *About the writer: Dr Alex Magai-
individuals and entities from countries when it does so, individuals and busi- ends of promoting democracy and hu- sa is a law lecturer at Kent Universi-
where targeted sanctions were imposed nesses from blacklisted countries strug- man rights. This flexibility is not unim- ty in Britain and former adviser to
portant, especially when dealing with a Zimbabwe’s late prime minister Mor-
gan Tsvangirai.

NewsHawks The Big Debate Page 33

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Economic reforms won’t fix Zimbabwe’s
economy — Ethical leadership is also needed

TAPIWA CHAGONDA

THE Zimbabwean economy has but also from a broader societal Confucian ethics dictates hier- mandatory. The Transparency In- A vendor selling his wares in Harare.
continued to experience turbu- perspective, since it acts as the archical relationships and an iden- ternational chapter in Georgia has
lence, despite having managed moral compass that guides our tification with social rules. It also been doing this, and this assists in of business in Zimbabwe, should
to weather a devastating spell of behaviour. Being an ethics pupil emphasises ‘self control of individ- monitoring any unusual variances insist that every company has an
hyperinflation which  peaked in has made me re-visit my thesis on uals’ in their conduct. in politicians’ asset declarations. ethics or compliance office. Their
2008. Zimbabwe’s unending economic What needs to be done mandate would be to ensure ethi-
crisis, in addition to proffering If this value of discipline and The government of Zimbabwe cal business conduct.
One economic area which has possible solutions to this perpetu- good conduct were exercised should take a leaf from Sankara’s
remained a thorn in the flesh for al challenge. in Zimbabwe’s business ethics, Burkina Faso by expeditiously ar- And it should be mandatory
ordinary Zimbabweans has been Ethical regeneration of Zimba- the country’s economic fortunes resting and prosecuting individ- for all company top executives to
the volatile currency. The country bwe might change for the better. uals found guilty of corrupt and issue an ethics statement annual-
has struggled to sustain a stable To keep pace with hyperinflation, What’s needed speculative activities, regardless of ly, which reflects on their organ-
currency. The Zimbabwe dollar a lot of Zimbabweans had to en- To kick-start the much-needed status in society. isations’ ethics practices, good or
was the official currency between gage in speculative activities. This ethical regeneration of Zimbabwe- bad.
1980 and 2009. In the wake of relied on hoarding commodities an society political leaders need to South Korea does this. Corrupt
hyperinflation, in 2009, it was re- which were in short supply in the take the lead in the fight against leaders are arrested,  regardless  of Lastly, creating a society that is
tired and the country transitioned 2000s. They would often  re-sell corrupt and speculative activities. political or financial clout. ethical in its conduct is a process
to a basket of mostly regional but these at inflated prices on the par- that takes time. It should include
also some global currencies. allel market. This meant that pric- Rhetoric that purports to cas- In addition, the Zimbabwe inculcating ethical principles in
es of goods continued to spiral, tigate corruption and putting in Anti-Corruption Commission the schooling system. This would
In early 2019, the multiple with speculators making a  quick place economic measures to alle- should be given the capacity to mean that from a young age,
currency regime was replaced buck. viate Zimbabwe’s monetary woes, execute optimally. It is meant to Zimbabweans are taught about
by a  new currency  which was will not suffice. curb and expose corruption. But moral and upright behaviour. A
renamed the Zimbabwe dollar This behaviour of making quick it is blunted by underfunding. model that is worth emulating
by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe money through speculation ap- A Thomas Sankara kind of eth- is  dotoku, or moral education, in
(RBZ). pears to have become ingrained in ical leadership  is what is needed. It is also urgent that the Zim- the Japanese primary and junior
Zimbabwean society’s social fab- Sankara, the president of Burkina babwean government should pro- high school education. This was
The implication of Zimbabwe’s ric. Foreign currency traders have Faso between 1983 and 1987, en- mulgate whistle blower protection introduced in 2018, and is a full-
currency woes has been that the continued to operate a parallel forced a rule that the country’s po- legislation. Whistle blowers in the fledged subject with standardised
foreign exchange rate has contin- foreign currency market,  despite litical leaders publicly declare their private and public sectors need to textbooks .
ued to be largely determined by a the taming of hyperinflation. In financial assets and wealth before be protected.
parallel market. This has its deep some instances they act on behalf being sworn into office. This approach should be at-
roots in speculative activities that of business and top politicians. The government also needs to tached to other subjects too, such
were rife during the years of hy- Another good model is the US take steps to improve governance as science and business.
perinflation and which have per- To eradicate the cancerous approach to  asset declarations by practices in the private sector.
sisted. scourge of speculative behaviour, politicians. It forces transparen- The head of the the Zimbabwe In other words, the word “eth-
Zimbabwean society will have to cy and ability of civil society to Anti-Corruption Commission, ics” should become synonymous
Pricing of goods has, thus, con- also rely on societal ethical values have these asset declarations au- Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo, re- with Zimbabwean society’s inter-
tinued being dictated by the par- as happened successfully in Asian dited.  Transparency Internation- cently claimed that the private actions and behaviour, and not an
allel market and foreign currency countries such as China, Tai- al argues that such ethical practice sector  was the biggest culprit of alien word.
has remained in short supply. wan and Singapore. These coun- enables citizens to hold politicians corrupt activities in the country.
Speculators continue to engage in tries blended Confucianism ethics accountable. *About the writer: Tapiwa
activities that rake in quick prof- with business practices. The Confederation of Zimba- Chagonda is associate professor
its, at the expense of the economy In addition, a continuous fi- bwe Industries and the Zimbabwe of sociology and director of the
and Zimbabweans. Speculators nancial audit while in political National Chamber of Commerce, Centre for Data Ethics at the In-
include influential political fig- office should subsequently be the major representative bodies stitute for Intelligent Systems at
ures, big businesses and ordinary the University of Johannesburg
individuals. in South Africa.

In a bid to stabilise Zimbabwe’s
currency volatility challenges and
ease shortages of foreign currency,
the RBZ introduced the foreign
exchange auction system in June
2020. But this didn’t liberalise the
foreign currency market, as the
bank has interfered in the auc-
tion in an attempt to control the
exchange rate.

In my view, economic reforms
alone cannot end the country’s
economic crisis. Instead of more
economic interventions, Zimba-
bwean society needs to self-intro-
spect and assist in re-setting the
country’s ethical compass.

I am arguing for this approach
from a sociological perspective of
ethics. My  doctorate  focused on
the response of the working class
in the capital Harare to Zimba-
bwe’s hyperinflation and political
crisis in the 2000s. One of my key
findings was that a lot of workers’
ethical principles had been eroded
by hyperinflation which required
a repertoire of survivalist respons-
es. These sometimes bordered on
corruption and speculative activi-
ties.

In addition, in my current aca-
demic role I have had to grapple
with the concept of ethics, not
only from a research perspective,

Page 34 The Big Debate NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

How the informal economy solves
a Zim town's various challenges

MARTIN MAGIDI

IN most African cities, the infor- A group of women walking home in Zimbabwe. The informal sector has potential to harness small sustainability benefits. Shutterstock
mal sector is the  main economy.
This is because of rapid urban once benefited from the country’s not products of informal activities. Social capital mal sector.
population growth, slow econom- industrial decentralisation policies. Urban farming, too, had a pos- I found informal sector actors
ic and industrial growth and high But de-industrialisation has been had strong relationships among Socio-economic development
employment. Unregulated eco- ravaging the economy since the itive place in Norton’s natural en- themselves, for example taking Norton’s local authority acknowl-
nomic activities provide work and 1990s. Formal industry collapsed vironment. Through cultivating care of another trader’s stall in edged that it was getting most of
livelihoods for most households. in Norton, giving birth to a vi- yards and vacant spaces, residents their absence. People used kinship its revenue from informal sector
brant informal economy that has in Norton were helping to green terms for each other. The sector businesses. This was through vend-
The informal sector is growing sustained the majority ever since. the town. seemed to work on the principle ing licences, monthly operating
and becoming more important that communities could survive fees and penalty fees. The informal
for  urban survival. At the same My study showed that informal Though this was mostly to sup- through solidarity, cooperation, sector was responsible for most of
time, governments, regional blocs economic activities in Norton play plement food and sell surpluses, care and sharing. the jobs in the town.
and international development or- a part in environmental sustain- planting trees also offered environ- Indigenous knowledge
ganisations are becoming more in- ability and contribute to the town’s mental benefits. Norton’s urban Respondents said the informal sec- Conclusions
terested in the idea of sustainable financial sustainability. They also farmers, in search of arable land, tor was a reliable source of good The informal sector is an asset that
urban development. This refers to have benefits in terms of social co- also rehabilitated open spaces il- quality organic foods, including authorities can take advantage of
processes that boost economic de- hesion, preserving knowledge and legally used as dumpsites. They traditional foods and recipes. It to enhance urban sustainability as
velopment, improve the quality of imparting skills. freed them from plastics, metals also made traditional herbs and they build cities. Authorities can
urban life for everyone, and pro- Environment and bottles as they prepared land medicines more available and af- support it by providing entrepre-
tect the physical environment. I observed how traders operating at for cultivation and thus eliminated fordable. In these ways the sector neurial infrastructure so that peo-
busy shopping centres, instead of environmental hazards. preserved traditional knowledge. ple can work in safer conditions,
Informality is often thought to littering, cleaned their workplac- Skills training: maximise their earnings, boost
create challenges for sustainability. es every day. They used their own Norton has many vacant lots In Zimbabwe, the cost of formal their businesses and livelihoods
Vendors, for example, are accused cleaning equipment since the local which the local council cannot training is beyond the reach of and contribute towards running
of littering. Activities like artisanal authority was in a financial crisis. fully maintain owing to financial most households. The informal of local authorities. Authorities
mining and informal carpentry are The traders properly disposed of constraints. In summer, overgrown sector provides a way for people could also provide education on
believed to be destroying the envi- their garbage at designated points vegetation can block visibility and to acquire skills. It enrols every- more sustainable ways of farming,
ronment. There are concerns about and participated in frequent clean- access, and harbour rodents, pests one who wants to work and learn, and support and recognise infor-
the way informal industries dis- up activities in the town. and parasites. Dry vegetation eas- regardless of their educational mal skills training. Approaches like
pose of waste. There is a view that ily catches fire. I found that peo- or socioeconomic background. this have the potential to enhance
the sector’s jobs are precarious and Recycling waste was also a ser- ple were informally moving in to My study encountered numerous sustainable urban development in
that it is geared for short-term sur- vice provided by the informal sec- occupy and maintain these vacant skilled and experienced builders, Norton and other cities where in-
vival, with very low socioeconomic tor in the absence of formal waste spaces for various purposes, mak- carpenters, fashion designers and formality is prevalent.
returns. management. People collected ing them safer environments. tile fitters, for example. These
metal and plastic waste and made workers said they learnt their skills *About the writer: Martin Ma-
My  research, however, suggests new products or made items reus- Through cleaning public spaces, through participating in the infor- gidi is q post-doctoral researcher
the sector can be an asset to the able. They also used organic waste planting trees, managing vegeta- at the University of Cape Town in
sustainable urbanisation agenda. to fertilise land for cultivation. tion, recycling waste and rehabil- South Africa.
It can help take care of the natu- Most of the waste materials were itating contaminated grounds, the
ral environment, develop skills and informal economy in Norton plays
promote social cohesion. It can a huge role in promoting urban en-
contribute to indigenous knowl- vironmental sustainability.
edge systems and a culture of hu-
manity, as well as to economic de-
velopment.

I conducted my study in Nor-
ton, a small town in Zimbabwe
where the informal sector plays
a big role. I conducted in-depth
interviews with 20 informal en-
trepreneurs and five officials rep-
resenting small business associa-
tions and city authorities. These
interviews aimed to get qualitative
information. In fieldwork over 10
months, I also had many informal
conversations with numerous other
informal entrepreneurs. The entre-
preneurs were working in sectors
like carpentry, metal fabrication,
construction, beauty and fashion,
street vending and poultry.

I found huge potential to har-
ness seemingly small sustainability
benefits created by the sector to
derive bigger and better benefits.
I don’t seek to romanticise the in-
formal economy but to point out
what is potentially useful in what
has been portrayed as negative and
counterproductive.
About Norton
Norton is a town 45km west of Ha-
rare, the capital of Zimbabwe. It is
home to over 67 000  people  and

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 35

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

From subsistence to small business:
Zimbabwean gardeners hit pay dirt

FORTUNE MOYO When Covid-19 lockdowns restricted commerce and movement, some local
gardeners saw their subsistence plots turn into serious money makers.
EDITH Hove was not sure how
she was going to pay her bills. It Edith Hove prunes yellow leaves off her vegetables, which she grows in a community garden in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Credit: Fortune Moyo/Global Press Journal.
was March 2020 and Zimbabwe
had just retreated into its first onions, nuts, sweet potatoes and nity gardeners primarily stocked street vendors, for example. ach and tomatoes as she did be-
coronavirus lockdown. Hove choumoellier. More than 800 their own pantries. According to The pandemic walloped these fore the pandemic. “I have man-
(65) is the primary caretaker for residents till land across eight a recent survey by the Zimbabwe aged to pay my children’s tuition
her three grandchildren, and her city-run fields, says city council Vulnerability Assessment Com- residents; few had money saved, fees for two terms,” the 38-year-
livelihood from selling second- spokesperson Nesisa Mpofu. Far mittee, 19% of urban Zimba- and they faced higher prices for old says.
hand clothing at a market was no more gardens, run by churches bweans grew their own crops, but water, electricity, maize and veg-
longer allowed. and nongovernmental organisa- only 1% said selling vegetables etables, the famine warning net- Because the gardens are con-
tions, green the landscape. was their main source of income. work report says. People stood in venient for suburban shoppers,
Six years earlier, however, Bul- long lines to collect water. They local officials expect them to re-
awayo officials had granted Hove It is not easy to cultivate city “Initially, the community stoked fires to stay warm. They main viable businesses after the
five vegetable beds in the com- crops. Gardeners cannot readily gardens were meant to sustain skipped meals. But many garden- pandemic abates, says council
munity garden near her home access natural fertilisers, such as families at household levels,” ers were spared economic strife. spokesperson Mpofu.
in the suburb of Emakhandeni. cow manure, and artificial ones says Pilate Moyo, a Bulawayo
There, about 60 families tend to are often expensive. In Bulawayo, councillor. “The pandemic has “Urban agriculture has helped “Communities have begun to
their patches with water from a Mpofu says, donors usually pitch surprisingly showed us that the in poverty alleviation for low-in- appreciate community gardens
borehole, wide-brimmed hats in to buy supplies gardeners can’t gardens also have the capacity to come families and those from and the fact that they do not have
shielding them from the unfor- afford. address poverty alleviation in the vulnerable groups,” says Winston to travel to the city centre to get
giving sun. community.” Babbage, vice president of the fresh vegetables.”
Thieves and vandals also ruin Zimbabwe Farmers Union.
In her 5-by-1-metre beds, harvests; choumoellier is among Local families needed the help. Success prompted Hove to di-
Hove grew basketfuls of chou- the most popular vegetables, in In 2019, close to 40% of Bu- An Emakhandeni gardener, versify her harvest with tomatoes
moellier — a type of kale — and part, because it regrows quick- lawayo household heads were Duduzile Mpofu long struggled and onions. She also bought six
other leafy greens. The harvest ly. To combat mischief at the unemployed, according to the to pay school fees for her chil- goats with her earnings — a herd
mainly fed her family, though Emakhandeni garden, a commit- Famine Early Warning Systems dren, ages 6 and 12. The lock- that has since multiplied to 15.
she would usually sell at least tee patrols it at night, says Ed- Network, a US government ini- down scuttled her business sell- Once the pandemic ends, Hove
85 Zimbabwean dollars’ (US$1) more Majama, who oversees the tiative to track food insecurity. ing bananas and oranges, but her plans to sell clothing again, but
worth of vegetables a day. But beds. A quarter of household heads community vegetable bed kept she expects most of her money
during the lockdown, as Zimba- worked in the informal sector as her afloat; some days, she made will still sprout from the soil.
bweans were banned from travel- Before the pandemic, commu- three times as much selling spin-
ing more than five kilometres to — Global Press Journal.
buy certain goods, many people
could no longer go to vegetable
markets in the city centre.

Suddenly, Hove’s yield was no
longer a side hustle. “Because
people were restricted from trav-
elling to the city centre, commu-
nity gardens became their vegeta-
ble shop,” she says. Hove started
selling as much as ZW$5 950
(US$70) worth of vegetables a
day — more than she had made
selling clothing.

As the pandemic stretched on,
Zimbabwe lifted coronavirus re-
strictions, then reimposed them.
Hove’s profits dipped, but not by
much. While Bulawayo officials
don’t tax or track sales at commu-
nity gardens, they say that, anec-
dotally, beds across the city have
turned into moneymakers.

The transformation was as sur-
prising to the community gar-
deners as it was welcome. Many
urban areas in the region are dot-
ted with collective fields, partly as
a response to breakneck growth.
In Zimbabwe, their widespread
adoption coincided with the
country’s economic freefall in the
2010s, according to a study in
the Journal of Social Sciences and
Humanities, published by the
National University of Malaysia.

In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s
second-largest city, officials
launched community gardens
to give financially vulnerable
people access to fresh tomatoes,

Page 36 Reframing Issues NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Cows and cars
should not
be conflated
in climate
change debates

IAN SCOONES impacts of livestock on the glob- Another issue is that most such climate change needs to focus on tration, improving biodiversity and
al climate. Some types of livestock assessments focus on emissions im- carbon dioxide. It therefore makes enhancing landscapes.
WITH world leaders gathered for production, especially those using pacts per animal or per unit of prod- a big difference how different green-
the United Nations COP26 cli- industrial systems, are certainly uct. This creates a distorted picture; house gases are assessed and how Animal-source foods are also  vi-
mate change summit in Scotland, highly damaging to the environ- the wider costs and benefits are not any “global warming potential” is tal for nutrition, providing high
there has been much talk of meth- ment. They generate significant taken into account. Those in favour estimated. Simply put,  cows and density protein and other nutrients,
ane emissions and belching cows. greenhouse gas emissions and cause of industrialised systems point to cars are not the same. especially for low-income and vul-
serious water pollution. They also the high per animal methane emis- nerable populations and in places
The  Global Methane Pledge, led add to deforestation through de- sion from animals eating rough, It also matters what baseline is where crops cannot be produced.
by the United States and European mand for feed and expanding graz- low-quality forage on open range- used.  Pastoral systems may not re-
Union and now with many country ing areas, for example. And, reduc- lands compared to the potential for sult in additional emissions from a Across the world livestock – cat-
signatories, aims to reduce methane ing the amount of  animal-source improved, methane-reducing feeds “natural” baseline. For example, in tle, sheep, goats, camels, yaks, lla-
emissions by 30% by 2030. This foods in diets, whether in the global in contained systems. This misses extensive systems in Africa domes- mas and more – provide income and
is seen as a “quick win” to reduce north or south, makes much sense, the point: a wider, more integrated tic livestock replace wildlife that livelihoods for many. The world’s
global warming and will have major both for the environment and for systems approach  must encompass emit comparable amounts of green- rangelands make up over  half the
implications for livestock produc- people’s health. all impacts, but also benefits. For house gases. By contrast, industrial world’s land surface  and are home
tion. instance, some forms of extensive systems clearly generate additional to many millions of people.
But industrial systems are only grazing can potentially increase soil impacts, adding significant envi-
Livestock have become the villain one type of livestock production. carbon stocks, adding to the already ronmental costs through methane As countries commit to reducing
of climate change. Some researchers And aggregate emission figures do significant store of carbon in open emissions from production, the im- methane emissions, a more sophis-
claim that 14.5% of all human-de- not pick up the nuances of this real- rangelands. portation of feed, the concentration ticated debate is urgently needed,
rived emissions come from live- ity. Looking across life-cycle assess- of livestock waste and fossil fuel use lest  major injustices  result. The
stock, either directly or indirectly. ments – a technique widely used to Then there’s the fact that meth- in transport and sunk infrastruc- danger is that, as regulations are
There have been widespread calls assess the impacts on climate change ane and carbon dioxide have dif- ture. developed, verification procedures
for radical shifts in livestock pro- from different agri-food systems – ferent lifetimes in the atmosphere Climate justice approved and reporting systems
duction and diet globally to address we found some important gaps and and are not equivalent. Methane is A more rounded assessment is neces- initiated, livestock systems in Afri-
climate chaos. But which livestock, assumptions. a short-lived but highly potent gas. sary. Extensive livestock contribute ca and elsewhere will be penalised,
where? As  a new report  I co-au- Carbon dioxide sticks around in the to emissions, but it’s simultaneous- with major consequences for poor
thored argues, it is vitally important One is that global assessments atmosphere effectively forever. Re- ly true that they produce multiple people’s livelihoods.
to differentiate between production are overwhelmingly based on data ducing warming can be addressed environmental benefits – including
systems. from industrial systems. A  fre- in the short term by tackling potentially through carbon seques- *About the writer: Ian Scoones
quently quoted paper  looking at methane emissions, but long term is a professorial fellow at the In-
Not all milk and meat is the 38,700 farms and 1,600 processors stitute of Development Studies,
same. Extensive, often mobile, only focused on “commercially vi- University of Sussex.
pastoral systems — of the sort able” units, mostly from Europe
commonly seen across the African and North America. However, not
continent, as well as in Asia, Latin all livestock are the same, meaning
America and Europe — have hugely that global extrapolations do not
different effects to contained, inten- work.
sive industrial livestock production.
Research in Kenya, for exam-
Yet, in standard narratives about ple, shows how  assumptions about
diet and production shifts, all live- emissions from African animals are
stock are lumped in together. Cows inaccurate. Such livestock are small-
are misleadingly equated with  pol- er, have higher quality diets due to
luting cars and beef with coal. The selective grazing and have physiolo-
simplistic “all livestock are bad” gies adapted to their settings. They
narrative is promoted by campaign are not the same as a highly bred
organisations, environmental celeb- animal in a respiration chamber,
rities, rich philanthropists and pol- which is where much of the data on
icymakers alike. Inevitably, it dom- emission factors comes from. Over-
inates  media coverage. However, a all, data from extensive systems are
much more sophisticated debate is massively under-represented. For
needed. instance,  a review of food produc-
Delving into data tion life cycle assessments  showed
Our report delves into the data and that only 0.4% of such studies were
highlights the problems with using from Africa, where extensive pasto-
aggregate statistics in assessing the ralism is common across large areas.

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NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 37

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

How the radical became normal in Angola

CLÁUDIO SILVA When everyone knows the emperor has no clothes but no one dares say it
out loud, even the smallest acts of dissent become ones of radical defiance.
ON 26 May 2021, President João Lou-
renço publicly apologised for the horrif- A dilapidated billboard of former president Jose Eduardo Dos Santos. Credit: Carsten ten Brink.
ic events that took place in Angola 44
years earlier in the episode now known Angolans. Western banks, insurance Whenever we did, we’d get phone state’s campaign to intimidate him was tos agreed to step aside after 38 years
simply as 27 de Maio.  companies, lawyers and consultants calls from exasperated and fearful fam- relentless and disgusting. In 2012, the in power and, following the 2017 elec-
played along as well. As foreign finan- ily members asking if we were insane. security officials even stuffed Beirão’s bi- tions, he was succeeded by Lourenço.
On that date in 1977, the military be- cial analysts marvelled at Angola’s eco- “You’re living abroad, getting an educa- cycle tyre with cocaine before he flew to This transition had a huge effect on
gan responding to an alleged attempted nomic growth in the mid-2000s, the tion – what more do you want? Why Portugal, hoping he would get jailed for the national psyche. The new leader
coup by the more radical Marxist wing president’s daughter, Isabel dos San- are you biting the hand that feeds you? drug smuggling. appeared to tackle corruption head
of the ruling party. Soldiers mobilised tos, became a darling of the West and How do you think we’re paying for your on, and the state began prosecuting
to overzealously imprison or assassinate bought significant assets in Portugal. It education?” they would ask. It is interesting to note that neither people that had been considered un-
hundreds of people, often after secret did not matter that Angola was one of Marques nor Beirão were ever alone. touchable. He vowed to dismantle the
hearings on trumped charges. the world’s most corrupt countries and Indeed, the treatment of critics was They were the most prominent faces propaganda machine that had become
that everyone knew it. She had access to not pretty. While renowned journalist of dissent, but frustration with the re- public media and to democratise our
It did not stop there. Over the follow- Angolan wealth; she embodied it. Rafael Marques was winning awards gime came from many quarters and institutions. His popularity soared and
ing two years, security forces killed tens abroad for exposing corruption scan- grew through Dos Santos’ reign. There it was months before we were crushed
of thousands of students, artists, singers, In this context, publicly opposing dals, for example, he was accused of be- have always been official opposition by the disappointment of seeing that his
soldiers, poets, doctors and more. Many the MPLA became, in itself, an act of ing a CIA agent and a traitor at home. parties that have operated with varying actions didn’t match his rhetoric. Four
were dumped into unmarked graves or radicalism. It meant eschewing materi- He was beaten and jailed and was un- effectiveness, but resistance also began years on, Angola is struggling to be-
thrown out of aircrafts. The vast ma- al wealth, welcoming harassment from able to go grocery shopping without be- to come from Angola’s middle-classes come a more open society – Lourenço
jority had no ties to the accused coup state security forces, and inviting in- ing surveilled. His fellow citizens would – fed up with the soul-crushing effects did at least usher in a sense of change –
plotters but were the victims of unscru- creased suspicion and scrutiny at work. whisper positively about him at family of decades of rampant corruption and but the MPLA is still in power and old
pulous party stalwarts using the oppor- It meant being ostracised. And so, in gatherings but then rail against him in government mismanagement – and habits die hard. The ruling party is still
tunity to settle scores. Angola, self-censorship permeated all TV appearances. Marques made no the poor. Such a prolonged period of anti-democratic, averse to change, and
areas of public life. Teachers and pro- secret of the fact he had friends in the extreme oil dependence and fiscal irre- unwilling to evolve. What is different is
Coming just two years after inde- fessors discouraged students from civic MPLA and that several of them were sponsibility was simply unsustainable. that, today, voices on the street and in-
pendence, 27 de Maio had a profound engagement. Labour unions became prominent sources for his wildly pop- And when oil prices dropped precip- ternet are openly disdainful of the party.
impact on the young nation’s psyche meek for fear of disrupting the status ular website, Maka Angola. Yet being itously in 2014, the MPLA found it That is quite a turnaround.
and stifled all manner of public polit- quo. Newsrooms became propaganda seen to associate with him was seen as much harder to buy people’s conscienc-
ical debate. The country was already a outlets. Universities no longer encour- a betrayal of the party. It’s sweetly ironic es and maintain the self-censorship ap- The actions of a few evolved into a
one-party state, but the People’s Move- aged political research and discussion. that since João Lourenço became pres- paratus that was so effective in stifling national reckoning that obliterated our
ment for the Liberation of Angola Musicians were co-opted to only sing at ident in 2017, the same people that dissent. Without oil money to hide the fear of talking about politics and opened
(MPLA), which had always had its in- official regime rallies. And members of wouldn’t be seen within a kilometre regime’s lack of coherent governance, up many possibilities about where we
ternal divisions, now became scared of parliament were not beholden to their of Marques have been inviting him to and with an ever-widening gap between go as a country. It’s incredibly hearten-
its own shadow. Paranoia, conspiracy constituents as their only function was the presidential palace and giving him the country’s income level and its ap- ing that a new generation will vote in
theories, spies and spooks, real or imag- to rubber-stamp what the party’s exec- merit awards or, alternatively, accusing palling social indicators, it became im- the next elections, scheduled for 2022,
ined, became our new normal. utive told them to. Street protests were him of selling out for accepting these possible to escape reality. and are actively participating in civil
completely discouraged and those who invitations. discourse, public debate, and even street
The emotional effects of  27 de promoted them were accused of want- As the country plunged into an eco- protests. As the shackles of the past are
Maio created an intense culture of fear ing a return to war. Another prominent dissenter was nomic crisis, the Angolan people did dismantled, what was once consid-
and silence that remained eerily palpa- Luaty Beirão. The rapper was perhaps something that, for the nearly four de- ered radicalism is now encouraged and
ble for decades. We have a common Publicly going against this group- the best-known of the 17 youths the cades since 27 de Maio, had been un- championed. In Angola after  27 de
saying in Angola – Xé menino, não fala think, in any field, was an act of radical government arrested in 2015 – and thinkably radical. As part of a sizable Maio, it is radical that people feel like
política  – that translates to “Hey little defiance. In a country in which every- later sentenced – after organising a social movement, loosely held together they finally have a say, and a stake, in
one, don’t talk about politics”. It is a way one knows the emperor has no clothes, reading of US academic Gene Sharp’s and without clear leadership, they de- their own lives.
of transferring fear from one generation but no one dares say it out loud, even 1993 book  From Dictatorship  to De- manded that Dos Santos go. This shift
to the next; from those who witnessed the smallest actions against a culture of mocracy. Beirão was already considered reflected a changing country in which --African Arguments.
horrific incidents first-hand to their fear become radical.  Xe menino, não a subversive radical for saying, publicly, roughly 68% of the population is under *About the writer: Cláudio Silva
children who did not. This outlook fala política. that the MPLA had failed Angola and 24 and has no memory of either the civ- was born in Luanda, grew up in the
shaped an entire country’s attitudes on calling on President Dos Santos to step il war or 27 de Maio. Nonetheless, given United States and moved back to Lu-
speaking openly about the status quo, Before I moved back to Angola in down. It was particularly infuriating for our political climate, this was, I would anda 20 years later to found LNL, An-
current affairs, and our rights as citizens. 2013, my friends who lived abroad at the regime that he was the son of one argue, radical. gola’s largest food & tourism platform. 
The only time one heard alternative nar- the time and I would sometimes write of the president’s closest allies, and the
ratives to the mass propaganda on gov- articles critical of the government. The people were rewarded. Dos San-
ernment-controlled media was if they
whispered in the privacy of one’s own
home.

Coupled with criminally low in-
vestment in education and constant
displays of lethal military force, this at-
mosphere promoted self-censorship and
a singular way of thinking familiar to
anyone who has lived in a repressive re-
gime. The MPLA under President José
Eduardo dos Santos was always right,
and anyone that didn’t agree was either
an agent of imperialism or a stooge of
UNITA, the losing party in the civil
war. Many times, these two insults were
interchangeable and might even have
meant the same thing.

Such was the MPLA’s hegemony –
cultural, political, and economic – that
your perceived success in Angola was
directly tied to how friendly you were
to the party. If you just played your
cards right – if you said the right things,
looked the other way when faced with
egregious displays of state corruption,
said nothing about the lack of rule of
law or free speech or an independent
judiciary – then you had a chance of
becoming a party apparatchik. That was
all that was needed. A foot in the door.
You would be set for life. At best, you
might even become an MP and thus
be guaranteed a high salary, maids and
servants, free gas and healthcare, and
various other perks in one of the poorest
countries in the world.

Unsurprising, wealth in Angola
quickly became concentrated within
this political elite and those with con-
nections to it. This wasn’t true just of

Page 38 Africa News NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Chinese President Xi Jinping (Right) meets with Angolan President Joao Lourenco.

THE China-Angola relationship was Sino-Angolan relations: some insights for the question of An-
forged for purely pragmatic reasons at Old oil and new politics gola’s agency.
an opportune moment of mutual need
in the early 2000s. cal elite, centralized around President referred to as “gasosa” or soft drink). Capitalism”  to something arguably For many years Luanda has contin-
Jose Dos Santos and its office, the so- The debate whether the anti-corrup- more “normal”, those who profited uously sought to balance the leverage
For that reason, it has been famously called “Futungo” clique (after Futungo tion drive has been a mere window from the previous dispensation may that China might have over the An-
labelled a “marriage of convenience”. de Belas, the old presidential palace, dressing, political vendetta against old have indeed cause for concern. golan economy. Although the Futun-
Yet, many things have changed since nowadays, the  Cidade Alta  clique).  party comrades, or a genuine policy Change in China go  implemented an “Easternisation”
China first ventured into Angola. Two The  figure  of  Dos  Santos,  Ango- shift, or all of the above, is still in the Things have also changed from the of its foreign policy in the early 2000s,
factors have been particularly impact- la’s  all-powerful  oil  czar, sidestepping  open, yet the wind of change has been Beijing perspective. Over the years after turning down the IMF assistance
ful: a decline in oil prices starting in the  state bureaucracy, and replacing clearly felt on the streets of Luanda.      China has become much more cau- and the perception cultivated in Luan-
2014 and the decision of President them with cronies to sensitive po- tious about its lending practices in Af- da that it had been abandoned by the
José Eduardo Dos Santos to relinquish sitions, is key to understanding the With the economy in turmoil and rica vis-à-vis supporting business ven- West, it has never stopped trying to
power in 2017 after 38 years at the power dynamic in the country and the reformist zeal, the new Lourenço’s gov- tures and infrastructure deals. Angola diversify partners and navigating new
helm. paradox of being weak and strong at ernment has also moved to diversify its is a vivid manifestation of this trend. options in international relations.
the same time. international ties, mounting a charm
The first significantly dented the offensive abroad, arguably at the ex- The 2004 loan in Angola was one of The fact that pressed against the
government coffers, provided a huge The oil markets, however, threw a pense of closer ties with China. João the first major examples of this prac- wall, with ailing economy and kwan-
blow to kwanza, the local currency, wrench in this machinery and under- Baptista Borges, Angola’s  minister of tice in Africa, thus giving the label the za nose-diving, Angola turned to IMF
and sent the Angolan economy into a cut the regime confidence — a scenar- energy and water, has  admitted  that “Angola model” to similar agreements for help shows exactly this. Over time,
downward spiral. io that was long in the making. More- Angola is now planning to ‘receive elsewhere across the continent as on many instances the Angolan elites
over, this overlapped with Angola’s loans from other countries in order to Sino–African relations burgeoned in demonstrated that they are not mere
According to the World Bank, the maturing oil fields passing their pro- cut back on credit from China’. the 2000s. Yet such lending practices passive “terms-takers”, and cannot be
economy shrank by 10% since 2016. duction peak. In the golden years An- have now become routinely criticised bullied into a framework that could
The second brought hope among or- gola produced more than two million The president himself on several and Beijing has responded by intro- pose an existential threat to regime
dinary citizens  and  abroad, that the barrels daily, now it produces slightly occasion suggested that the “Angola ducing a new degree of caution to its longevity, for example when restrict-
Angolan regime, notorious for its cor- more than half of it. model” of Chinese loans guaranteed activities. ing or outright denying Chinese firms
ruption and malgovernance, is willing by oil would be discontinued, as they access to oil fields, and now embracing
to reimagine itself, including fixing Against this background, João Lou- pose an existential threat to the stabil- The days of wildly generous lend- IMF, ending oil-collateralization and
increasingly unbalanced relations with renço’s ascent to power in 2017 took ity of the Angolan economy. One re- ing to African countries, with little reversing on some of the bad deals.
China. many by surprise. The new president port notes that 10,000 barrels of oil are concern for their sustainability and Instead, they have skilfully managed
swiftly and decisively moved to tackle due for payment every single day and political side-effects, is over. Further- relations with China and other foreign
Those developments combined pro- the Futungistas. given the drastic decline in oil produc- more, China’s voracious appetite for partners on their own terms.
vided a fresh impetus to the Angolan tion levels at the Angolan offshore rigs, crude (and other commodities) has its
political economy. Not only they have A number of major public institu- after servicing its debt in oil, Luanda is limits, which in the medium- to long- The real question is, however,
affected the government’s strategic tions were restructured and some of left with little oil to sell on the global term will be determined by the  on- whether recent developments have
calculations but arguably shifted rela- the most controversial figures of the market. going rebalancing of the Chinese not exposed the problems of agency at
tions with China into yet uncharted Dos Santos period were tackled, most economy  away from being resource the margins. Certainly, the regime has
territory. notably the leader’s children: Isabel Our research shows that the power intensive, export driven and reliant on proved its skills at controlling the ne-
The old oil problem and the new Dos Santos, the eldest daughter coin- shift also instilled fear and uncertainty smokestack manufacturing industries, gotiating process, but at the same time
president cidentally the richest African woman among those 50 000 Chinese that de- towards a more consumption-based it lacked the capacity to effect any real
Angola’s dependence on oil is legend- in the world and the head of the state- cided to stay, as reportedly close to 300 and sustainable approach. structural change.
ary.  According to the IMF,  Angola is owned oil parastatal, Sonangol, and 000 left Angola in the midst of the
the second least diversified economy the son, José Filomeno Dos Santos, currency crisis. This is not surprising With the increasing role of services The Angolan elites are now facing
in the world, after Iraq, with over who headed the  Fundo Soberano de as Beijing placed all its ‘bets on Dos in China and a shifting of the fuel the glaring consequences of this fail-
90% of its export earnings and 60% Angola  (FSDEA), Angola’s sovereign Santos’. Because the  Futungistas  were sources it demands, there will be less – ure as the country continues to slide
of its budget revenues coming from wealth fund. inherently corrupt, yet Chinese com- not more – oil pouring into the coun- towards economic malaise, ultimately
the extraction of the crude. These are panies signed contracts with such of- try, something that Angola must come challenging the benefits of the “mar-
clearly alarming figures, yet for many Other political figures, such as the fice-holders (as did all other investors to grips with. riage of convenience”.
years high prices of the commodity powerful former Vice-President, Man- in Angola at the time), this is likely to Angolan agency: at the margins or
effectively insulated the government uel Vicente, once considered to be a affect some Chinese operations. marginalised? This development within Angola’s
against many perils and odds. Ango- possible successor of Dos Santos, were The current developments may offer politics once again highlights the dan-
la even earned a reputation of a “suc- sidelined. As pledged at  multiple ral- If Angola is moving beyond its gers,  long warned about, of Beijing
cessful failed state”, not because it was lies  Lourenço indeed “put salt in the past governance model of mixing “Af- and its various public and private ac-
particularly successful, but because the soft drink” (bribes in Angola are often ro-Stalinism” with “Petro-Diamond tors fostering close relationships with
regime was able to  penetrate society highly personalised and intrinsically
and extract and appropriate resources. dishonest regimes in Africa.

The ruling party Movimento Pop- In Luanda, there is a broad realisa-
ular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) tion that the relationship with China
has been in power since the country’s had got to a point where the price to
independence, which led to the growth be paid was too steep and continuing
of an entrenched and powerful politi- with business as usual might pose a
real threat to the regime’s longevity.

— Democracy In Africa.

NewsHawks World News Page 39

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Fish spat with France is just another
product of Johnson’s broken Brexit

BORIS Johnson stumbles from cli- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. with the EU that naturally excludes
che to cliche in Glasgow, a boatload Britain. This is allegedly to make
of French fishers are making a fool Britain a genuine compro- near-trivial issue of the too is outrageous. But son’s doing. up for the exclusion of France from
of him. Posing as a world leader, he mise package, as it did last European court of justice, it is what happens when To rub home the point, the bizarre Anglo-American  arms
pleads that the Earth is “at one min- month, he must pretend reneging on an agreement politics strays into trade, deal  with Australia against China.
ute to midnight”, and should raise to hang tough over the he personally signed. This which was precisely John- Joe Biden has now signed a Johnson may now plead for his own
its game in the last chance saloon. deal on steel export tariffs steel agreement, but he is weakened
Yet he cannot stop France’s Em- outside the EU, and American lob-
manuel Macron taunting him over byists may oppose this.
a few boat licences, any more than
he can handle the consequences of The UK’s decision to leave the
the Northern Irish protocol, or ex- EU was political. So be it. Quite
ert influence over the truce between different was the decision also to
the European Union and the United leave the European single market
States on steel tariffs. and free trade area, which was the
personal choice of Johnson to aid
Being outside the EU was meant his campaign against Theresa May.
to display Britain beating its chest It was ill-considered and foolish.
across the Channel and round the The price is now being paid by pig
world, raking in lucrative new farmers and fruit growers, health-
trade. Instead at Cop26, China, care managers, transport sector re-
Russia and India have all found bet- cruiters, builders, hoteliers, musi-
ter things to do than listen to John- cians and Ulster unionists.  Hardly
son’s tired metaphors amid piles of a single gain has accrued to leaving
rain-soaked rubbish. the European market. Meanwhile,
a  widening 10-point gap  exists be-
The fishing dispute with France is tween those who think Brexit a bad
complex and unimportant, and deal for the country against those
55% of England’s fishing quota is who still think it good.
already owned by EU vessels. The
row is pure electioneering by Em- Every woe currently descending
manuel Macron. But Britain has no on Johnson’s head is attributable
friends in Europe and zero leverage, not to Brexit but to the loss of the
following the sloppy withdrawal single market and customs union.
deal reached by Johnson’s belliger- It is blatantly in Britain’s interest
ent chief negotiator and crony, Da- to rejoin them. Continental agree-
vid Frost. He has now handed Ma- ments and supply chains forged
cron an election weapon, a threat to more than 20 years of close relations
impede all trade through Channel with neighbours are not matters of
ports. This should be an outrage. great principle. They are a common
interest and common sense. Aban-
The same sloppiness was evident doning them was a massive error
in last year’s Northern Irish proto- in the name of a spurious freedom.
col, which was certain to infuriate The only question is, who has the
Unionists when they realised John- guts to reverse it.
son had lied to them over its impli-
cations. Now, when the EU offers — The Guardian.

There is a future.

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&Life Style

STYLE TRAVEL BOOKS ARTS MOTORING

Page 40 Issue 54, 29 October 2021

South African
singer Kelly
Khumalo

'Gay' celeb
Somizi told
he's unwelcome
in Zimbabwe

SOUTH African media personality Somizi Mhlongo-Motaung found himself on the
wrong side of archaic Zimbabwean law after his visit to Harare was scuttled.

Somizi, also known as Somgaga, was scheduled to officiate at the re-opening of an
upmarket Ziimbabwean cuisine eatery in the capital on Thursday.

Zimbabwe's Immmigration Act designates gays and prostitutes as some of the people
barred from entering the country. Somizi, who has openly disclosed his sexual orienta-
tion in his home country South Africa where same-sex marriages are allowed, could not
make it to Harare based on his sexuality.

While there was heavy lobbying from Zanu PF youth leaders and a church group to
have the celebrity chef blocked from visiting Zimbabwe to grace the re-opening of Garwe
Restaurant, the Immigration Act is clear on which persons should be allowed to visit the
country.

According to section 14 (f ) Prohibited Persons include any person who:
(i)    is a prostitute or homosexual; or
(ii)    lives or has lived on, or knowingly receives or has received, any part of the earn-
ings of prostitution or homosexuality; or
(iii)    has procured persons for immoral purposes;
(g)    any person who, from information received from any source, is deemed by the
Minister to be an undesirable inhabitant of or undesirable visitor to Zimbabwe.
Garwe restaurant owner Mandy Mvukwe-Chimhini was pressured to drop the South
African actor and media personality Somizi a day before the reopening of her restaurant
on Thursday evening in Eastlea, Harare.
Somizi had been confirmed as a guest at the red carpet and black-tie event to be of-
ficiated by Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa, but his intended visit torched a
storm with the Zanu PF youth league leading protests against his visit.
The organisers quickly replaced Somizi with yet another South African, the songstress
Kelly Khumalo of Empini fame.
In response to his ban, Somizi released a video condemning the move, saying ho-
mophobia — like xenophobia — has no place in society.

— STAFF WRITER.

NewsHawks Life & Style Page 41

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Charity Dlodlo.

JONATHAN MBIRIAYAMVEKA Zim solo actor sets out to celebrated acting talents in the
showcase unfulfilled dreams country and she made herself a
DO we not all dream of getting name with her role as Mai Madzi-
jobs after graduating? rected by Stanley Mambo, was ex- We learn about her quickly de- ing for almost two decades now, va the gossip monger on the most
ecutive produced by award-win- veloped talent for coping with the said she was inspired to work on popular and Zimbabwe's first
While anything is possible in ning Patience Gamu Tawengwa. curious and fickle love life of job- this project by the experiences of soap opera called Studio 263 that
life, some are lucky enough to re- bing actors on the road.  women and girls, chiefly those in premiered in 2002. 
alise their dreams but for others The play is about Sarah who the creative industry. 
their dreams are shattered. turns back time while working The scarcity of opportunities She also worked on projects
in an old factory, she reflects is tough but she also recalls the She also adds that she fell in like Sinners, Mitambo Interna-
When there is no job and no how she was once persuaded by a many auditions she attended and love with the title and the plot tional Theatre Festival, Chipo the
money, stress and hardships are friend to attend an audition. That how she could have tasted success which she says struck a chord Gift, among others. 
hard to swallow. was a lucky breakthrough that if only she would accept nude with the actress she is.  
became the start of a short-lived scenes.    Theatre in the Park now hosts
More often than not, this is acting career.  “I was inspired to do this play different events, including theatre
what college graduates and artists With no offers of work, she since it reflects universal experi- and music, every week. 
in Zimbabwe go through as seen She recounts her experiences at desperately awaits a call from her ences of most women and girls
in the play simply titled Once An drama school where she learns to agent.  and it’s also a story based on re- So far they have held live
Actress. explore her mind to develop char- alities I have witnessed from fel- performances by musicians
acters and to handle emotions.  This single-hander leaves the low artists and most young girls Mokoomba, Feli Nandi and Vic-
Starring prolific stage and audience with a distinct feeling in the communities I have lived,” tor Kunonga which were sold out.
screen actress — Charity Dlod- She is buoyed by landing her from unexpected but unfulfilled she said.
lo, the play premiered recently first acting job touring rural vil- dreams or ambitions. The management said that they
at Theatre in the Park to critical lages and trading centres.  Charity Dlodlo is one of the are working on having weekly
acclaim. Dlodlo, who has been act- shows during working days and
on weekends.  Having survived
The one-woman play addresses the Covid-19 lockdowns, the ven-
unfulfilled dreams or ambitions ue continues to enhance its digi-
and to some extent rejection.  tal technology offering through
virtual performances.
Once An Actress, written by
Tony Layton and adapted and di-

Page 42 State of the culture NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Pondering the Zimbabwe we want

Addy
Kudita

I HAVE in the past week been engaged in have wide use. They are not only the pre- the other one which says "ED Pfee"? The the Chamisa-led MDC lost the right to tural and social experience and to create
some reflection about our society and the serve of ideologues or philosophy schools two major parties in Zimbabwe, Zanu PF use the MDC Alliance name and finance conditions for economic independence,
prevailing discourses around "the Zimba- but are found in everyday parlance and and the MDC Alliance, have over time due to it under the Political Parties Fi- prosperity and equitable distribution of
bwe we want". debates. I was recently dismissed as an produced leaders who have elicited the nance Act. The section says the "MDC the wealth of the nation. Zanu PF believes
idealist in a discussion by one young fel- fawning devotion of their followers. These Alliance shall pursue social liberation pol- in a free enterprise – free market econo-
Culturally, African society has embed- low. His reason was that I seem to be en- followers have been known to brook no icies aimed at completing the unfinished my." The foregoing is in the foreword of
ded norms and values which, wittingly amoured with the idea that society should opposition to their leader. business of the national liberation move- Zanu PF's election manifesto in 2018. 
or unwittingly, influence the manner in be made aware of what is really happening ment and in particular shall strive for the
which we all look at one another as citi- in socio-political arena rather than doing In the process, within these parties, I democratic structural, economic libera- When Zanu talks about a nation, who
zens and in the manner in which we view something practical to "change things". dare say, and to some degree, the prover- tion and empowerment and transforma- constitutes their idea of a nation? Like-
rulers and the way they, in turn, view us. He is of the idea that the pen I wield is bial marketplace of ideas does not exist or tion of Zimbabwe." wise, when the wealth of the nation is
I ask myself a couple of questions: Do Af- not that mighty. I chuckled because it barely exists. I suspect that those within "equitably" distributed, how exactly are
rican people really want the idea of a mar- does seems that he may not be the only the parties who offer alternative views as "A dynamic economy built on the the criteria formulated for that equity? 
ketplace of ideas? Do they really accept one that does not believe that the Fourth conscientious objectors do not have very principles of a mixed market economy So far, Zanu PF has left a trail of evidence
the notion that difference of perspective is Estate has a critical role to play in society thriving political careers within them. with a strong social conscience." -- MDC indicating that it does not consider oppo-
a healthy thing? as have the scribes in Biblical times. What Once a leader indicates left, is it safe to Alliance.     sition supporters as members of its envi-
Ideas powering society indeed is the point of "keeping our jour- indicate right without being regarded sioned society. Zanu PF "otherises" fellow
Ideas are organising principles and all nals", recording events and enlightening as either a sellout or a rebel deserving of These words, lofty as they are, need citizens prodigiously and cannot avoid
human society throughout the world our citizenry on topical issues, they ask? "excommunication"? Both parties have further unpacking as to the details and inbreeding of ideas. Forget the rhetoric on
is founded on some idea or the other; I say that a people that loses its ability exhibited considerable degrees of intoler- modalities. For example, does "unfinished inclusivity in its nationalist posturing. Its
whether it is China with its communism to imagine life as we wish it to be is the ance to dissenters over time. I will leave business" mean giving title to landowners bare teeth bite opponents mercilessly and
or the Western world with its free market reason why we have conveniences such as that to the party functionaries to stew for those who "receive" it?  What about ravenously.
capitalism. aeroplanes and automobiles and things as in the reckoning. I am aware of quite a the manner in which the land is acquired Parting shot
basic as running water! Therefore, dismiss number of incidents supporting my con- in the first place? Is it expropriated for In the end, political parties and societies
The dawn of the 20th century was people as hopeless optimists as you may tention of the two parties’ intolerant ten- reallocation to those who want it? Who with the passage of time must grapple
characterised by a proliferation of ideas so wish, but it will not change the reality dencies. I submit that to the extent that does not want land? MDC Alliance strug- with the concept of weighing the public
which shifted the geopolitical tectonic that the world is a better place because of parties ingrain the atmosphere in which gles regionally in my view with credibil- good on one hand and private interests
plate. In the aftermath of the First World people who dreamed of a better world as superior logic prevails, that is also the ity in matters of being people focused as on another notwithstanding which do-
War, one by one absolute monarchies be- much as it is a product of others’ dark vi- extent to which it can be said that they opposed to being a mere figment of the main of the economy one is examining.
gan to fall away in Europe. The Bolshevik sions of it. reflect a progressive society at large. West’s imagination. It struggles in my One thing is for sure, title deeds denote
revolution ushered the idea that "Animal The Zimbabwe we want? Party thinking on economic ideology view locally with distancing itself from real rights which are enforceable. The
Farm" could no longer abide and that rul- Now, I am not really interested in the The late Learnmore Jongwe in 1998 in Zanuism or sloganeering which borders prosperity or empowerment of people
ers could not be allowed to "eat" with im- great isms per se. I am interested in nor- an address to the University of Zimba- on hero worshipping of its leadership is informed by what exactly? What are
punity anymore whilst the starving masses mative systems which inform our society bwe students' union said: “We are go- since the days of founding leader Morgan the definitional elements of this so-called
watched helplessly. in Zimbabwe. What do Zimbabweans re- ing to fight Zanu PF in the corridors of Tsvangirai. I shudder sometimes…Hope- "empowerment" without title if the state
ally want? When people say for example power because of its failure to fulfill the fully; it will show that ideas have more looms large as a parent  who can dole out 
The Bolsheviks pushed and waged that "Chamisa chete chete" or "Ngaapin- aspirations of the liberation struggle.” This currency than personalities as a counter- trinkets and rewards and even punish-
titanic battles to wrest control from the de Hake Mukomana", what is the differ- point is captured in article section 3.2 of point to Zanu PF’s own nauseating grov- ments using land to errant "children" -- in
hereditary Romanov ruling family clique. ence in essence between that slogan and the MDC Alliance constitution published eling.    this case citizens? What does the Zimba-
It was a bloody conflict and millions per- in the aftermath of the court case in which bwe we want look like?
ished. Central to this struggle was the "The essence of Zanu PF`s ideological
notion propounded by Karl Marx and thrust is the establishment of a sustained
Engels of a society in which, ideally, the society firmly based on our historical, cul-
public good was managed for the public
good to be simplistic and not for a few
elites.

Lenin and company were engaged in
a massive tussle for control of the Rus-
sian state and prevailed through various
means including the seductiveness of their
philosophies at the time and of course
sheer force and violence. The rise of the
Nazis led to massive carnage. Their social
programme was based on white suprem-
acism as the overarching idea. Its devas-
tating consequences have reverberated
throughout the decades. Tens of millions
of people perished as a result of the Sec-
ond World War which owes in large part
to the Nazis’ actions and dark vision of so-
ciety. But worryingly, there does seem to
be a hankering after its rabid and muscu-
lar politics. The United States of America
is another case in point. It rose from the
ashes of absolute monarchism in Europe
as a republic. It has led the way in terms of
free market capitalism alongside the Unit-
ed Kingdom and others in the West.
Realism versus idealism
In the realm of art, realism refers to a
"mid-nineteenth century artistic move-
ment characterised by subjects painted
from everyday life in a naturalistic man-
ner. However, the term is also generally
used to describe artworks painted in a
realistic, almost photographic, way. In
essence, this movement was seized with
the idea of expurgating art of its classical
romanticism and myth making by in-
corporating real-life elements rather than
abstractions.

Life as it really is rather than life as it is
wished. On the other hand, "the idealist,
rather than being anti-realist, is in fact …
a realist concerning elements more usually
dismissed from reality" as per Dunham,
Grant, & Watson (2011, p.4).The termi-
nology regarding “idealism” and “idealist”

NewsHawks Life & Style Page 43

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

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Page 44 Life & Style NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Poet: Temba Munsaka Title: Away from the Gourd Title: Precious Rain
Title: The Hermit POET: Ngugi Wamkirii Poet: Herbert Chiweshe (jindadzi)

By the confluence of the two great rivers, Soft sounds, The anxious farmer
Stood an Abbey, As in the alleys of heaven, Looks up at the skies
Its monolithic structure towered above the Drill through my sinews. Looks at withered crops
squib environs. The plop-plombing enigmatic sounds, There is turmoil
The stone walls gave it a rustic appearance Of the gourd's magical poetry, In his troubled mind
like the Khami Ruins. Are but distant. Sojourning the silent valleys, Where is the rain?
There was a recluse that dwelt at the Hermit- Away from the gourd, I felt an important part of The skies are so plain!
age in the hermitary! me was missing. Marooned in the dark sands, Where is the fertile cloud?
His hermitary was by the plains in the kingdom Of Mat South, Sweating on the fringes of hefty What happened to the auspicious bird?
of the Tonga people. loneliness, Cut away from my very lifeline, Haya, Is this not its name?
His name was the Demented Scribe, Away from the gourd. How I wished the fairies When last was its tentative cry heard?
A descendant of great piety, of the gourd, Would fly-by, This dry spell,
and poetic romanticism. And make me drink a few tots from the keg, Reminiscent of the spell
He was a recluse, Or at least suckle at her succulent breasts. Of January yesteryear,
sequestered from converse. Caged in the mesh of loneliness, Will torment many souls
He was a spirit Man; Breathing in the quire of daft existence, Who, year upon year,
always chanting. I felt the cold, Away from the gourd. Embrace the perennial risk,
Some called him anchorite, No feeling transcends a disconnection, Of the uncertainty
yet romantics called him the poet, Not volunteered or willed, Of season and rain.
In religious circles, he was called the teacher, But fated, The beautiful chimes of sad and Who shall give rein?
Literature enthusiasts called him the scholar, sweet eulogies, The sunshine I found pleasure To the skies?
his foes called him the demented scribe, in, Basking and drinking, And give command, to the reluctant rain
politicians called him the hermit, Under the fiery shadows of the Aries Rages, clouds,
but my people called him the eremite! The Demented Scribes and the lethal venom To release the precious, reviving and revit-
His abode was in the Abbey, of the Mamba. Possibly I am a prodigal son, alising
by the place and time where Azambezia met Marooned like a disarmed combatant, Long-awaited rains?
its tributary, Sengwa, Feeling lost, Away from the Gourd.
A great spiritual union of the white and muddy Tracing my footprints back, ***********************************************
waters!; It was said that he was celibate; The blueprint lost not,
like his forefathers before him, The signature quite clear, Title: This Poem
all of them; the great gatekeepers, No more shall I be, Away from the Gourd Poet: Tafadzwa Chiwanza.
that he had never tasted the sweet nectary’s of
a blooming woman, *********************************************** This poem is like chewing an unpeeled
that he had never seen a damsel without orange.
apparels,; I cried when my ears heard such Title: Our nature It runs havoc on the tongue like a dosage
melancholic news; There was no heaven for Poet: Rutendo Chikande from a mad doctor:
those that denied nature its recompense! Tastes like soil when the rains are shy to
I eavesdropped on my sisters gossiping, The earth turns into the sky of night come down.
they spoke of him as if he was the only man in Lamps like stars in lustrous into glow twinkle Tastes like drought!
the kingdom, that he was a ruddy, rugged and bright; Homes are brides in splashes of light Rawness! Rawness! Rawness!
handsome imam, Children lit up crackers in mighty heart The poem is spread like virgin legs before
Their voices were excited whispers as if he A rocket springs from ground to sky us, With its warm thighs directing us to a
was a god, damsels frolicked over his religious Soars high in eagles flight to Zimbabwe Religious ending.
romanticism, perhaps for more! They roar and sing on their lips Religious freedom!
But to be honest, Hidden somewhere for his golden eve Many a writers have tried to write this
I cared less for a hermit! The banana trees on every doorstep poem, they dressed it in bomber jackets,
Adapted from, “Disjointed Rhythm: Reflections Girl with flowers ready to greet sweaters and boots and face masks,
of a Demented Scribe” Pulsing hearts of love on every guest shades, and condoms,
Through clouds of smoke lasts fear and everything that keeps the poem-
Sound breaks our peaceful slumber from sounding like this one here!
We don't spend our money for the poor
We must learn our ignorance next year
Goddess of wealth blink from heaven
Glides down to earth with divine bliss
Light is life brightening their clouded sails

NewsHawks People & Places Page 45

Issue 55, 5 November 2021

Iconic Garwe Restaurant reopens

There was glitter and glam at the reopening of Garwe Restaurant in Eastlea, Harare
where diners turned up in their numbers dressed to the nines. The relaunch which
was surrounded by controversy following the cancellation of South Africans reality
star Somizi Mhlongo and then songstress Kelly Khumalo in solidarity with her
compatriot who was struck off the bill on the eleventh hour due to his sexuality
amid heavy lobbying by anti-gay activists led by a church group as well as Zanu PF
Youth League. However, the party went ahead with lots of Zimbabwean celebrities
including Zodwa Mkandla. Elizabeth Tsvangirai, Chamu Chiwanza, Madam Boss,
Loraine Guyo and Ace Lumumba among the glitterati.

Property
NewsHawks

Issue 55, 5 November 2021 PROPERTY INTERIORS ARCHITECTURE GARDENING Page 46

The home of prime property: [email protected]

Smart city concept has potential
to boost student accommodation

ALEX MHANDU segments, especially those who are just leaving
universities and small families.
ZIMBABWE has vast opportunities for incor-
porating the smart city concept in housing in- “When we incorporate the smart city concept,
frastructure development for universities, school then the opportunities are very high right now,”
leavers, as well as young families, the Real Estate she said at a recent infrastructure summit held
Institute of Zimbabwe (Reiz) has said. in Harare.

Smart cities use technology to provide services She also pointed out the need for conversion
and solve urban problems, as they improve trans- of old archaic buildings into accommodation fa-
port efficiency, accessibility, improve social ser- cilities as a noble idea for the growing youthful
vices, as well as promote sustainability. population in urban centres.

The components of smart cities include a “If we look at mixed use for the archaic build-
smart environment, smart economy, smart gov- ings in the central business district, we can actu-
ernance, smart people, smart living and smart ally bring them to world-class city standards and
mobility, all translating to societies with efficient help narrow demand by young families and those
services for improved quality of life. who are just joining the job market and need
smaller spaces,” she said.
Reiz chief executive officer Eunice Chim-
ba-Mugabe said there is huge appetite for hous- Stakeholders in the real estate sector have for
ing for the young generation in need of modern years been calling for mixed use of commercial
facilities, incorporating information communi- buildings, especially now that voids have been
cation technology (ICTs) in line with growing increasing as companies downsize operations or
digitalisation. eventually close while others relocate to office
parks and suburban offices.
However, demand has always outstripped sup-
ply in terms of residential housing delivery, with Chimba-Mugabe said the rising student pop-
the country battling a huge backlog of nearly 1.5 ulation was also an opportunity for developers to
million units. tap into the smart city concept around the coun-
try’s universities.
The situation is also dire in universities and
institutions of higher learning, where accommo- “We need to come up with property develop-
dation for both students and staff is still limited. ments that speak to the needs of the people, for
instance small families and students, and meet
Chimba-Mugabe indicated the cost for mort- their ICT needs in those developments,” she said.
gages for young families and graduates from col-
leges was too high, creating scope for developers “Right now we have a lot of opportunities to
and funders to come up with a model that speaks develop student accommodation in smart cities,”
to this vast market. she said, adding that such developments should
incorporate social amenities and facilities that
“Opportunities for housing infrastructure are cater for the needs and wants of the new gen-
vast especially when we consider various market eration.”

NewsHawks Sport Page 47

Issue 55, 5 November 2021 Greatest moments of ‘King
David’ relived in tribute
ENOCK MUCHINJO
and three ODIs. nings in three Test matches because Dave Houghton. ter, near Cape Town. 
AS he celebrates his 20th anniversa- “That was a good series for Zim- every time there was a second in- in six innings in in those three Test “Kepler selected a very strong
ry in the spotlight, the world’s only nings, the rain came and intervened. matches.”
recognised blind cricket commenta- babwe from a perspective that we But in those three Test matches he side to come and play against a full-
tor, Dean du Plessis, has gone deeper discovered Heath Streak, that’s when scored 54, 266, and a 142. So a Three years earlier, Houghton strength South Africa team, and,
into the archives in tribute of a man we realised that this is a guy who lot of people talk about the golden had made a massive impression on you know, South Africa were at their
he considers to be Zimbabwe’s great- could bowl, and Dave Houghton times that Andy Flower had in In- du Plessis with his fearless batting strongest,” recalls du Plessis.
est cricketer of all time.  had a phenomenal series,” du Plessis dia, in 2000, where he scored 540 during a benefit game in 1993 for
says. runs. But that was in four innings former South Africa captain Kepler “And what Kepler did was he
Harare-born du Plessis, who re- over two Test matches. I wonder how Wessels in Port Elizabeth.  also chose Andy Flower and Dave
vealed a “worrying” hearing loss to a “But it was a terrible series in the many runs Dave would have scored Houghton. I remember there was a
leading international news conglom- sense that there was so much rain. So The adoring young fan from Zim- beautiful, beautiful article written
erate last week, spoke briefly in that Dave Houghton only had three in- babwe keenly followed the action by a South African journalist about
interview of his great admiration for from his boarding school in Worces- how nice it is to see two Zimba-
the former Zimbabwe captain and bweans included in this World XI.
batting kingpin, who he has known Unfortunately, they focused way
closely since his days at a South Af- more on Andy Flower than they did
rican school for the blind in the 90s. on Davie. It was so nice that Andy
didn’t do a thing, well, that wasn’t
The 44-year-old broadcaster and nice (…chuckles). But Dave, he
blogger has gone a step further in went out there against this South
reliving the moments that Hough- African bowling attack: Allan Don-
ton created lasting impressions, and ald, Brett Schultz, Craig Matthews,
made him one of this country’s finest and the off-spinner Pat Symcox.
sportspersons in history.  There was one more seamer who I’m
missing out…Fanie de Villiers, yes.
Du Plessis says he shared his re- Houghton made 114 off 99 balls
spect for Houghton with his late fa- with 12 fours and five sixes which in
ther Chris, who passed on in 2020 those days was completely unheard
and had been an influential figure in off and especially against that bowl-
his cricket journalism career.  ing attack. To be sweeping Fanie de
Villiers, who was quick enough, let
“He loved his cricket so much, me tell you, and to be playing sweep
he taught me a lot about the game,” shots like he was playing the spin-
du Plessis tells The NewsHawks this ners! You know, Fanie would bowl
week. outside the off-stump and Davie
would play a genuine sweep shot
“He used to reminisce about his as if he was hitting the off-spinner.
favourite cricketers: Graham Pol- He was hitting him into the tennis
lock, Mike Procter, Barry Richards, courts at St George’s Park, which
Eddie Barlow – all the cricketers he was a very, very big hit. And obvi-
used to admire when he was a young ously, he made mincemeat of the
man. And he was like me, he was of off-spinner, Pat Symcox. Everybody
the opinion that Dave Houghton is knew Davie was capable of doing
Zimbabwe’s greatest ever batsman. that because he was a very good
From a statistical perspective, yes, player of spin, but they didn’t expect
Andy Flower was the best, we un- him to really take on Fanie de Vil-
derstand that. But Dave Houghton liers and Craig Matthews in the way
was Zimbabwe’s greatest, and I don’t that he did.”
care what anybody tries to tell me.
He was Zimbabwe’s best and my dad Bulawayo-born Houghton played
used to agree with me on that.” 22 Tests and 66 ODIs for Zimba-
bwe between 1983 and 1997. The
Most young sports fans fall in 64-year-old former star, who went
awe of their heroes – veneration that on to become Zimbabwe’s coach
lasts well into adulthood – initially before working abroad, has recently
because of one particular match, or returned home from the UK to take
series in this instance. up a new post as the country’s na-
tional coaching manager. 
For a young Dean du Plessis, it
was when he completed his school-
ing and returned home to Zimba-
bwe permanently.

The year was 1994, when glorious
Houghton lasted a good two days in
a Test in his birthplace Bulawayo to
build the innings that earned him
stripes as a world-class batsman, a
score of 266 that remains the highest
ever by a Zimbabwean.

But that majestic innings wasn’t
the only Houghton brilliance that
stood out in that series of three Tests

SADIO Mane, the Liverpool forward, For Peter, this is probably English Premier League – his coun-
is a great player and he also builds just a ridiculous sideshow try’s greatest footballer of all time – is
schools, mosques and hospitals in his the Premier League – in the colours of history. Africa’s most successful and best or- not building facilities in his homeland
homeland – Senegal – worth millions Coventry City – somebody like Mane 26 years ago, Liverpool themselves ganised clubs of the past decade. like Sadio Mane.
of dollars. would have in those days equally at- were at the receiv- So, no
tracted the attention of lesser sides ing end of such a matter what Nine years ago, when I was still ed-
Somebody I know well, a big foot- like Derby County or Wimbledon. feat when a lit- your opinion iting the sports section of a local daily,
ball fan, likens the Senegalese super- tle nimble-foot- of the man Peter was gracious enough to grant us
star’s on-field ability to our own Pe- Another school of thought that I ed Zimbabwean HawkZone is – good or a big interview in his early post-UK
ter Ndlovu, who he says matches the personally subscribe to is that Peter years. He told two of my reporters
Reds star pound-for-pound if they Ndlovu was a player way ahead of his called Peter Nd- bad – you who did the story, that he had no time
had happened to belong to the same time, one who, had he belonged to to lovu arrived at are probably for those that had made it a favourite
era. this era, would perfectly be at par with Anfield and scored Enock entitled to pastime of theirs to talk about how
the world’s best footballers. a hat-trick for un- Muchinjo it. But his miserable his life had become. 
Because of their bags of skills, heralded Coventry worth is well
frightening pace and finishing prow- I do not think that we fully appre- City to become known and it The Peter Ndlovu in him, he told
ess – both could pose a threat from ciate this footballer in his country. A the first visitor is well with- my desk, was just a simple guy really,
out wide, or from the middle – so says few weeks back, Egyptian Mo Salah there in 34 years in his right, a man far better than being reduced
this gentleman. of Liverpool starred in the 5-0 demo- to find the back of the net thrice. well-earned as a matter of fact, to put to publicly brandish a bank account
lition of old foes Manchester United, In more recent times, Ndlovu is the a price to any public appearance of to prove petty people otherwise. Let
But then, according to our friend, becoming the first visiting player to team manager and one of the brains commercial nature. And that is even those that said Peter was broke enjoy
Mane would have never featured for grab a hat-trick against the Red Devils behind Mamelodi Sundowns, one of if the first African star of the modern their myth!
Liverpool had he played in the era at Old Trafford in the Premier League
of Ndlovu at the onset of he modern I have no doubt that this is the same
EPL in the early ‘90s simply because right attitude that Peter has now, in
time was not ripe for Africans to the wake of a senseless story in which
showcase at the biggest stage in that he was said to have “spurned” a house
league. gift in Zimbabwe simply because he
was busy, or because he billed a fee
Just like Ndlovu who became the that was worth his profile anyway.
first from this continent to feature in

Sports Cara wins Fan
Vote for

The greatest International

moments of Hall of Fame

‘King David’

Thursday 1 October 2020 relived in tribute

Friday 5 November 2021 @NewsHawksLive TheNewsHawks www.thenewshawks.com

WHAT’S INSIDE NEWS CULTURE
Cara Black wins Fan Vote for$60Covid
tariff for
visitors &
Community
radio
regulations

tourists under review
International Hall of FameCARA Black of Zimbabwe, a former

Chamisa reacWTA Tour doubles specialist who held
Story on Page 3 Story on Page 8
Hall of Fame CEO, said: “A big part of
the world No. 1 doubles ranking for 163 our decision to introduce Fan Voting in
2018 was to create a means of engaging
weeks, has finished in first place in the In- Khupethe global tennis community in the sport’s
ternational Tennis Hall of Fame’s Class of out to history and its ultimate honour, and this
2022 Fan Vote. Italian tennis great Flavia year we really saw that goal come to frui-
Pennetta finished in second place, and tion. The 2022 Hall of Fame ballot high-
Ana Ivanović, of Serbia, finished in third lights the historic careers of six unique
place. individuals from five nations. Discerning
Thousands of tennis fans from a record fans from all over the world took interest
178 nations took part in the vote, voicing in the candidates’ careers and stories, and
their feedback for which candidates they Unofficial president calls for emergewe saw a record turnout in terms of the
believe are deserving of tennis’ ultimate number of countries that participated in
honour – induction into the Internation- the Fan Vote this year. The Internation-
al Tennis Hall of Fame. al Tennis Hall of Fame is committed to
The Fan Vote is one component of serving that global audience. We’re grate-
the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s ful to the many fans who participated.”
multi-faceted election process. In addi- Cara Black hails from Harare, Zimba-
tion to the Fan Vote, an Official Voting bwe, where she learned to play tennis on
Group comprised of tennis journalists, the grass courts her father built at their
historians, and Hall of Famers, will also home. She is the first Zimbabwean and
vote on the 2022 ballot. the first African-born woman to be nom-
As the first-place finisher in the ITHF inated for the International Tennis Hall
Fan Vote, Black will receive three bonus of Fame. To date, there is just one other
percentage points on her results from the Player Category inductee from the Afri-
Official Voting Group, while Pennetta can continent in the Hall of Fame – Frew
will receive two bonus percentage points, McMillan of South Africa, a five-time
and Ivanović will receive one bonus per- major champion in doubles.
centage point. From early training on the home courts
To be elected into the Hall of Fame, a to the global tennis tour, Black went on to
candidate must receive an affirmative vote become one of the sport’s most dominant
of 75% or higher on the combined results doubles players. Her 163 weeks at dou-
of the Official Voting Group and any bo- bles No. 1 is third all-time, behind Mar-
nus percentage points earned in the Fan tina Navratilova and Liezel Huber. Black
Vote. In addition to Black, Pennetta, and won 60 career doubles titles, including
Ivanović, American Lisa Raymond and Cara Black. three titles at Wimbledon, as well as tro-

Spaniards Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos bonuses are compiled, the International I’ve received in the Fan Vote. It’s amazing something you ever think about when phies at the Australian Open and the US
Moyá of Spain are also on the ballot for Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 2022 will be to receive this feedback from tennis fans you are competing. But to look back now Open. Cara also won five mixed doubles
Class of 2022 induction. announced early next year. right around the world, and I’m particu- and to know that what I accomplished in major titles and is one of three women in
Official Voting Group voting takes Of her first-place finish, Black com- larly grateful for the support I’ve felt from my career is now being acknowledged in tennis history (the Open Era, since 1968)
place in the month ahead. Once the Of- mented: “I’m incredibly humbled, hon- Zimbabwe. Being considered for the In- this way, it’s just an amazing honour.” to have achieved a career Grand Slam in
ficial Voting Group results and Fan Vote oured, and appreciative for the support ternational Tennis Hall of Fame is not Todd Martin, International Tennis mixed doubles. —AGENCIES. 

PIET Benade, the ex-Zimbabwean Sables boost coaching gweme, Tapiwa Tsomondo, Jordan
schoolboy rugby ace, has joined the na- Coombes, Sean Beevor, Biselele
tional team as a coaching consultant for Tshamala, Cleopas Kundiona, Godfrey
two forthcoming Tests in South Africa. Muzanargwo, Aiden Burnett, Tonde-
rai Chiwambutsa, Charles Gamhiwa,
The former Prince Edward School Lawrence Cleminson, Godwin Man-
flyhalf maestro, who turned out for
Western Province in the Currie Cup, Finance Ministy wipes out $3.2 Billion depositogernsjef,uVnicdtosr MapunZgiam. 's latest land c
coaches in the Western Cape area,
where the Sables will play in a four-na- Backs: Hilton Mudariki (captain),
tion World Rugby-organised competi- Dudlee White-Sharpley, Keith Chi-
tion in Stellenbosch this month. with Benade additionALSOINSIDE wara, Takudzwa Chieza, Darrel Mak-
other earlier tie between Namibia and dan Coombes. punga – are the uncapped players in the washa, Takudzwa Kumadiro, Riaan
Zimbabwe take on Brazil in a histor- Kenya. Meanwhile, centre Boyd Rouse Coombes and fellow loosie Tapiwa 27-man squad. O’Neill, Brandon Mudzekenyedzi,
ic first Test between the two countries has been withdrawn from the original Tsomondo as well as potent backliner ZIM SQUAD Shingi Katsvere, Martin Mangongo,
on 14 November. The victorious team Sables squad named a fortnight ago and Tapiwa Mafura – alongside front-row- Forwards: Tyran Fagan, Deanne Ma- Tapiwa Mafura. 
will then clash with the winner of the has been replaced by loose-forward Jor- ers Charles Gamhiwa and Victor Ma- koni, Royal Mwale, George Saun-
— STAFF WRITER.

ALSO INSIDE The greatest moments of ‘King David’ relived in tribute