NewsHawks 16 July 2021 FINAL-min

Price

US$1

Friday 16 July 2021

WHAT’S INSIDE NWAEfhrWiecnSa South BToUnSgINaaEtSHSulett SZPimO’Rs Thorrible
sneezes ordered to run continues
Zimbabwe refund farmers as pressure
catches a cold millions in VAT mounts on Rajput

Story on Page 7 Story on Page 23 Story on Page 42

Mnangagwa
in army boss 
appointment
clash with
Chiwenga

ALSO INSIDE Who is the next ZNA commander?

Page 2 News NewsHawks

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Mnangagwa 2023, although Chiwenga
in army boss  and his military faction hope
appointment to stop him during next year’s
clash with elective party congress.
Chiwenga
The immediate point of
OWEN GAGARE “They are currently hav- Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga with President Emmerson Mnangagwa. conflict after the coup was
ing consultations before they the appointment of Muchin-
PRESIDENT Emmerson make a recommendation to About a year after the elec- collision course.” headquarters – not his farm guri-Kashiri and Mohadi as
Mnangagwa and Vice-Presi- the President. Rugeje is the fa- tion, in June 2019, Mnangag- Mnangagwa’s tensions with where people always gathered vice-presidents. The Muchin-
dent Constantino Chiwenga vourite – he has the right qual- wa – in a push back against for unofficial meetings and guri-Kashiri appointment was
are on a new collision course ifications, experience and sup- Chiwenga – removed Rugeje Rugeje exploded during a plotting. resisted by an angry Chiwenga
over the appointment of the port within the military, but as commissar and put Matem- Zanu PF politburo meeting who pressured Mnangagwa
next Zimbabwe National the problem is politics. Mnan- atanda as he initially wanted. on 29 July 2020. The month- That was enough to ruffle to appoint him vice-president
Army (ZNA) commander, gagwa doesn’t want him.” ly meeting was held on a Mnangagwa’s feathers and instead.
with retired Lieutenant-Gen- Matemadanda remained in Wednesday at party headquar- widen the rift between them. 
eral Engelbert Rugeje at the Rugeje was part of Chiwen- the position amid bungling, ters commencing 10am.  Mnangagwa beat a hasty
centre of the row and renewed ga’s core military team which while also being deputy De- Rugeje was central in the retreat and abandoned the
power struggle. put Mnangagwa to power fence minister until recently It came just two days be- coup against Mugabe. Muchinguri-Kashiri deal and
through the coup against the when was appointed ambassa- fore the 31 July 2020 pro- brought in Chiwenga on
The ZNA top post is vacant late former president Robert dor to Mozambique. tests. Mnangagwa feared an He was, however, retired board with unprecedented
following the death of Lieu- Mugabe. uprising by the opposition from the military alongside powers, also in charge of de-
tenant-General Edzai Chi- Rugeje had been removed and Zanu PF internal rivals. Chiwenga, who was the ZDF fence and war veterans min-
monyo who succumbed to a As part of their November with a promise that he would This was similar to events in commander, the late Per- istries. 
heart ailment on 8 July. 2017 coup deal, Rugeje, who be deployed to head the Zim- January 2019 during unrest rance Shiri, then Air Force
is Chiwenga’s ally, was sup- babwe National  Defence Uni- that left a trail of death and commander and Sibusiso Mohadi had initially been
Military sources told The posed to be appointed ZNA versity, but Mnangagwa left destruction. Moyo, former ZDF chief- given those portfolios, includ-
NewsHawks this week that commander following the him in the lurch. of-staff. Chiwenga became ing security.
the issue is looming large in promotion of Sibanda to com- In an unprecedented move, co-vice-president, Shiri and
the corridors of power amid mand ZDF. So after putting his head on Mnangagwa had brought in Moyo ministers of Agriculture But Mnangagwa did not
resurgent infighting between the block with others to get Central Intelligence Organi- and Foreign Affairs respective- rest: he continued to push his
the two leaders. However, Chiwenga first Mnangagwa in, Rugeje was sation director-general Isaac ly, and Rugeje Zanu PF com- agenda and, much to Chiwen-
wanted Rugeje, now his trust- basically thrown out. Moyo to present a report to missar. ga’s shock, the President and
“This is a big issue because ed lieutenant, to go to Zanu the effect that some senior his supporters immediately
the President and his deputy PF to take control of the par- But Chiwenga still wants party officials were working Military sources said this started playing the long game
have different political agen- ty machinery and structures Rugeje, who is a relatively re- with the opposition and civil was within the context of the to prolong his stay in power
das on who should replace ahead of the 2018 elections. spected and experienced com- society activists to organise an broader coup deal, which en- beyond 2023 as early as De-
Chimonyo,” a military source mander, to be appointed the anti-government revolt. tailed Mnangagwa serving un- cember 2018 during the rul-
said.  Mnangagwa did not want next ZNA chief.  til 2023 before handing over ing party’s Esigodini annual
that. So he tried to outma- “Although Chiwenga was the reins of power to Chiwen- conference.
“The President is still noeuvre Chiwenga, who was Senior military officers, strategically absolved of any ga.
searching among the serving firmly in charge at the time, by however, say Rugeje’s position wrongdoing, it was said the Mnangagwa later started
and retired senior command- appointing senior war veterans has been weakened by the fact so-called traitors were acting Sibanda would also become purging police, intelligence
ers for the most suitable candi- leader Victor Matematanda that he retired from the mili- in his name. As a result, the vice-president on the Zapu and then army structures to
date, while his deputy is dead whom the military rejected. tary after the coup. He would 342nd session of the politbu- ticket, replacing Kembo Mo- realign them to his power ma-
set on ensuring Rugeje gets the be shoo-in if he had remained ro suspended its secretary for hadi at that stage, while Ruge- trix.
job. Although it is the com- Rugeje went on to become and was not retired. Health Cde Cleveria Chize- je would bounce back as, first,
mander-in-chief who has the Zanu  PF national commissar. ma after Lovemore Matuke, ZNA commander and then Key military command-
final say, the process is consul- He presided over the party’s But then again, in principle, head of the security depart- CDF boss. ers who played a critical role
tative, hence clashing designs 2018 election campaign, but Rugeje can still be appointed ment, presented Moyo’s report during the coup, including
and manoeuvres.  found himself in clashes with ZNA commander as he is part on how internal forces were Mohadi resigned as Presidential Guard command-
Mnangagwa’s staunch loyalists of the reserve force. When sol- working with opposition ac- vice-president amid a sex scan- er retired Major-General An-
“The new commander is like Chris Mutsvangwa who diers retire they remain part of tivists to subvert Mnangagwa’s dal early this year, but remains selem Sanyatwe, were retired
supposed to have been ap- was then presidential adviser. the army as the reserve force leadership.” party co-deputy leader. He is and sent on diplomatic ser-
pointed by the time Zimba- and can be called back to duty currently going around the vice.
bwe commemorates Heroes Mutsvangwa said Rugeje whenever necessary. However, during the ensu- country mobilising structures.
and Defences Forces holidays was inexperienced and push- ing heated debate Rugeje re- Chiwenga’s allies were also
on 9 August and 10 August re- ing a military factional agen- “Mnangagwa does not want minded Mnangagwa how he But no sooner had Mnan- purged from cabinet.
spectively. It’s raising tensions da after he had lost Zanu PF Rugeje, whom he knows to be had come to power and how gagwa gotten into office than
between them because it is a primaries in Norton before one of Chiwenga’s strongest Chiwenga and others like him the deal began unravelling as This mostly happened when
critical appointment with im- coming back through the back and fearless allies. That’s why had put their heads on the he launched an independent he was ill and away in China.
plications for power dynamics door in a re-run after his rival he removed him from head- block for him. path forward and a ruthless
and how the unresolved lead- withdrew, only to be defeat- ing the Zanu PF commissariat power consolidation bid, re- After Shiri’s death in July
ership issue between them will ed by independent candidate after the 2018 polls. He didn’t He also reminded Mnan- sulting in a fallout and ten- last year, Chiwenga and his
be settled.” Themba Mliswa in the main want him there in the first gagwa that he has offices sions within the coup coali- faction pushed for his replace-
poll in July 2018. place,” a source said. – Munhumutapa Building, tion. Mnangagwa is currently ment with a person who has
Mnangagwa has three State House and Zanu PF on a power consolidation a security background, but
weeks to find a replacement Mutsvangwa, whom the “But Chiwenga wants Ru- drive to ensure re-election in Mnangagwa appointed an ally
for Chimonyo. army succeeded in removing geje to take over, hence the from Masvingo, Anxious Ma-
from office, had also warned suka to take over.
“There is a board or con- that Mnangagwa could lose if
sultation team which includes people like Rugeje remained One of Mnangagwa’s key
the minister of Defence (Op- in charge of the elections. strategies has been to mainly
pah Muchinguri-Kashiri), the appoint his ethnic Karanga
permanent secretary (Mark In the midst of the suspi- homeboys, mostly from the
Gray Marongwe), the imme- cions and tensions, Mnan- Midlands and Masvingo prov-
diate past CDF (Commander gagwa complained at the time inces, into key positions as
Defence Forces,  Chiwenga) that there was an impeach- part of the power consolida-
and the current CDF (Lieu- ment plot against him. This tion agenda, hence brazen po-
tenant-General Phillip Valerio suggested an intensification litical clansmaship in his rule.
Sibanda,” another source said.  of the infighting and renewed
political brinksmaship. Ethnic politics, cronyism
and patronage are deeply em-
bedded in Zimbabwean poli-
tics. That, together with lead-
ership, policy and governance
failures, ruined the country.

This is widely seen as a con-
tinuation of Mugabe’s ethnic
and regional politics – politi-
cisation and weaponisation of
ethnicity for political ends.

Mugabe mainly appointed
his ethnic Zezuru cronies  into
key positions throughout his
37 years in power. This was
the main reason for the Tsho-
lotsho Agenda of 2004 to ro-
tate leadership among various
ethnic and sub-ethnic groups
to break the current mould.

NewsHawks News Page 3

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Who is the next ZNA commander?

BERNARD MPOFU Retired Lieutenant-General Engelbert Rugeje. now mainly focusing on
their business interests in-
ZANU PF internal politi- Mnangagwa from the dark Brigadier-General Mi- is stationed at Inkomo administration. The other stead of politics.
cal dynamics are expected days of the Gukurahundi chael Sango (ambassador to Garrison played a key role major-general, Hlanganani What does constitution
to play out when President genocide, was largely seen Russia) is the only serving in pushing Mugabe out of Dube, is in charge of the say about appointments?
Emmerson Mnangagwa as a dark house.  military man in diplomatic power. army’s quartermaster roles. Section 216 of Zimbabwe’s
appoints the new Zimba- service at the highest level. constitution speaks on the
bwe National Army (ZNA) “After being appointed Sango is understood to en- Another name which has Sources further said if ZDF and services within
commander following the ambassador by Mugabe, joy close links with Mnan- also been tipped to become Mnangagwa were to pro- the military.
death of Edzai Absolom Chimonyo always wanted gagwa. the next chief by sources mote a senior general from
Chanyuka Chimonyo last to identify himself as a sol- Another former who believe that Vice-Pres- the ZDF to succeed Chi- (1) An Act of Parliament
week. dier first then diplomat,” a high-ranking military man ident Chiwenga may influ- monyo, Major-General may provide that— (a) the
source said. “Mnangagwa who was posted to diplo- ence the process is Lieu- John Chris Mupande would Defence Forces are to be
Chimonyo, who was made sure that Chimonyo matic service until the time tenant-General Engelbert be the ideal candidate as his under the command of a
re-assigned from the diplo- was brought back into the of his death was Douglas Rugeje, the former Zanu appointment is more senior single Commander; or
matic service and appointed military.” Nyikayaramba (Mozam- PF political commissar who than the ZNA chiefs.
ZNA chief after the 2017 bique). Nyikayaramba, who left military service before (b) each service of the
military coup which oust- His ascendancy has was retired in the army and being retired and appointed The ZDF is made up Defence Forces, or any two
ed long-time leader Robert heightened speculation that was believed to be close to to run the governing party’s of the ZNA and the Air or more of them jointly, are
Mugabe, was a dark horse. Mnangagwa, who is known Mugabe after having served commissariat. Force of Zimbabwe. The to be under the command
His appointment came as a for playing his cards close to as election administration The generals within Zimba- ZNA, which has a statuto- of a separate Commander. 
surprise to many and critics his chest, may consider re- chief, died early this year bwe ry strength of 40 000 active
viewed it as Mnangagwa’s tired servicemen who are in due to Covid-19 complica- Sources said if Mnangag- personnel, is however the (2) Every Commander of
coup-proofing strategy. diplomatic service. tions. wa is to follow the prin- primary branch of the ZDF the Defence Forces, and ev-
In terms of army hierar- ciple of natural progres- responsible for land-ori- ery Commander of a service
The age factor, experience Zimbabwe, according to chy, Katsande, who was ele- sion, either Chimonyo’s ented military operations. of the Defence Forces, is
and allegiances, according official records, currently vated to the rank of colonel immediate subordinate, ZNA reserves claim anoth- appointed by the President
to insiders, will influence has three retired army gen- after retirement and Madz- Lieutenant-General David er 21 800, putting the com- after consultation with the
Mnangagwa’s appointment erals who are serving in dip- vamuse, exited the army Sigauke, who is the most bined component strength Minister responsible for the
of the next army command- lomatic service. These are at lower rank than their senior army chief among total at about 51 800. Defence Forces. 
er. Following Mnangagwa’s Lieutenant-General Martin compatriots in diplomatic Chimonyo’s three immedi-
takeover, there has been Chedondo (retired) who is service.  Sanyatwe, sources ate subordinates, will take “Mupande, just like (3) Commanders of the
concern that the President Zimbabwe’s ambassador to said, was unlikely to bounce the job. Sigauke, during his Sanyatwe and Rugeje, are Defence Forces and Com-
has reserved key posts for China, Air Marshal Shebba back into active service as days as commander of the viewed by those around manders of services of the
people from only two prov- Shumbayaonda (retired), he is widely seen as a close Mechanised Brigade, was Mnangagwa as close to Defence Forces, are ap-
inces — Midlands and Mas- who is Zimbabwe’s am- ally of Chiwenga.  slapped with a travel ban Chiwengwa and this may pointed for a term of not
vingo — dominated by his bassador to Egypt, former The former commander to New Zealand. He is the minimise chances of their more than five years, and
ethnic Karanga tribe. This, Air Force deputy chief Ti- of the Presidential Guard current ZNA chief of staff ascendancy. With the 2023 a person must not serve in
sources said, has unsettled tus Abu-Basuthu, who is was briefly promoted to (general staff). He works elections coming up, Mnan- any one of those offices for
some Zanu PF apparatchiks Zimbabwe’s ambassador to the rank of major-gener- closely with another for- gagwa would prefer a loyal- more than two terms. 
such as Mnangagwa’s dep- Japan Lieutenant-General al before being retired and mer Mechanised Brigade ist to fight from his corner.
uty Constantino Chiweng- (retired) Anselem Nhamo posted to Tanzania. His for- commander, Major-Gener- We may end up seeing the (4) A person who has
wa, a retired military chief. Sanyatwe (ambassador to mer unit together with the al Paul Chima, who is the politics of clansmanship served as Commander of
Tanzania), Major-Gener- Mechanised Brigade which chief of staff in charge of playing out,” a source said.  a service of the Defence
Phillip Valerio Siban- al (retired) Tando Madz- Forces may be appointed as
da, the current Zimbabwe vamuse and Colonel Chris- The age factor, sources Commander of the Defence
Defence Forces Commad- tian Katsande (retired).  said, will limit the chances Forces, but a person who
er, Isaac Moyo, the coun- of retired generals who are has served as Commander
try’s top spy and Air Force of the Defence Forces may
of Zimbabwe boss Elson not be appointed as Com-
Moyo are all from the mander of a service of the
Midlands province. An- Defence Forces or to the
other Midlander, Sibusiso command of any other se-
Moyo, who was the face curity service. 
of the coup before being
appointed Zimbabwe’s top (5) Every Command-
diplomat, was also from the er of the Defence Forces,
Midlands. and every Commander of
a service of the Defence
Chimonyo was from Forces, must exercise his
Masvingo province. or her command in accor-
dance with general written
This week, The News- policy directives given by
Hawks spoke to security the Minister responsible for
sources and looked into the Defence Forces acting
the country’s laws to see under the authority of the
whether or not Mnangagwa President
would spring another sur- About the ZNA
prise. The ZNA was formed in
Who are the big names? 1980 from elements of
Chimonyo’s appointment the Rhodesian Army, inte-
brought to the fore how grated to a greater extent
Mnangagwa as Command- with combatants from the
er-in-Chief flexed his mus- Zimbabwe National Lib-
cle by appointing a general eration Army (Zanla) and
who was not active instead the Zimbabwe People’s
of those who had played Revolutionary Army (Zpra)
a leading role in wresting guerrilla movements. At
power from Mugabe.  Independence in 1980
and the cantonment of the
Unlike previous army Zanla and Zpra under Op-
boss Constantino Chiwen- eration Midford, British
ga, who was ZNA chief Army trainers (the British
before being appointed Military Advisory Training
Zimbabwe Defence Forces Team, BMATT) coordinat-
commander following the ed the integration of guer-
death of Vitalis Zvinavashe, rilla fighters into a unified
Chimonyo, whom insid- army.
ers said had been close to

Page 4 News NewsHawks

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

OWEN GAGARE Zimra executives in US$585m
tax evasion corruption scam
CORRUPTION skele- the US$585 million tak-
tons involving a series of Zimra acting board chair Josephine Matambo. en out as income. The
multi-billion-dollar tax documents and financial
evasion scandals are tum- count. The transitory ac- nous bank details, Zimra babwe for its diamond affairs. This was in viola- statements we had pro-
bling out of the Zimba- count was then closed on failed and deliberately trading activities, but did tion of section 98 of the vided were a solid and
bwe Revenue Authority 5 August 2014. neglected to investigate not withhold tax on fees Revenue Authority Act sound basis upon Zimra
(Zimra) cupboard amid and recover revenue from for onward remittance to (chapter 23). If Zimra could declare the money
a new corruption scam BancABC executives Jinan Mining. In the Zimra. had moved swiftly to in- taxable income,” another
involving Chinese dia- were later arrested over process, government and vestigate the tax affairs of document says.
mond miner Jinan Min- the issue of the money Treasury lost US$200 “Jinan violated Zimba- this company, it would
ing (Pvt) Ltd’s dodgy transfers suspected to be million in tax revenue.” bwe’s company laws. It have prevented the mas- “All that Zimra re-
US$585 million financial money laundering and used BancABC’s subsid- sive externalisation of the quired to do was to levy
transfers across various externalisation. When the case was re- iary ABC Asset Finance US$585 million,” the 25% and 15% of the
jurisdictions, including ported, Jinan was not to camouflage, divert and documents say. US$585 million as In-
Zimbabwe. Documents say whis- filing tax returns as re- externalise US$585 mil- come Tax and withhold-
tle-blowers investigated quired under Section 37 lion,” the document say.  “The top brass at Zim- ing respectively. This
New documents ob- and reported the issue of the Income Tax Act ra, and in particular one would bring a sum of
tained this week by The in 2013, but Zimra did (chapter 23:06).  “This arrangement was former Commission- US$232 000 as the prin-
NewsHawks reveal fur- nothing despite having a scheme designed to er-General, was cor- cipal amount plus 100%
ther corruption by Zimra ample evidence. It is mandatory in avoid paying tax and for rupt. He got a US$250 interest and another
executives who have been terms of the law for ev- other unlawful deeds.” 000 loan from BancABC, 100%in penalties.”
looting the whistle-blow- “Through our own ef- ery company to file tax thus he wouldn’t act in
er’s multi-million-dollar forts and personal sac- returns to enable Zimra The documents say any issue involving the Besides all this, doc-
fund through corrupt rifices and at the risk of to assess and calculate Zimra failed to play its bank like this Jinan case.” uments say there was a
networks involving its life and limb, we estab- taxable income. role as a tax-collector due failure on Zimra’s part to
management and infor- lished that Jinan Mining to “dereliction of duty” Documents say Zim- invoke deeming provi-
mants. was not paying taxes and Documents show that and “corruption”. ra was unable to probe sions under sections 8, 9
had in fact externalised a the company, involved many tax evasion cases and 10 of the Income Tax
Documents show that staggering US$585 mil- in diamond trade, was “Despite the fact that even if there was undeni- to consider all money re-
despite being given over- lion,” one document, not keeping records as whistle-blowers provid- able evidence cases due to flected on the bank state-
whelming evidence of Ji- written by whistle-blow- required in terms of sec- ed solid evidence and corruption. ment of the company as
nan’s failure to pay its tax ers to Zimra, says. tion 37B of the Income documents, Zimra’s top received income.
obligations, top Zimra Tax Act. brass, including man- “Zimra is mandated
officials manipulated the “Despite receiving our agement, conspired with and empowered in terms “Above all, Zimra also
case for self-enrichment, report in 2013 with in- Jinan hired South Afri- Jinan and BancABC to of section 45 of the In- failed to pay 10% of the
while protecting the criminating evidence, can companies to render shield the company from come Tax Act to treat US$9 million paid by Ji-
company from properly plus detailed and volumi- various services in Zim- an investigation on tax nan in tax arrears. This
paying tax. money was paid as a di-
rect result of the whis-
The tax evasion case tle-blowers’ efforts, but
against Jinan was report- Zimra is hiding this infor-
ed in 2013 in terms of mation to avoid meeting
section 34B (2) of the its own obligations - that
Revenue Authority Act is paying 10% monetary
(Chapter 23:11) by two reward to the informants
whistle-blowers, Martin under Section 34 (B) 2(a)
Macharaga and Blessed of the Revenue Act.”
Tachi, who had big dos-
siers on the company’s This comes as whis-
diamond trading activi- tle-blowers behind the
ties and transactions.  case which prompt-
ed Zimra to launch  a
The documents say Ji- US$680 million tax
nan externalised US$585 evasion investigation in-
million to Botswana. This volving BancABC-linked
was later exposed by the Second  Nominees (Pvt)
whistle-blowers, forcing Ltd say tax  authorities
it to bring back part of decided to close  the file
the money and pay taxes. due to corruption.

In fact, the money was The informants also
transferred to other fi- say Zimra officials should
nancial jurisdictions for be investigated as they
dodgy deals, including are not telling the truth
Zambia, Mozambique, when they now claim –
Sierra Leone, Dubai and as they did in an official
China. On 20 December letter on 1 July – that
2011, Jinan had opened Second Nominees have
a transitory account with no tax obligations.
BancABC for the purpose
of holding the money on The whistle-blowers,
behalf of Anhui Foreign Evans Kujinga and Mach-
Economic Construction araga, previously report-
Company (Afecc). ed Zimra officials to the
Zimbabwe Anti-Corrup-
The funds were to be tion  Commission over
used to fund Afecc oper- tax evasion cases, and
ations in Zimbabwe and corruption at the associ-
across the region, includ- ated multi-million-dollar
ing diamond deals. whistle-blowing fund.

So Afecc, through a
series of transactions,
from 9 January 2012 to
25 July 2014, transferred
from China US$585 163
824.26 into Jinan’s ac-

NewsHawks News Page 5

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Environmentalists challenge
sale of Zimbabwe elephants

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE International Union for lic now seek and applica- are highly social animals
Conservation of Nature tion for a declaratur.  and that the removal of
AN environment and (IUCN) elephant spe- elephants from their so-
wildlife rights group, cialist group is contrary “This threat causes an cial groups disrupts the
Advocates4Earth, has to law and a breach of unnecessary and uncon- wild population and has
launched a High Court Applicant’s environmen- stitutional chilling effect detrimental effects on the
application to stop the tal rights,” the court ap- on the work of the ap- effects on the physical
sale and translocation plication reads. plicant and the general and social well-being of
of elephants or endan- public right to have the elephants.
gered species by the gov- According to the Cites environment protected
ernment without prop- trade database, and latest for the benefit of present Cites members (Zim-
er consultation, saying 2019 information Zim- and future generations.” babwe included) voted to
Zimbabwe has been babwe exported 140 ju- prohibit the removal of
breaching international venile elephants to China According to the appli- African elephants from
regulations. between 2012 and 2019, cation, Zimbabwe partic- their natural or historic
while it also exported ipated in the Cites Cop ranges except under ex-
The Zimbabwe Parks four to the United Arab 18 meeting in Geneva traordinary circumstanc-
and Wildlife Manage- Emirates, the application in August 2019 where it es.
ment Authority (Zim- sates.  was noted that elephants
Parks), its director-gen-
eral Fulton Upenyu “Of these, some 22 are
Mangwanya, the head now dead or presumed to
of veterinary and animal be dead. Reports indicate
capture unit, Hwange that many others have
cluster manager, Zam- died in the process of
bezi cluster manager capture and preparation
and Environment, Cli- for export.
mate Change, Tourism
and Hospitality Indus- “All exports have been
try minister Nqobizitha characterised by lack of
Mangaliso  Ndlovu are transparency. The cap-
cited as respondents in tures and transportation
the matter. have always been con-
ducted in secrecy, and
The Zimbabwean gov- there have been reports
ernment has been argu- that high-level govern-
ing that the sale of el- ment members have been
ephants is necessary to using the money to pay
reduce the animal popu- off government debts.
lation and fund conserva- Most of informational
tion efforts. available (photographic
and documentation) has
This is not the first time come from undercover
Advocates4Earth has ap- investigations, further
proached the courts to illustrating the opaque,
stop Zimbabwe from sensitive and secret na-
selling elephants, arguing ture of the transactions.
that the conditions of the
places the animals were “We consider, there-
being translocated to are fore, that the export of 32
not suitable.  live elephants from Zim-
babwe to China in Octo-
Advocates4Earth ex- ber 2019 failed to com-
ecutive director Lenin ply with Cites provisions
Tinashe Chisaira said defining ‘appropriate and
his application was to acceptable’ destinations
enforce environmental under Resolution Conf.
rights as enshrined in 11.20 (Rev. CoP17), not-
section 73 of the con- withstanding the amend-
stitution of Zimbabwe ments agreed at CoP18.” 
and ensure that the gov-
ernment and its agencies Chisaira said based on
respect and comply with the video footage that
the Convention on In- they reviewed, the condi-
ternational Trade in En- tions of the transfer and
dergered Species of Wild housing are demonstra-
Fauna and Flora (Cites). bly inhumane.

“Applicant seek by way “The cells have bare
of declaratur the follow- concrete floors and
ing relief; In accordance there are no provisions
with provisions of the made for their comfort
Cites and its appendi- and well-being, nor any
ces, the sale and trans- means of environmental
location of elephants enrichment,” he said.
or endangered species
to locations outside Af- “Applicant is in consis-
rica without consulta- tent fear that the govern-
tions with the Animals ment and its agencies will
Committee, through its continue defying Cites in
Chair with the support their trade of elephants.
of the secretariat, and Applicant in order to
in consultation with the guard against current and
future breaches of its en-
vironmental rights and
those of the general pub-

Page 6 News NewsHawks

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Under state capture revelations cloud

Tagwirei donates US$5m to govt:
It’s business as usual for tycoon
DESPITE damning revela- ed medical consumables
tions in a report by United which include injections,
States dirty money investi- airway management, prod-
gative group, The Sentry, ucts, wound care products
Shadows and Shell Games: etc for rural hospital worth
Uncovering an Offshore ZW$91 million,” he said.
Business Empire in Zim- He also donated 300
babwe, disclosing con- 000 litres of fuel – 50 000
troversial details of local litres per month for six
businessman and presiden- months – to police. In ad-
tial adviser Kudakwashe dition, he also gave them
Tagwirei’s business empire, five double-cab trucks and
the tycoon has donated ZW$30 million to buy
US$5.5 million and many specialised equipment for
other things to govern- operations.
ment to combat the resur- Further, Tagwirei said
gent Covid-19 pandemic. he was donating ZW$85
million for university stu-
The scale of the dona- dents’ tuition.
tion, which covers differ- “As a company we are
ent areas, is unaffordable to further handing over 500
most Zimbabwean compa- heifers and 25 bulls to His
nies given the state of the Excellency the President,
economy and Covid-19 ED Mnangagwa, to sup-
ravages. port heifers projects for
President Emmerson Mnangagwa seen here at State House in Harare yesterday, with local businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei (second from the youths,” he said.
Tagwirei has amassed right) during a donation event. Mnangagwa, who is
vast wealth since President
Emmerson Mnangagwa refurbished and equipped dated with a huge num- hoods of the people espe- lation of Covid-19 and close to the businessman
took over through a coup 60 beds at Parirenyatwa ber of Covid-19 patients; cially young people.” poisoning, also donated who also sits on his Presi-
in 2017. He is one of Group of Hospitals in increase in number of cit- ZW$170 million for the dential Advisory Council,
Mnangagwa’s advisers. Harare, while it has taken izens who now require ur- Tagwirei, who was for purchase of vaccines.  expressed gratitude to Tag-
over 60 beds in Wards B1 gent Covid-19 vaccination months confined to hospi- wirei for the donations.
This comes soon after tal in China with an undis- “Sakunda is also donat-
The Sentry investigation and B2 to bring the total and compromised liveli- closed illness amid specu- ing six truckloads of assort- — STAFF WRITER
which says Tagwirei, who of beds to 120.
has been followed by alle- It also bought and do-
gations of corruption and nated The  Rock Founda-
cronyism for years, has tion Medical Centre, also
been using complex corpo- called Arundel Mediclin-
rate structures and seem- ic  and Arundel Hospital,
ingly preferential govern- which was owned by jailed
ment treatment to build businessman Munyaradzi
his business empire and Kereke.
enormous wealth.  Tagwirei’s company is
also involved at United
The tycoon now presides Bulawayo Hospital where
over a sprawling network it refurbished 40 beds for
of more than 40 compa- use as Covid-19 centres.
nies spanning the fuel, It is also now operating a
mining, banking, logistics, centre with an additional
transportation, and im- 20 beds there, meaning a
port/export sectors.  total of 60 beds.
Presenting the donation
The report details how to Mnangagwa, the usu-
Tagwirei has effective- ally quiet Tagwirei said
ly concealed his control the donation would cover
over this empire through Covid-19 issues, liveli-
an elaborate foreign net- hoods and university stu-
work, hiding his wealth dents.
and ownership through “Sakunda Holdings ac-
shadowy offshore financial knowledges the commit-
structures. ment by government to
positively impact the live-
Seemingly unfazed, Tag- lihoods of the people of
wirei, through his Sakun- our great nation Zimba-
da Holdings, donated bwe,” Tagwirei said.
US$5.5 million in cash “Sakunda has noticed
and equipment to govern- the effects of Covid-19 on
ment to support Covid-19 the well-being of Zimba-
programmes. bweans among them the
following: some parents
Tagwirei, who is under have lost their ability to
United States sanctions on pay university tuition fees
allegations of looting pub- for their children; our At a time covid-19 numbers are rising in Bulawayo which is one of the country’s hotspots. These elderly people mostly pensioners are
lic resources and propping healthcare system is inun- seriously exposed to transmission as they queue to withdraw cash at NSSA bank. The bank has only one branch that caters for most of the
the Harare regime, handed Matabeleland region. Most of them have been lamenting the bank charges on top of the little payouts they get.
over the latest donation
to Mnangagwa at State
House in Harare yesterday.

His company has also

NewsHawks Focus on South Africa Page 7

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Good Read

When South
Africa sneezes
Zimbabwe
catches a cold

RONALD MUCHENJE litical, social and criminal South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
outrage.
HISTORY tells us we owe it South Africa is also home terms of the millions of Zim- exports.  In terms of export week we didn’t trade much;
to Klemens von Metternich, Critically, Zimbabwe im- to an estimated three million babweans who are economic earnings, minerals brought importers and exporters are
the distinguished 19th-cen- ports basic foodstuffs, med- Zimbabweans and millions migrants in South Africa, in US$2.4 billion from Jan- not doing business, they are
tury Austrian statesman and icals, chemicals, machinery, of other foreign nationals and remitting money to their uary to September last year, shaken and monitoring the
diplomat, for one of the equipment and raw mate- that provide critical skills in families back home,” he said.  compared to US$2.1 billion situation.”
most famous phrases about rials, among other things, the worst affected provinces recorded over the same peri-
the global economy and its from South Africa. It exports of Gauteng and KZN. “The destruction of infra- od in 2019.  Dr Alex Magaisa, a United
dynamics.  mainly minerals, its liquidity Zimbabweans in South structure might also affect Kingdom-based Zimbabwe-
cash cow, to its neighbour. Africa contribute hundreds their jobs, which may, in In 2021, the mining in- an academic and University
In an era when Europe of millions of dollars in re- turn, affect remittances. So, dustry is projected to re- of Kent Law School lecturer,
dominated the world amid Business leader Busisa mittances back home. The it is my hope that the situa- bound by 11% driven by said “if a giant sneezes the
the Industrial Revolution in Moyo, who is also United Re- country receives about US$1 tion in South Africa will be planned expansion pro- whole region catches a cold”.
the aftermath of the French fineries Ltd chief executive, billion annually from its di- addressed at earliest conve- grammes aimed at increasing
Revolution in 1789 and the warned this week the turmoil aspora community. nience in order to bring sta- production by miners as the “With major oil compa-
Napoleonic Wars between in South Africa would affect Bhoroma said the situa- bility in the whole region.” country moves towards the nies closing business and de-
1803 and 1815, he came up the entire region, especially tion could get even worse attainment of US$12 billion claring Force Majeure (Act of
with the line: “When France Zimbabwe which heavily if the violence fuels  xeno- While the South Africa industry, the government God), a justification for not
sneezes, Europe catches a depends on the port city of phobia and the closure of government struggled to says. fulfilling contractual obliga-
cold.” Durban, for trade. With the markets. Tawanda Purazeni, contain the riots at the be- tions, the repercussions will
N3 road transport corridor an economist, said the civil ginning, the situation seems The programmes include be felt in other parts of South
With the rise of the Unit- disrupted and closed, Zim- unrest in South Africa would to have been contained fol- increased exploration, ex- Africa and the Southern Afri-
ed States, it has been adapted babwe is directly affected. have a negative impact on lowing the deployment of pansion of existing mining can region. With KZN being
to: “When America sneezes, Zimbabwe given the eco- the army to beef up the po- projects, resuscitation of a host to one of the busiest
the world catches a cold.”  “We will feel the heat in nomic integration between lice. President Cyril Rama- closed mines, opening of ports in Africa, a key arteri-
the next few days. Conserve the two countries. phosa said yesterday his gov- new mines and mineral ben- al route for trade is currently
It remains true today.  cash, food, raw materials and “Zimbabwe is dependent ernment was ill-prepared for eficiation and value addition.  blocked,” he said.
However, it is fast chang- other necessities,” Moyo said. on South Africa for most of the uprising.
ing as China rises.  the basic goods we find in Export earnings have been “This is certain to cause
In Africa, it aptly fits Moyo, who is also a mem- our retail outlets. We should The conflict in South Af- the main source of funds severe distress to the heart
South Africa, especially in ber of President Emmerson brace up for serious shortages rica could also affect Zim- for the auction through vol- of the nation and the re-
the southern African region. Mnangagwa’s Presidential of goods and services due to babwe’s economic plans. untary liquidations and the gion. The economic impact
Zimbabwean government, Advisory Council and the the ongoing looting and de- Zimbabwe targets to grow surrender requirements on of South Africa in the region
business and labour officials Zimbabwe Investment and struction of the productive manufacturing exports by exports and domestic foreign cannot be overstated and
as well as ordinary citizens Development Agency chair, lines and infrastructure. This 4.1% in 2021 from an esti- currency transactions.  Of one cannot avoid the cliché
watched with horror and was expressing the apprehen- will also trigger inflationary mate of 3.6% in 2020.  the total amount allocated that if the giant sneezes, the
dismay social unrest – char- sions of many when he said pressures. If this situation through the auction system, whole region catches a cold.
acterised by violence, riot- this. persists, we are bound to be This will be achieved more than 70% has come
ing and looting – engulfing worse off as a country,” he through focusing on diversi- from surrender requirements “This is the reason why
South Africa, pondering the Economic analyst Victor said fying exports into non-tradi- on exports and domestic for- South Africa’s troubles
economic consequences of Bhoroma said the burning Another economist, tional markets and exploiting eign transactions.  should worry the rest of the
that. of property, especially haul- Clemence Machadu, said the existing preferential trading region. It is already home to
Economists warned Zim- age trucks, warehouses and instability across the Limpo- agreements with various Diaspora remittances are millions of migrants from
babwe should brace for re- infrastructure – disrupting po River should be of partic- countries, the government also critical. Last year, dias- the region, most of them
newed problems as the vio- logistics – will disturb the ular concern to Zimbabwe, says. pora remittances amounted economic refugees fleeing
lent protests in South Africa flow of raw materials as the given the deep economic ties to US$1 billion, a 58% in- unemployment and pover-
could result in trade losses country is already experienc- between the two countries.  Furthermore, Zimbabwe crease from previous year of ty in their own countries.
of over US$340 million per ing delays. “One can also look at it in will strive to benefit from US$635.7 million.  They in turn send millions in
month. This could also lead the vast Africa Continental remittances every year pro-
to a resurgence of inflation- “The violent protests will Free Trade Area with about “The impact on Zimbabwe viding a lifeline to their im-
ary pressures in the long run, seriously impact Zimbabwe’s 1.3 billion people and over was immediate, especially on poverished communities and
they said. trade with South Africa val- US$3.4 trillion in gross do- the financial services sector,” national economies.”
South Africa is Zimba- ued at over US$340 million mestic product in terms of a local banker said.  “This
bwe’s biggest trading partner.  per month,” he said. 
Zimbabwe annually exports
about 40% of its output – “The burning of proper-
worth about US$2.3 billion ty especially haulage trucks,
– to South Africa, while it warehouses and gun violence
imports about 50% – valued will disturb the flow of raw
US$2 billion – of its needs materials as we are already
from its powerful southern experiencing delays. The port
neighbour. The violence, of Durban is the trade gate-
rioting and looting which way for most Sadc countries.
erupted in KwaZulu-Natal Exports movement will also
and Gauteng provinces in be slowed down by the un-
the aftermath of the incar- rest and violence depending
ceration of former president on how long the protests will
Jacob Zuma for contempt of last. This will lead to tempo-
court have resulted in 212 rary shortages of raw materi-
deaths – and counting – as als and other commodities.” 
mobs ransacked shops and
burnt infrastructure in po- The Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries, of
which Moyo is a previous
president, says 58% of the
country’s raw materials come
from South Africa.

NewsHawks Focus on South Africa Page 8

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

OWEN GAGARE Lessons from SA social unrest
across regions.  Income per cap-
THE turmoil in South Africa Jailed former South African president Jacob Zuma. ita in Gauteng — the economic
following the recent jailing of for- hub — is almost twice the levels
mer president Jacob Zuma and utter betrayal of the hopes of crisis; unrest, unemployment and lockdown issue, forcing people of some provinces.
subsequent social unrest charac- Mandela himself and millions of • The socio-economic situa- poverty are serious; to stay at home to starve, was a
terised by rioting and looting for South Africans. • The majority of South Afri- strong grievance during the riots. Subdued growth has jeop-
many other reasons – including tion in South Africa is vol- can are peaceful  people who ardised efforts to promote in-
deprivation and poverty – has Given that South Africa is the atile, explosive and unsus- want change and progress in The South African govern- clusion. With growth stagnating
brought a number of critical most advanced economy in Afri- tainable; their social and economic ment has used different tools to over the past decade, the econo-
issues to the fore, including in- ca, its failure has far-reaching and • Inequality, unemployment situation, but not through address inequality, including fis- my has not created enough jobs
structive lessons. devastating consequences for the and poverty, especially anarchy; cal redistribution.  This also en- to absorb hordes of the unem-
region and the continent. among the youth are ticking • However, rioting and loot- tails higher social spending, tar- ployed and new entrants into the
Zuma was found guilty of time bombs; ing, even though unaccept- geted government social grants, labour market. 
contempt of court by the Con- Some of the internal issues • Zuma is still popular, but no able to many, are direct, and affirmative action to diversify
stitutional Court on 29 June. He brought to the fore by South one is above the law; the rule effective and pragmatic wealth ownership and promoting High unemployment is a ma-
was sentenced to 15 months in African anarchy include the fol- of law is paramount: strategies of challenging the entrepreneurship among the pre- jor factor behind inequality. 
jail. lowing: • Consensus that the Zuma status quo and demanding viously marginalised. These mea-
• South Africa is still con- issue was mishandled, he wealth redistribution to im- sures need to be complemented South Africa’s official unem-
The judgement triggered im- should have been convicted prove lives of the working with reforms that promote pri- ployment rate rose to a new high
mediate reaction from his sup- toured and hugely defined of contempt of court and class; vate investment, job creation and in the first quarter as construction
porters who vowed he was not by apartheid structures and given a suspended sentence, • In the aftermath of the latest inclusive growth. and trade industries shed jobs.
going to prison. After refusing vestiges economically and not jailed; conflict, South Africa needs The jobless rate rose to 32.6%
to surrender himself to the police socially, hence a highly con- • Dangers of judicial activism; political re-awakening and When Mandela took over in from 32.5% in the last quarter,
for detention, saying he had done tested terrain; judges should recuse them- rebirth; and 1994, through a negotiated set- Statistics South Africa said last
nothing wrong and would not go • It is an explosive society, a selves whenever needed; • There is hope for South Af- tlement that avoided rocking the month. That’s the highest num-
to jail, Zuma finally capitulated cauldron of racial and eth- • Racial tensions still exist. rica given an active, engag- boat and hence the current struc- ber on record.
and handed himself to Escourt nic tensions, with violence Ethnicisation of politics as ing and conscious citizenry tural vestiges of apartheid, South
Correctional Centre on 7 July. always simmering just be- well as weaponisation and re-energised and determined Africa already had deep inequali- Unemployment, including
low the surface; instrumentalistion of eth- to push for positive change. ty as a large swath of the popula- people available for work but not
But no sooner had he gotten • Society is somewhat like a nicity is real, yet South Af- These are not isolated issues; tion was excluded from economic looking for a job, rose to 43.2%
into jail did his supporters, after war zone, and many people ricans are generally against they are related, interconnected participation.  from 42.6% the previous quarter. 
a brief lull, start violent protests are armed with guns; that; and their interface is the space
demanding his release. • The South African state • Leaders should not dabble where the current contestation in South Africa’s Gini co-effi- The number of discouraged
lacks capacity to deal with in ethnic politics like Bantu- South Africa is playing out. cient — an index that measures work seekers surged by 201 000
Before long, the protests de- large-scale violence and cha- stan politicians; Yet what stands out is that inequality — increased in the people in the quarter.
teriorated and degenerated into os; • The majority of people who South Africa has the highest early 2000s and has remained
mayhem, rioting and looting. • The ANC, the ruling party, went out to protest and levels of inequality in the world high ever since. Meanwhile, its These are grim statistics. 
The upheaval swept from its epi- is deeply divided due to in- loot were less worried about measured by the commonly used peers in the emerging economies South Africa needs broad-
centre in KwaZulu-Natal, Zuma’s ternal power struggles and Zuma, but more about their Gini index, according to the have made inroads in reducing based growth which generates
home province, across to Johan- this has eroded legitimate social conditions; World Bank.  inequality. more low-skilled jobs for the
nesburg as malls, shops and stores authority to make collective • The “Free Zuma” protest Inequality manifests itself unemployed to help reduce in-
were looted and burnt.  decisions; quickly degenerated into structurally, through skewed in- Income distribution remains equality.
• There are two major ANC ventilation of pent-up emo- come distribution and unequal badly distorted in South Africa.  In the short term, the govern-
In the process, vital infra- factions, one led by Presi- tions and frustrations by the access to opportunities as well as ment needs more scope to further
structure, transport routes and dent Cyril Ramaphosa and • subaltern over social condi- disparities along class, racial, re- The top 20% of the popula- leverage fiscal policy as a redis-
logistics were disrupted and de- the other by his predecessor tions, thus violence, crimi- gional, gender, and demographic tion holds over 68% of income tributive tool.
stroyed. This significantly para- Zuma; and possibly a Third nality,  looting and lawless- lines. (compared to a median of 47% In the medium to long term,
lysed the economy. Force behind the rioting; ness; Low economic growth and for similar emerging markets). South Africa will need further
• Ramaphosa is in charge, but • The perils of personality unemployment – coupled with The bottom 40% of the popula- fundamental structural reforms
At least 212 people have died lacks clarity of thought on cult politics, demagogues the Covid-19 devastation – have tion holds 7% of income (com- for more robust and inclusive
so far.  this issue, is indecisive and and populism in a state of exacerbated the situation. The pared to 16% for other emerging growth. The focus needs to be on
weak; his measured long flux and conditions of social markets). Similar trends can be creating a business environment
The riots – which have politi- game does not work in a observed across other measures, more conducive to investment
cal and social causes – left a trail such as the income share of the and job creation. 
of destruction and death. Crimi- top 1%. This requires improved gover-
nality and vigilantism also reared nance, reducing the cost of doing
their ugly heads during the crisis. Significant disparities remain business, opening the market to
competition, paying properly for
However, the tumult in South the right skills and productivity,
Africa carried some telling les- and making state-owned enter-
sons. These lessons are still being prises more efficient. 
spelled out for all to see, but they Policies will also be needed
have universal relevance, mean- to create opportunities to sup-
ing and resonance, particularly port the marginalised through
for Zimbabwe. improved quality of education,
health and transportation.
South Africa hosts an estimat- Strengthening investment,
ed three million Zimbabweans, including foreign direct invest-
even though this has never been ment, will be critical to propel
verified and substantiated. Offi- growth and create jobs.
cial estimates are much lower. Although South Africa has
made considerable strides in
What is happening in South improving the  wellbeing  of its
Africa is of great importance to citizens since its transition to
Zimbabwe, which under the late democracy in 1994, progress
former president Robert Mug- has stagnated in the last decade.
abe also tried to redress the leg- The percentage of the popula-
acies of colonialism, especially tion below the upper-middle-in-
on land and business ownership, come-country poverty line fell
through a chaotic and oft-violent from 68% to 56% between 2005
approach.  and 2010, but has since trended
slightly upwards to 57% in 2015
Although Mugabe’s agrarian and is now 60%.
reforms gave Zimbabweans con- Structural challenges and weak
trol of the land and helped some growth have undermined prog-
indigenous people into business ress in reducing poverty, which
to control the means of produc- have been heightened by the
tion, his policies devastated the Covid-19 pandemic. Progress
economy and led to the country’s in household welfare is severely
isolation. constrained by rising unemploy-
ment, which reached an unprec-
That left Zimbabwe broken edented 32.5%. Unemployment
and reduced to a pariah state, is highest among youths aged be-
forcing its citizens to flee to dif- tween 15 and 24, at around 63%.
ferent countries, mainly South From now onwards, Rama-
Africa, primarily to seek econom- phosa is likely to struggle to pre-
ic refuge.  serve macro-economic stability,
improve the investment climate,
Yet there are many lessons to boost growth and create jobs
be drawn from the South African critical for South Africa’s post-
situation. One of them is a rude Covid-19 recovery. But one thing
awakening and reminder that is certain: it can no longer be
South Africa has what the World business as usual in South Africa.
Bank deems the highest levels of
social inequality on the globe, ex-
acerbated by massive unemploy-
ment and poverty. 

Leadership, policy and gover-
nance failures as well as corrup-
tion are also ravaging the nation. 

This is an alarming indictment
of post-apartheid governments –
from Nelson Mandela to Cyril
Ramapahosa – and an

Page 9 Focus on South Africa NewsHawks

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

RICHARD POPLAK South African unrest: This is 
what a failed state looks like
ITS roots are intertwined with al-
most three centuries of extractive A car on Jules Street in Jeppestown, downtown Johannesburg, burnt on Sunday, 11 July 2021, during social unrest, rioting and loot- This is what state failure looks
corruption, mixed with austerity. ing triggered by former South African president Jacob Zuma’s jailing, political, economic and social grievances, expressed through like. Its roots are intertwined
There are no savings to be made widespread mass deprivation, poverty and desperation. Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed with almost three centuries of
in this arrangement, and all of it extractive corruption, mixed with
will be paid for with treasure and duceable home province – it gets a Checkers or a Woolworths, Hell. At the Madala Hostel in comprehensive social relief pro- austerity. There are no savings to
souls.  smiled away as a topic not to be even in tiny Johannesburg retail Alexandra; at the Jeppestown grammes, so even the pathetic be made in this arrangement, and
discussed in polite company. As in spaces. These warnings represent Hostel in the CBD; at hotspots R350 Covid-19 social relief grant all of it will be paid for with trea-
It has been a fine week for con- most African countries, tribal di- the birth pangs of a Russian-style throughout the southern town- was suspended. This is an ob- sure and souls.
noisseurs of civil unrest.  visions were diligently maintained hyper-capitalist shadow economy, ships, ancient ethnic resentments scenely cruel austerity regimen, Pay to play
by successive white overlords for which threatens to become the have been jump-started, and the the result of successive self-im- Establishment armchair analysts
Across Gauteng and KwaZu- decades, and the wounds never real economy  –  a vision Zuma mayhem has been instantaneous. posed structural adjustment pack- have insisted, throughout Cyril
lu-Natal (KZN), two massive healed. Zuma has made a career and his cabal in the State Security The method has worked before, ages that are nearly indiscernible Ramaphosa’s tenure, that he is
conflagrations have conjoined to of exploiting them: it has been the Agency hoped to initiate under during the xenophobic attacks from the famine campaigns of the fully in charge of the machinery
form a devastating wildfire. The source of his power all along. his presidency. of 2008 and 2013. Out-of-work, colonial era. of the state, and is impervious
first was the rage manufactured idle young men are an ever-pres- to any genuine threats from the
by an organised criminal network (These observations should Better late than never, as they ent, highly efficient delivery The government’s parsimony mouth-breathing factionalists
that found opportunity in the not be confused with a certain say. mechanism for extreme violence. has had inevitable consequences: in his party. Ace is aced. Zuma
incarceration of a political figure- opposition politician’s view that people are enraged. None of this is in orange. But Ramaphosa is
head. The second was the instabil- Zuma is a charming if guileless Speaking of late – Julius Male- And yes, while this may have justifies the violent behaviour of the weakest ANC leader in the
ity caused by the desperation of a traditional chieftain who doesn’t ma, whose Economic Freedom started as a #FreeJacobZuma the small minority torching malls, party’s modern history. At this
people crushed in an ever-tighten- know from fancy Western-style Fighters have evolved into an ef- mega-event, it has morphed into looting storefronts and annihilat- point, should the National Gen-
ing economic vice. constitutionalism or democracy. fective shakedown crew in Johan- something much more wide- ing SMEs. But the point is that eral Conference go ahead, the
In fact, Zuma is a highly method- nesburg, Tshwane and beyond, spread and uncontained. The the #FreeJacobZuma movement big ANC meet-up could have
Following the arrest of for- ical grifter who knows exactly has tried to tweet himself into people free-shopping in stores and the resultant chaos have dove- existential consequences for his
mer president Jacob Zuma last what he’s doing, and who is both the national free-for-all. “No sol- and malls form part of an eco- tailed with much larger grievanc- presidency.
Wednesday, and after incitement a populist and an adept at strum- diers on our streets! Otherwise, nomic underclass that has been es. Big chunks of the country have
from his hype squad – includ- ming white liberal passions.) we are joining. All fighters must humiliated for generations. It is been rendered ungovernable. It The current civil unrest will be
ing his daughter Duduzile Zu- be ready… they won’t kill us all,” almost impossible to generate a doesn’t help that Police Minister held up as proof of his incompe-
ma-Sambudla and a local radio For another thing, as the exclaimed Julius, who has a knack socioeconomic reality more in- Bheki Cele is more effective as a tence, and it will cost a fortune in
DJ named Ngizwe Mchunu “war against corruption” makes for avoiding personal involvement equitable than South Africa’s, meme than as a functional hu- both cash and political capital for
– KZN exploded into unprece- nominal gains by jailing former in the violent protests he initiates. largely because no other country man being, and remains locked in him to retain his post. The asser-
dented mayhem, which is saying presidents and humiliating the Meanwhile, in the Eastern Cape, has been insane enough to try. Po- a bunfight with the National Po- tion that he’s a shoo-in is laugh-
something for a province that ex- ANC’s D-team in court, the fight taxi industry leaders and Premier litical systems tend to fail when a lice Commissioner, Khehla Sitole. able.
perienced the worst of apartheid’s for control of the gangster econ- Oscar Mabuyane have been in quarter of the population is out of
end-game violence. The scale of omy becomes commensurately talks to protect the province from work. In South Africa, that num- The police on the streets From this vantage point, in the
the ruin is already staggering, vicious. There is nothing to lose looting. These new racketeering ber has reached nearly 50%, while – themselves underpaid, un- middle of a pandemic and amid
while the impotence of law en- and everything to gain by torch- alliances are the future of South almost three out of four young der-trained working people – bouts of mega-violence caught on
forcement has been a reminder of ing the country. Listed corporate Africa: the gangster economy has people do not have any prospects have never had the trust of the camera, it is difficult to see how
the disarray that defines the police entities are being informed, in the become fully integrated into the of employment. people, and now they’ve become municipal elections, scheduled
and intelligence services, neither language of blood and fire, that remnants of the “real” economy. the face of the loathed lockdowns. for October, can proceed. Should
of which were prepared for the South Africa is no longer a cozy That Zuma’s State Capture Because of this, and for the third they be postponed, South Africa
obvious upset following the for- environment in which to run Hoods, assassins, ex-spooks project contributed to this situ- time in two years, the army is now enters a cryogenic freeze in which
mer president’s jailing. their monopolies. The ensuing and drug dealers are now partners ation is almost beside the point. roaming South Africa’s poorest Ramaphosa’s ever-expanding ex-
vacuum is being filled by what at the table. South Africans are facing a sec- communities, ready to shoot and ecutive will face off against cir-
Stupidity like this deserves a economists term “new entrants”. ond successive winter under lock- impervious to the nuances of cau- cling opponents in his party.
standing ovation. Sadly, South It no longer matters how down, where the deprivations sality.
Africa is on its knees. Entire com- It is, for example, no longer much a CEO bench-presses, or have become unbearable. The The president is already forced
munities have been razed, but safe to truck goods into KZN, how many minutes he dedicates government’s inhumane response Meanwhile, well-armed white to run the country through a sort
more significantly – at least for which serves as the success- to Mandela Day, or how much to the Covid-19 pandemic has militias have emerged from the of expert-advised plutocratic tech-
those trying to calculate what the ful culmination of a campaign viognier his wine farm produces. loosened something in the streets, gloom to protect property that nocracy, where his official Cabi-
future might hold – the violence to dislodge “foreign nationals” A new age is upon us. and the pent-up response is now has been abandoned by the cops net members are little more than
has targeted vital nodes of distri- from the trucking industry: As Lockdown and out fanning out across the country. or security companies, firing off decorative dashboard ornaments.
bution: logistics capacity in Mooi of today, all roads into KZN are Case in point: Gauteng is cur- The economic Brahmins insist live rounds at unarmed black peo- When they do speak, they’re em-
River; local food and dry good controlled by the mob. It is no rently a working diorama of that there was no way to pay for ple – not a particularly sustainable barrassing disasters. The security
stores throughout eThekwini; longer safe to run a Shoprite, or way to engender racial harmony. cluster is in such chaos that Ra-
large malls and warehouse facil- maphosa may have to take con-
ities along the coastline and up trol of the SANDF himself. This
into Pietermaritzburg. Sasria, the is the destiny of most tinpot pres-
state insurance agency, is on the idencies.
hook for these costs, which ulti-
mately means that taxpayers serve And so, in the very near future,
as guarantors. The damage is like- in order to maintain something
ly to amount to tens of billions of resembling stability, Ramaphosa
rands, but that’s only part of the will have to face up to the fact
cost. It will be nearly impossible that the state will need to re-es-
to rebuild what has been burnt. tablish the monopoly of violence.
But this will require the murder
Own the supply chain, own of people in the streets on an in-
the country: this is a basic tenet dustrial scale. Neither he nor his
of warfare. And make no mis- backers have the stomach for this.
take, there is a plan. The trouble There is an alternative, of course,
in KZN is much more than a but it may be even more unpal-
political protest or a spontaneous atable to the government and its
statement of local anguish. Under backers than mass slaughter – the
the cover of Zuma’s jailing, this drafting of a new social contract
was a large, local gangster network that delivers a fair deal for all.
flexing its muscles, saying: We are
here. Stop us if you can. The future is available only to
countries that understand that
The state’s reply was as anaemic basic subsistence is a human right
as it was articulate: – a right that can and should be
guaranteed by the state. Should
We can’t. Help yourself.  the current corporate/govern-
ment rent-seeking arrangement
Ethnic shmethnic continue, and should the Rama-
Zuma’s opponents – aka nearly phosa technocracy fail to under-
everyone on Earth – like to re- stand that the present moment
mind us that the former president represents an opportunity to
has no real power; that his support change tack, then the gangsters
has faded away with his politi- will carry the day.
cal prominence; that his kids are
drunk lunatics and not the lethal Gauteng and KZN offer a
social media influencers they take warning. The post-apartheid
themselves to be. But his arrest elite-driven looting spree is over.
has dragged up something dark Others are looting now, and it’s as
and vicious from the underworld bad as it looks on TV.
bog in which he remains a repre-
sentative daemon. South African
elites are reflexively horrified by
any talk of tribalism, but when it
works in the ANC’s favour – as it
did in the 2009 national elections
that saw the party win a large ma-
jority in Zuma’s previously unse-

NewsHawks Focus on South Africa Page 10

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Change or collapse: Violence reveals
weak South African state foundation

HAYDEN WEAVER minates the gulf between the An inferno engulfs a shopping mall in South Africa this week. used to justify acts of violence
constitutionally promised free- and looting.
THE violence gripping South doms, rights and laws of de- national bourgeoisie proves lack of dignity that many face are too numerous and too
Africa reveals that we have not mocracy, and the lived reality incapable of achieving simple on a daily basis. greedy”.  Fanon suggests that “the
left our colonial past behind. of the people. Ultimately, this national unity and incapable of party, which has become a gen-
We are a transcolonial state, violence unveils the truth of building the nation on a solid, Furthermore, South Afri- As things stand, South Afri- uine instrument of power in
as described by Frantz Fanon, the nation. constructive foundation”. This ca’s government has mirrored ca is a skeleton of the state it the hands of the bourgeoisie,
having failed to transform the seems to fit the South African Fanon’s words as he suggests had the potential to be. The reinforces the State apparatus
lived reality of poverty, unem- The lived reality of the ma- situation perfectly, as problems that the national bourgeoi- failures of the ANC govern- and determines the contain-
ployment and a lack of dignity jority of South Africans is one in post-apartheid South Africa sie “are able to cash in on all ment have led to the violent ment and immobilisation of
for the majority of our people.  that is stripped of dignity and have continued to grow, visible sides and prove to be brilliant situation we have now. The the people”. The violence can
filled with poverty. This makes in our rampant unemploy- opportunists. Favours abound, irony here is that the impris- be seen as a form of remobili-
Violence and looting have the freedoms, rights and laws ment, devastating poverty and corruption triumphs and mor- onment of one of the true vul- sation of South Africans as well
escalated in many parts of completely foreign to many. als decline. Today the vultures tures of this period has been as the unveiling of utter des-
South Africa in recent days — The people of South Africa peration among the citizens. 
a perceived continuation of the were promised change when
#freeJacobZuma protests that the apartheid government was Among the opportunis-
began on the weekend of 11 overthrown. But it has been tic looting of a wide range of
July 2021. The looting of ma- more than 20 years and the re- businesses, the looting of gro-
jor grocery stores, liquor stores ality of many South Africans is cery stores is a clear example
and home appliance stores has just as it was during apartheid. of the desperate state of many,
created devastating scenes. We Ultimately, it is this that has as looters use the chaos to gain
have watched the police stand led to the eruption of violence. a meal. The extent of the up-
on the side-lines observing the It is given justification by the heavals of the past few days
mayhem as they are stretched #freeJacobZuma movement. unveils the foundations of a
too thin to effectively end it. But it is clearly not about the nation that remains engulfed
former president. Rather, this in its colonial past.
South Africa is burning, but is the overflowing of anger by
is this really about the infa- citizens of South Africa. This violence is by no means
mous former president? What justifiable. However, it does
are the true drivers of this vi- The South African govern- illuminate the shattered foun-
olence? ment has fallen into a predict- dations of the South African
able scenario. Frantz Fanon nation-state. This is not about
South Africa is a state that suggested that one of the major former president Zuma — it
is suspended between the past struggles to lift a country from is a symptom of much greater
and the present, between apart- a colonial state would occur problems within our country.
heid and democracy, between after the initial overthrow of a It is now a battle between state
colonialism and postcolonial- former white government. This power in the form of police
ism, a state still in transition.  would occur as what Fanon and military, and the anger of
termed the “national bourgeoi- many South African citizens.
The transcolonial state sie” replaced the colonisers. 
of South Africa is revealed One thing remains clear.
through the acts of violence In Fanon’s words in  The Something must change, or
that are erupting across the Wretched of the Earth,  “the things truly will fall apart. 
country. The violence illu-
- Daily Maverick.

There is a future.

ZIMBABWE
CHILDREN’S CANCER RELIEF

EARLY
DETECTION

IS THE BEST PROTECTION!

STAY IF YOU SUSPECT EYE CANCER
ALERT! VISIT YOUR CLINIC TODAY

Page 11 Focus on South Africa NewsHawks

From flames of looting to Issue 39, 16 July 2021
democratic regeneration

TRACY-LYNN FIELD and jurisprudential lodestar for those who affirmed protest, but and who thereby destroy what
South African society. called for restraint and those is in the common and public
OVER the past week, demo- who preferred the way of de- interest.
cratic constitutionalism and the Neither position is correct, struction. 
rule of law have undergone a however, because the moral and To do this we must use all
massive stress test. The power to political lodestar is the South Af- Affirming democratic regen- the forms of governance that
determine the outcome of this rican people itself, the demos of eration does not mean we don’t a system of self-rule allows, in-
stress test can never lie in the self-governing equals who came need change or that we should cluding protecting functioning
efficacy of the police services or into being through the Consti- not be urgently interrogating systems of customary law. We
the defence force. It lies with the tution in a quest to rule them- the effectiveness of our demo- are resilient people, but we need
choice of the people of South selves. While the demos can be cratic institutions to stem the leaders who will take this kind
Africa.  guided by constitutional values looting culture that has bedev- of change forward.
and the incremental and accu- illed our country’s progress for
Apocalyptic. This is just one mulating constitutional juris- so many years — at all levels of We are a resilient people. We
of the words used to describe prudence of the courts, or by society, in government and the have gone through a lot, but we
the destruction of property and the much older values of ubun- private sector and across all lines somehow always come out on
tragically, life, that has ensued in tu and other occluded episte- of difference. the other side. May the flames
the wake of the mad outburst of mologies, it is the choice of the of democratic regeneration burn
collective energy in South Africa present generation of South Af- We need to find ways of bright in our country. South Af-
over the past week. ricans that matters. holding accountable those who ricans, we can do this thing. 
grab without regard for others
Whether you choose to see With the flames of loot- – Daily Maverick.
the blockading of roads and ing starting to die down, what
burning of trucks that have emerges from the ashes is that BIGPromotion
throttled critical supply routes the vast majority of South Af-
and the violent razing of shop- ricans choose regeneration over Promotion runs from 1 July to 31 July 2021 at all ZINARA
ping malls and warehouses as a destruction. Through their ac- Offices and ALM Machines, selected tollgates, refueling
form of protest, a coordinated tions and reactions, physical and
strategy of economic sabotage, verbal, the majority of South stations or visit any ZINARA agents.
or simply the unsurprising re- African people across racial,
sponse of a population seething gender, ethnic and class lines are Comply and drive freely.
under the harshness of life in exercising their constituent sov-
one of the most unequal societ- ereign power to say (reflecting Terms and conditions apply!
ies in the world the impact is the back the words of an exhausted
same: shock, disbelief, despair, President Cyril Ramaphosa): ZINARA, Driven to make you drive well…
trauma. “This is NOT us.”
Zimbabwe National Road Administration [email protected] zinaraZW www.zinara.co.zw
Perhaps most fearful is the A WhatsApp message this
thought that what has gone up morning from a friend who has
in flames and lingered for a mo- been in the thick of the conflict
ment in a searing pall of black in KwaZulu-Natal says it all:
smoke is the hope of South Af- “We have not slept since this
rica’s constitutional democracy started. Now we pray for peace
itself. Unless we stop the vio- and a miracle. We are resilient
lence, unless we bring in more people. Let’s hope they are done
troops and declare a State of and we can start to rebuild.”
Emergency, some have said, our
underlying democratic order — We are a resilient people.
instituted with such hope and As the people who are now
fanfare almost 30 years ago — is inspiring hope and courage get
at stake. to work on mopping-up op-
erations and help those at the
And this is true. Over the coalface of the devastation, it
past week, democratic consti- is worthwhile to recall why the
tutionalism and the rule of law South African democratic con-
have undergone a massive stress stitutional order was hailed as
test, caught between those who a miracle. It was a miracle be-
wish for a broad-ranging and cause there was no pre-existing
thoroughgoing destruction basis to talk of a South African
and breaking down, and those “people”; we were a mishmash
who wish to continue to strug- of different races, classes and
gle forward. But the power to ethnicities with vastly conflict-
determine the outcome of this ing worldviews. We were bitter
stress test can never lie in the enemies driven apart by walls of
efficacy of the police services or fear.
the defence force. It lies with the The naysayers of South Afri-
choice of the people of South ca’s experiment in inclusive de-
Africa. All 58 million or so of us. mocracy have been quick to give
up, pointing to the democratic
In the weeks before the deficit associated with the draft-
eruption of the worst violence ing of the 1996 Constitution
of South Africa’s democratic and the way it was bound to
history I had been painstaking- the terms of a negotiated settle-
ly writing an academic article ment, the continuing and even
about democratic sovereignty deepening inequalities that the
and the possibility of transfor- constitutional order has failed
mative change. To do this, I to address, and the immense
engaged with scholarly debates challenges that still lie ahead.
about “transformative constitu- But they have underestimated
tionalism”. the extent to which the South
African people are being knitted
Mirroring the material and together and are coming into
visceral struggles that have being through our collective
played out on the streets this experiences of triumph (Rug-
week, this debate is polarised: by World Cup!) and suffering
On the one hand, “constitution- (looting, Eishkom, Day Zero,
al abolitionists” see the 1996 and the days-of-our-lives State
Constitution as a betrayal and Capture Commission, to name
argue for a wholesale overhaul but a few). 
to the philosophical, historical The South African people
and cultural basis of the South choose regeneration and hope-
African governing order. On the fully, when the next election
other, “constitutional optimists” rolls around we will remember
are faithful to the Constitu-
tion itself as a moral, political

NewsHawks Focus on South Africa Page 12

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Confronting the confusing narratives 
to understand South Africa’s tumult

RICHARD JURGENS lu-Natal and Gauteng. The Protestors burned 23 heavy motor vehicles on the N3 Highway, near Mooi River, a small town 160km progress toward the rule of law
widespread response of many from the coast in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. that the judiciary has shown it-
SOUTH Africans find them- communities banding together self capable of holding a figure
selves confronted with the ugly to defend economic resources a series of analytical articles Gauteng. This piece tackles pecially for the youth, this situ- such as former president Jacob
spectre of rioting and loot- such as malls would appear to to examine the matters at the the agenda of the Radical Eco- ation renders thousands of idle Zuma to account for his fail-
ing that has claimed over 200 indicate that the violence is re- heart of this crisis. We weave nomic Transformation (RET) and hopeless people suscepti- ure to respect the constitution.
lives, and also dealt a devastat- stricted to a minority. together a number of import- brigade, which has deeply le- ble to participating in disrup- Until it happened, few ana-
ing blow to the economy. The ant threads by reading between gitimate elements but has also tive action with little regard to lysts would confidently have
situation remains extremely So far, members of the gov- the lines. been subverted for crude polit- the motives of those instigating predicted it materialising. The
volatile, and while narratives ernment have tended to resort ical destabilisation purposes. It said action. Constitutional Court’s firm-
abound, particularly on social to variations of the third and First, we examine the ques- also speaks to the legacy effects ness in upholding the law is to
media, facts are in short sup- fourth narratives to explain the tion of whether there was or of migrant labour and the nu- Finally, we show how each of be celebrated and applauded as
ply. It is important to examine chaos that has erupted on their is a coup attempt, as the state ances of Zulu nationalism, and the above threads have a bear- a crucial step in the direction
the situation in as level-headed watch. Some have suggested might have us believe. This will how this intersects with RET. ing on what is ultimately a fail- of government accountability.
a manner as possible to gain an that it is mainly opportunistic also provide a much-needed Ultimately, South Africa has ure of governance. Governance
understanding of what has re- criminality, while others have anatomy of state security and to have a clear plan of how to is not some abstract concept; Yet if anything is clear at
ally befallen our nation. claimed that it is an attempt intelligence failures. Missing adopt a form of capitalism that it speaks to the heart of our this stage, it is that resistance
to bring down the government from the public domain is a breaks the current oligopolistic current tragedy. It is defined to Zuma’s incarceration, and
The competing narratives by instigating generalised vi- comprehensive analysis of the politico-business elite bargain as the authoritative allocation other attempts by senior ruling
fall broadly into four views. olence. These mixed messag- dynamics animating the heart and delivers broad-based bene- of resources and answers the party figures to evade account-
According to one view, the es are themselves a cause for of the deep state in the wake of fits if we are to navigate coher- critical questions of who gets ability under the constitution,
social unrest represents sup- concern. The government has post-2008 subversion and hol- ently out of this mess. what, when and how. The state are based on the idea that in-
port of former President Jacob struggled to explain how its lowing out. is responsible for the protec- fluential members of the ruling
Zuma on the part of people intelligence services failed to Third, we address the ques- tion of lives and property, for elite should not be subject to
angered by his incarceration. inform it of the mood in the Second, we analyse key tion of service delivery failure, providing justice, education the same law as other citizens.
According to the second view, country. Moreover, little to no political economy drivers of malfeasance and maladminis- and infrastructure that enable More generally, it is also clear
the social unrest is an expres- evidence has been presented socio-economic desperation tration, especially at the local a dynamic economy that serves that South Africa’s governing
sion of legitimate discontent to support the claim that the that combine with coordi- level. The facts bear out that all its citizens. party has comprehensively
with the ANC’s rule. The third state has successfully thwarted nated insurrection to create protest action has risen in fre- failed to deliver on its core du-
view is that the violence is a a coup, and the claim rather literal tinder boxes across the quency across the country. Nonetheless, we are not ties and responsibilities.
wave of organised and sponta- neatly diverts attention from country. At the same time, we Combined with the lack of without hope. After a decade of
neous or opportunistic crimi- the other narratives outlined make sense of why the looting available job opportunities, es- reckless and wasteful abuses of We are at a turning point
nality. The fourth view, which here. If the unrest is due to has been limited to KZN and power, it is a clear indication of in our history as a young de-
appears increasingly to be the widespread discontent or crim- mocracy. We should all stand
official line, is that the unrest inality, or both, clearly the gov- together in the fight to build
represents an attempted coup ernment has failed in some of the institutions of the state in
by Zuma supporters, which its primary roles. a more inclusive and program-
was anticipated and is being matic manner. In the coming
suppressed by the state. For now, on the available days, GGA will explore the
information, one thing is clear: key themes underlying these
Each of these narratives the ongoing rampage in South unfortunate events, with the
needs to be treated with cau- Africa can be attributed to a aim of providing clarity to the
tion and carefully tested. As re- monumental failure of gover- national discussion.
gards the first narrative, claims nance. Whatever else it is, it
have been made that the sup- certainly the culmination of Moreover, we aim to be not
port for Zuma emanates either years of frustration with a rul- merely critical, but construc-
from Zulu ethnic nationalists ing party’s incompetence and tive, and will also outline key
or from supporters of the Rad- corruption, which have left a steps that will be necessary to
ical Economic Transformation nation mired in poverty. The turn this disaster into an op-
faction within the ANC. If so, devastating effects of this lack portunity. As has frequently
it is not clear whether these of governance have been exac- been pointed out, South Africa
groups are the same thing, or erbated by the Covid-19 pan- is a country of enormous po-
whether they overlap in some demic, and lockdowns having tential. It is only through po-
way. At any rate, the Zulu king, obliterated livelihoods of the litical renewal and economic
Misuzulu kaZwelithini, ap- most vulnerable (and perhaps growth that we can begin to
pears to have both recognised therefore most susceptible to realise it.
and decried the involvement populist inflammatory rheto-
of Zulu nationalists. As re- ric). *About the writer: Jurgens
gards the second narrative, the is the editor of The Africa
unrest has occurred (so far) in To get to the heart of the Governance Papers, the inde-
only two provinces, KwaZu- matter, Good Governance Af- pendent academic journal of
rica (GGA) will be delivering Good Governance Africa.

DESIGN PRINT BRANDING

Specializes in Printing Flyers, Stickers, Business cards
T-shirts, Caps, Banners, Calendars, PVC, Vinyl,
Lightboxes, In & Outdoor Signs, Vehicle Branding

No. 9 ARRES HOUSE, CORNER G. SILUNDIKA & INEZ TERRACE, HARARE
+263 777 729 130 | +263 778 270 328 | +263 773 017 158
[email protected]

Page 13 Focus on South Africa NewsHawks

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

In defence of rioting and looting

A fresh argument for rioting mental good. Liberals may for the police to put down be associated with the idea not because it is an error or which first appears in An-
and looting as our most pow- oppose the death penalty, protesters, with the Far of riot, and this is doubly bad for the movement but glophone contexts in 1788
erful tools for dismantling but they, like conservatives, Right claiming riots are just true for looting. because it is often a move- in a handbook on “Indian
white supremacy. believe in the efficacy of professional troublemaking ment’s most radical tactic. Vocabulary” for English co-
murder: they had little to fomented by George Soros, Even while a riot is going Looting attacks some of the lonial officers.
Looting — a crowd of say about Barrack Obama’s Jews, and the “global elite.” on, people in the streets of- core beliefs and structures
people publicly, openly, and extrajudicial drone execu- ten work to block looting. of cisheteropatriarchal ra- In  loot’s  first recorded
directly seizing goods — is tions, his death lists and Liberals oppose rioting, Many of them do so out of cial capitalist society, and appearance in the English
one of the more extreme ac- Terror Tuesdays, and Dem- too: because their love care for the struggle, wor- so frightens and disturbs language, it describes how
tions that can take place in ocrats mostly critiqued for law and order is much ried about unfair media nearly everyone, even some an officer managed to gain
the midst of social unrest. Trump’s 2020 assassination greater than their belief in representation and hoping of its participants. consent and gather recruits
Even self-identified radicals of Qasem Soleimani on freedom, they claim that ri- to advance the politically for subduing Indian resis-
distance themselves from procedural grounds: “He oters are “hurting their own and ethically advantageous After all, we have all tance: “He always found
looters, fearing that violent didn’t consult congress!” cause” or are led by police position. I understand that been raised and trained to the talismanic gather-
tactics reflect badly on the provocateurs — agreeing instinct, but it was to cri- hold, follow, and reproduce ing-word Loot (plunder)
broader movement. Torture is celebrated a with the fascists that riot- tique and push against that those beliefs every day. a sufficient bond of union
thousand times a day on ers are paid troublemakers, thinking, crucially in love Looting rejects the legiti- in any part of India.” The
But American author television in police proce- just disagreeing about who and solidarity with those macy of ownership rights racialised idea of an “In-
Vicky Osterweil argues that durals and action flicks, signs the checks. who pursue it and with and property, the moral in- dian” identity did not yet
stealing goods and destroying and most people accept looters the world over, that junction to work for a liv- exist outside the minds of
property are direct, pragmat- imprisonment — years of In the face of rioting and I began this project. ing, and the “justice” of law the colonisers, but a nat-
ic strategies of wealth redis- unrelenting psychic torture looting, even sympathet- and order. Looting reveals ural racial tendency, one
tribution and improving life —as a necessary fact of so- ic self-identifying radicals Other people, however all these for what they are: overcoming tribal, reli-
for the working class — not cial life. sometimes balk. They claim — including local politi- not natural facts, but social gious, and cultural differ-
to mention the brazen mes- that these more extreme ac- cians, middle-class “lead- constructs benefiting a few ences, could be “revealed”
sages these methods send to Economic coercion on tions are mainly the work ers,” political groups, and at the expense of the many, by the offer of plunder. In
the police and the state. All the international stage, of outside agitators, “op- reactionary organisations upheld by ideology, econo- other words, a deviant rela-
our beliefs about the innate through sanctions, trade portunists,” or out-of-step —block looting in order to my, and state violence. tionship to property is the
righteousness of property and agreements, and devel- middle-class radicals. They gain power for themselves. “sufficient” attribute that
ownership, Osterweil ex- opment loans, is a matter claim that those doing the These peacekeepers and de- That looting is one of the unifies and defines an oth-
plains, are built on the histo- of course. At home, the looting are “not part of the escalators cooperate with most racially loaded, mor- erwise disparate group un-
ry of anti-black, anti-indige- threat of un-employment, movement,” that they are the police to derail and de- ally abhorred, and depoliti- der the sign of race.
nous oppression. homelessness, starvation, “apolitical” and ignorant, stroy uprisings to show the cised concepts in modern
and destitution, along with that their actions reflect white power structure that society should come as no The earliest appearanc-
From slave revolts to la- debt, taxes, fines, and fees “false consciousness,” or they are responsible parties, surprise. From its very first es of the gerund  looting,
bour strikes to the mod- of all kinds, are so natu- even that they are acting that, because they can con- usages, the word has served meanwhile, refer to “hir-
ern-day movements for cli- ralised as to rarely even be as consumers and therefore trol and contain the unruly to re-enforce the white su- sute Sikhs” and “Chinese
mate change, Black lives, recognized as a form of po- furthering capitalism. masses, they are the “natu- premacist juncture of prop- blackguards.”  Looting  is
and police abolition, Oster- litical domination at all. ral leaders,” the people who erty and race. a word taken from a col-
weil makes a compelling case From within the move- should be negotiated with. onised people and used to
for rioting and looting as But rioting and looting ment, people tend to claim This book is spit in their The word  loot  is tak- denigrate and racialize riot-
weapons that bludgeon the have few defenders. that what happened wasn’t eyes. en up from the Hindi ous subalterns resisting En-
status quo while uplifting rioting but an uprising or a word  lút — similar to glish empire. It would from
the poor and marginalised.  Conservatives, of course, rebellion. No one wants to Looting is so unpopular “plunder” or “booty” — the very beginning refer to
oppose it utterly, rooting a non-white and lawless re-
In Defence of Looting  is lationship to property.
a history of violent pro-
test sparking social change, The looting that I am
a compelling reframing of defending in this book
revolutionary activism, and is not that act that can
a practical vision for a dra- be described by the syn-
matically restructured soci- onym  plunder. The loot-
ety. ing of captured territory
by armies, for example, or
VICKY OSTERWEIL of colonial wealth by em-
pire and its agents, can be
OF the many forms of equally well described by
political action in twen- words like robbery, pillage,
ty-first-century America, booty, and spoils.
it’s hard to think of any
less popular than rioting But the looting de-
and looting. Voting and scribed, defended, and his-
electioneering are widely toricised here — that of a
respected as the baseline of crowd of people publicly,
political action; petition- openly, and directly taking
ing and lobbying elected things in the midst of riot
representatives are not far and social unrest — has no
behind. easy synonym.

Labour action, despite I personally like the
four decades of propaganda phrases “proletarian shop-
and federal action against ping” and “shopping for
it, still has strong support free” quite a lot and use the
in many quarters. Commu- Marxist “expropriation,”
nity organising is at least too. But all those phrases
theoretically the founding drain the idea of looting
principle for thousands of its racializing character.
of non-profits across the Although it is understand-
country. Liberals and con- able why people would
servatives alike grudgingly want, in defending their
support demonstrations, at movements, to find a less
least when they are nonvi- charged word, it is precise-
olent and their people are ly the fact that looting ex-
doing it. ists at the nexus of race and
class that gives it its tactical
More extreme political power.
actions also have wide-
spread support. Both lib- Looting is a method of
erals and conservatives be- direct redistribution of
lieve in war, considering it wealth, from the store
a necessary evil or a funda-
...To next page

NewsHawks News Page 14

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

BERNARD MPOFU Sadc unsettled by Rwanda’s
Mozambique deployment
FRESH fissures have emerged in the forefront with the Sadc structions and preparations.”
in the Southern African Rwandan President Paul Kagame. deployment to Mozambique The Sadc intervention
Development Community and when the extraordinary
(Sadc) after Rwanda last week the Sadc heads of state,” she considering that the nation drawn up by the southern summit of the heads of state force, according to a leaked
deployed a contingent of 1 said in an interview with the is sovereign. African regional bloc is not and government endorsed the report done by a regional
000 troops to conflict-ridden country’s public broadcaster. recommendation to deploy a technical team, would com-
northern Mozambique ahead “We are a sovereign nation enough to finance a major Sadc standby force to Mozam- prise three light infantry bat-
of the regional bloc’s standby However, Mozambican and Sadc respects that,” Nyusi operation without external bique it was also agreed that talions of 620 soldiers each, a
force, The NewsHawks has es- President Filipe Nyusi defend- said, speaking during a visit support. Adriano Navunga, Mozambique could tap into light infantry battalion head-
tablished. ed his position. As extensively to military units deployed in director of the Maputo-based other support from African quarters with 90 troops, two
reported by The NewsHawks, central Mozambique’s Sofala Centre for Democracy and states,” Nuvunga said. special forces squadrons of 70
An extraordinary sum- Nyusi has always preferred province on Monday. Development, said it would soldiers each, 100 engineers,
mit of the Southern African bilateral military cooperation have been ideal if Rwanda, “However, the understand- 100 logistics coordinators,
Development Community ahead of a multilateral ap- A leading political scien- which has strong diplomat- ing was that such additional 120 signals experts and 42
(Sadc) heads of state and gov- proach due to complexities of tist based in Mozambique has ic relations with the United support would come within technicians, among other mil-
ernment held in Maputo last the conflict. said while South Africa’s dis- States and France, worked the framework of Sadc, not itary personnel.
month recommended the de- satisfaction over the deploy- with Sadc or the African parallel to Sadc. But the reali-
ployment of a standby  force Nyusi  says regional bloc ment of Rwandese forces to Union. ty is the current Rwandan de- There are also helicopters
to help the country fight ter- Sadc has made  room for the conflict-ridden Mozambique ployment is not only parallel as well as transport aircraft,
rorism in Cabo Delgado prov- country to receive bilateral ahead of a regional standby “Indeed the South Africans to Sadc but it has been given patrol ships, a submarine and
ince. support in the fight against force was somehow justi- are not happy, understandably. priority. This might have to do a maritime aircraft to patrol
terrorism in Cabo Delgado, fied,  a US$12 million budget The South Africans have been with the readiness of Rwanda. the Cabo Delgado coastline
Sadc’s recommendation It has already deployed 1 000 to intercept insurgents’ move-
for the deployment of troops troops and Sadc is still prepar- ments, supplies and combat
came after the bloc’s technical ing itself although it has com- their drug trafficking activi-
assessment mission  recom- municated having a US$12 ties, said to be a source of fi-
mended immediate military million budget which is too nancing for the insurgency.
intervention in April to repel small for the type of deploy-
acts of violent extremism and  ment that they want to make. The technical assessment
terrorism in Mozambique. So their dissatisfaction is un- team also recommended a
derstandable. phased approach implement-
Following last month’s Sadc ed in four stages: deployment
decision to deploy troops “We have also wanted the of intelligence assets (land, air
to Mozambique following Rwandese deployment to be and maritime) to understand
weeks of dithering over the part of the existing African the insurgents’ operations;
decision, Rwanda last Friday mechanisms and institu- special forces and naval equip-
announced that it would put tions and not parallel African ment; pacification operations
boots on the ground to help mechanisms like the regional and withdrawal. This plan en-
stem a conflict which has bodies Sadc and the African tails the deployment of Sadc
claimed thousands of lives. Union. But that is the reality troops to support the local
and it is consistent with Mo- army, providing the Mozam-
The conflict has also result- zambique, which has been bican military with training
ed in Total, a French-head- preferring more bilateral than and support; and ensuring lo-
quartered energy group, multilateral mechanisms. We gistical support.
suspending its multi-bil- have not yet been informed
lion-dollar energy project in about the terms of engage- These combined and
the region. ment of this Rwandese mis- self-reinforcing actions are
sion so it is not yet clear. They ultimately designed to neu-
Rwanda’s deployment has are already in Mozambique tralise the insurgents whose
already irked key members of but, to our knowledge, they centres of gravity, including
Sadc. are not yet deployed to the strategic, operational, tacti-
field. They are still in Nacala cal, critical capabilities, needs,
South Africa’s Defence where they are waiting for in- strengths and vulnerabilities
minister,  Nosiviwe Mapi- issues, were identified by the
sa-Nqakula, said on  Satur- Sadc technical team.
day she “regretted” that “it
happens  before Sadc has de-
ployed its force”.

“Regardless of the bilateral
agreement, it  would be ex-
pected that Rwanda’s inter-
vention to help Mozambique
would happen within  the re-
gional mandate decided by

From previous page In defence of rioting and looting United States in the last
owners and capitalists quarter century; when it
to the poor. Looting, as thing is looted, that thing’s sharing that wealth, which lated wealth in a massive “civilised” and Christian. has appeared, it has been
scholar Delio Vasquez nature as a commodity is points to the collapse of bonfire. Like looting, this non- during brief and often
writes in “The Poor Per- destroyed by its being tak- the system by which the whites noncommodified one-off uprisings.
son’s Defence of Riots,” en for free, out of the cycle looted things produce val- The potlatch works to communal approach to
“directly results (unless of exchange and profit. Ev- ue. Looting is a commu- level wealth in the com- property was seen as a dan- Despite this fact, when
you get arrested) in your erything in the store goes nal practice: it cannot be munity by consuming gerous threat to capitalism the flames went up over a
acquiring the things that from being a commodity done alone. Anthropolo- surplus, which might and “civilisation.” looted Quik Trip in Fergu-
you are seeking.”3 It is a to becoming a gift. gist Neal Keating argues otherwise enable some to son, Missouri, in August
practical, immediate form that looting creates a sim- develop more permanent Though no single in- 2014, as antipolice rioting
of improving life. Looting Less abstractly, looting ilar relation to property as forms of power through stance of looting is on its broke out after Michael
represents a material way is usually followed up by the potlatch, a communal excess accumulation. own sufficient to trans- Brown was killed, the me-
that riots and protests help burning down the shop. practice of Indigenous na- form society, obviously, dia produced lines of ar-
the community: by pro- Looters also frequently tions in the Pacific North- Rioting and looting looting — at least when gument and criticism that
viding a way for people to throw items out onto the west. In the potlatch, held similarly redistribute and carried out by Black, poor, you might have just as eas-
solve some of the imme- streets for anyone to take on a variety of special oc- reduce the wealth and the or Indigenous people ily heard in the sixties.
diate problems of poverty or pile goods chaotically in casions — births, deaths, surplus, levelling material — will always be stren-
and by creating a space for the middle of the store or weddings, festivals — power differentials. uously and vigorously Politicians and media
people to freely reproduce pass bottles of liquor, bags wealthy people compete dis-avowed by the powers outlets have a number of
their lives rather than do- of food, or goods between to see who can give away The potlatch was out- that be because it points tried-and-true disavowals
ing so through wage la- strangers and around the the most possessions to the lawed by the Canadian to and immediately enacts and defamations of looters
bour. Looting is an act of crowd. gathered celebrants and government as a part of a different relationship to at the ready.
communal cohesion. they vie with each other to its (ongoing) genocide of property, a different his-
But looting is also an Looting involves not destroy the most accumu- the First Nations: the pot- tory. There have been few Before moving on to the
act of excess, of property only taking wealth direct- latch was considered one instances of looting in the historical narrative of loot-
destruction. When some- ly but also immediately of the most important ob- ing in the United States,
stacles to their becoming it’s worth dealing with
these common objections
here.

Page 15 Focus on South Africa NewsHawks

Alex T. Issue 39, 16 July 2021
Magaisa
South Africa should balance 
rule of law and social justice 
A MOTHER jumps onto that have travelled the path
the lower deck of a tall build- Incarcerated former South African leader Jacob Zuma. before.
ing and catches her baby
dropped from a floor above. jurisprudence over the years, to jail. In the end, they could court yielded a spree of law- region. The economic im- To be sure, the rioting was
She frantically dashes to the a reputation made more im- not do anything to stop the lessness, destruction and pact of South Africa in the triggered by the jailing of
edge of the deck. A crowd pressive when compared to incarceration. death. At the time of writing, region cannot be overstated Zuma, but that was merely a
has gathered on the ground its regional peers. Back in the death toll stands at more and one cannot avoid the Sarajevo moment for South
below. A group of strangers the early 2000s, it was the But they were not done. than 200 people, and dam- cliché that if the giant sneez- Africa. It was the spark that
has formed a human net Constitutional Court’s wis- Images of their leader signing age estimated at more than es, the whole region catch- lit a fully loaded powder-keg
and they are calling for her dom that rescued the nation in at the prison were leaked a billion dollars. Businesses es a cold. This is the reason that was already in existence.
to throw the baby into their from the scourge of the HIV on social media. Looking of all types have been looted why South Africa’s troubles Metaphorically speaking,
arms. and Aids pandemic when it powerless and forlorn as the or razed to the ground. The should worry the rest of the South Africa has long been a
curtailed the folly of a gov- prison staff inducted him economies in the affected re- region. It is already home to volcano that was waiting to
She instinctively drops ernment that had lost its way into his new home for the gions have run aground with millions of migrants from erupt although no one knew
her baby into the human through inexplicable denial- next 15 months, it was a sad credible fears that some busi- the region, most of them quite when it would happen.
net waiting below. The baby ism. But its critics thought picture of humiliation and nesses might never recover. economic refugees fleeing It is to those deeper causes
lands neatly into the hu- it had gone too far on this pity. The mighty had fall- They were already reeling unemployment and poverty that South Africa must look
man net. The little one is occasion. They thought it en. Those images must have from the national lockdowns in their own countries. They, at this moment, instead of
safe. Moments later, mother had exercised its powers lit up an already incendiary courtesy of the Covid-19 in turn, send millions in focusing on the actions of
and child are reunited. But with more than a little zeal, atmosphere among his sup- pandemic and, for some of remittances every year pro- Zuma and his supporters.
there is another woman on a charge that has escalated in porters. How could they them, the plunder and de- viding a lifeline to their im-
the deck, her foot dangling light of the chaos that erupt- do that to Msholozi, they struction will prove to be the poverished communities and For so long, the world has
from her leg. It is broken ed in its aftermath.  must have wondered. And final nail on the coffin. In national economies.   held South Africa as a gold
somewhere near the ankle. so it was that the protests a country where the official standard for the African re-
It is a painful sight. The pic- Would Zuma really go to began in earnest, calling for unemployment rate among SA’s Sarajevo moment gion, a model to be emulated
ture of the baby flying into jail? That was the big ques- Zuma to be released. The the youth (15-34 years) is So, what has gone wrong by others. When the clique
the safety of the human net, tion after the ground-break- protests soon turned into 46.3% and the national av- in South Africa? How did of the richest countries in
arms and legs astride, is both ing decision. The court had an orgy of looting and de- erage is 32.6%, thousands the much-celebrated rule of the world meets to decide
sweet and sour. given him five days to com- struction, first in the volatile will be out of work follow- law turn into a rule of law- the course of world affairs,
ply. Zuma typically put up KwaZulu-Natal province ing the destructive riots. Al- lessness? The temptation is South Africa is invited to sit
Sour because of the vio- a show of defiance egged on before the contagion spread ready, thousands are queuing to reduce the cause to the at the table aiding and abet-
lence and arson that forced by his supporters. But in the to Gauteng, home of South for assistance, not because of actions of one stubborn man ting the sense of exceptional-
the flight. This was not a end, as the clock ticked to- Africa’s largest metropolis. a natural disaster but a hu- who believed he was bigger ism. Its constitution is wide-
game. It was a great escape wards the end of the morato- But if the pacesetters were man-made calamity. than the law. To my mind, ly celebrated as progressive.
from a near-death moment. rium, he conceded and pre- Zuma’s ardent posse of sup- that would be too simplis- The West casts it as a kind
It could easily have ended sented himself at a prison. porters, others smelt a whiff With major oil companies tic an approach to what is a of watchdog that must rein
in disaster. Sweet because in The seemingly impossible of opportunity. It was their closing business and declar- complex and nuanced prob- in the delinquents around
that moment of great adver- had become a reality. Zuma turn to eat. It turned into a ing  force majeure  (act of lem. It is often said South it like Zimbabwe. But that
sity was evidence of courage was going to jail. With hind- fiesta of violence and looting God), a justification for not Africa suffers a false sense of is a role that, aware of its
and the beauty of the human sight, the veteran politician as hordes of marauders ran- fulfilling contractual obliga- exceptionalism, the notion insecurities and structural
spirit of co-operation – a might have benefited from sacked and pillaged shop- tions, the repercussions will that it is different from the weaknesses, South Africa
mother’s love and strangers better counsel. Defying ping malls and other com- be felt in other parts of South rest of Africa. But a careful has largely been reluctant to
getting together to serve and mocking the court was mercial establishments.  Africa and the southern Afri- examination suggests that exercise. Contrary to West-
others because it is the right never a good idea. Still, his can region. With KZN be- its challenges are not new to ern perceptions, and despite
thing to do. That image of supporters were not happy. Rule of law to lawless- ing host to one of the busiest post-colonial societies and if efforts to paint it as a Big
the baby caught in full flight They rallied around him in ness ports in Africa, a key arterial there is a grave error it is that Brother, South Africa is not
from extreme danger must the days after the sentenc- route for trade is currently the South African leader- different from its African
qualify among the most ing vowing to defend him by There is, of course, some blocked. This is certain to ship has not done enough to peers in terms of challeng-
iconic images of the most any means necessary. In their irony in all this. It is that cause severe distress to the draw lessons from its peers es that a post-colonial state
riotous and destructive mo- opinion, he would never go what began as a defence of heart of the nation and the faces. It might lay claim to
ment in post-independent the rule of law by the apex being the most sophisticated
South Africa. economy on the continent,
but this hides the sad reality
A giant in distress that a significant part of it
The giant of the southern is in a few hands, the bene-
African region is in serious ficiaries of historical advan-
distress. There has never been tage and few black elites who
a more trying moment for managed to sneak to the top
South Africa since it gained table.  
freedom from the hideously
oppressive apartheid regime However, it is not im-
in 1994. The upheaval start- mune to the challenge that
ed in KwaZulu-Natal fol- has afflicted most post-colo-
lowing the jailing of Jacob nial states. They have strug-
Zuma, a former president of gled, and many have failed,
South Africa for contempt to strike a balance between
of court. The Constitution- two competing demands: on
al Court held that he was in the one hand trying hard to
contempt of court and sen- live up to claims of moder-
tenced him to 15 months’ nity as defined by the domi-
imprisonment. nant Western discourse and,
The stiff and unprecedent- on the other hand, having to
ed sentence sent shockwaves meet the needs and expec-
across the country and be- tations of a historically dis-
yond its borders. Jailing a empowered, disadvantaged,
former president is not a reg- and long-suffering majority.
ular occurrence anywhere in Few areas mark this tension
the world, let alone in Africa than the celebrated princi-
where the Big Man syndrome ple of the rule of law which
is commonplace. Was Zuma features prominently in the
really going to jail? Many events leading up to the cur-
were shocked by the chutz- rent riots. It is to that issue
pah that South Africa’s apex that I now turn.
court had demonstrated. If
South Africa prides itself as a Rule of law complexities
democracy with strong insti- The Zuma case and the
tutions, the Constitutional rioting that erupted in the
Court is one of the key cogs wake of his jailing is a great
in that wheel. It has built a point to discuss the com-
cutting-edge and world-class plexities of the rule of law
in a post-colonial setting;

NewsHawks News Page 16

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

what it means and how gov- lent Sandton has the wealth evident that they accepted landowners.  situation which as Zimba- principle in societies that are
ernments have wrestled with to protect and the rule of law and advanced the substan- The Zimbabwean gov- bwe showed is unsustainable still ravaged by the legacy
it. When the Constitutional provides that protection. His tive conception of the rule in the long run. Political of injustices and inequali-
Court convicted and sen- neighbour for whom a hovel of law. The problem is that ernment reconfigured the demagogues were always go- ty. The problem is that at
tenced Zuma to a term of in poverty-stricken Alexan- the post-colonial constitu- composition of the Supreme ing to take advantage of the independence, the post-co-
imprisonment, the decision dra is home has nothing and tions and judiciaries adopted Court and the High Court to tensions when they suited lonial state’s constitutional
was hailed as an important the rule of law is an alien a substantive conception of create a judiciary that would their interests. South Africa foundation was configured
defence of the rule of law. phenomenon. the rule of law to protect a support its land reform faces a similar path if it is not to give effect to the substan-
The former president had status quo that was founded agenda. It believed that the careful.    tive conception of the rule
defied the commission of Meaningful rule of law on the enforcement of a for- old judiciary was institution- of law when the injustice
inquiry investigating alle- This brings us to the issue mal conception of the rule ally biased against land re- Façade of rainbowism and inequality of the past
gations of state capture. He of conceptions of the rule of of law. By maintaining the form. But the judges argued For too long South Afri- were underwritten by a for-
had also defied the Consti- law in a post-colonial con- status quo, the legal systems that they were performing ca has laboured under the mal conception of the rule
tutional Court after it or- text. How is it that what is helped to perpetuate injus- their constitutional man- false veneer of the “Rainbow of law. Those who amassed
dered him to comply with supposed to be a supreme ex- tices and inequalities of the date, which was to interpret Nation”. Labels like that are wealth and advantage based
the commission’s demands. ample of upholding the rule colonial era instead of facili- and apply the laws on the not accidental. They cre- on a formal conception of
Zuma did not even bother of law has instead resulted tating redress. This is unsus- statute books. In their view, ate an imagined reality but the rule of law suddenly
to formally respond to the in the rule of chaos and de- tainable because it leaves a when they ruled against the imagined realities do not last became beneficiaries of the
application for contempt. struction? In my view, while vast reservoir of discontent- expropriation of land with- unless they are persuasive substantive conception of
Instead, he wrote incendiary the rule of law is fundamen- ment which slowly builds out compensation, they were enough to be believed. It was the rule of law, with very
public statements which im- tal, it is also important to up over time, ultimately simply giving effect to the seductive but the notion of little being done to redress
pugned and denigrated the recognise that it is neither threatening the substantive constitution and promoting a Rainbow Nation simply the injustices and inequality.
court. an end nor the sole virtue of rule of law. In the case of the rule of law. The judges glossed over the gross in- Ill-gotten rights and advan-
a legal system. This applies Zimbabwe, it ended in vio- were right at law. But in the equalities that needed to be tages received constitutional
In defying the judicial generally but takes an even lence and an abrogation of eyes of the government, the resolved and which if unre- protection, while the his-
process, Zuma’s conduct more significant prominence the substantive rule of law, judges were standing in the solved present a potent rec- torically disadvantaged and
was reminiscent of a medie- in post-colonial societies all in the name of redressing way of efforts to correct his- ipe for chaos. It only needs exploited remained at the
val king who regarded him- that are defined by structural historical injustices and in- torical imbalances under the a spark.  periphery, boasting the right
self as being above the law. injustices and inequalities. equalities. Let us take a dis- guise of the rule of law. The northern neighbour, to vote but more economic
His behaviour was not what As I have already stated, the passionate glimpse of Zim- Zimbabwe, had its labels too power. In such a scenario,
would be expected in a con- post-colonial state must sat- babwe and property rights This was a classic case of in the early years. For exam- the rule of law is always in
stitutional democracy, one isfy at least two demands: because it holds lessons for two competing claims: the ple, it was called the Bread danger of collapsing if it fails
that he had defended when first, to uphold and defend the southern neighbour. claim of the substantive rule Basket of the region, another to meet the demands of the
he was president. It was a the rule of law, and second, of law, which required the seductive label that glossed poverty-stricken majority.
challenge to the authority to correct historical injus- Zimbabwe’s independence strict protection of property over the gross inequalities in
of the highest court in the tices and inequalities. In constitution had a clause rights, and the second was land ownership. There is even Since the rule of law is
country. If the Constitution- other words, the legal system that entrenched the right the claim of social justice, a claim that the early years an imagined reality; a legal
al Court had succumbed to of a post-colonial state must to private property for the which required the correc- were the golden era of the fiction, its survival, and suc-
his whims, it would have not only revel in upholding first 10 years of indepen- tion of historical injustices rule of law, even as the Mug- cess depend on persuading a
looked lame, and its author- the rule of law, but it must dence. The provision which and inequality. The sub- abe regime was massacring at significant number of people
ity would have been severe- also attend to the demands protected property rights stantive rule of law lost the least 20 000 people in Ma- to believe in it. The Consti-
ly undermined. The court of the systematically exclud- could not be amended by contest. Still, to illustrate the tabeleland and the Midlands tutional Court is an import-
had bent over backward ed and impoverished. the new government for that complexities of the rule of during Gukurahundi. The ant believer, advocate, and
to accommodate Zuma’s The problem is that these first decade. A review of the law, the government contin- spark came in February 2000 defender of the rule of law,
stubborn antics before the two virtues of a legal system independence negotiations ued to claim that it was en- when Zanu PF lost the con- but to what extent is this re-
verdict and sentence were do not always sit comfort- held at Lancaster House in forcing the rule of law even stitutional referendum and flected among the poor and
passed. But Zuma ignored ably in the same space be- London reveals that the na- as it passed retrospective laws realised it was facing an exis- excluded? Do they place as
it, choosing instead to pay to cause meeting the demands tionalists accepted this ar- that violated fundamental tential threat. The floodgates much value in it? Are they
the public gallery.   of social justice might up- rangement with great reluc- rights. This was at best a for- to populism opened with the prepared to defend it with
set the substantive rule of tance. They wanted to have mal conception of the rule farm invasions riding on the the same zeal? To win sup-
I do not think anyone can law, while an insistence on powers to address the land of law but adherents would rhetoric of redressing histor- porters and believers, the
seriously argue that Zuma upholding the substantive question soon after indepen- still justify the measures as ical imbalances.  legal system and the rule of
was not contemptuous of rule of law might limit ac- dence. However, Britain and meeting the other virtues of For South Africa this past law must serve their needs
the court. The dispute is cess to social justice. Seen the Rhodesian government a legal system, namely re- week, the spark was the jail- and expectations. A signif-
over the sentencing, with his from this perspective, there wanted to protect the in- dressing past injustices and ing of a former liberation icant number of people in
supporters believing that he is an argument to be made terests of white landowners inequality.   icon who has fallen from the political community
ought to have been given a for a critical assessment of who held the bulk of arable grace. President Cyril Ra- must say there is something
suspended sentence as is the the substantive rule of law land. The outcome was a Why it matters to SA maphosa says the violence in it for us, and therefore it
norm, which would have so that it may be reconcep- constitution that facilitated I have gone to some was well-planned and that is worth defending. 
given him an incentive to tualised and redesigned in political power to the black lengths to examine the tu- there we instigators behind
comply. For his supporters, a post-colonial context. As majority while maintaining multuous path of the rule of it. Some people thought the The rule of law must not
the 15-month unsuspend- I have already stated, South economic power in the white law in Zimbabwe because I land invasions in Zimba- be seen as an elitist notion
ed sentence was excessive, Africa is not the first country minority. believe it is relevant to South bwe were spontaneous. On extolled by judges, capital-
harsh, and vindictive on the to encounter this challenge Africa’s situation. Like its the contrary, the govern- ists, and political function-
part of the judges. They ar- and I will use its northern Indeed, the new Zim- northern neighbour in its ment always had a hand in aries when it suits them. It
gue that the sentence reflects neighbour, Zimbabwe, as an babwe’s adherence to this early years, while South Af- them. For the young lad who must have real meaning to
the judges’ emotional and illustration. arrangement was hailed as rica extols the virtues of the had managed to pick a few the ordinary people at the
vindictive reaction to Zu- Case of Zimbabwe consistent with the rule of rule of law as epitomised by clothes and underwear as his bottom of the food chain.
ma’s conduct. They see it as Zimbabwe won Indepen- law. But it was also a sys- the Constitutional Court’s loot in South Africa, this was It is important to address
a disproportionate measure dence in 1980 while South temically unjust and ineq- reasoning in the Zuma case, hardly about Zuma but an poverty, historical injustices,
in the circumstances. Those Africa celebrated freedom in uitable system for the black and its determination to opportunity to make some and inequality.
who back the court argue 1994. Both the newly inde- majority that had been un- jail a former president, it is pickings in a period of man-
that the decision was con- pendent countries adopted fairly dispossessed, discrimi- also a country that carries a ufactured chaos. The point To ignore these structur-
sistent with the substantive new constitutions that were nated against, and exploited heavy burden of unresolved is, underneath the carefully al weaknesses would be an
rule of law which supports regarded as progressive and during the colonial era. The historical grievances. As with and self-servingly manufac- exercise of burying heads in
the democratic system of for present purposes, adopt- rule of law which protected Zimbabwe in the early years, tured façade of rainbowism, the sand. South Africa has
government. ed and extolled the virtues of this system was great for the the rule of law in respect of there are severe tensions in the advantage of the experi-
the rule of law. South Africa’s land-owning elites, but it property rights served the South African society that ence of its neighbours from
This in part reflects the new constitution was more was alien to the black ma- interests of elites (both white are always threatening to ex- which it can draw lessons.
contested nature of the con- explicit in its reference to jority. The reservoir of dis- and black) but did not have plode. There is a huge reser- There will be calm after this
cept and application of the the rule of law. It specifically gruntlement continued to much relevance to the ma- voir of disgruntlement that storm, but as those of us with
rule of law. The outcome of stated the rule of law as one build up and it is hardly sur- jority who remained encum- is easy to manipulate. Zimbabwean experience
the case is that what began as of the founding values of the prising that when the Zanu bered by the legacy of injus- Give meaning to the rule know, it will not last long.
a defence of the rule of law state. The new Zimbabwean PF government felt political tice and inequality. of law We have seen these tell-tale
has become the rule of law- constitution which was ad- pressure and faced an exis- From an economic per- The rule of law is a great signs before and what has
lessness. This is a reflection, opted in 2013 also refers to tential threat, it was only too spective, those who extolled principle that must be sup- happened in South Africa is
in my view, of the tension the rule of law as one of the happy to allow it to burst at the virtues of the rule of law ported. The Constitution- an ominous sign. South Af-
between a substantive con- founding values and princi- the seams. The land expro- never considered if it meant al Court has done a great rica’s problem is political. It
ception of the rule of law ples of the state. However, priations were illegal and the same thing or anything job defending it over the requires bold and progressive
and the long-unresolved leg- neither constitution specifi- regarded as a breach of the at all to the poor majori- years. The rule of law is an leadership that strikes a bal-
acy of social inequality and cally defines the rule of law. rule of law, but for the gov- ty. Also, like Zimbabwe in imagined reality and, like ance between defending the
injustice. Therefore, while There is no statement over ernment and its supporters, the early years, South Afri- all other products of the rule of law and working to
elite classes extol the virtues the conception of the rule of it was a legitimate exercise to ca has long had simmering imagination, it depends on ensure social justice.
of the substantive rule of law law. address a long-standing lega- tensions between classes institutions that defend it
under which their advantages However, going by the cy of colonialism. Thousands usually defined by race. The for its survival. But it is im- *About the writer: Dr
are protected, it sadly means terms of the constitutions invaded the farms and took compromises reached at in- portant to remember that Alex Tawanda Magaisa is
less to the poor majority for and judicial decisions, it is occupation with the conniv- dependence did not resolve it is not the only important a United Kingdom-based
whom the human-made leg- ance and encouragement of long-standing grievances. Zimbabwean academic and
acy of historical injustices the government but very few They postponed problems lecturer at the Kent Law
and inequality are ever-pres- came out to defend the white and created an incendiary School of the University of
ent realities. A man in opu- Kent. 

Page 17 News NewsHawks

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Tagwirei’s vast sanctions by the United States
tentacles grip last year, Zimbabwean govern-
Zimbabwe ment officials went over board
government in defending Tagwirei and his
operations. 
BRIDGET MANANAVIRE Since 2017, Tagwirei has
used his connections within The businessman has gone
KUDAKWASHE Tagwirei’s the government to grow into further to hide some of his
influence on government the transport; mining, med- business ventures, including
in recent years has been un- ical, oil, banking, logistics, as in mining, behind South Af-
matched. well as import/ export sectors rican businesspeople and off-
with the businessman shield- shore structures in Mauritius
The shadowy businessman ing his activities through a and the Cayman Islands, away
has emerged one of the big- network of over 40 companies, from the prying eyes of West-
gest beneficiaries of the No- some of which are registered in ern governments and public
vember 2017 military coup tax havens.  scrutiny. The US Department
which ousted former president Among his companies reg- of Treasury in an August 2020
Robert Mugabe, with his em- istered in 2018 in Zimba- Press release said Tagwirei had
pire ballooning on the back bwe are Balesite Investments, gotten leverage to expand
of lucrative government con- Billheights Investments and his businesses through his
tracts and acquisition of state Landela Mining Ventures. links with the government, as
resources, including mining In 2019, Tagwirei also America imposed sanctions on
companies formerly owned by started Landela Investments, the businessman.
the government. Landela Energy and Landela Zimbabwean tycoon Kudakwashe Tagwirei (right).
“Tagwirei  has utilised his
An investigation by The Infrastructure.  Tagwirei also bought Great a year after Landela Mining particularly at the Reserve relationships with high-level
Sentry – an investigative and These are just some of the Dyke Investments and Freda Ventures had bought half of Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). Zimbabwean officials to gain
policy team that follows dirty companies listed in papers Rebecca Gold Mine, among the platinum mine, Zimba- Such high-level access, togeth- state contracts and receive fa-
money connected to African filed at the High Court of others. bwe granted Great Dyke In- er with the pattern of previous voured access to hard currency,
war criminals and transna- South Africa as being linked to vestments (GDI) a five-year decisions, raises the possibil- including US dollars. In turn,
tional war profiteers and seeks the Sakunda Group. Through Sakunda, Tag- corporate income tax holiday ity of state capture, when the Tagwirei has provided high-
to shut those benefiting from Through Sakunda, Tagwirei wirei was also controlling the and exempted its shareholders public realm—particularly priced items, such as expensive
violence out of the interna- now runs the Arundel Clinic Feruka-Harare pipeline with resident in Zimbabwe from regulatory, legal, and public cars, to senior-level Zimba-
tional financial system – re- as well as a unit at the public the support of Trafigura, a resident shareholders’ taxes on policy decision-making—has bwean government officials,”
vealed companies linked to United Bulawayo Hospitals. Swiss-registered international GDI dividends—retroactively been influenced to benefit pri- the release read.
the businessman were awarded In a space of a year in 2020, commodities company. applied to January 1, 2020,” vate interests.”
contracts worth over US$1.6 Tagwirei acquired Bindura the report by The Sentry re- “Since former Zimbabwe
billion by the government. Nickel Corporation (BNC) Tagwirei’s tentacles also port read. When Tagwirei’s father President Robert Mugabe’s
and Zimbabwe Mining De- spread into the financial sec- passed away in May 2018, 2017 departure, Tagwirei used
Tagwirei has close ties with velopment Corporation tor, after buying into CBZ as “In addition to alleged busi- cabinet had to be postponed a combination of opaque busi-
both President Emmerson (ZMDC) mines, including well as ZB late last year.  ness dealings with the Zim- as the executive, ministers and ness dealings and his ongoing
Mnangagwa and Vice-Presi- Jena and Sabi, as well as Zim babwean military, Tagwirei senior government officials relationship with President
dent Constantino Chiwenga. Alloys and Metallion Gold His companies have en- appears to have the ability to all drove to Shurugwi for the Mnangagwa to grow his busi-
He is also very close to Mnan- mines. joyed tax brakes and special contact senior civilian officials burial, showing his influence.  ness empire dramatically and
gagwa’s sons, particularly Em- treatment from the govern- in Zimbabwe at short notice, rake in millions of US dollars.”
merson Junior. ment.  After his placement on
The Sentry report also un-
“On January 27, 2021, over covered how Tagwirei has used
his government networks to
hide his financial interests in
Zimbabwe’s new public-pri-
vate partnership mining
company, Kuvimba Mining
House, with Zimbabwe’s Fi-
nance ministry reportedly
collaborating to deflect public
scrutiny from these arrange-
ments.

Tagwirei did not respond to
questions.

CHIPA GONDITII US$14.87 million worth of
tobacco being declared a loss.
Bumper tobacco sales surpass US$520mTHE 2020/21 tobacco mar-
Point-of-sale rejection of
keting season, which came tobacco is due to various rea-
to a close on Wednesday this uptick in the number of to-
week, has recorded nearly bacco growers. sons, including bales being
overweight or underweight
US$523 million in sales, an “These sales mean that and bad handling, resulting in
increase of 21% from last year. more and more farmers are
Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s sec- adopting tobacco as a cash excessive or inadequate mois-
ond-largest foreign currency crop and they are going into ture and moulds. Farmers
earner after gold, with China an enterprise that is actually can also reject the sale on the
and South Africa being the generating them money,” he grounds of price.
The statistics also showed
major buyers of the golden said. that the biggest number
leaf. “If you actually look at the
According to the latest sta- average sales, they exceeded of rejects came from con-
tistics from the Tobacco In- the normal range that we are tract-grown tobacco were 56
dustry and Marketing Board used to. So this gives us con- 772 bales potentially worth
(TIMB), farmers delivered fidence because it shows that US$12.22 million were reject-
tobacco worth US$522 625 we are going somewhere.”  ed.
Responding to an email
552 while last year’s sales were The remarkable rise of sent by The NewsHawks,
US$401 602 791. Zimbabwe’s tobacco farming
This year, 188 887 997 ki- comes after production plum- TIMB public affairs officer
logrammes of the golden leaf meted from the previous peak Chelesani Moyo said farmers
were sold with over 93% of of 260 million kgs in 1998 to should adopt correct measures
the sales coming from con- a low of 48 million kgs at the when handling their bales so
tract-based schemes. height of the country’s hyper- as to avoid losses.
“To help curb the rejection
In Zimbabwe, the crop is inflation in 2008. of bales for the above-stated
mainly produced through the Growing demand from
contract system where buyers China and funding from pri- reasons, there is need to un-
provide the farmers with the vate tobacco companies have dertake correct curing and
inputs for tobacco farming. boosted output in Zimbabwe. tobacco funding framework by offshore funders and that istering significant strides storing mechanisms for the
This season also saw the av- Although the country is the that would see the proceeds money is just taken outside in tobacco sales this season, tobacco before delivering to
erage price of tobacco going largest producer of tobacco in circulating in the country. the market. There is also need
the country. TIMB statistics also revealed to ensure correct classification
up to US$2.77 from US$2.44 Africa, only 1.5% of the crop “Last time we had a min- “So if funding is localised, that 83 513 bales of tobacco and grading when packing the
last year. is channelled toward local istry (of Agriculture) organ- for example Pfumvudza to- potentially worth US$17.81 tobacco,” she said.  
Zimbabwe National Farm- processing, with the rest being ised workshop on localising bacco, it will mean that the million had been rejected this
ers’ Union vice-president exported in raw form. tobacco funding because you money will carry on circulat- year alone. Zimbabwe is the largest
Edward Dune attributed the Dune also said it was im- might be well aware that cur- ing locally,” he said. This is a 12.29% increase producer of tobacco in Afri-
increased revenue to a general portant to organise a localised rently tobacco funding is done Despite the country reg- from last year which saw ca and ranked fourth in the
world.

NewsHawks News Page 18

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Kembo Mohadi embarks on Zanu PF
national tour despite Covid-19 ban

AT a time the govern- the Level Four Covid-19 a visit to the Mashona- party is facing in Mash- occasion deputy nation- do not vote during gen-
ment has banned pub- lockdown by two weeks.  land East capital Maron- onaland East and possi- al political commissar eral elections. Those cells
lic gatherings to stem a Under the measures, the dera on Thursday, where bly discuss interventions Omega Hungwe urged are our voters’ role like
surge in Covid-19 infec- government banned pub- he met the Zanu PF pro- that might be required to district coordinating what the Zimbabwe Elec-
tions at a time Zimbabwe lic gatherings including vincial executives, district avert the challenges.” committee chairpersons toral Commission (ZEC)
is battling the third wave, church meetings, and in- coordinating committee to speed up preparation did. Come the primary
Zanu PF second secretary ter-city travel in a bid to members and other party Mohadi said Mnangag- of cells which she said elections, those in cells
Kembo Mohadi has be- slow down infections.  officials. wa wanted the party to be was the Zanu PF voters’ are going to vote.”
gun a countrywide tour united ahead of the polls. role.
to asses the ruling party’s Extending the lock- In his remarks at the The meeting was also
structures in preparation down, Mnangagwa ex- Zanu PF provincial of- “His Excellency wants “I heard that the prov- attended by  the minis-
for the 2023 general elec- pressed concern over the fices, Mohadi said he had us to foster unity among ince has 10 000 cells and ter of state for Provincial
tions. rise in new cases, blaming visited so that he hears our people. He wants us some of you are not yet affairs and devolution
complacency for the surge the challenges faced by to engage in programmes starting to register people Aplonia Munzverengwi,
President Emmerson while urging citizens to the party and devise solu- that improves the liveli- in cells. We want that data Zanu PF acting provin-
Mnangagwa, who is the respect the restrictions. tions. hood of the generality of as we want to achieve five cial  chair Michael Mad-
Zanu PF first secretary, On Thursday this week, our people,” he said. million votes in the 2023 hanha, acting deputy sec-
gave Mohadi the man- Zimbabwe recorded 2 “This is my first leg of elections,” Hungwe said, retary for Youth Affairs
date to asses the party’s 491 new Covid-19 cases provincial tours to fa- Speaking at the same while also urging Zanu Tendai Chirau, provin-
strength ahead of by-elec- and 86 deaths. Cumula- miliarise with the affairs PF members to register cial political commissar
tions for vacant parlia- tively, Zimbabwe had re- of the party at grassroots to vote. Herbert Shumbamhini
mentary seats and the corded 78 872 cases and since my assumption of and district coordinating
2023 polls. 2 418 deaths. duty at the party on 1 “We do not want a committee chairpersons,
June 2021,” said Mohadi. situation where people among other officials.
Ironically, Mnangag- Mohadi however began during primary elections
wa on Tuesday extended his nationwide tour with “I am here to learn from are elected by people who --STAFF WRITER.
the challenges that our

Page 19 News NewsHawks

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

MASHONALAND West Hurungwe lacks health As a farming district we are at
province has seen a spike in facilities for Covid-19 fight mercy as we now have farmers
Covid-19 cases with Hurun- taking maize to Grain Mar-
gwe District -- famed for its Magunje Member of Parliament Cecil Kashiri. keting Board depots in Karoi,
top-quality tobacco which Kazangarare, Magunje, Vuti
is used to provide flavour hence pressure on the resources CK: As regards the Covid-19 sit- struggling to cope with the in- so they rely on word passing and Mudzimu. There are huge
for leading cigarette brands in this small town. uation, there is need to educate flux of people, especially into around. This is how police pres- chances that crowding will again
worldwide -- accounting for NM: Has the district benefit- our farmers about the dangers of Karoi where the floors are lo- ence is required to implement take place while they wait to off-
a significant number of cases. ted from the presence of to- not protecting themselves, espe- cated. They are incapacitated the lockdown measures set by load their grains. If possible, let
bacco merchants in the town cially of not wearing face masks, in terms of mobility to react to government, but unfortunately us get vaccination programmes
Tobacco famers are among and district at large? Has there social distancing and sanitising. situations and implement lock- this has not happened in most running there. Deliveries should
those hardest hit by the respi- been an economic benefit so We need to debunk the ‘fear’ down effectively. It pains me as areas. It is a grave concern to us be booked to avoid huge crowds
ratory disease perhaps because far? of getting a vaccine. Tobacco a legislator that Hurungwe dis- all hence our appeal to the pow- at the depots.
of exposure at auction floors. CK: The issue of economic companies need to revisit their trict, that has five constituencies ers that be to save our farmers NM: Are rural communities
stimulus for the district is a payment modalities. I say so and is one of the country’s larg- now rather than later.  getting enough information
The NewsHawks Masho- cause for concern by many who because it has taken a farmer at est districts, has only one oper- NM: Hurungwe has received as we have 26 rural wards
naland West provincial cor- are geared for development as a least three days to make a sale ating vehicle borrowed from nearly 8 000 vaccinations in Hurungwe and 10 urban
respondent Nhau Mangirazi long-term plan, but we are still and wait for payment. another district. It leaves them since the rollout was launched wards in Karoi?
(NM) caught up with Magun- yet to see anything. It remains heavily incapacitated to attend so far. Has the current vacci- CK: Not at all due to limited
je Member of Parliament Ce- to be seen if the tobacco compa- Overcrowding of people in to reports coming to their of- nation been enough? human resources affecting our
cil Kashiri (CK) to talk about nies will plough back some pro- town who largely do not have fices. Traditionally, when farm- CK: Truly speaking, the vac- health delivery system and the
the pandemic and interven- ceeds into the district as tangible anywhere to sleep and therefore ers are off-season they engage cines have not been enough, police, among others. Given the
tion measures in the district, evidence but, as it stands, noth- end up sleeping on shop veran- in sports galas where they play considering the population of gravity of the situation, the min-
which is facing a shortage of ing of note is on the ground to das is exposing many to infec- different sports and obviously Hurungwe. The 8 000 you are istry of Health must rope in ag-
health facilities, among other show this. tions. Tobacco companies could gather in huge numbers. So if talking about is just a drop in the ricultural extension field officers
problems. Below are excepts; possibly take a leaf from the there is anyone infected one can ocean as Hurungwe has a popu- who are mostly rural based and
We are yet to witness any- Grain Marketing Board mod- only imagine how fast the virus lation of over 500 000 people, work closely with communities
NM: Covid-19 is hitting thing, but it is our hope that the el where a farmer drops their will spread. considering the 2012 census to spread the word and educate
Hurungwe district hard. It is companies will come forward to produce and goes back home with a 3% margin of growth farmers. Our few health officers
regarded as the epicentre of lo- prove that they have benefitted knowing money will be paid in, Police need to be mobile and rate annually. Obviously, there are struggling to cover the dis-
cal infections in the province. and communities must have a say, 72 hours. This will go a long get there on time and disperse was some sort of resistance to trict. We need our farmers to be
As a local MP, what do you share of their joy, literally.   way in decongesting the town. these crowds while educating the vaccines like any other place vaccinated so that they can go
think has caused a spike in NM: There is a concern about NM: Has the Zimbabwe Re- them, but how do they get there but now people do understand back to the fields and contribute
cases? Could the tobacco auc- Covid-19 local infections af- public Police (ZRP) done without the vehicles needed and are geared to be vaccinat- to economic recovery in good
tion floors have played a role? fecting Hurungwe in partic- enough to enforce the lock- as tools of trade? Hurungwe is ed. We haven’t received much health.
CK: Yes, it is true that Hurun- ular and Mashonaland West down in Hurungwe? There is largely a farming community, in the area. Vaccination should NM: Hurungwe has mines.
gwe district is one of the biggest province in general. In your evidence of sports galas going both commercial and commu- have taken place at the tobacco What challenges have been
tobacco-producing districts in view, what are the main chal- on around the district, fueling nal farming, therefore informa- auction floors probably as a re- encountered in rolling out
the country as evidenced by the lenges in the district and what the local infections that you tion channels are limited. You quirement for one to be able to vaccination in the mining sec-
mushrooming of auction floors is the way forward? are concerned about. will find out that some com- gain access into the sales floors. tor?
in the area. This has attract- CK: It is factual that ZRP is munal farmers do not have any CK: The mining industry is
ed farmers from as far afield as form of connectivity be it ra- largely at high risk, especially
Gokwe, Mhangura, and Lion’s dio, television or mobile phone the artisanal miners. Firstly, they
Den, among other areas, who are unlicensed hence the minute
used to go and sell tobacco in you try to approach them they
Harare. The numbers have in- either run away or will attack
creased in Karoi which is rela- you. So it is difficult to get the
tively a small town designed to vaccination programmes to
handle a certain number of peo- these miners where no obser-
ple. Furthermore, some Zam- vation and flow of informa-
bians frequently come in with tion takes place. Government
second-hand clothing which needs to roll out a programme
they sell in Karoi and literally probably through the ministry
spend days there till their stocks of Mines and Mining Devel-
run out. During one of my vis- opment to conscientise these
its to the floors, I came across miners about the importance of
mostly women from Epworth, vaccination.
Hatcliffe and Chitungwiza sell- NM: Access to health facili-
ing wares including plasticware, ties in Hurungwe is one of the
leather shoes and wallets to biggest challenges that gov-
farmers. ernment has failed to address.
How do you expect Covid-19
They do not have anywhere vaccination to be stepped up
decent to sleep as local lodges without enough clinics?
have been fully booked from CK: Certainly yes, we are in
March until early August. Peo- a catch-22 situation now. We
ple have been sleeping on shop have always been advocating for
verandas in the central business more clinics in the rural com-
district of late. It is a cause for munities, including in Hurun-
concern to us and we look for- gwe, and now we have been
ward authorities acting against exposed by this Covid-19 virus.
this. These gatherings are sourc- If we had more clinics, these
es of easy transmissions. would then be used as centres
NM: As far as we know, there of information dissemination.
are at least 14 registered tobac- Now imagine a farmer who lives
co companies including mid- 20 kilometres away from the
dlemen. Has this been benefi- nearest clinic, how often would
cial to the district? they visit the clinic? It is really a
CK: The coming in of the to- big challenge and sad reality af-
bacco companies in Karoi town fecting us. We are calling upon
within Hurungwe district has Tobacco Marketing and Indus-
had positive and negative im- try Board (TIMB) to rope in
pacts. Positive in the sense that tobacco companies to save the
we have seen some infrastruc- dire situation and assist in fight-
tural development, businesses ing this pandemic in Hurun-
have benefitted and there is gwe where they have made
employment creation, among their money because without
others. the farmer there is no business
for them. They must help our
However, the negative effects police and health workers with
are that we are now paying heav- cars to ease operations. We need
ily in that local Covid-19 infec- each other after all this.
tions are getting out of control.
The tobacco floors attracted
huge numbers that the current
social amenities cannot support.
These include public toilets, ac-
commodation, among others,

NewsHawks News Page 20

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Special Covid-19

PANDEMIC coverage

Disabled persons struggle to get vaccinated

STEPHEN CHADENGA and rollout that was released the letter fell on deaf ears. support workers was not treat- friendly to people with dis- nation services to the “door-
by the ministry of Health and Young Voices Disability ed as a prime concern. abilities. Our right to health step of PWDs (people living
LAST Tuesday, Grace Mutu- Child Care which seemingly as people with disabilities is with disabilities)”.
ko, a 54-year-old from Mam- ‘excludes’ persons with dis- Zimbabwean Trust director “Given such as a grim sit- being violated.”
bo suburb in Gweru, visited abilities from priority groups,” Nyasha Mahwende said the uation, it is prudent for gov- Shiri said as stop-gap mea-
Mtapa Clinic, pushing herself ICOD Zim said in a state- government’s response to ernment to establish separate National Council of Dis- sure PWDs in the city of Bu-
on a wheelchair. ment. Covid-19 is not disability in- vaccination centres for people abled Persons of Zimbabwe lawayo had engaged the min-
clusive. with disabilities,” she said. president Anna Shirin told The istry of Health and a date was
On arrival at the coun- From the experiences of NewsHawks that there was a set to vaccinate the disabled
cil-run health facility, Mutu- people like Mutoko, it seems She said the vaccination of “In any case, most of these need to take Covid-19 vacci- next Tuesday.
ko met hordes of people who the disabled l and disability vaccination centres are not
were in a queue to be vaccinat- “There is need for mobile
ed for Covid-19. Although she clinics so that vaccination
joined the queue in an orderly reaches PWDs where they
manner, hoardes of people ar- stay,” Shiri said.
rived, plunging the clinic into
chaos. That day, Mutuko left “In Bulawayo, for exam-
Mtapa Clinic without being ple, there was an arrangement
vaccinated. with the Health ministry that
PWDs would be vaccinated
“Even efforts to negotiate on July 20 at Jairos Jiri Cen-
that l be given preference to tre.”
be vaccinated given my condi-
tion hit a brick wall. Nobody She however said the gov-
seemed to care,” a distraught ernment should ensure that all
Mutuko narrated her ordeal to vaccination centres are disabil-
The NewsHawks. ity user friendly so as to cater
for the disabled.
Mutuko’s nightmarish ex-
perience is not unique to her “There should be universal
alone as thousands of disabled designs at vaccination centres
people across the country face that are user friendly. The cen-
similar hurdles in their quest tres should be free and accessi-
to access Covid-19 vaccination ble to cater for diverse disabil-
centres. ities.

When the government an- “It’s unfortunate that at
nounced the Covid-19 vac- public health institutions there
cination rollout programme are no services for sign lan-
early this year, a non-gov- guage, braille and the health
ernmental organisation that personnel even lack knowledge
primarily targets women and of providing information in
girls, the Institute for Com- disability accessible formats.”
munity Development in Zim-
babwe Trust (ICOD Zim) Shiri said the situation was
issued a statement calling for worse in rural areas where clin-
the need to prioritise disabled ics are often located too far to
persons in the vaccination pro- be easily accessed by the dis-
gramme. abled.

ICOD Zim expressed con- “Given that PWDs are even
cern that disabled women more vulnerable to contract-
had not been consulted in the ing Covid-19, there is need for
Covid-19 vaccination strategy an inclusive approach when
and rollout plan as a priority dealing with the coronavirus
population. pandemic,” she said.

“(We are) perturbed by the She bemoaned the lack
missing prioritisation in the of inclusion of the disabled
Covid-19 vaccination plan in Covid-19 taskforces at all
levels of society from the top
national echelons to the grass-
roots.

Tourism sector in renewed Covid-19 setback

NOKUTHABA DLAMINI to curb the spread of hope prior to the onset of Before the third wave, and Pan-African Postal keeping people employed.
Covid-19. He described the third wave,” Musonza Victoria Falls had begun Union which both featured “As destination Victoria
TOUR and hotel opera- the increase in deaths and said. to witness a number of more than 300 visitors.
tors have suffered another infections as “worrisome”. tourists coming from as Falls, we also need the land
setback after international “We have seen some far afield as India and the Musonza said the hos- borders open and screen
airlines connecting Victo- Even though the deci- airlines pulling off the United States of America. pitality sector’s survival traffic for genuine tourist
ria Falls with the rest of the sion of the airlines is un- key routes like JHG-VFA hinged on the efficient roll- traffic is allowed to travel.” 
world announced they will derstandable, the effects (Jinghong-Victoria Falls Among the high-profile out of the Covid-19 vacci-
temporarily stop flying to have been felt by tourism Airport) which tradition- visitors was US business- nation programme and the According to the Zim-
the destination following players, the chairperson of ally brings us volumes of woman and socialite Paris opening of land-based bor- babwe Tourism Authori-
an upsurge in Covid-19 the Matabeleland North tourists.  Hilton who visited the re- der posts. ty (ZTA), the sector lost
cases in the country. chapter of the Hospitality sort city last month. about US$1.6 billion
Association of Zimbabwe, “The major airline, Brit- “Our hope is that more worth of revenue in 2020
President Emmerson Anald Musonza, said. ish Airways Comair, has In that same month, Vic- and more people get vac- alone owing it to the effects
Mnangagwa this week ex- cancelled until 31 Aug toria Falls also hosted local cinated to ensure we save of Covid-19. Apart from
tended by another two “The current third wave 2021. Fastjet now has and regional conferences, lives,” he said. hotels and tour operators,
weeks the current Lev- has seen occupancies tum- limited flights but is still including the Zimbabwe restaurants have also been
el Four lockdown meant bling when we had start- available on most major National Chamber of “This will inherently also hit hard by Covid-19 re-
ed seeing some flickers of routes,’’ he said. Mines annual conference help us as the private sector strictions.
to help save livelihoods by

Page 21 News NewsHawks

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Companies make Covid-19 donations

APART from Sakunda Hold- Zimbabwean tycoon Ken Sharpe with his wife Joanna donated cash to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. sive than the previous ones as
ings and its loaded boss Kudak- we’ve all seen here during the
washe Tagwirei’s US$5.5 mil- “In fact we are very pleased mission to build no less than 6 citizens who invest with us and “Before talking about our very dangerous third wave. 
lion donation as part of a heavy to announce that just this week 000 residential units in Harare assisting them to build their donation I would like to share
package of local currency, cars the City of Harare Council north. dream homes for their families. a personal story that recently “It is a fact that I had been
and medical essentials aid, oth- approved our development Owning a home is the single both myself and my wife recov- vaccinated and believe as you
er companies also chipped with in Borrowdale for 1 000 flats “It is my wish to leave a last- biggest factor in stimulating ered from the Delta variant of can see I’m a strong man in
various offers. and we will continue with our ing legacy of wealth creation the growth of an economy. Covid which is far more aggres- good health of just under 50
for the families of Zimbabwean years of age. However, even
Other companies that do- having observed all the Covid
nated to government at a func- protocols of social distanc-
tion presided over by Presi- ing, without the assistance of
dent Emmerson Mnangagwa the medicine that I took and
at State House yesterday were prayers of healing from my
the Beitbridge contractors who heavenly father I’m not sure I
contributed US$500 000  and would be standing here today.” 
CBZ US$250 000.
Sharpe said ivermectin, a
ZB bank, businessman Ken drug which is now registered
Sharpe and Insurance Coun- and approved for use in Zim-
cil of Zimbabwe each donated babwe, saved his life.
US$50 000.
“I have also noticed that the
Pedzai “Scott” Sakupwanya retailers in the medical industry
donated US$100 000. are selling these tablets for up
to US$6 each, however with
Sharpe said he was proud to the assistance of Amai Mutasa
contribute to a national cause I have been assured we can buy
to fight the Covid-19 pandem- them for less than US$0.17
ic which has ravaged the world, and therefore with our dona-
including Zimbabwe. tion today of US$50 000  we
will be able to purchase no less
“In giving this donation than  297 000  tablets which
today I represent WestProp equates to a value at US$6 per
Zimbabwe whose vision it is tablet of almost US$3 million
‘to become the leading custom- savings for the country from
er-centric private developer of our small donation. 
exceptional properties in Zim-
babwe’,” Sharpe said. “Also we know that the last
will be first and by doing this
“We believe that we can I am sure that if we use our
make Zimbabwe great again resources collectively and be
and surely we and our investors responsible stewards to increase
have seen Zimbabwe is ‘open that which we are given we will
for business’.  be blessed for it and many lives
will be saved.”
“In line with vision 2030
we are doing our part to build —STAFF WRITER
literally Zimbabwe brick by
brick.” He added: 

NewsHawks Editorial & Opinion Page 22

Issue 39, 16 July 2021 CARTOON

Inequality is a
ticking time bomb

IT would be dangerously simplistic for anyone to solely In defence of rioting and looting
attribute South Africa’s astonishing bout of violent pro-
tests and looting to a single factor or narrative. WHENEVER I fly long distances, I always that’s a tale for another day. argument.
buy a book to read during the journey; In the aftermath of Zuma’s incarceration And indeed characterisation of looters as
There is a confluence of factors at play. One of these usually a book that piques my interest in
is inequality--the widening gap between the haves and something different and unusual - those protests broke in his KwaZulu-Natal home mobs and criminals is also addressed.
the have-nots. types of seminal and compelling works province before spreading to Gauteng, the But it doesn’t have a clear pathway on
that you don’t put down once you start country’s economic hub.
Owing to both the legacy of racist rule and the failings reading. what happens after rioting and looting.
of post-apartheid government, Africa’s most developed The protests, however, deteriorated into Yet In Defence of Rioting and Looting
economy is also the most unequal society on earth. There are several that I have read violence, rioting and looting.
like that. From Flat Earth News: An is a recent fresh argument for rioting and
Zimbabwe is not immune to this malady. One of the Award-winning Reporter Exposes False- This sparked so many theories of what looting as one of the most powerful tools
ticking time bombs in this country is the growing in- hood, Distortion and Propaganda in the was happeing and why. in ordinary people’s arsenal - the subaltern’s
equality between a poor majority that does not know Global Media, a 2008 book by British in- leverage - for dismantling white suprema-
where its next meal will come from and a privileged elite vestigative journalist Nick Davies in which Some say people were reacting to Zu- cy.
which enjoys first-world lifestyles in a sea of extreme he exposes media malpractices on Fleet ma’s arrest, others say the masses exploded
poverty. The Gini co-efficient, which measures income Street, Gideon’s Spies: The Secret History over their social and material conditions Looting — a crowd of people public-
inequality, shows the precarious state of economic jus- of the Mossad by another British journalist - inequality, unemployment and poverty- ly, openly, and directly seizing goods; free
tice in this country. Gordon Thomas to In Defence of Looting and yet others postulate it was an ANC shopping as it were — is one of the more
by American author Vicky Osterweil. political power struggle which had spread extreme actions that can take place in the
The number of Zimbabweans in extreme poverty has from the boardrooms into the streets. midst of social unrest.
reached 7.9 million, almost half the entire population. Those are my sort of books, journalistic
academic and investigative type of works. All these postulations are true, except Even the self-identified radicals distance
According to the World Bank’s latest economic and I like that. that they are not mutually exclusive. They themselves from looters, fearing violent
social update report, almost half of Zimbabwe’s popu- are credible and can happen all at the same tactics would reflect badly on the broader
lation fell into extreme poverty between 2011 and last In Defence of Looting is an interesting movement.
year, with children bearing the brunt of hardships. read. Hawk Eye
But Osterweil argues stealing goods
The outlook on the poverty front is not encouraging. I don’t believe in rioting and looting as Dumisani and destroying property are critical direct,
Says the international financial institution: “The num- a solution to political and social problems, Muleya pragmatic and effective strategies of wealth
ber of extreme poor is expected to remain at 7.9 million unless that’s a last resort, but since I read redistribution and improving life for the
in 2021 amid continued elevated prices, and a slow re- this book I understood the argument for time. And they did. working class — not to mention brazen
covery of jobs and wages in the formal and informal that as a strategic and tactical approach So in a bid to build theories and explain messages these methods send to police and
sectors.” to leverage coercive methods for positive the state to shake the status quo.
change in the common good. the events, so many hypotheses arose, in-
Considering that the country really has no social safe- cluding justifying rioting and looting in All beliefs about the innate righteous-
ty nets worth talking about, the realistic expectation is Given what’s happening in South Afri- self-righteous anger and in the name of ness of property and ownership, Osterweil
that poor families, in both urban and rural areas, will ca, it would be good to read this one, es- justice. The bottomline is that the rioting further explains, are built on the history of
find it increasingly difficult to survive. pecially those who believe in rioting and and the criminality involved shook the anti-black and also anti-indigenous people
looting as an instrument of social change, self-assured hubris of the political and eco- oppression.
The World Bank defines the “extreme poor” as people and addressing injustice and inequality. nomic elite.
living under the food poverty line of US$29.80 for each From slave revolts to labour strikes
person a month. That issue loomed large this week in The rioters embraced the idea, but to modern-day movements for climate
South Africa after protests broke out fol- couldn’t articulate it properly, they strug- change, BlackLivesMatter, and police vio-
Extreme poverty in Zimbabwe has several causes lowing the conviction and jailing of for- gled to frame the argument, find a narra- lence, Osterweil makes a strong case
which include climatic shocks and natural disasters. But mer President Jacob Zuma for contempt tive, tropes and handle on it in the face of
by far the biggest cause is governance failure. This man- of court. the official line that there was an organised for rioting and looting as weapons that
ifests in corruption, incompetence, cronyism, patron- uprising brewing. bludgeon the status quo, while having the
age, rent seeking, ethno-clientelism, wasteful spending Many agreed Zuma was in contempt, potential to uplift the poor and marginal-
and dysfunctional leadership. but should have been given a suspended In it’s locus of enunciation, Ostwrweil’s ised.
sentence, not imprisoned. book addresses many questions currently
Zanu PF has built an authoritarian kleptocracy char- being asked in South Africa today, such as In Defence of Looting is basically a
acterised by prebendalism--the diabolical belief by pub- His supporters naturally listened to his looting of black businesses, destruction of history of violent protest sparking social
lic officials that their lofty posts entitle them to unbri- reaction: I have done nothing wrong; all I jobs and worsening the plight of the poor change, a compelling reframing of revolu-
dled access to national resources for selfish benefit. have said is that I wouldn’t appear before tionary activism, and a practical vision for
the Zondo Commission on state capture a dramatically restructured society that ac-
How have other countries closed the yawning in- since he is conflicted. commodates the poor.
equality gap?
The story between Zuma and Zondo is That’s what South Africa needs. But
Well, this is no rocket science. Everything rises and big scandal of friendship and betrayal, but then again the message was sent at a huge
falls on the calibre of governance. Zimbabwe, after all, cost to lives and the economy - billions of
has all the key ingredients for economic transforma- dollars.
tion--except good leadership. Human resources and
natural resources are generally available. The missing
ingredients are capital formation and technology, but
these can only be harnessed by serious 21st century
leaders, not primitive politicians stuck in the Stone Age.

Reaffirming the fundamental impor- The NewsHawks is published on different EDITORIAL STAFF: Marketing Officer: Voluntary Media
tance of freedom of expression and me- content platforms by the NewsHawks Digital Managing Editor: Dumisani Muleya Charmaine Phiri Council of Zimbabwe
dia freedom as the cornerstone of de- Media which is owned by Centre for Public Cell: +263 735666122
mocracy and as a means of upholding Interest Journalism Assistant Editor: Brezh Malaba [email protected] The NewsHawks newspaper subscribes to the
human rights and liberties in the con- No. 100 Nelson Mandela Avenue [email protected] Code of Conduct that promotes truthful, accurate,
stitution; our mission is to hold power Beverly Court, 6th floor News Editor: Owen Gagare
in its various forms and manifestations Harare, Zimbabwe Subscriptions & Distribution: fair and balanced news reporting. If we do not
to account by exposing abuse of power Digital Editor: Bernard Mpofu +263 735666122 meet these standards, register your complaint
and office, betrayals of public trust and Trustees/Directors: with the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe
corruption to ensure good governance Beatrice Mtetwa, Raphael Khumalo, Reporters: at No.: 34, Colenbrander Rd, Milton Park, Harare.
and accountability in the public inter- Professor Wallace Chuma, Teldah Mawarire, Bridget Mananavire, Nyasha Chingono, Enoch Muchinjo
est. Doug Coltart Telephone: 024-2778096 or 024-2778006,
Email: [email protected] 24Hr Complaints Line: 0772 125 659

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
WhatsApp: 0772 125 658, Twitter: @vmcz

Website: www.vmcz.co.zw, Facebook: vmcz Zimbabwe

Business

MATTERSNewsHawks

MARKETS CURRENCIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE COMMODITIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE

USD/JPY 109.29 +0.38 +0.35 *OIL 63.47 -1.54 -2.37

GBP/USD 1.38 -0.014 -0.997 *GOLD 1,769.5 +1.2 +0.068

USD/CAD 1.229 +0.001 +0.07 *SILVER 25.94 -0.145 -0.56

USD/CHF 0.913 +0.005 +0.53 *PLATINUM 1,201.6 +4 +0.33

AUD/USD 0.771 -0.006 -0.76 *COPPER 4.458 -0.029 -0.65

MORRIS BISHI Tongaat ordered to refund
farmers millions in VAT
SUGAR producer Tongaat tents and advise that the
Hulett is set to refund sug- is currently collecting VAT price includes that tax. It also deeming provision of Section A Tongaat sugar plantation. Millers are law abiding, and
arcane growers millions of from the farmers’ 77%. found that Section 69 pre- 69 as the deeming provision in that respect our respective
dollars after the Supreme cludes such registered opera- cannot be interpreted to cane farmers, Tongaat Hulett Finance Teams are currently
Court ruled that it is illegally “It was the view of the tor from subsequently claim- mean different things to two informed farmers that in re- performing the necessary rec-
collecting Value-Added Tax Court that Section 69 of the ing VAT not reflected on the different people,” reads part sponse to the Supreme Court onciliations in order to estab-
(VAT) from the farmers. Value-Added Tax (Chap- price. In the Court’s view, of the ruling. ruling the company is in the lish the quantum of refunds
ter 23:12) serves to ‘estop’ a permitting the appellants to process of calculating mon- applicable to each farmer. As
The Supreme Court ruling registered operator who has recoup VAT in retrospect In a letter seen by The ey collected from farmers as can be expected, the reconcil-
is a huge relief to outgrower not reflected VAT on the would render nugatory the NewsHawks dated 12 July VAT with a view to refund- iations are fairly extensive in
sugarcane farmers who felt price from denying that the 2021 and addressed to sugar- ing them. view of the time periods and
shortchanged by the sugar dual currencies involved, and
producer which was preju- “We have noted the con- as a consequence, we will re-
dicing them through unclear vert to you by 16 July 2021
deductions. with details of our proposed
payment plan for the VAT
The ruling was made by refunds as necessary,” reads
Deputy Chief Justice Eliz- part of the letter to farmers
abeth Gwaunza on 1 July signed by the group compa-
2021 following an appeal by ny secretary, Pauline Kadem-
the sugar giant through its bo.
lawyers Scanlen and Holder-
ness. Tongaat had appealed a Mkwasine Sugarcane
ruling in favour of the Zim- Farmers’ Association chair-
babwe Revenue Authority person Denis Masomere told
(Zimra) and sugarcane farm- The NewsHawks that the Su-
ers by Justice Sunsley Zisen- preme Court ruling exposes
gwe of the Masvingo High the unfair business practices
Court last year. of Tongaat Hulett which are
disadvantaging farmers. He
After a tax audit in 2019, said farmers are awaiting the
Zimra garnished Tongaat refund from the sugar giant.
Hulett’s bank accounts after
realising that the company, “We have been talking
which is a registered operator about this issue among oth-
offering milling services to ers which are disadvantaging
farmers, was not paying VAT us as farmers. The company
as required by law. In return, advised us that they are pro-
the sugar producer began cessing our refunds and that
collecting the tax from farm- will help us,” said Masomere.
ers’ proceeds. 

According to the milling
agreement between the farm-
er and the miller (Tongaat),
which is referred as the divi-
sion of proceeds (DoP) ratio,
the farmer gets 77% against
the miller’s 23% and Tongaat

Zimpost clinches deal to distribute farm inputs

DUMISANI NYONI In an emailed response to ing inputs to tobacco farmers high volumes of tobacco have of Covid-19 vaccines and vac- said.
questions from The News- from the various suppliers to been sold at the contract cine-related non-cold chain “This includes the delivery
ZIMPOST is in discussion Hawks, Zimpost’s acting post- the farms across Zimbabwe,” floors, while auction floors re- equipment under the Pos-
with the Tobacco Industry master-general Isaac Mucho- he said. corded low volumes. t4Health Project. of provisions in the wider vac-
and Marketing Board (TIMB) komori said the partnership cine ecosystem, health-related
over a deal for the company to with the TIMB was still active The 2021 tobacco market- As of 7 July, farmers had “This initiative is aimed at logistics and last-mile deliv-
be allowed to distribute agri- and last year they managed to ing season ended this week, sold 183.7 million kilo- leveraging and mobilising the ery of vaccine distribution,
cultural inputs from various carry a total of 4 176 bales, with final deliveries made on grammes worth US$507 entire Zimpost network for or vaccine-related non-cold
suppliers to tobacco farmers translating to a gross weight July 13, but contract floors million, an increase from last the last mile of Covid-19 vac- chain equipment such as sy-
across the country. of 375 840 kilogrammes. will continue until further year’s figure of US$391m cines, medicines, PPEs (per- ringe units, saline solutions,
notice. The TIMB said clean- earned from the sale of 158 sonal protective equipment), medical reagents and injec-
Last year, the quasi-gov- “In 2021, due to the decen- up sales will be conducted in million kilogrammes of the blood coupons, results, vacci- tion equipment and neces-
ernmental institution struck a tralisation of auction floors, August. crop. Meanwhile, Muchoko- nation cards, payment for vil- sary medical consumables
partnership with TIMB to of- Zimpost has not been able mori said Zimpost was en- lage health workers, training and equipment, kits, material
fer transport services to carry to match the 2020 volumes. The 2021 tobacco mar- gaging the ministry of Health and awareness programmes and biologicals: as well as ad-
tobacco from different parts Engagements are currently keting season kicked off on and Child Care and its affili- through the community in- vocacy, campaign and mass
of the country to tobacco auc- in progress with the TIMB 7 April, while contract sales ates to provide health-related formation centres (CICs), communication materials to
tion floors.  for the distribution of farm- opened the following day. logistics and last-mile delivery anywhere in Zimbabwe,” he increase health awareness.”

Throughout the season,

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 24

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

NYASHA CHINGONO AirZim says administrators continue on a positive trajectory
rescued the insolvent airline of growth, sustainability and ul-
AIR Zimbabwe administrators she said.  timately profitability.”
Grant Thornton, whose term of AirZim is now in possession of month.  An Air Zimbabwe flight. “The airline also managed to
office came to an end last week an Embraer ERJ145 regional “We have 10 interested par- with the ministry of Finance to AirZim has been riddled
when government appointed aircraft from the US and two try and provide a workable solu- recover US$5.4 million from with multiple crises in the past
a six-member board, saved the Boeing 777-200 ER long-haul ties that submitted their bids tion around the assumption of trade receivables out of a pos- decade, including mismanage-
airline from litigious creditors jets from Malaysia, bringing to partner with Air Zimbabwe. the debt. The Debt Assumption sible total of US$7.05 million ment, corruption and deliberate
and set the troubled flag carrier the total number of serviceable One of them had a unique Bill will provide funding to cater with the airline now operating sabotage from the authorities.  
on a path to recovery, an official aircraft to five. These fkeet also proposition that they had made for all liabilities”, Vitori said.  on a strictly cash basis,” Vitori
has said.  includes a Boeing 767 and a to Air Zimbabwe,” Mukubvu added.  The late former president,
Boeing 737.  was quoted as saying.  “The shareholder availed Robert Mugabe, his son-in-law
AirZim spokesperson Fistme funding for the settlement of all The Bill will provide a frame- Simba Chikore and then Trans-
Vitori said the administrators, Although the huge debt over- “It’s been slow in the sense verified claims for local liabili- work for debt assumption pro- port minister Joram Gumbo
led by Reggie Saruchera and hang spooked investors from that there are still some key ele- ties to the tune of ZW$349.14 cesses and procedures, valida- had hatched a plan to channel
Tonderai Mukubvu, were large- engaging the airline, there is a ments that need to be dealt with million while engagements are tion and reconciliation of the AirZim’s recapitalisation funds
ly successful in meeting the set silver lining after the govern- and these elements were made continuing with foreign credi- liabilities, debt assumption mo- to ZimAirways, a dodgy airline. 
objective of turning around the ment approved the Debt As- very clear to government. One tors with total balances equiva- dalities, terms and conditions of
state-owned company which is sumption Bill for the airline last of these areas relates to the debt lent to US$31.52 million on a the debt settlement plan, and In 2018, the Zimbabwe
mired in debt.  assumption. So, we are dealing scheme of reconstruction plan,” the recovery plan for the debt Anti-Corruption Commission
paid by the government on be- (Zacc) probed Chikore over the
“Prior to reconstruction, the half of the airline. US$70 million aircraft scandal,
national airline ran the risk of a scheme that was allegedly used
property attachment and ex- The government’s delay in to siphon millions of dollars out
ecution of writs to which the moving ahead with the debt as- of the country under the guise
administrator was able to secure sumption plan had eroded the of building a new airline.
a reconstruction order with the airline’s chances of courting new
effect of staying all legal action, partners after the company was At the time, Zacc instituted
attachment and execution,” Vi- placed on debt reconstruction a probe into the ZimAirways
tori told The NewsHawks.  in 2018, according to officials. transaction to establish how the
murky airline controversially
The board comprises non-ac- The debt has spooked poten- purchased the two Boeing 777
counting permanent secretary tial investors who have expressed long-haul jets for US$18.5 mil-
in the Finance ministry Andrew interest in pouring millions of lion and US$16.5 million, to-
Bvumbe, Michael Musanzik- dollars into the airline. talling US$35 million.
wa, a researcher, and lecturer at
Chinhoyi University of Tech- Vitori added that the admin- It also planned to buy the
nology and Zimbabwe Tourism istrator also updated the compa- two Embraer aircraft for US$6
Authority chief executive Give- ny’s financial statements which million using Treasury Bills.
more Chidzidzi. Chief director were behind for about a decade. This brought the total of the
for fiscal policy in the Finance The financial statements cover revised deal to US$41 million.
ministry Pfungwa Kunaka, two 2012 to 2018, while 2019 is
other individuals only identified currently being finalised.  Before revising the deal,
as N. Chifema, and K. Maga- the government had initially
ya, complete the six-member “Working with the current planned to spend US$16.5 mil-
board. Air Zimbabwe management lion each, while the other two
team, they developed a busi- would be bought for US$18.5
The late former Transport ness plan and a six-year strategic million apiece, bringing the to-
minister Joel Biggie Matiza turnaround plan, both of which tal to US$70 million.
in 2018 appointed the Sa- were approved by government
ruchera-led administration to at the 45th cabinet meeting,” Initially, ZimAirways was
turn around the airline, with Vitori said.  touted as a private company,
the re-opening of international although Chikore, who was
routes and scouting for partner- Asked if the airline was now AirZim’s chief operations offi-
ships being top of the priority out of the woods, Vitori said: cer, played a critical role in its
list.  “Yes, we believe so and we are creation. Despite several probes,
very confident that with the the ZimAirways saga has not
Although Saruchera and coming in of the new interim been brought to finality.
company failed to re-open inter- board, the national airline shall
national routes, mainly due to a Apart from being caught up
lack of long-haul aircraft and ZITF appoints new CEO in the ZimAirways saga, AirZim
international aviation licences, has been hampered by misman-
the administrator took delivery credited with delivering one of New ZITF chief executive Dr Nicholas Ndebele. in addition to her new duties.  agement.
of Zimbabwe Airways planes. the most successful ZITF edi- As an accomplished events
tions (2019) which attracted of Business Administration Nkomo has been with the The company inherited 18
DUMISANI NYONI wide and critical acclaim from from Midlands State Univer- company for over 10 years manager and coordinator spe- aircraft at Independence, but
all stakeholders. sity, Post-Graduate Diploma driving the marketing, com- cialising in exhibitions, con- was until recently left with only
THE Zimbabwe International in public relations (Nust) and munications and business ferences and events infrastruc- two planes.
Trade Fair (ZITF) Company “More recently, he has a Bachelor of Business Studies development functions of the ture management, Moyo said tion of the trade showcase has
has, with immediate effect, demonstrated capacity and (Honours) degree from the entity and will continue to she has been instrumental in been moved to August 23-27
appointed Nicholas Ndebele leadership depth, taking the University of Zimbabwe (UZ).  manage that portfolio as well making sure that the compa- due to the prevailing Covid-19
as its substantive chief execu- company to profitability and ny’s exhibitions and events re- pandemic.
tive officer, taking over from guiding the company through main the biggest and effective
Nomathemba Ndlovu who one of the most tumultuous platforms for business growth Initially, the ZITF, running
resigned in July 2018. periods of its history; ensur- in the country.  under the theme: “Showcasing
ing business survival and sus- the New Normal for Business
Announcing his appoint- tainable continuity despite Nkomo is a holder of a & Industry: Realities and Op-
ment on Wednesday, ZITF the disruption on the busi- Business Leadership Certifi- portunities,” was supposed to
Company chairperson Busisa ness brought about by the cate, ZimChartered Marketer, be held from July 20 to 23. 
Moyo said Ndebele would be Covid-19 pandemic and the MSc Marketing (Nust), BSc
assisted by Stella Nkomo, who attendant knock-on effects,” Journalism and Media Stud- So far, 405 direct exhibitors
was the company’s marketing Moyo said. ies (Nust), Marketing Practi- have booked, taking up 90%
and public relations manager. tioner, (Marketers Association of the available space.
Ndebele holds a Doctor of Zimbabwe) and is also an MSc
“The ZITF Company Board Philosophy degree, majoring International Relations stu- In terms of foreign par-
of Directors is pleased to an- in business leadership, from dent (UZ). ticipation, 11 countries have
nounce the appointment of Dr the Gordon Institute of Busi- confirmed their participation
Nicholas Ndebele as the sub- ness Science (GIBS) of the “Given their combined and these are Angola, Belarus,
stantive chief executive officer University of Pretoria. He arsenal of qualifications, Botswana, Indonesia, Japan,
of the ZITF Company with is also a holder of an Execu- knowledge and expertise in Malawi, Mozambique, Na-
immediate effect. Dr Ndebele tive Development Program the business development and mibia, Nigeria, South Africa,
joined the ZITF Company (GIBS), an Master of Science marketing fields, Dr Nicholas and Tanzania.
in 2017 as the sales executive in Marketing (graduating with Ndebele and Ms. Stella Nko-
tasked with increasing gains distinction) from the Nation- mo are more than equal to the The theme, according
in profit performance, reve- al University of Science and task,” he said.  to organisers, acknowledg-
nue growth and market share Technology (Nust), Master es that ZITF 2021 is taking
across all the company’s stra- Their appointment comes place against the backdrop
tegic business units (SBUs),” at a time when this year’s edi- of Covid-19 and as such calls
Moyo said in a statement. for multi-stakeholder en-
gagement in forging innova-
Ndebele was appointed act- tive and sustainable business
ing general manager the year models, economic and trade
after the resignation of Ndl- re-engagement and translating
ovu.  new opportunities in a rap-
idly unfolding context to en-
In this role, Moyo said, he is sure business continuity while
shock-proofing the economy
from further devastating con-
sequences of the pandemic.

Page 25 Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Fitch forecasts RBZ interest cuts

RONALD MUCHENJE malizes,” Fitch noted. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Building. rate and shift to an auction
RBZ has kept the rate on system in June 2020.
THE Reserve Bank of Zim- cy depreciation (notably on are seen persisting despite an dollar depreciated sharply
babwe (RBZ) is seen insti- hold since a 50 basis point the parallel market), and on- some progress in tackling following the abandonment While the auction system
tuting a series of interest rate (bps) hike in February 2021, going shortages of US dollars, such issues. The Zimbabwe- of the ZW$25.00/US$ fixed has slowed the pace of cur-
cuts from 2022 as inflation and at its June meeting reiter- rency depreciation, low levels
is expected to remain on a ated its focus on maintaining of foreign exchange reserves
broad downtrend returning the current disinflationary mean that the Zimbabwean
to single-digit levels by end trajectory while supporting dollar is seen continuing to
2023. the “envisaged robust eco- trade at a considerable dis-
nomic growth for 2021 and count on the parallel market.
This is expected to enable beyond”.
the central bank to focus on “Equally, while the RBZ
boosting access to credit, It thus kept the policy rate continues to seek to contain
thus stimulating economic on hold at 40% and the in- expansion of the monetary
activity. An international re- terest rate on the Medium base -- stating at its June
search company, Fitch Solu- Term Accommodation Facil- meeting that the reserve
tions, in its commentary on ity at 30%. money growth target would
Zimbabwe’s policy rate, said be reduced from 22.5% to
the RBZ will keep its key Fitch however said risks 20.0% per quarter -- such
policy rate on hold at 40% to interest rate forecasts are expansion will persist giv-
over the remainder of 2021 weighted to the upside.  en that the government will
but expects it to turn dovish continue to rely on domes-
in 2022. Fitch cautioned that Zim- tic sources to fund the fiscal
babwe’s macro-economic deficit. Given these various
“While we expect price fundamentals remain weak factors, we expect inflation
pressures to moderate in and that this could delay a to average 140.1% in 2021,”
H2021 (second half of 2021) return to normalised mon- noted Fitch. 
given a slower pace of cur- etary policy as the country
rency depreciation, inflation remains largely cut off inter- “However,  we do not ex-
will remain elevated, at an national capital markets, and pect the RBZ to implement
annual average of 140.1% in substantial inflationary pres- a rate hike given the impact
2021. However, we do not sures are possible should the that reducing access to cred-
expect the Reserve Bank to government revert to mone- it would have on relatively
implement a rate hike given tisation of the deficit. fragile growth.  We forecast
still weak economic activity. that real GDP will expand by
We forecast that the bank In this eventuality, Fitch 3.3% in 2021 -- the fastest
will institute a series of rate said the monetary policy rate of expansion since 2018,
cuts from 2022 as inflation committee would likely raise but a relatively weak recovery
continues to moderate and interest rates again in an ef- given contractions of 8.1%
monetary policymaking nor- fort to reduce the size of the in 2019 and an estimated
monetary base. 8.0% in 2020.”

In addition, key inflation-
ary drivers including curren-

Cambria Africa pushes Zimchem Refineries
RBZ to unblock plans new chemical plant

US$1.39m legacy funds DUMISANI NYONI Zimasco, which will get fuels and plastics from coal
the electrode paste instead chemicals,” Shoko said.
LONDON Stock Ex- the appropriate and conser- Cambria holds 204 047 KWEKWE-BASED of importing it from South
change-listed and Zimba- vative approach of converting Old Mutual Limited common chemical manufacturing Africa.”  “This is where we want
bwe-focused investment these blocked funds at the pre- shares suspended on the ZSE company Zimchem Re- to go, that is where we
company Cambria Africa is vailing exchange rate may be a and valued on its half-year fineries has unveiled ambi- The newsletter is being want to grow the company
intending to negotiate with the significant underestimation of 2021 statement of financial tious plans to build a plant produced by the office of and to grow industry to be
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe their realizable value. position at US$200 000 based that will enable Zimba- the minister of state for able to make the fertilizers,
(RBZ) to achieve a win-win on the closing price of Old bwe’s mining companies Provincial Affairs in the plastics, polymers, waxes
solution over its blocked leg- “Management successfully Mutual Limited on the ZSE at to source their high-value Midlands. and even motor fuels from
acy funds totalling US$1.39 negotiated with the Reserve suspension. chemicals locally rath- coal chemicals,” he said.
million. Bank of Zimbabwe the pay- er than importing from Zimchem’s value addi-
Recovery of the blocked ment at parity of US$1.25 mil- “Should the company be South Africa. According to tion also extends to their Taking into account the
funds at parity or near-parity lion and carried the same on its able to repatriate these shares to the firm’s latest newsletter, solvent xylene which they urgent need to revamp the
is expected to add 10 US cents books at the end of FY 2019 Johannesburg Stock Exchange there are advanced plans to have been selling as an country’s roads, the com-
per share to net asset value. (full-year 2019) because Cam- where it purchased them or make electrode paste used unfinished product. It pany is angling to become
The debts are  sitting on its bria had a time determinate UK where these shares contin- in furnaces and the smelt- will now be formulated a significant player in the
books at approximately US$16 commitment from the Reserve ue to trade, their value as at 30 ing industry. to make a weed killer and manufacture of road con-
000 due to the official deval- Bank Governor, Dr John Man- June 2021 based on 67.80 p insecticide for sale to the struction products.
uation of the Zimbabwean gudya, which was honoured in (LSE) per share is the equiva- “As you are aware, we agro-chemical industry,
dollar from parity to US$1: full during FY 2020.  Hence lent of US US$191 468 down have been exporting to the report said. Currently, it is estimated
ZW$10.71 to the current level there is reason to believe that from US$211 500 reported on South Africa a semi-pro- that Zimbabwe’s mining
of US$1: ZW$85. the appropriate and conser- 28 May as a result of depreci- cessed pitch which is val- The company is also industry spends close to
These blocked funds are vative approach of converting ation in the value of OM in ue-added to make elec- looking at diversifying its 70% of its expenditure im-
debts which were owned by these blocked funds at the pre- London and the strengthening trode paste used in the paint product range to in- porting raw materials for
Zimbabwean companies prior vailing exchange rate may be a of the US dollar against the furnaces and smelting in- clude architectural paints use in its processes.  Zim-
to the abolishing of the US significant underestimation of pound,” said Cambria. dustries,” Zimchem gener- for buildings and for cor- chem is expected to signifi-
dollar as the functional cur- their realizable value. The com- al manager Tendai Shoko rosion control of metal cantly reduce this num-
rency. The RBZ committed to pany intends to negotiate with Cambria said by acquiescing is quoted as saying.  structures.  ber while contributing to
provide foreign currency for the RBZ to achieve a win-win to the suspension of Old Mu- the creation of thousands
the debt at parity to the US outcome,” Cambria said.  tual and the discontinuation of “With the new plant, “When we look at the of  new jobs in the country.
dollar. fungibility by the government we will increase the val- plant, we are looking at Both the mining and agri-
In a statement accompany- Meanwhile, the company of Zimbabwe, Old Mutual ue by three to four times beneficiating coal chem- cultural sectors have set
ing the group’s interim results reiterated its displeasure with plc has forced the Cambria to and be able to supply the icals. We have similar targets to generate com-
for the six months ended 28 the board of Old Mutual plc indefinitely hold a position in smelting industry, the likes plants like Zimchem in bined earnings of US$20
February 2021, Cambria said for not protecting its share- Old Mutual which is neither of Zimplats, Maranatha, South Africa like Sasol, billion for Zimbabwe by
there is reason to believe that holders in Zimbabwe from the its core business nor in its in- where we will end up pro- 2025.
effective freezing of their share- vestments. ducing fertilizers, waxes,
holding in Old Mutual.
— STAFF WRITER.

Page 26 Executive Chat NewsHawks

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

ZIMBABWE has experienced a African countries should also try, in vaccine manufacturing, in
rapid increase in new Covid-19 manufacture vaccines: WHO drug manufacturing and because
infections as well as deaths related they were so competitive they
to the respiratory ailment. Amidst World Health Organisation country Dr Alex Gasasira. were able to grab a large share of
this pandemic, African states the global market including from
which have lagged behind in vac- has had an impact on health sys- that we have had as the WHO then be distributed by a transpar- A lot of the richer economies are Africa. We have in Africa tended
cine manufacturing are planning tems because it stretched health with previous pandemics and ent, participatory mechanism to increasingly donating some of the to secure most of our vaccines
to develop homegrown vaccines systems really beyond not only in large epidemics including HIV all countries. So that was the idea doses they had procured for their from India, which is now the
for the disease and future ones. developing countries but also in and Bird Flu, our experience has and it has worked to some extent. own domestic use to Covax and largest vaccine manufacturer in
The NewsHawks Digital Editor other countries as we saw. When been that when new technologies, As we speak, Covax has supported this is now being distributed to the world and also from other
Bernard Mpofu (BM) spoke to the number of patients rises to a new vaccines, new drugs, new distribution of close to 100 mil- lower income countries. parts of the world. So all those
Dr Alex Gasasira (AG), the World certain level, this puts pressure on diagnostics become available, it lion doses of Covid-19 across 134 BM: Now let us move on to factors put us at a disadvantage,
Health Organisation’s country health systems and when health takes a very long time for these countries across the world. So it vaccination manufacturing. however with the lessons that
representative for Zimbabwe, on systems are pressurised, they will tools to reach the developing was worked to that extent, how- Studies show that Africa is quite have been learnt in this Covid-19
this and other issues. Below are not deliver other routine regular world. So based on that experi- ever we had hoped that a lot more resourceful in terms of human pandemic, our leaders — both as
excerpts of the interview: health services. So again it has ence, the World Health Organ- vaccines would have been deliv- capital and other resources. In individual African countries but
BM: As an icebreaker, please indirect impact on the ability of isation gave the Coalition on ered through this programme. light of this, why is it that the also through the African Union
take us through on the major people to receive care and have Epidemic Preparedness and Inno- The Covax has had to face com- continent has not manufac- platform — have recognised that
developments that have hap- their health needs met. It also vation and Unicef came together, petition from countries buying tured its own vaccines? it is much more strategic for us
pened since Covid-19 was first puts a lot of pressure on econom- together with the member states directly from the manufacturers AG: The manufacture of vaccines as a continent to manufacture
reported. ic performance. We have had to to form what is called Covax. especially the richer countries is a very delicate industry with our own vaccines. So there is a
have lockdowns. This has had an were able because they have the fi- high technology which requires very systematic effort right now
AG: You will recall that the very adverse impact on the economy Covax is a platform that aimed nancial capacity to really buy large a lot of expertise. Indeed, several together with the World Health
first case of Covid 19 was reported to run. This has also had a nega- to promote the development of quantities of vaccines for their countries in Africa used to manu- Organisation to ensure capacity
in Zimbabwe in late March 2020. tive impact on schooling and the Covid-19 vaccines and ensure own domestic use. So again Co- facture different types of vaccines for local vaccine manufacturing
But even prior to the first case education — schools have had that when these vaccines became vax benefitted a lot from vaccine decades ago, but because of the being established in Africa.
being reported in Zimbabwe, the to close. Others have had to stay available, they could be equitably manufactured in India — you level of expertise required and
World Health Organisation had away from schools for prolonged distributed to all countries irre- know India is one of the largest the level of specialisation,  this A few weeks ago, the Direc-
declared Covid-19 a public health periods of time. So Covid-19 has spective of the country’s econom- vaccine manufacturing countries industry did not take root on a tor-General of the World Health
emergency at the end of January really had a very disruptive impact ic status. The aim was to prevent in the world so a lot of vaccines large scale in Africa. It requires a Organisation and the President
2020 and declared it a pandem- on all facets of our lives. what had happened in the past that initially came into Covax lot of investment. Vaccine manu- of the Republic of South Africa,
ic in early March 2020. So even BM: Early this year we saw some where it could take 10 years or came from India. But unfortu- facturing is a business, you invest announced that a new plant to
before the first case was reported African countries like Zimba- so many years for new technolo- nately at some point India has had a lot of money, it’s a highly spe- manufacture Covid-19 vaccines
in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe had al- bwe rolling out their Covid-19 gy and new vaccines to become a huge Covid-19 outbreak in their cialised field and you aim to sell had been launched in South Afri-
ready started putting in place nec- vaccination programmes as part available to low income countries. own country so they prioritised your product and recoup the in- ca. We are aware that other coun-
essary precautions, preparations of measures required to fight So this was the reason why this their vaccine production for their vestment that you have made. So, tries in Africa, other sub-regions
to respond to the pandemic so by the condition. We understand platform called Covax was estab- domestic use, which is quite un- limited technical expertise in our in Africa are also at various stages
the time the first case was report- that the WHO will assist gov- lished. derstandable. So a number of dos- part of the world and limited cap- of establishing such capacity so we
ed in Zimbabwe (if my memory ernments in providing vaccines. es that have come through Covax ital investment are other factors. are very hopeful that by early next
is correct) on the 20th of March, Where do we stand now? The idea was that once the vac- and have been distributed are less And then places like India, which year, the picture will be different
2020, a lot of what had been done AG: Soon after this pandemic cines were made, the manufactur- than what was anticipated at this have a large market, have invested and we will have vaccine-manu-
to prepare by the country to deal started, based on the experience ers — the countries where these time. However, the prospects are a lot in the pharmaceutical indus- facturing plants at quite advanced
with this condition. After that, manufacturing plants are would looking much more brighter as stages in our region.
the cases continued to be reported collaborate under a global mecha- we enter the second half of 2021.
and continued to go up. We had nism to make these vaccines avail- Yes, this has been sparked off
our first peak around July-August ableand then these vaccines will by Covid-19, but it is anticipated
2020. That is the time we had the that these vaccine-manufactur-
highest number of cases at that ing plants will not be limited to
time where we saw cases going up Covid-19 vaccines but will also
and coming down in response to be capacitated to produce other
efforts that had been put in place. vaccines that are required in the
So again another rise was during African region.
the end of the year, beginning BM: How is Zimbabwe’s cur-
around October, slow increase rent response to the third wave
and in November and December of Covid-19? How effective are
we saw rapid increase and January lockdowns?
very rapid increase. We had very AG: The aim of a lockdown to
high numbers in January, Febru- allow the country to develop ca-
ary and then we saw the numbers pacity to respond to the outbreak.
start coming down again. That We know that a lockdown has
sort of represented what we call very negative impact on liveli-
the second peak or second wave. hoods, on capacity of families,
As numbers kept low because of individuals and communities to
the actions that everybody else meet their other needs. So a lock-
was doing and then we saw a down is not in itself a full solu-
slight increase in April this year. tion. The solution is for people to
Unfortunately we started seeing understand what they need to do
numbers growing very very rap- to protect themselves against the
idly last month in June 2021 and infection and to implement those
we have seen the numbers contin- preventive measures. If we were
ue to escalate up to now and this all complying with the preventive
is what everybody else is referring measures, we would not be in the
to as the third wave. situation we are in. We should
BM: From where you stand, not move unless it is absolutely
what have been the major im- necessary, we should not gather in
pacts of Covid-19 on Zimba- mass gatherings, we should avoid
bwe? situations where we are in crowd-
AG:  The first impact has been ed areas.
on people’s health and lives. We
know that as we speak all over We should wear our masks if
the world, we have had over 180 we have to leave our houses. If we
million cases of Covid-19 and are sick we should separate our-
over four million deaths. The first selves from others. If we were all
impact of this condition has been complying with these measures,
on people’s health and lives. In we would not be seeing the cases
Africa, we know that we are al- go up the way they are right now.
most having 100 000 lost due to So the government has to balance
Covidd-19. And in Zimbabwe we between lockdown for public
have had over 45 000 cases and health measures as well as to al-
over 2 000 deaths, so that is really low economic activity to continue
very big impact on individuals, such that people can manage to
families and communities and look after themselves, look after
countries. So other than having an their families and earn a living. So
impact on people’s lives Covid-19 that is the balance that one has to
take into account. We are hopeful
that the rate of compliance with
preventive measure swill increase
because that will help the number
of cases to come down.

NewsHawks Stock Taking Page 27

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Price Sheet

Friday, 16 July 2021 A MEMBER OF FINSEC & THE ZIMBABWE STOCK EXCHANGE

Company Sector Bloomberg Previous Last VWAP (cents) Total Total Price Price YTD Market
Traded Traded Traded Change Change (%) Cap
Ticker Price (cents) 6500.00 Volume Value ($) (cents) ($m)
Price 644.96 (%)
753.42 3,100
AFDIS Consumer Goods AFDIS: ZH 6800.00 6500.00 334.42 2,300 201,500.00 -300.00 -4.41 170.83 7,624.89
African Sun Consumer Services ASUN: ZH 539.56 647.00 2083.13 52,200 14,834.00 105.40 19.53 279.39 5,558.08
ART ARTD: ZH 760.00 750.00 528.15 383,100 -6.58 -0.87 57.85 3,292.27
Ariston Industrials ARISTON: ZH 340.01 330.00 80000.00 1,600 393,285.00 -5.59 -1.64 149.57 5,442.34
Axia Consumer Services AXIA: ZH 2062.57 2100.00 18000.00 10,500 1,281,150.00 20.56 1.00 127.42 11,350.86
BNC BIND: ZH 525.55 502.00 1500.00 0.49 38.99 6,601.12
BAT Consumer Goods 89900.00 80000.00 9500.00 200 33,330.00 2.60 -11.01 45.45 16,506.81
CAFCA Basic Materials BAT: ZH 15114.29 18000.00 3700.00 5,500 55,456.00 -9900.00 19.09 100.22 1,572.32
Cassava CAFCA: ZH 1500.35 1500.00 8244.70 27,700 160,000.00 2885.71 -0.02 130.77 38,858.66
CBZ Consumer Goods 9498.19 9500.00 2850.01 20,000 990,000.00 0.02 11.16 65,287.01
Dairibord Industrials CSZL: ZH 3672.73 3700.00 484.00 415,500.00 -0.35 0.74 182.44 13,246.03
Delta CBZ: ZH 8316.57 8295.00 3100.00 400 1,900,000.00 1.81 -0.86 262.39 105,899.97
Econet Technology DZL: ZH 2965.91 2850.00 1200.00 108,000 14,800.00 27.27 -3.91 201.59 73,831.70
Edgars Banking 450.86 460.00 300.13 1,442,800 8,904,280.00 -71.87 7.35 303.33 1,582.64
FBC DLTA: ZH 3100.00 3100.00 2600.00 41,120,000.00 -115.90 106.48 20,830.45
Fidelity Consumer Goods ECO: ZH 1200.00 1540.00 2,000 33.14 - 529.26 1,307.08
First Capital Consumer Goods EDGR: ZH 310.65 - 250.00 4,300 9,680.00 - 172.85 6,472.96
FML Telecommunications FBC: ZH 2555.75 320.00 990.00 133,300.00 - -3.39 147.62 17,943.72
FMP Consumer Services FIDL: ZH 1540.00 2600.00 17500.00 - - 1.73 375.31 19,067.62
GBH FCA: ZH 254.78 9006.95 10,015,100 - -10.52 - 941.67 1,341.47
Getbucks Banking FMHL: ZH 990.00 - 7800.00 30,058,690.00 44.25 -1.88 7820.00 11,514.87
Hippo Financial Services FMP: ZH 17509.61 250.00 359.41 100 - - 94.44 33,778.60
Innscor GBH: ZH 9002.75 990.00 4400.00 - 2,600.00 -4.78 -0.05 143.24 50,869.13
Lafarge Banking GBFS: ZH 6500.00 17500.00 38.26 - - 0.05 712.50 6,240.00
Mash Financial Services HIPO: ZH 353.13 9200.00 9498.26 7,800 -9.61 20.00 286.46 6,681.70
Masimba INN: ZH 4393.92 7800.00 1340.00 200 19,500.00 4.20 1.78 292.86 10,632.76
Medtech Real Estate LACZ: ZH 32.14 360.00 52000.00 1,980.00 1300.00 0.14 384.30 1,163.01
Meikles Industrials MASH: ZH 8926.54 4400.00 1044.60 23,900 6.28 19.04 331.65 23,996.98
Nampak MSHL: ZH 1302.67 38.00 1549.09 159,800 4,182,500.00 6.08 6.40 487.08 10,125.68
NatFoods Financial Services MMDZ: ZH 52000.00 9495.00 1799.01 14,393,110.00 6.12 2.87 765.22 35,568.06
NTS Consumer Goods MEIK: ZH 1300.00 1340.00 2790.00 400 571.72 - 3705.46 2,651.95
NMBZ NPKZ: ZH 1549.09 467.00 33,800 31,200.00 37.33 -19.65 287.22 6,260.98
OK Zim Industrials NTFD: ZH 1818.91 - 2800.00 121,480.00 - - 99.89 22,430.29
Proplastics Industrials NTS: ZH 2790.00 1300.00 6800.00 400 -255.40 -1.09 224.05 7,029.00
RTG Real Estate NMB: ZH 467.78 4295.37 1,980,200 17,600.00 - - 143.55 11,653.96
RioZim Industrials OKZ: ZH 2705.00 - 217.63 757,670.90 -19.90 -0.17 87.27 3,416.83
Healthcare PROL: ZH 1795.00 247.22 101,800 9,669,230.00 - 3.51
SeedCo Industrials RTG: ZH 7965.61 2790.00 4411.11 700 -0.78
Industrials RIOZ: ZH 450.00 413.82 - 9,380.00 95.00
Simbisa Consumer Goods 4347.93 2800.00 3000.00 -
Star Africa Industrials SEED: ZH 218.98 367.18 11,300
Truworths 216.38 6800.00 7700.00 - 118,040.00
TSL Banking SIM: ZH 4100.00 -
Turnall Consumer Services SACL: ZH 419.00 4295.00 0.03 8,100
Unifreight TRUW: ZH 2894.32 219.00 360.00 100 145,720.00
Willdale Industrials 335.65 250.00 1600.00 2,790.00
ZB Consumer Services TSL: ZH 7700.00 4400.00 395.45 1,000 4,670.00
Zeco TURN: ZH 400.00 100 2,800.00
Zimpapers Basic Materials UNIF: ZH 0.03 3000.00
Zimplow WILD: ZH 313.55 335.00 63,400 4,311,200.00 -1165.61 -14.63 195.65 16,695.91
ZHL Consumer Goods ZBFH: ZH 1588.50
TOTAL ZECO: ZH 392.27 - 61,100 2,624,470.00 -52.56 -1.21 257.41 24,147.92
Consumer Goods ZIMP: ZH - 60,000 130,578.00 -1.35 -0.62 706.04 10,261.44
Consumer Goods ZIMPLOW: ZH 360.00 13,350.00 30.84 14.25 738.03
Consumer Services 1600.00 5,400 39,700.00 311.11 7.59 155.72 949.49
Consumer Goods ZHL: ZH 400.00 900 9,104.00 -5.18 -1.24 344.97 15,752.18
9,000.00 105.68 3.65 16029.03
Industrials 2,200 93,632.00 31.53 9.39 1047.44 2,040.30
Industrials 300 - 220.83 3,194.23
Industrials - - - 50.00 6,528.47
25,500 1,080.00 - - 267.35 13,489.68
Banking - 592,000.00 46.45 14.81 220.00
Industrials - 39,940.00 11.50 0.72 26.14 0.14
Consumer Services 3.18 0.81 2,073.60
Industrials 300 123,030,129.90 3,814.09
Financial Services 37,000 7,191.87
10,100 773,771.14
14,674,700

ETFs OMTT.zw 196.03 210.00 209.98 2,506,956 5,264,228.00 13.95 7.12 109.52 167.98

Old Mutual ZSE Top 10 ETF

FINSEC Financial Services OMZIL 4500.00 4500.00 4500.00 26,016 117,072,000.00 - - 69.81 3,735.53

Old Mutual Zimbabwe

VFEX (US cents) Consumer Goods PHL:VX 36.00 20.00 19.31 3,978 768.16 -16.69 -46.36 -46.36 US$m
Consumer Goods SCIL:VX 25.20 25.20 25.20 10,797 2,720.84 - - 40.00 104.58
Padenga 60.76
SeedCo International

Index Close Change (%) Open YTD % Top 5 Risers Price Change % YTD %
ZSE All Share 6,544.59 -0.23 6,559.97 +148.90 Lafarge 7800.00c +1300.00c +20.00 +712.50
Top 10 3,458.07 -0.77 3,484.85 +109.01 African Sun +19.53 +279.39
Top 15 3,960.46 -0.48 3,979.53 +103.30 CAFCA 644.96c +105.40c +19.09 +100.22
Small Cap +5.49 239,348.61 +2025.97 Medtech 18000.00c +2885.71c +19.04 +384.30
Medium Cap 252,483.28 +0.21 17,141.93 +208.71 Zimpapers +14.81 +267.35
17,177.53 38.26c +6.12c
360.00c +46.45c

Top 5 Fallers Price Change % YTD %
NTS 1044.60c -255.40c -19.65 +3705.46
SeedCo 6800.00c -14.63 +195.65
BAT 80000.00c -1165.61c -11.01
AFDIS 6500.00c -9900.00c -4.41 +45.45
Econet 2850.01c -3.91 +170.83
-300.00c +201.59
-115.90c

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 has not independently verified; MORGAN & COMPANY makes no guarantee, representation or warranty and accepts no responsibility or liability as to the accuracy or completeness of its content.

Page 28 News Analysis NewsHawks

DUMISANI NYONI Issue 39, 16 July 2021

THE Reserve Bank of Zim- Worthless new ZW$50 note
babwe (RBZ) recently issued highlights economic troubles
a new ZW$50 banknote, seen with a ZW$20 note as
with critics claiming that Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya. your highest denomination?
the bill, embossed with Look at South Africa, they
the portrait of liberation two new ZW$50 notes to note which was inadequate notes,” it said. our economic growth. In- have got R200, R100, R50,
icon Mbuya Nehanda, will buy a loaf of bread whilst for a loaf of bread.  Among the key qualities flation is currently hovering R20 and R10 notes, but
fuel inflation in an econo- the full complement of around 106%, which is a with us having just ZW$20
my already devastated by all the notes (ZW$50, “The value loss of the lo- of money the world over is significant drop from where as highest, it doesn’t facili-
stagnant growth due to the ZW$20, ZW$10, ZW$5 cal currency scuttles confi- the “store of value” function we began the year, which tate transacting at all.”
Covid-19 pandemic. and ZW$2) when added to- dence building by the pub- attached to a currency, the was around 300%,” he said. 
gether cannot buy a loaf of lic, thereby discouraging organisation said.  “We are likely to see He said when transacting
But the banknote, the bread.”  savings as interest earned is an introduction of higher one does not even compare
highest denomination in lower than the inflation rate Commentators say the notes like new ZW$100 values but “you are sim-
Zimbabwe’s local unit, is “This is just but a replay (negative return). Notably, new note is expected to do and ZW$200 bills, which ply saying that within your
not enough for a loaf of of the well-known inflation the government demands little to contain inflation, are likely to undermine the context and environment,
bread, indicating how in- experiences of 2008/2009 payment for its services in stabilise prices or improve expectation of inflation be- especially where your Zim-
flation has ravaged the cur- which led to the abandon- the US dollar--pointing to Zimbabwe’s economic pros- ing around 20%,” Dhlamini babwean dollar is losing val-
rency. ment of the Zimbabwean government’s loss of confi- pects. said. ue, it would be difficult for
dollar as the US dollar took dence in its very own cur- Economist Godfrey locals to transact.”
It now sounds like a folk- centre stage in supporting rency,” it said. Previous injections of Kanyenze, however, said the
tale that the local currency transactions in Zimbabwe,” the ZW$10 and ZW$20 new banknote will not stoke “If you have to pay in
was stronger than the Unit- the social justice advocacy The organisation said ef- banknotes have failed to inflation but help facilitate cash, it may imply having
ed States dollar at Indepen- group said.  forts should be channeled ensure economic stability, transactions.  to carry big amounts of
dence in 1980.   towards stabilising the val- largely as a result of policy “In an inflationary envi- money. So having a larger
Zimcodd said in an in- ue of the Zimbabwean dol- inconsistencies, especially ronment, having ZW$20 as denomination generally fa-
The ZW$50, almost flationary environment, lar before further notes are with regards to currency. your highest denomination cilitates transacting. Gener-
equal to US$0.59 using the the introduction of new introduced, otherwise the does not help or facilitate ally, the world over, denom-
official exchange rate, joins banknotes is unpopular as printing of money becomes Economic analyst Steven- transacting, especially as inations help you in terms
other denominations which the money loses value, in- a worthless exercise.  son Dhlamini said the in- the money loses value. So of transacting. The higher
have been eroded by hyper- stantly igniting the need to troduction of higher notes you need a higher note,” the denomination you have,
inflation which soared to introduce higher denomi- “The introduction of the would stoke inflation. Kanyenze said.  the easier it is, especially in
800% in 2020 before slow- nations reminiscent of the new ZW$50 advances gov- “Which country have you our context where money is
ing to 106% this year.  2008 era when the RBZ ernment’s motive of acquir- “I know the government losing value quickly.”
printed a quintillion dollar ing the US$ through profit is looking at ending the year
The apex bank announced made by issuing the new at around 20%. I think it’s “Without even compar-
several months ago that it a bit ambitious despite the ing it to anyone, just look
would issue higher denom- positive outlook in terms of at the inflation because this
inations, with the market is not cross-border transact-
expressing fear the move ing, this is domestic trans-
could stoke inflation. acting where the exchange
rate may not be determi-
Some independent econ- nant,” said Kanyenze.   
omists commended the
central bank for coming Economic commentator
up with the new note while Reginald Shoko weighed in,
critics claimed it would fuel saying the introduction of a
inflation in an economy new banknote would reduce
already buffeted by a pro- the cost of withdrawing
longed Covid-19 pandemic. money from banks.

Some economic analysts “It’s great for convenience
who spoke to The News- and also will reduce the cost
Hawks said the release of of withdrawals by the bank-
the new note has evoked ing public. If you have real-
fears of hyperinflation rem- ised, it was taking over two
iniscent of the 2008 era, automated teller machine
while others said it would (ATM) withdrawals to get
reduce the cost of bank the maximum weekly cash
withdrawals. allocation, which increases
the cost due to the small
In 2008, Zimbabwe suf- currency denominations,”
fered the second most severe he said. 
episode of hyperinflation in
recorded history. The an- “Most of our prices are al-
nual inflation rate peaked ready pegged to the US dol-
in November of that year, lar, hence the new note will
reaching 89.7 sextillion not have a serious threat to
percent, according to Steve inflation. The current infla-
Hanke, an economist and tion triggers in the econo-
currency expert. my are centred on foreign
exchange rates,” he said,
In its weekly review, a adding the economy will
civil society organisation, require a higher-denomi-
the Zimbabwe Coalition nation banknote going for-
on Debt and Development ward.
(Zimcodd), said the new
note amounts to a mere In the past, the govern-
US$0.36 when calculated ment has been criticised for
on the parallel market rate. printing larger banknotes,
evoking memories of Zim-
“The highest notes in babwe’s hyperinflationary
Zambia, Botswana and period, when there were
South Africa are worth notes in circulation with a
US$4.50, US$18.35 and face value of ZW$100 tril-
US$14, respectively–denot- lion.
ing the decimated purchas-
ing power of the local cur-
rency,” Zimcodd said. 

“The concern to the ordi-
nary citizen is: How many
groceries can you buy with
the ZW$50? One requires

NewsHawks The Big Debate Page 29

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Musa Rule of law a fundamental abstract phrase simply to
Kika pillar of national progress be used as “a shorthand
description of the posi-
GIVEN that the rule of Some of Zimbabwe’s superior courts judges. tive aspects of any given
law is fundamental to po- political system”. The
litical stability as well as tique sources.  no one given power by Chief Justice Anthony From this emerges an concept of rule of law
peace and security, it is Among these is Aristot- the law for a certain pur- Gubbay observed: “It is understanding that the in fact includes, among
hardly arguable that the pose may act beyond the an undeniable fact that rule of law can be un- others, the separation of
level at which it is upheld le who, in a literal English confines of such powers, whatever system of law is derstood both as having powers, enforceable guar-
directly corelates to the translation, is captured in or usurp the power con- applicable, whether it is a moral foundation and antees in respect of indi-
socio-economic progress the following words: “It is ferred on another – a the English common law, significant political foun- vidual rights, the suprem-
of a nation.  better for the law to rule principle known as ultra the Napoleonic Code, dations. In modern soci- acy of the constitution,
than one of the citizens vires.   my own, or that of other ety, this quality cannot be the principle of legality,
Developing economies so even the guardians of countries, the rule of law divorced from the pro- legal certainty, access to
like Zimbabwe, even the laws are obeying the According to Stephen forms an essential foun- tection of rights. This is independent courts and
more so, need the rule of laws”. Another seminal Humphreys “the notion dation in any democratic true for Zimbabwe where multi-party democracy. It
law for stability and de- scholar, Thomas Fuller, that ‘the rule of law’ cap- system of governance. It the Declaration of Rights is a value-laden concept. 
velopment. It is this con- put it in the following tures a particular quality is a concept of universal occupies pride of place
sideration that motivates terms in 1733: “Be you of law or a legal system, a validity and application. within the constitutional In a constitutional de-
for a general and broad- never so high, the Law is quality that must be more It embraces those insti- framework.  mocracy such as Zimba-
based appreciation of the above you”.  or less present or absent tutions and principles of bwe, the constitution is
concept of rule of law by in a given legal system justice which are consid- The rule of law allows the supreme law of the
Zimbabweans, leaders The rule of law speaks and that thus provides a ered minimal to the as- for notions of equali- land, and the rule of the
and citizens alike.  of a society where the law basis for evaluating such a surance of human rights, ty and equal protection law in this case requires
is respected, upheld and system, imbues most ac- and the dignity of man. to find expression. It that all laws and all con-
Ultimately, the promo- is the ultimate authority. counts of the rule of law”.  … [I]t is generally accept- thus allows for the equal duct, including by the ju-
tion of the rule of law “is This, of course, presup- ed that a society in which standing of all who are diciary, comply with the
explicitly bound up with poses that there has been It is a concept having the rule of law prevails is Zimbabweans before the constitution. To remove
the primary currents of a democratic law-making universal validity, encom- one in which a climate of law, and allows space, ex- doubt, the rule of law is
international political process and all who are passing inherent princi- legality, observance of the pression and standing to captured as a foundation-
and economic develop- subject to the law con- ples like uniformity, cer- law and an effective judi- all, irrespective of social al value.
ment, and today provides sent to its authority even tainty, impartiality and ciary, are evident. … [I]t class or rank, political
a leading language for the if they are not necessarily equity. Also added to this is the antithesis of the ex- persuasion or ideological In a democratic and
articulation and justifica- in agreement with all that is the principle of legality, istence of wide, arbitrary orientation.  open society, disagree-
tion of overarching pub- the law says.  which George Devenish and discretionary powers ment, differences in ap-
lic policy orientations”.  calls “the core or seminal in the hands of the exec- While one may be proaches, grievances, and
Put differently, the law meaning of the rule of utive”. tempted to view it as infractions are common.
It is also explicitly must command the mor- law”.  such, the rule of law is In such cases, the rule of
bound up with socio-po- al respect of the people. not a broad, vague and law is there to provide
litical and economic de- Under the rule of law, Zimbabwe’s former a framework through
velopment at national which recourse can be at-
level. The aspirations of tained. 
the nation of Zimbabwe
that are seen to be en- So disagreements must
capsulated in the con- be resolved through
stitution are themselves the courts rather than
dependent on the rule of self-serving disobedience.
law, that is, on the prima- In this context of the ad-
cy of that constitution.  judication of disputes
and constitutional en-
Preoccupation with the forcement, the rule of law
rule of law can therefore “appears as a sort of social
not be easily dismissed glue, a connective tissue
or disassociated from the holding society togeth-
progress of the nation as a er”. It is thus self-evident
whole, politically, socially that for such framework
and economically. This to find efficacy, there
is not to deny the role must be confidence in
of other currents to such the institutions that are
progress, such as social established and mandat-
cohesion, culture, tradi- ed to dispense justice, to
tion and even religion, include the courts, the
as well as leadership and police, the National Pros-
policy. ecuting Authority, and
even independent com-
Rule of law itself is an missions to include those
old age concept. In Zim- supporting constitutional
babwe’s constitutional de- democracy such as the
mocracy, the constitution Zimbabwe Human
must now be understood
as the beacon of the rule Rights Commission,
of law and the ultimate and those specific to rule
source of legal authority.  of law such as the Zim-
babwe Anti-Corruption
All laws and conduct Commission. 
must satisfy the demands
of the constitution. Al- Additionally, the peo-
though the phrase “rule ple must know the con-
of law” was popularised stitution, and harbour in
by Albert Venn Dicey in their hearts the culture
his seminal work Intro- of the rule of law. In the
duction to the Study of end, the rule of law is
the Law of the Consti- widely recognised as an
tution as early as 1885, essential component of
the idea itself has ancient good governance and sus-
origin, and appears in an- tainable development. 

*About the writer:
Musa Kika is a lawyer
and executive director of
the Zimbabwe Human
Rights NGO Forum.

Page 30 The Big Debate NewsHawks

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Enter Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku
This is a continuation of a long-running series of popular articles by South Af- the members of the JSC would
Tererai rican-based Zimbabwean lawyer Advocate Tererai Mafukidze on the history of be familiar with applicants for
Mafukidze the judiciary in Rhodesia and later Zimbabwe, focusing on the chief justices. positions which required them
to be interviewed through the
SOON after former Chief Jus- Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku section 180 process. 
tice Anthony Gubbay resigned
in March 2001, the late former of the commission for what they that. All these accolades in death had been amended in 2007 to The JSC immediately ap- Further, the constitution de-
president Robert Mugabe im- perceived to be his role in doing mask the eventful end to Chidy- create the position of Deputy pealed against the decision. liberately departed from the ap-
mediately appointed Judge Pres- the bidding for the executive, ausiku’s position as chief justice.  Chief Justice and Mugabe had The Hungwe judgment grant- pointment procedure for judges
ident Godfrey Chidyausiku the particularly protecting Mugabe appointed Malaba to the posi- ed an interim order in which under the former constitution
acting chief justice ahead of all who became a target of legis- It was widely reported by tion. It was said the G40 faction he interdicted the JSC from by ensuring that the new process
Supreme Court judges.  lating out of office and power the independent media – the preferred Rita Makarau to suc- “conducting interviews set for is fair, open and transparent. 
by his internal rivals, led by the Zimbabwe Independent most- ceed Chidyausiku.  12 December 2016 which in-
On 1 July 2001, Mugabe late Zanu PF maverick Eddison ly at the time - that there was terviews are for the ostensible In addition, the constitution
substantively appointed Chidy- Zvobgo, and the then new op- jostling between Mnangagwa’s The Independent further re- purpose of submitting names to deliberately limited the number
ausiku to the post of Chief Jus- position under the late Morgan faction and the rival G40 led by ported that a fortuitous meet- the President of the Republic of of the so-called “subordinates”
tice. In some way, the promo- Tsvangirai. Grace Mugabe over who would ing with Mugabe at a funeral Zimbabwe for his consideration of the chief justice. 
tion of Chidyausiku would be succeed Chidyausiku as chief resulted in Mugabe reversing in appointing the Chief Justice
comparable to Dumbutshena’s Nothing is more revealing justice.  Mnangagwa’s decision to send of Zimbabwe.”  Under section 189(1) of the
elevation from Judge President of how he was perceived by the Chidyausiku on leave pending constitution, only five out of
to Chief Justice.  government as chief justice than The position of chief justice retirement. Buoyed by this, The legal effect of the inter- the 13 members are judicial
the accolades paid to him on was naturally seen as strategic Chidyausiku went on to start dict was to suspend a constitu- officers and could be said to be
The underlying motive and his death by Mugabe and then for the succession battles. As a the Judicial Service Commis- tional process on the basis of an the chief Justice’s subordinates.
events that preceded their eleva- Vice-President and Minister of result, in August 2016 Chidy- sion (JSC) process of selecting amendment to the constitution The rest of the members are the
tion would confound any com- Justice Emmerson Mnangagwa, ausiku was sent on leave pend- his successor. This move, it was that Mnangagwa stated would Attorney-General; the chairper-
parison. Second, the promotion the current President. Both stat- ing retirement before he could also reported by the Indepen- be made. The interdict grant- son of the Civil Service Com-
went over Justices Simbarashe ed that Chidyausiku had helped institute the judicial interviews dent, was opposed by Mnan- ed by Hungwe sought to stop mission; three practising legal
Muchechetere and Wilson San- them in saving the land reform to choose his successor. He was gagwa and Cabinet Chief Sec- a constitutional process on the practitioners designated by the
dura, both of whom were black programme and that he had re- due to retire on 28 February retary Misheck Sibanda who basis of an alleged intention of Law Society of Zimbabwe; a le-
and senior to Chidyausiku. In moved the shackles put by Gub- 2017. It was reported by the tried to stop the process. It was the executive to amend the con- gal academic designated by the
fact, they had greater appellate bay reign. He had supported Zimbabwe Independent news- also reported that when Chidy- stitution and change the way majority of teachers of law, in
experience. Third, Chidyausi- land reform as chief justice and paper that the decision had been ausiku was removed, Chiweshe certain judicial officers, includ- the absence of that association
ku had been number 12 on the helped in that political agenda.  made by Mnangagwa without remained as the de facto acting ing the chief justice, are to be appointed by the President; a
Zanu PF party list in the 1980 Mugabe’s knowledge. It was also Chief Justice despite the fact appointed.  public accountant or auditor
general election.  Mugabe stated that this is reported that Mnangagwa want- that the constitution gave this appointed effectively by his or
why he was a national hero who ed Judge President George Chi- acting role to Malaba. In the papers before the her peers; a human resource ex-
With his elevation, Chidy- was to be buried at the Heroes weshe to succeed Chidyausiku.  court, Zibani had in fact inti- pert appointed by the President. 
ausiku was in the minority on Acre in Harare. Mugabe also In order to stop this selection mated that the judicial appoint- These professionals are neither
the Supreme Court bench. This said the decision to confer na- Chiweshe was recently pro- process, an urgent application ment process under the consti- subordinates of the chief justice
presented a challenge in con- tional hero status to Chidyausi- moted to be a Supreme Court was launched by a law student tution be suspended in favour of nor subject to his direction. 
stituting the bench. Unexpect- ku was not only a decision of the judge amid fresh controversy re- named Romeo Zibani.  a process done by retired judges.
edly, the government increased Zanu PF decision-making polit- ported in the media that he was He alleged that the involvement Further, contrary to the ar-
the number of Supreme Court buro, but also one supported by removed from the High Court Zibani launched an urgent of Chidyausiku in the JSC’s pro- gument presented on behalf of
judges from five to eight on the the country’s security forces.  for political reasons following application in the High Court cess of recommending the next the JSC in the High Court, once
pretext that there was a greater the recent judgement that Mala- to interdict JSC interviews that chief justice compromises the the JSC submits the list of rec-
workload arising from land cas- “During the land reform era, ba had ceased to be chief justice had been set down for candi- process as he was familiar with ommended persons for appoint-
es. The increase on the bench white judges like Justice Gub- on 15 May 2021. The case is dates wishing to succeed Chidy- the nominees for the position of ment to the office of chief jus-
meant Chidyausiku could con- bay were misfiring,” Mnangag- still in the courts, while Malaba ausiku. It was granted by Justice chief justice. The constitution’s tice, the President has no power
stitute the new judges in the wa said, suggesting Chidyausiku is still in office. Charles Hungwe on 12 Decem- makers were certainly aware that to sit on the recommendations
majority of panels. One of the had to be brought to correct ber 2016.  pending whatever constitution-
additional judges appointed was Meanwhile, the constitution al amendment may be mooted.
Justice Luke Malaba who was to The President is required under
later on replace Chidyausiku as section 110(2)(d) to “make ap-
Chief Justice.  pointments which the consti-
tution…requires the President
One of the first things Chidy- to make.”  This is a serious con-
ausiku did was to reverse the stitutional obligation. Section
Commercial Farmers’ Union 324 of the constitution provides
judgement on land that he had that: “All constitutional obliga-
criticised before elevation. San- tions must be performed dili-
dura dissented.  gently and without delay.”

Chidyausiku studied law at On 11 December 2016, a day
the then University of Rhode- before the interviews, Hungwe
sia between 1968 and 1972. issued an interdict preventing
During the 1974 Rhodesian the JSC from proceeding with
general election, Chidyausiku scheduled public interviews for
stood on the African Roll and the post of chief justice. The
won the Harari (Mbare) constit- interviews went ahead after the
uency. He stood down during JSC filed an appeal to stop the
the 1977 general elections.  interdict. The four short-listed
candidates were Malaba, Ma-
After that he was a Zanu PF karau, Chiweshe and Padding-
delegate at the Lancaster House ton Garwe. Chiweshe did not
negotiations to end the Rho- turn up for the interviews.
desian War in 1979. He was
Deputy Minister of Local Gov- It was reported – again by
ernment and Housing, and of the Independent – that the in-
Justice from 1980. He was then terview results had Malaba with
promoted to be Attorney-Gen- 91%, while Makarau followed
eral in 1982.  Chidyausiku was slightly behind him with 90%
later promoted to be a judge of and Garwe had 52%.
the High Court. He was later
appointed Judge President upon The appeal against Hungwe’s
the elevation of Sandura to the order was heard by the Supreme
Supreme Court. He chaired the Court and the interdict was
Constitutional Commission quashed. Malaba was then ap-
appointed by Mugabe in 1999 pointed Chief Justice.
whose draft constitution was
later rejected in the referendum ...To be continued
owing to the public discontent *About the writer: Advo-
with some of the provisions.  cate Tererai Mafukidze is a
member of the Johannesburg
Chidyausiku was criticised Bar. He practises with Group
heavily by some of the members One Sandown Chambers in
Sandton, Johannesburg. His
practice areas at the Bar are:
general commercial law, com-
petition law, human rights,
administrative and constitu-
tional law.

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 31

Issue 39, 16 July 2021 South African looting riots the destruction under way
turn the wheel of history  may affect their access to
AT the time of writing, food in the coming days
the riots engulfing Durban mon around the world and the jobs of people who
and other towns in Kwa- during the 1980s as the depend on the supermar-
Zulu-Natal, and also pres- World Bank and the In- ket system. There is deep
ent in parts of Gauteng ternational Monetary concern about escalating
and the Eastern Cape, Fund imposed socially and violence, and disgust at
have the kind of scale and economically devastating the political and personal
velocity that makes defin- policies on subordinated opportunism that has been
itive statements unwise. countries. The situation present.
There are sure to be local was exacerbated after the
differences in how things financial crisis that began It is also possible,
are playing out, and new in 2007. The Arab Spring, though, that food riots on
developments can and will beginning in late 2010 and this scale and intensity may
happen at any moment. gaining its real power in force a reckoning with the
The full consequences of 2011, is usually ascribed fact that our society is not
the decision to send in the to the intersection of anger just unspeakably unjust, it
army, made just as this ar- about corrupt and repres- is also simply not viable.
ticle went to press, are not sive states and mass youth Zuma and Ramaphosa to
yet clear. unemployment, but many blame
analysts also argue that Zuma’s kleptocracy, which
But one thing is: Durban food prices were a key fac- was violently repressive and
has been engulfed by food tor. deeply unpopular, offered
riots. New Frame spoke to The riots have put a de- nothing to the majority.
grassroots activists across finitive end to liberal delu- In recent days and weeks,
the city on 11 and 12 July sions. By obsessively focus- its defenders have been its
and without exception ev- ing on intra-elite politics beneficiaries, people in and
ery one of them said the ri- and centring corruption as around the kleptocratic
ots are about food, not Ja- our fundamental problem, faction of the ANC. But
cob Zuma. It is food shops those delusions mask the the idea, more or less ubiq-
that have been consistent- deeply systemic nature of uitous in much of the elite
ly targeted, and food that our social crisis. The fan- public sphere, that Cyril
has been appropriated at a tasy that a combination of Ramaphosa is a credible,
massive scale. the affirmation of the rule or even redemptive, alter-
of law and Ramaphosa’s native is profoundly wrong
Across the country the programme of austerity of- and profoundly dangerous.
waves of popular protest fer a route out of the cur-
from 2004 have typically rent political crisis is pred- It was Ramaphosa’s gov-
taken place close to shack icated on the assumption ernment that plunged al-
settlements or other places that the social crisis does ready desperate people into
where impoverished peo- not need to be addressed, cial upheaval. That reality, ma forces were carried than illuminate the social an even more desperate
ple live, which are usually that it is a reality with combined with systemic out with the same modus forces, desires and moral crisis when the initial hard
on the urban periphery. In which we can live. hunger, makes it clear as operandi on the same ter- orientations at work. But lockdown was imposed
Durban, unlike in other Right now, the people the rising sun on a win- rain as recent xenophobic there is a very clear logic without meaningful social
cities, the hilly topography who are very seldom in- ter’s day that we inhabit violence, often ethnically at play at the time of writ- support. It was Ramapho-
has enabled land occupa- cluded in the elite public, what Frantz Fanon called inflected: the Mooi River ing, a logic that must be sa’s government that po-
tions in or close to spaces the people whose lives are “a non-viable society, a so- Toll Plaza and hostels in acknowledged: people are liced that lockdown with
of elite residence, com- implicitly deemed expend- ciety to be replaced”. Johannesburg. But at the hungry, they have been militarised and frequent-
merce and education. This able by both the Zuma and moment New Frame is not hungry for a very long ly lethal violence. Food is
has meant that in this city Ramaphosa factions, along Another new develop- getting reports of a xeno- time, the state has failed a basic human need, but
what has been termed “the with most liberal commen- ment is that in at least one phobic dimension to the them and they are now ap- Ramaphosa’s government
rebellion of the poor” does tators, are on the streets area, Glenwood, these ri- riots. However, many ac- propriating food on a mas- failed to support the mil-
not always happen in the and in the malls. It should ots are starting to draw in tivists have expressed con- sive scale. lions of people who went
urban periphery. But the now, finally, be clear that, students and people from cern that the riots could hungry with anything ap-
riots currently underway in the end, they will make among the middle classes. mutate into a xenophobic On 12 July 2021 Police proaching an adequate
have, for the first time, tar- history and that the social Historically, when students or ethnic form. Some have stop a woman outside a response. The Covid-19
geted shops and malls in crisis is now so severe, so and a chunk of the middle expressed the view that this supermarket in the central grant was paltry, didn’t
the centre of middle class overwhelming, that the old classes throw in their lot may be imminent. In some business district of Durban reach huge numbers of
areas such as Glenwood game of imagining politics with impoverished peo- areas local ANC commit- after food riots swept people and was then – in-
and Hillcrest. as an intra-elite contesta- ple, extraordinary social tees are actively encourag- through the area. explicably, callously, reck-
tion is over. These are days turmoil and change – for ing the riots and actively lessly and outrageously –
When road blockades of fire, days of danger, pos- good or ill – becomes pos- seeking to give them an Although other build- removed.
first began to be a regu- sibly grave danger. They sible. ethnic inflection, presum- ings have been attacked,
lar feature of our politics, are days that will exact an ably thinking that this will and a mosque burnt in cir- Zuma and Ramaphosa
people would generally extraordinary social cost. The police have lost con- bolster the Zuma project. cumstances that are not yet are both responsible for the
flee when attacked by the It is possible that they may trol in many areas. Where But with no social force clear, the primary target of crisis that has now explod-
police. If there was a fight- also be followed by a rec- they are present they are with the organisational the riots so far is supermar- ed into riot. Whatever the
back, it usually took the ognition that the social cri- often reported to just be reach and authority to di- kets. There is an implicit trajectory of the riots, and
form of stones lobbed from sis must be addressed as a standing by while food is rect the riots, their trajec- logic to this. In South Afri- whether they are crushed
a safe distance. In recent matter of extreme urgency. appropriated. In at least tory will be determined in ca, the food system is over- by the army, burn them-
years that has begun to It is certain that these are one case the police have the moment and within whelmingly controlled by selves out in a few days or
change, particularly during days that will, in the fu- taken food for themselves. the tumult. supermarkets, and when continue, cohere around a
evictions, with people us- ture, mark a moment of It seems likely the army most people do access some central demand and gather
ing makeshift shields to rupture that delineates a will crush the protests, al- Riots are always messy, money, most of it goes into more force, they have hap-
hold their ground. before and an after. though quite possibly at a and elite eyes will always the supermarkets. They pened and it is now clear
As New Frame noted in very high social cost. But seek to reduce a riot to an are also, of course, sites that there can be no fanta-
Food has been central to a recent editorial, it is diffi- the fact that with enough appropriated TV or an at- of a vast accumulation of sies of business as usual.
most revolutions. It is not cult to think of any society people on the streets, and tack on a bystander. The wealth by elites.
for nothing that, begin- on the planet that has sus- gathered with sufficient large swatches of the me- The scale of the riots is
ning in July 1917, “Peace, tained the almost unfath- resolve, the police can so dia always on the hunt for It is not just the trajec- not the only new devel-
Land and Bread” became omable rates of youth un- easily be overwhelmed will sensation, and with a worl- tory of the riots, and what opment. The protests that
the primary slogan of the employment that we have not be forgotten. dview shaped by profound the deployment of the have regularly been or-
Russian Revolution. The in South Africa without Targeting supermarkets prejudice towards people army will mean, that can- ganised from shack settle-
French Revolution of 1789 some kind of massive so- Some of the initial acts who are both impoverished not yet be determined. It is ments across the country
was preceded by years of organised by the pro-Zu- and Black, will mask rather also their aftermath. Many since 2004, and in Durban
food riots. Two days before grassroots activists have ex- since 2005, have general-
the Bastille – an armoury, pressed concern about how ly taken the form of road
political prison and symbol blockades – of disruption
of monarchical authority rather than appropriation.
– was stormed on 14 July Now there is popular ap-
1789, 52 wagons of wheat propriation of food on an
were seized. extraordinary scale.

More recently, riots over —New Frame.
access to food, sometimes
termed “bread riots”, be-
came increasingly com-

Page 32 Africa News NewsHawks

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

JONATHAN ROZEN Botswana police use Israeli 
tech on journalist’s phone
TSAONE Basimanebotlhe was and previously   declined to
not expecting security agents to Botswana journalist Tsaone Basimanebothle. comment on the case involving
appear at her home in a village Dikologang because it was still
outside Gaborone, Botswana’s go and analyse it, you have my Cellebrite is one of the well-known and widely used mobile device forensics tools for data extraction before the court. In response to
capital, in July 2019, she told folders and everything, all my and analysis. Botswana is now using it to extract information from journalists’ phones, endangering questions about the Moeladi-
the Committee to Protect Jour- contacts,” Baaitse told CPJ in technology professional. lotlhoko News Boiler arrests,
nalists (CPJ) in a recent inter- a recent interview. He added Motube told CPJ that investi-
view.  that such actions by security torate on Intelligence and Secu- Extraction Device and Physical “They said they didn’t find gations “may necessitate” deten-
forces hinder journalists’ ability rity Services. “They believed I’m Analyser technologies to retrieve anything in my phone,” Basi- tions and confiscation of “any
But they did not come to ar- to gather information, saying, the one who wrote the story,” and evaluate the information maonebotlhe told CPJ. “[But] implement which may have
rest or charge her, she recalled “Sources, they no longer trust she said. from her phone, but found no they went through my SMS, my been used in the commission
– they came for her devices, us. They no longer want to deal evidence relevant to their inves- WhatsApp [messages].” of the offence” with “due regard
hunting for the source for an directly with us.” The affidavit detailing the tigation, according to CPJ’s re- to the rights of the individual
article published by her employ- forensic search of Basimane- view. Mack told CPJ that Kgosi CPJ contacted Botswana arrested.”
er, Mmegi newspaper. In Basimanebotlhe’s botlhe’s devices was submitted pleaded not guilty, and local police spokesperson Dipheko
case, Mmegi reported that when during Kgosi’s prosecution media reported that a magistrate Motube over the phone about Reached by phone, Botswa-
Basimanebotlhe, a politics her phone was first seized in July over the photographs, his law- ultimately dismissed for lack of Basimaonebotlhe’s case and na government spokesperson
reporter, said she surrendered 2019, police were seeking evi- yer, Unoda Mack, told CPJ by evidence  the charge that he had he requested that questions be Batlhalefi Leagajang requested
her phone and password to dence for their investigation of phone. It states that police used exposed agents’ identities. sent via messaging app. He did questions about security forces’
the agents after they presented a former intelligence chief, Isaac Cellebrite’s Universal Forensic not respond to those questions, alleged use of digital forensics
a warrant and could not find her Kgosi. The police claimed that technology be sent by email.
computer. A senior officer then Kgosi had taken photographs CPJ sent those questions, but
used technology sold by the Is- of undercover security agents, received no response. Celleb-
rael-based company Cellebrite exposing their identities, and rite, which is owned by the
to extract and analyse thousands that those photographs were Japan-based Sun Corpora-
of her messages, call logs, and published by  Mmegi  in a Feb- tion, says that its UFED toolkit
emails, and her web browsing ruary 2019 article  , Basimane- can extract data from mobile
history, according to an affidavit botlhe said. The article, which phones, SIM cards, and other
from the police forensics labora- was attributed to a staff reporter, devices even after the informa-
tory. The affidavit, which CPJ had been written by one of Basi- tion was deleted, and its Phys-
reviewed, was submitted during manebotlhe’s colleagues,  Mme- ical Analyser helps examine
a related court case. gi later clarified . digital data. In April, Nasdaq re-
ported that Cellebrite would be
“They’re looking for people Tsaone Basimanebotlhe listed on the stock exchange
that are divulging information (Mmegi/Thalefang Charles)  via a merger with TWC Tech
to the media,” Basimanebotlhe Holdings II Corp., a U.S.-based
told CPJ. “They alleged that I had pho- special purpose acquisition
tos of DIS people,” Basimane- company (SPAC) designed to
Botswana police also de- botlhe told CPJ, referring to an take companies public.
ployed Cellebrite technology to acronym for Botswana’s Direc-
search the phone of Oratile Di- In response to CPJ’s ques-
kologang, a local editor charged tions about the use of its tech-
in 2020 over Facebook posts nology in Botswana and human
who alleged that police violent- rights due diligence processes,
ly interrogated him about his Cellebrite provided a statement
sources, as CPJ recently report- emailed via the Fusion Public
ed.  Relations company that said it
could not “speak to any specif-
The use of powerful tools ics” about its customers. Celleb-
provided by private companies rite “requires that agencies and
to scour seized devices raises sig- governments that use our tech-
nificant concerns over privacy nology uphold the standards
and Press freedom. The expe- of international human rights
riences of Basimanebotlhe and law,” the statement said. “Our
Dikologang demonstrate that compliance solutions enable an
police in Botswana use digital audit trail and can discern who,
forensics equipment to sweep when and how data was ac-
up vast quantities of journalists’ cessed, which leads to account-
communications from seized ability in the agencies and or-
devices, regardless of whether ganizations that use our tools,”
they are charged with a crime. the company added. Cellebrite
The extent of these searches was did not directly address CPJ’s
only revealed when police docu- question about if the company
ments were submitted in court considered the use of its tools to
months after the fact, and it’s not search journalists’ devices to be
clear what happened to the data. acceptable.
Botswana’s security forces rou-
tinely arrest journalists and take Sun Corporation and TWC
possession of their devices, CPJ Tech Holdings II Corp. did
has found. In March, Botswa- not respond to questions CPJ
na police seized computers and emailed about this article.
phones from arrested reporters
and media workers with the “[Police] want access to
Moeladilotlhoko News Boiler, a the data so they can know the
private, Facebook-based outlet, sources of these journalists,”
CPJ recently documented; offi- Dick Bayford, a lawyer in Ga-
cers demanded their passcodes, borone whose firm represented
answered calls and read messag- Basimanebotlhe and Baaitse,
es on the devices, and kept two told CPJ in a recent interview.
of the phones as evidence even “It [has] a chilling effect on free-
after the charges connected to dom of the press.” 
that arrest were withdrawn in
April.  — Committee to Protect
Journalists.
David Baaitse, a reporter for
Botswana’s Weekend Post news-
paper, separately told CPJ
that intelligence agents took
phones belonging to him and
his colleague to be analysed for
six months following their ar-
rest last year.

“If you take my phone and

NewsHawks The Big Debate Page 33

Issue 39, 16 July 2021 CONFERENCE
ROOM
AVAILABLE

Executive Conference Room for Package Includes
-Private Meetings -Wi-Fi

-Investment Meetings -Projector
-Workshops -Flip Chart/Whiteboard
-Stationery (Pen & Notepad
-Product Launches
-Media or Financial Briengs

Training
Strategic Planning

BOOK NOW!!!
CONTACT DETAILS
Visit us at Charmaine 0735 666 122
The NewsHawks
#100 Nelson Mandela Avenue Ruth 0784 674 193
Beverly Court Landline: 0242 721 044/5

or E-mail
[email protected]

The NewsHawks TheNewsHawksLive www.thenewshawks.com [email protected]

Porsche just got angrier Being a Fashion Model

&Life Style

STYLE TRAVEL BOOKS ARTS MOTORING

Page 34 Mukanya shelves birthday Issue 39, 16 July 2021
to mourn lost companions
JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA adjustments. In the end you
ball fan, once owned and fellow Zimbabwean music ments. As has been the experi- get used to it.”
FEW people split opinion sponsored a Zimbabwean icon Oliver Mtukudzi, a “Due to Covid-19 regu- ence of many other Zim-
more than Thomas Map- top-flight club, Sporting Li- close friend of his over the babwean forced to leave But as a cultural expo-
fumo. Combative, brash, ons.  years. lations and lockdowns, we the country for a variety of nent, Mukanya is looking
controversial, straight-talk- have been forced to stay at reasons, living overseas for forward to working with
er, rebel, principled, fiercely “On the day there was a “I basically grew up with home for our own safety, more than a decade is taking young artistes as a way of
patriotic: all these terms and lot of birthday wishes from Oliver around and we be- otherwise  in most cases we a toll on Mukanya. ensuring his legacy lives on.
more have been used by a friends, family and fans. I came friends and shared a would be out practising
cross-section of people to will celebrate my 76th birth- lot,” Mukanya said.  at a local studio. And that “Living away from Zim- “I would like to collabo-
describe the veteran Zimba- day later on this year. Also, would take the whole day babwe has been tough be- rate with young Zimbabwe-
bwean musician.  there had been too many “Musically we shared except on weekends when cause nothing beats home an artistes who believe in
deaths around, of people I the stage a lot of times. I’m we would take a break. I’m sweet home,” he said.  our own music,” he said. 
But if there is one thing know – starting with David happy that we shared the a full-time musician, so a lot
that admirers and critics Mandigora, then Misheck stage again shortly before he of my time is spent on mu- “Because of the political “Our music is the pass-
alike can agree on, it is that Marimo Chidzambwa – so passed on. We were friends sic, mostly at the studio. On and economic situation, I port to the world stages.
the Chimurenga music guru I was not in a celebratory to the end.” the rest of the days, I try to had to move my family to I have toured around the
is a larger-than-life character mood. I knew the two guys stay at home and catch up the US just like a lot of peo- world because of this music
on and off the stage.  personally.”  Like most creatives, Mu- on news, e-mails and other ple did. We had to adjust to and I’m still performing it
kanya has been off the stage things but also to get some the food, driving and gener- to the best of my ability.  So
The United States-based Apart from those to have ever since the world went rest and spend time with ally the way of living that we I’m encouraging our young
singer is known for not died in more recent times, into Covid-19 lockdown. family.” were used to in Zimbabwe. artistes to take up this mbira
mincing his words, a char- Mukanya has also outlived But you have to make these music further.”
acteristic that has rubbed The pandemic has forced
his foes the wrong way.  Mapfumo to limit his move- It would have been unlike
Mukanya, the granddad of
But inside that in-your- music, to end the conversa-
face attitude lies a soft man tion without giving sound
whose radical views on the advice to the political estab-
situation in his homeland lishment, as well as his views
often draw strong reactions on the Covid-19 vaccina-
from those on the other side tion roll-out plan.
of the political fence.
“I love Zimbabwe and I
An example of Mapfu- strongly feel that we should
mo’s show of compassion all make the effort to make
was his gesture – on his it a safe and better country
76th birthday on 3 July – for everyone especially our
to take time to remember children so that they grow
dearly departed friends and up in a normal country
fellow artistes. which offers them a good
education and culture,” he
While many would have said. 
thrown lavish parties and
binged on expensive cham- “Let’s all stay safe during
pagne, befitting celebrations these difficult times we are
of a long life – the man of living in. I appeal to the
song shelved all festivities government to get people
to pay tribute to loved ones vaccinated to protect them
who are no longer living.  from the virus. Once ev-
eryone is vaccinated, then
“It’s wonderful to be able artistes can get back to work
to live this long,” Mapfumo safely.”
told The NewsHawks.
At the advanced age of
“I didn’t do much on 76, Mukanya still spots his
the (birthday) day because flowing dreadlocks, which
I was mourning the death he says are not going any-
of a friend who had passed where anytime soon. 
away in South Africa, Steve
Kekana.” In Mukanya’s youthful
days, dreadlocked people
South African music leg- were generally viewed with
end Kekana died a fortnight some kind of scorn by a
ago from Covid-19-related society that had a very low
complications at the age of opinion of artistes back
63. then. For Mukanya, it was
slightly different. Because
“I just felt that it was not his music talents manifested
correct to be celebrating early, his family did not dis-
when a fellow artiste had approve of how he expressed
passed on. So I decided to himself with his hair. 
respect the day.”
“Being an artiste, they
The man, known to his (family) were not surprised
legion of fans by his clan at all,” he said. 
name Mukanya, explained
his low-key birthday fur- “The world has changed
ther. He said he was also a lot. It is up to each and
deeply saddened by the every individual to decide
recent passing of ex-foot- what to do with their heads
ballers David Mandigora and hair, but I feel that as
and Misheck Chidzambwa, Africans we should preserve
whom he knew well. our culture. Part of it is how
we keep our hair natural.”
Mukanya, an avid foot-

NewsHawks Life & Style Page 35

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

THE idea that humour A new era of Zimbabwean King Kandoro.
can be used as a tension comedy: King Kandoro
reliever in trying times is like mine, then I got a
not anything new.  budding creatives. role comedians assume in specially packaged to ad- bank governor Gideon scholarship to go to one
“I hope to do well de-escalating political ten- dress political shenani- Gono’s reign of errors. of Africa’s top universities
Life is so much easier sions and bringing aware- gans and bad governance where I was now brushing
with humour.  enough in my career so ness to their audience. in Zimbabwe. In an interview with shoulders with the kids of
that any other Zimbabwe- The NewsHawks, he Kan- top-level civil servants not
Even when things are an child wants to get into “Politics govern our This is the sort of tem- doro shared how his up- just from Zimbabwe but
bleak and people are liv- comedy or entertainment day-to-day lives. There’s plate employed by Trevor bringing played a pivotal from all over the world.
ing in trying times like can use me as a bench- no way to ignore them, so Noah on the phenomenal- role in his career as it gave That does something to
the Covid-19 pandem- mark,’’ he said. what better way than to ly successful Daily Show. him an advantage in terms how you see things.’’
ic era which has forced use comedy to ask the im- Kandoro’s “Properganda” of how he saw the world
the world into prolonged The maverick King portant questions to those looks into various issues: and how it equipped him His comedy brand,
lockdown, humour can Kandoro, whose real who claim to have the an- corruption in Zimbabwe; with tools and skills which Madhorofiya Republik,
lessen the burden. name is Mukudzei Kan- swers?’’ he said. why the so-called new have come in handy today. has grown impressively.
doro Majoni, shared how dispensation is so bad at
Humour enables people he intends to use comedy His latest series, titled communication; account- “I grew up in a police “It feels great, I feel
to escape the tough situa- to change the narrative of “Properganda” has been ability in public affairs, camp surrounded by chil- blessed to be in the posi-
tions they are dealing with his generation.  well received demograph- and remembering central dren whose parents were tion I am today coming
and relieves them of life’s ically as each episode is low-level civil servants from where I come from,
heavy burdens. He breaks down the but I haven’t done half the
things I want to do in my
Art and comedy have career. While I’m happy
taken centre stage in po- that my gut feeling has
litical commentary in been largely vindicated, I
Zimbabwe. This is mostly can’t quite rest just yet.’’
due to the repression of
mainstream media.  — STAFF WRITER.

Despite facing threats
of being arrested by law
enforcers, comedians still
attract and amuse people
in the country and in the
diaspora through jest.

Comedians are actu-
ally pro-democracy and
pro-accountability activ-
ists while comedy is an al-
ternative platform to con-
vey messages on sensitive
matters.

Comedy can be used
in promoting the rule of
law and democracy. The
first time I saw conspira-
cy theories, my prior en-
gagement to his art was
through various satire
skits, stand-up comedy
and web series.

Years in, Madhorofiya
Republik’s creative di-
rector King Kandoro has
held his own among the
best comedians in Zimba-
bwe. 

King Kandoro has
built a sizeable audience
through podcasts and a
web series using the art
of comedy to highlight
governance issues. He has
not stopped perfecting his
craft.

Having done some
amazing work with Mag-
amba Network, ZiFM
Stereo and conspiracy the-
ories, Kandoro has literal-
ly been everywhere before
his big move to the Unit-
ed Kingdom. He hopes
his journey will inspire

ADVERT SPACE

The NewsHawks TheNewsHawksLive www.thenewshawks.com [email protected]

Page 36 Life & Style NewsHawks

State of the Culture Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Addy one. The problem with
Kudita protests is that there is
no conductor for the
WHO has not been orchestra of violence
transfixed by the vi- which ensues as crimi-
suals on social media nal elements and insid-
which have triggered ious forces hijack what
a stupendous volume could otherwise have
of conversation right been a justifiable ex-
across the world? Well, pression of a disgrun-
in Africa I know that tled people.
we have been variously
scandalised and moved.  Both faces have
been staring each oth-
The power of narra- Zulu King MisuZulu KaZwelithini Zulu. er down every waking
tives moment and setting
South Africa is signif- balance for her gait be- Jacob Zuma to be set ther’s” people to refrain along with all South sun of the past 20 years
icant in terms of the cause she is also strug- free because they be- from destroying their Africans who are now of that country’s inde-
reach of its economic, gling to walk with two lieve that his incarcer- own infrastructure. It coming to grips with pendence and even be-
cultural and political six-packs of beer that ation was unconstitu- has made for riveting the reality of the after- yond. Before, the two
output. Brand South she just helped herself tional. television as protago- math and the carnage faces did not have to
Africa is arguably like to at the mall where nist after protagonist in job, infrastructure stand eye ball to eye
Brand America: it is a looting is going on. In Gauteng they shows his hand. and socio-economic ball. There was the iron
shiny glittery ball that started on Sunday, the terms. Meanwhile, the clad apartheid wall
has magnetised mil- South Africa is in 11th of July specifical- As the protests broke Covid-19 pandemic to keep them apart.
lions since the days of flames and no one ly at the Jeppe Street out, a member of our continues with its grim But with the arrival of
Wenela to its shores. knows just how long it hostel where a security fraternity asked the reaping as the tally of Uhuru, the barricades
Its music stars, the is going to take before guard who had tried to minister of Defence, its victims grows lon- have been down but
likes of Brenda Fassie, the flames die down stop the vandalism was Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqa- ger. not in terms of access
Lucky Dube, Cassper and life returns to nor- killed. Some say that kula, whether she A violent culture? to a piece of the long
Nyovest, AKA, motion mal. Yes, the police are the Jeppe hostels are would deploy the army It was always coming. yearned for South Af-
picture stars such as on the streets and now home to Zulus, but that to assist the police. South Africa is a beau- rican dream which has
Trevor Noah and Pearl so are the soldiers after is another controversial “South Africa National tiful place of contradic- lured millions of its
Thusi, sports icons South African Presi- strand of this narrative. Defence Force has not tions. On Top Billing, citizens to its concrete
(hell, who does not dent Cyril Ramapho- The country’s president been deployed to KZN. the television pro- jungle.
know what the term sa committed them to did appear to imply That is not the respon- gramme which gives
Bafana Bafana refers assist the police in his that ethnic mobilisa- sibility of the SANDF. people a sneak peek Aside from citizens,
to?) all have a decided address to the nation. tion was at the centre into the lifestyles and like a siren Mzansi has
global currency which of the violent protests. I don’t think we have homes of the rich and also wooed millions of
their Zimbabwean The stated reason Of course the knives reached a point where powerful, is one face of people from across Af-
counterparts can only for the protests turned came out for him after SANDF should be the country. rica to its doorsteps. 
salivate at. Insofar as into rioting and loot- the statement.  dragged into what is
most Africans are con- ing which started on happening in KwaZu- The slums of Alex- Pervasive culture of
cerned, there is that Thursday the 8th of Still, the Zulu King lu-Natal,” Nqakula said andra, Khayelitsha entitlement
proverbial pot of gold July in KwaZulu-Natal Misuzulu kaZwelithini at the time. She must and others are another The political class from
at the end of its self- (KZN) is that the riot- has in recent days come be ruing that statement the ruling party have
styled rainbow. But ers want ex-president out to exhort “his fa- she made six days ago not refrained from
what happened this helping themselves to
past week bared its the largesse of polit-
dark underbelly and ical office. They have
the fragility of its edi- proved to be as cor-
fice. For the purpose of ruptible as the rest of
my class, this is what I Africa’s politicians.
wrote when I was try-
ing to demonstrate Not that African pol-
how I would write a iticians are particularly
feature story on the go- corrupt but that in the
ings-on in Mzansi. The evolution of post-inde-
following piece I wrote pendence nation states,
is based on a viral video the governing ethos has
of an elderly woman I not spawned the idea
saw in one of the circu- that those who rule
lating videos wearing a must be accountable to
morning gown and os- citizens instead of just
tensibly returning from throwing a few bones
a looting expedition. to their partisan syco-
phants whon they use
Sipho Ncube (not her to whip the lumpen
real name), a 65-year- proletariat in line.
old mother of six and
grandmother of four, Basically, the safe-
walks with a limp and guards against execu-
it does look like she tive and judicial over-
might topple over be- reach are weakened.
cause her walking stick For example, the office
might not be enough. of the public protector
Not enough to provide in South Africa is one
of the interesting ones.

Firstly, Thuli Madon-
sela battled with the
then president Zuma
over the abuse of pub-
lic funds, among other
issues. More recently, it

NewsHawks Life & Style Page 37

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

has been Busisiwe Mk- dare I say, godhood. hunger on the part of line people within the have had him rehearse girl he is chasing his
webane, her successor, Disagreement with the young man who government may have the speech before read- heart is Zulu because
clashing famously with was at least carrying been working to help ing it aloud to his com- his heart has been loot-
President Ramaphosa them is a mortal sin a live pig. But here is subvert the government munications people to ed. That is the gist of
over a number of issues deserving ex commu- the catch: “What is in- given the background check for glitches. But the current narrative.
including her attempts nication from even life teresting was ....Gavin of the internecine par- no, the king looked Lessons learnt
to get the president to itself. Come to Zim- Kelly” and so it went ty battles within the bad up till an English For me, there are les-
reveal who funded his babwe and see wheth- on. But the police was ANC? It beggared be- version of the speech sons on many levels.
campaign to be ANC er the output from not even on the ground lief that the army even was placed before him Number one is that
leader.  the office of the Audi- and Prince Mango- now has been grappling by the prime minis- resources of a na-
tor-General is worth its suthu Buthelezi in an to contain the carnage ter of the Zulu nation tion must be shared
In my view, the crux weight in actual change interview with eNCA and large crowds of who from time to time through accountability
of the matter is just of administrative tack on Thursday night ex- people were literally whispered things into and judiciousness in
how those who govern in state institutions. pressed his frustration having their way with his ears. Wow. I sup- governance. The haves
perceive the governed Year after year, the con- with the country’s lead- the malls and factories pose that this is how and the powerful can-
in terms of account- tent chronicles the en- ership especially the in KZN. things are done down not continue to flaunt
ability and how the demic graft. words of the Defence King dithered there. I felt bad about their wealth and expect
contestation is really The poverty narrative minister who uttered So the king of the Zu- the whole deal. Well, the weak to continue
about the leadership of criminal behaviour words to the effect that lus finally came out of when the king started watching their gro-
notion. What do polit- Bob Marley sang that a that country was not his royal shell to speak reading his speech in tesque binges. It is not
ical leaders think their hungry man is an angry in a state of war in re- to his nation through English it was near- sustainable. Another
real role is? and he was right. But is sponse to the request to speech which he first ly flawless. The Zulus lesson is that capitalism
hunger the only reason deploy soldiers to assist rendered in his vernac- are the stuff of legend cannot continue with-
Indeed, notwith- South Africa was loot- a clearly overwhelmed ular. His written speech and even celebrity talk out a conscience. It is
standing the rhetoric ing itself? What of the police force. But here is seemed to trip him up. show host has iden- not in the interests of
of liberation messag- images of a man carry- a country had deployed I marvelled. Twice it tified herself as being the rich for the poor to
ing, beyond the slogans ing what appeared to 70 000 troops on the happened and as a stra- Zulu. I do not know continue to starve. An-
and nationalist postur- be front part of an au- ground to enforce the tegic communications what the narrative is other is that the mass-
ing, it does seem that tomated teller machine Covid-19 regulation. practitioner I realised out there about them es must question the
post-independence na- and what of the man Questions arise. Was that the king had not now but I can tell you narratives of the poli-
tions in Africa have not and woman carrying there an intelligence been prepped before his that last night I saw a ticians before springing
spawned a cadre of real dildos? I could resonate failure or perhaps media briefing. I would meme about someone into action.
public servants. Those with those who claimed somewhere down the remarking whether the
who get elected seem to
reach for kingship and,

Page 38 Life & Style NewsHawks

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Title: Battered Title: Against the odds Title: This hypnosis
Poet: Andy Kahari Author: Obey Chiyangwa Poet: Dube Blessing M
Father rose abruptly, sat straight-backed
Downtown of a battered nation. and proud, in the stirrups of a faltering No one has the guts!
Rats still feed on poison baited bread crumbs. family. He screamed obscenities at pover- To boo and heckle
Smell of rotten eggs, tomatoes ty, cursing the vile visage of ill- health. The protagonists in this bizarre wagon.
and cabbages, sweet and serene Father laughed scornfully at superstition, Albeit we traverse thorny territories with
to hunger sweating bellies! deriding the pitiful image of debauchery. our silk naked feet. The seed we are
Sand shores of battered hooting go fasters, He farted at the sight of threatening death, planting in this garden. Will keep the flute
Snaking and competing and swore to fight against the possible and xylophone beyond proximity,
for road space with battered death of a nation. Continue sending hearts stone cold,
over populated bastard masses! Mother stood stubbornly, tall, firm and de- Rendering clocks stop dead, Churning out
Hungry and immune; termined, resolute feet clad in new black mazes of cobwebs into our chimneyless
rove over poisoned infested roads, tennis shoes. huts Plundering all the sunshine, Painting
Setting site and stalls, She shooed away at gathering phantoms everything ebony black
to sell souls to city fathers! of temptation, Sustaining our perpetual infancy.
Downtown of a battered nation. scowled sternly at shadows of false re-
Fathers who have always ligion, shouted down eerie whispers of Title: Incarnation of the soulful
bated bread from the children. dishonesty, Poet: Dube Blessing M
Now we no naught and proudly shouldered burdens of a
Street kids or street vendors, floundering nation. Who smacks off your cogitation?
vagabonds or vulgar bonded! Brother Thomas stood at smart attention, Battering your valiant soul to mend the
Downtown of a battered nation. a grim-faced salute at fate, listening to the broken ceramic pot, the essence of Afri-
Uptown of a buttered ration. silence of a shocked moment. can existence? Who makes your tomor-
City fathers feast on butter Waving a clenched fist at the swirling mist row? Never come when you declare:
from unbuttered hands of chicanery, a baleful stare at gathering Freedom will come tomorrow?
of battered masses. clouds of dishonesty, Who keeps shifting your tomorrow into the
Daily Caesar’s pennies a middle-fingered swear at tempting cor- deep guts of an unyielding posterity?
demanded to walk the streets! ruption, and the odds favoured a nation to When you tell your inner self:
Daily promises made heal in time for salvation. “I shall not remain the same”;
to cheese hopes. Who keeps you far, From your marriage
Cheers never rewarded Title: Sleepless in Sunningdale with sandwiched realities? Where is that
in daily cursed toils. Poet: Obey Chiyangwa valiant propensity? And inherent instinct
Days ending in cheated pockets to declare: Enough is enough, Who really
by men less in chastity! In a dirty single room in the sprawling fools you, To vent out your anger?
Still down town of a battered nation, high-density suburb of sunningdale. Into your innocent armpit and shy away
The masses flock Cockroaches climb the broken spines of From directing it, to the impious recipients;
to be irked by a living! rancid morsels of gangrene-coated food the unsanctified deities! Who can only be
scattering the crowded floor. deposed by a damn holy putsch?
Poem: De Javu Like frenzied human beings climbing the
Poet : Andy Kahari summit of empty mountains in search of Title: Hard Times
remote sustenance. Author: Dube Blessing M
I wish days were fools As crafty mice are in endless running bat-
and be always full, tles with an agile black cat that lashes at I am in Nervous Conditions, Without even
that my toils their backs and tears at their tails. A Grain of Wheat, As the Black Sunlight
they may not absorb Fat flies hover clandestinely above green- maintains its tight grip Exposing me to a
and embrace my troubles ish ruins of yesterday’s smelly left overs lethal Mind Blast. Thus the Devil should
and forget my ills piling up a crumbled three-legged table. be put on the Cross, With his Ancestors
De javu As shiny-skinned maggots gnaw away making Things Fall Apart., Barring The
days aren’t fools at remnants of a giant cake left to rot Grass from Singing, Yet l have so long
neither are they beneficent in a dirty sink where water rarely ever been Waiting for the Rain Desiring to build
nor will they take benedictions trickles. Sleep is a luxury that refuses to a Castle in my Skin; To paint my destiny
to erase usher my being from this misery into the Color Purple, To beat Hard Times before
yesterday’s predicaments much-awaited fantasy of dreamland. the Twelfth Night. Unlike the Mayor of
now tomorrow’s predictions Casterbridge, I will write So Long a Letter
awaiting reliving To avoid Anthills of the Savanna In this
House of Hunger. l am No Longer at Ease
Having a Harvest of Thorns Like Oliver
Twist.

NewsHawks People & Places Page 39

Issue 39, 16 July 2021

Durban mother Naledi Manyoni who threw her baby from the top of a building which was burning to strangers who saved her.
A MOTHER who threw her baby to a crowd from a smoke-filled building in the South African coastal city of Durban has told the BBC of her gratitude to those who saved her daughter, who
turns two next month. “All I could do was trust complete strangers,” Naledi Manyoni said. She added that they were both doing well. The building they were in was set on fire by looters.

The unrest was sparked by the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma. The 79-year-old was convicted of contempt of court last month after failing to attend an inquiry into corruption during
his presidency. He handed himself in to police last Wednesday to start serving his 15-month prison sentence, but this sparked violent protests, arson attacks, and opportunistic looting in his
home province of KwaZulu-Natal and spread to other cities and towns. At least 72 people have died in what President Cyril Ramaphosa has described as some of the worst violence South Africa
has witnessed since the 1990s, before the end of white-minority rule. The government says it will deploy some 25 000 soldiers to stem the violence. —STAFF WRITER.

Property
NewsHawks

Issue 38, 9 July 2021 PROPERTY INTERIORS ARCHITECTURE GARDENING Page 40

The home of prime property: [email protected]

DIVERSIFIED insurance group Zimre seeks to de-link “The company continues to em-
Zimre Holdings (ZHL) says it is assets from services bark on portfolio diversification by
seeking to secure control of prop- and realignment of agreements in liquidity to the portfolio, reorgan- ZPIs sales were limited in the re- reconfiguring the existing spaces for
erty assets by concluding the de- view of high inflation. ise the business structure to delink porting period largely due the mac- other uses in line with market de-
link of services and assets in Zimre the asset holding company from the ro- economic environment and as mand.
Property Holdings (ZPI), The New- Kudenga added that the company service offering company. We will value hedge by the business to retain
sHawks can report. continues to embark on portfolio also cure control of property assets stock. “Total income was -18% at
diversification by reconfiguring ex- by concluding the delink of services ZW$142.4 million, total expens-
This is seen creating capacity to isting spaces for other uses in line and assets in creating   capacity to The company closed the year with es -12% (ZW$83.5 million) and
exercise investment decisions such with market demand. exercise the investment decision occupancy levels which remained stood at operating profit ZW$60.6
as access and deployment of free such as access and deploy free cash- relatively good at 77% despite the million which was 24% slide com-
cashflows optimally as well as rais- “That is one of the focus points. flows optimally raise capital and li- macro-economic environment and parable period,” he said. 
ing capital and liquidity through We continue to pursue retail and quidity through leverage, divesture impact of Covid-19. This was at-
leverage, divesture or rebalancing. commercial development models or rebalancing,” he said. tributed to the portfolio restructur- The group regained ultimate
that are supported by sustainable ing which began in 2018. control of two key special business
ZHL secured 100% control of financing structures that enhance units with limited dilutive impact
the property portfolio and delisted on shareholders of 15.6% showing
it on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange signs of improving investor confi-
(ZSE) in November 2020.  dence on ZHL, that is   ZPI though
a minorities offer and acquisition
ZHL chief executive Stanley of Fidelity Life Assurance from the
Kudenga told an analyst briefing National Social Security Authority
this week that ZPI had to undergo  and Imara. —STAFF WRITER.
regular rental reviews, indexation

NewsHawks Sport Page 41

Issue 39, 16 July 2021 Historic opportunity awaits Pitso,
Al Ahly against Kaizer Chiefs
PITSO Mosimane is a house-
hold name in South Africa his advantage. attention and energy on Sat- to creating a bit of history. Pitso Mosimane. that Mosimane has become
and last year September he For now, the South Afri- urday’s final. “Jingles”, as he is fondly familiar with during his time
took on the task to become during his almost eight-year at Chloorkop.
the head coach of Africa’s can-born coach has all his Mosimane is no stranger referred to, has done it before tenure with Masandawana.
biggest club, Al Ahly. His 13 major trophies won
Winning titles is a formula with SuperSport United and
Since he arrived in the Sundowns make for an im-
homeland of the majestic pressive CV.
Sphinx, the former Mamelo-
di Sundowns mentor guided It was enough evidence for
the Red Devils to the Egyp- Al Ahly to want Mosimane’s
tian Premier League, the football recipe and, so far, it
Egypt Cup, the CAF Cham- has proved to be a success.
pions League and the CAF
Super Cup. After inking his deal with
the Red Devils, Mosimane
He then went onto the exported a fellow South Afri-
global stage with Al Ahly can to Egypt to be a part of
at the Club World Cup in his technical staff. 
Doha, securing a third-place
finish. Former Platinum Stars
and AmaZulu mentor Cav-
But Saturday’s looming in Johnson is an assistant
CAF Champions League coach at Al Ahly. The move
final against Kaizer Chiefs came as a pleasant surprise to
in Morocco has quite a lot many South Africans as the
at stake for the prestigious pair have gone on to do good
coach. work in Cairo.

A victory will see Mosi- Mosimane and Johnson
mane win a third winners’ will feel at home in the fi-
medal, one short of legend- nal as they come face-to-face
ary coach Manuel Jose, who with a South African team,
has guided Al Ahly to four again.
Champions League titles.
Al Ahly knocked out Sun-
For Al Ahly, they will reach downs at the quarter-final
a mammoth milestone of 10 stage, a home and away fix-
Champions League crowns, ture that had its own touch
a feat that is so fitting for of colourful emotions from
Nadi El Qarn -- The Club of both camps.
The Century.
The Red Devils then eased
Despite doing so well in past ES Tunis to set up this
Africa, the Red Devils are weekend’s much-anticipated
falling behind domestically. encounter against the Glam-
our Boys. – Agencies 
In the Egyptian Premier
League, Mosimane’s charges
are in second place with
51 points as rivals Zamalek
boast a 10-point lead with 61
points.

However, Mosimane has
four games in the pocket to

Culture change not possible without selection overhaul 

BLESSING Muzarabani’s – without the assistance of in the one-off Test last week rather than abusing me.” to say, nobody is bigger than a one-time prodigy who ev-
pace and bounce were too affirmative action – became – the Asian tourists, who Both players have since the game.  erybody was very excited
hot to handle for Bangla- the first black cricketer from previously struggled away to been fined 15 percent of about, and some media col-
desh’s number 10 batsman Zimbabwe to earn a full- Zimbabwe in Tests, eventu- their match fees “for breach- But not a hell of a lot of leagues labelled him a future
such than when the six-foot- time contract in the best ally totalled 468 in their first ing Level 1 of the ICC Code Zimbabwean cricket fans, captain of Zimbabwe.
tall fast bowler let it rip with domestic competition in the innings. of Conduct”. I daresay, will be dismayed
his ever-increasing aggres- world, the English county Out of utter frustration, The sanction stipulates by Muzarabani’s show of Once these emerging
sion, Taskin Ahmed thought cricket system. A player who Muzarabani had resorted to that the players “were found fury in that Test. It is the stars settled into the team
it best to return fire with has brushed aside serious a barrage of short-pitched to have breached Article kind of fire that has been the environment of meekness,
fire. competition to be included deliveries aimed at missing link in this team for normalised by those they
by some of the game’s best Taskin, followed up nearly two decades now. found there, they too be-
But Taskin – who was on minds in a fantasy team by verbal onslaught came submissive, never to
his way to a record second tipped to dominate Test to unsettle the Ban- There comes a time when recover again.  That is what
highest Test ninth-wicket cricket for the next decade. gladesh number 10 HawkZone one must be ruthless in worries me – when I imagine
partnership of 191 runs with A fast bowler good enough cricket. No ways a num- that the same fate could be-
number nine Mahmudullah to be signed by a Pakistan batsman, who went ber nine and 10 should be fall Takudzwanashe Kaitano,
Riyad – had in Muzarabani Super League (PSL) fran- on to score a ca- getting 191 runs against Dion Myers, Wesley Madhe-
met his match.  chise and help it win a his- reer-best 75.  Enock a half-decent internation- vere, Tadiwanashe Maruma-
toric first T20 title.  As Muzarabani’s al bowling attack.  But you ni, Roy Kaia, Milton Shum-
You see, there is some- aggression took a Muchinjo need 11 Blessing Muzara- ba – if the powers-that-be do
thing unmistakably different Such breed of cricketers banis in a team to inculcate not weed out the contagious
with Muzarabani when you like Muzarabani are cut from physical aspect, with the culture of a fighting negative influence of those
compare him with his peers a different cloth. So when the tall 24-year-old spirit. that sadly are supposed to be
among the current crop of the tall paceman returned a pacer pushing his the guiding lights in the ear-
Zimbabwean players, as more polished and versatile face into the grill of Taskin’s 2.1.12 of the ICC Code of The adage that you can- ly stages of these genuinely
timid a generation of inter- bowler from Northampton- helmet, the Bangladesh Conduct for Players and not teach an old dog new talented newcomers.
national cricketers as they shire to represent his coun- tailender stood his ground Player Support Personnel, tricks continues to be proven
come. try again – where the heart and told the Zimbabwean which relates to ‘inappro- true by this Zimbabwe team With someone like Mu-
really is – you were never quick to back off.  priate physical contact with so the other Muzarabanis, I zarabani in there – then your
Here is a guy who, unlike going to expect any freebies Taskin, playing in his a Player, Player Support Per- am afraid, cannot be found Brendan Taylor, Sean Wil-
many others of similar de- from Muzarabani.  eighth Test, later told trav- sonnel, Umpire, Match Ref- within the present set-up. liams, Craig Ervine, Sikan-
prived upbringing – includ- eling Bangladesh Press corps eree or any other person (in- dar Raza, Regis Chakabva
ing his lesser-known uncle How frustrating it was for that he felt abused by Zim- cluding a spectator) during Over the past five seasons – at least you could put your
Taurai Muzarabani – was Muzarabani, therefore, that babwe’s bowlers, in partic- an International Match.’” or so, we have seen some money on the next genera-
never afforded the opportu- after doing all the hard work ular Muzarabani, and that Let the law of the game very promising young play- tion having the right guid-
nity to attend a top-cricket without much back-up – re- he had told them to instead take its course, and offend- ers, truly gifted, who have ance to eventually assume
playing school. ducing Bangladesh to 132-6 “do something with the ball ers face the music. Needless come into the Zimbabwe the mantle. 
team amidst great hope for
Yet here is a player who the future. One of them was

Sports Debutant
Cosafa: Warriors misses out on
share spoils with milestone as
Thursday 1FOlcatombeer 2s02o0f Malawi Zim collapse

Friday 16 July 2021 @NewsHawksLive TheNewsHawks www.thenewshawks.com

Zim’s horrible run continuesNEWS
$60 Covid
tariff for
WHAT’S INSIDE CULTURE

Community
radio

visitors & regulations
as pressure mounts on Rajputtourists
Story on Page 3
under review

Story on Page 8

ENOCK MUCHINJO Chamisawere the other notable reacThe two teams meet on
at Harare Sports Club run-scorers for Bangla-
desh. Zimbabwe seamers Sunday in the second of
OPENER Liton Das Luke Jongwe and Blessing three ODIs. Bangladesh
smashed a century while won the sole Test by 220
Shakib Al Hasan took five Muzarabani took three runs last week. 
wickets on Friday as Ban- to Khupeand two wickets respec-
gladesh carried their form tively.
from the one-off Test In pursuit, Zimbabwe
to take a 1-0 ODI lead came in a batsman short,
against Zimbabwe with a minus Timycen Maru-
155-run win here. ma, who was stretchered
out Pressure, meanwhile, is
Man-of-the-match mounting on Zimbabwe’s
Das hit 102 runs off 114 coach Lalchand Rajput,
balls, clearing the bound- who has failed to turn the
aries eight times, as the team’s fortunes around
Asian tourists totalled since his appointment in
276-9 in the allotted 50 off after injuring himself the aftermath of failure
overs.  Zimbabwe’s bowl- Unofficial president calls for emergewhile fielding.
ers had their tails up early to qualify for the 2019
on, but the 26-year-old The hosts never at any World Cup in England.
right-hander played a sol- point looked to threaten 59-year-old Indian Ra-
id and watchful innings to Bangladesh, who easily jput, at this alarming rate,
rescue his side after Ban- cruised to victory with does not look adequately
gladesh had plummeted 121 balls remaining after equipped to take Zimba-
to 74-4. bowling out the Zimba- bwe back to the World
bweans for a measly 121. Cup, a tournament they
Das enjoys playing Wickets fell in clusters, had been to without fail
against Zimbabwe.  Out most being cheap dismiss- since 1983, until the qual-
of the four ODI hundreds als, wicketkeeper Regis ification debacle of 2018. 
he has scored in his ca- Chikabva providing the The series against Ban-
only resistance with 54 gladesh is part of the on-
Man-of-the-match Liton Das celebrates after scoring his century. Pic: ZimCricket runs.  going Cricket World Cup
Spinner Shakib Al Super League and will de-
reer, three are against the tering 176 against the Middle-order batters Hasan took 5-30 for Ban- termine the 2023 World
African side. Before this Zimbabweans in Sylhet in Mahmudullah Riyad (33) gladesh.  Cup qualification process.
one, his last was a blis- March 2020. and Afif Hossain (45)
Six debutants to start for Sables
ENOCK MUCHINJO tal run-on side as Dawson Seasoned Harare Sports true quality in the number backs and midfielders is an Starting: 1 – Tyran Fa-
keeps looking for winning Club lock Makamba finally 10 shirt, having done well exciting back-three full of gan 2 – Deanne Makoni
SABLES coach Brendan combinations ahead of the gets to become a Sable and this season in that position pace, flair and potency. The 3 – Cleopas Kundiona
Dawson has named six Test knockout stage of the quali- will partner Sean Beevor in for the University of Fort freakish Martin Mangongo 4 – Sean Beevor 5 – Da-
debutants in his starting fiers next year. the second row.  Hare in Varsity Shield rug- starts at fullback with the vid Makamba 6 – Biselele
line-up for the clash with Debuting eighth-man by. equally mercurial Matthew Tshamala 7 – Blithe Ma-
minnows Burkina Faso at Loose-head prop Doug Roche, who plays in En- But there is genuine abil- McNab and Shingi Kats- vesere 8 – Sebastian Roche
Old Georgians Sports Club Juszczyk, who impressed gland, forms a backrow trio ity within the debutants, vere on the left and right 9 – Hilton Mudariki (cap-
in Harare on Sunday as for Zimbabwe upfront in alongside the experienced and Chiwara’s nerves will wing respectively.  tain) 10 – Keith Chiwara
Zimbabwe begin their 2023 two friendlies against Zam- Biselele Tshamala at blind- be calmed by having the Zimbabwe and Burki- 11 – Matthew McNab 12 –
Rugby World Cup qualifi- bia in June, will also have side flank and the Sharks- prodigious talents of fellow na Faso will meet in the Marcus Nel 13 – Brandon
cation quest. the chance to make his bound livewire Blithe Ma- Test rookie Mudzekenyedzi second of a double-header Mudzekenyedzi 14 – Shingi
Test debut. The New Zea- vesere at obApaeLcnkS-lsiOnidee,I.NDSaIwDsoEn aoFsuinatsnaiodntecheherimMne,iwnabtisi1ety3N,wealisaptweiensl-loutpo$nro3gT.r2ehsuBsritsloldiaonyen.xtdByeoeptahro’sstpiethaoamsress fugKnodantssgvoe.reSu1b5Zs:i–m1M6's–alratMitneatMstthaelnaw-nd c
The newcomers are split land-based giant front-row- In the side-centre.  of qualifiers after corona- Mandioma 17 – Doug
equally between the two de- er was named on the bench has given Keith Chiwara his
partments.  for Sunday’s tie.  debut in the crucial flyhalf There is also the experi- virus-hit Tunisia withdrew Juszczyk 18 – Royal Mwale
position, which has not had ence of captain Hilton Mu- from the pool due to a 19 – Godfrey Muzanargwo
Deanne Makoni, Da- Former national Un- the perfect shoe-in for Zim- dariki to provide leadership surge of new infections in 20 – Dudlee White-Sharp-
vid Makamba, Sebastian der-20 star Makoni will babwe in recent seasons.  in the backline from scrum- the North African country.  ley 21 – Riaan O’Neill 22
Roche, Keith Chiwara, start upfront at hooker Chiwara will however half.  – Shayne Makombe 23 –
Marcus Nel and Brandon alongside loose-head Tyran back himself to show his To complement the half- ZIMBABWE LINE-UP Aiden Burnett. 
Mudzekenyedzi are includ- Fagan and tight-head Cleo-
ed in the largely experimen- pas Kundiona.

ALSO INSIDE Historic opportunity awaits Pitso, Al Ahly against Kaizer Chiefs