Is Savior Kasukuwere being forced to back-down from his indigenisation regulations?
Update: SW Radio Africa are reporting on the “mixed messages over the status of the indigenisation regulation”. The article quotes Arthur Mutambara, the Deputy Prime Minister, as saying:
No one else, Prime Minister or Ministers, no one else is mandated to speak on this matter as per our council decision. So any communications from anyone after Thursday last week you must disregard. The only person speaking on behalf of the government of Zimbabwe in terms of this matter of indigenisation is Minister Kasukuwere.
Radio VOP are reporting that Savior Kasukuwere may be backing down from his implementation regulations:
Zimbabwe’s Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister, Savior Kasukuwere has backed down from implementing his controversial indigenisation regulations gazetted two weeks ago as pressure mounted on Zimbabwe to review the legislation which was widely feared it would scare away investors (Radio VOP).
SW Radio’s Hot Seat programme recently explored the controversial policy with a panel of people including among them Supa Mandiwanzira the President of the Affirmative Action Group, businessman Mutumwa Mawere, economist Daniel Ndlela and journalist Peta Thornycroft.
Supa Mandiwanzira defended the legislation to the end, as one would expect from a Zanu PF loyalist. But I have yet to come into contact with a single person who can find anything to defend in this legislation.
Zimbabweans have gone through hell – most Zimbabweans literally going without food as a result of Zanu PF’s ill-considered economic policies; millions being forced to leave Zimbabwe to try and find survival. We are not blind to the consequences of legislation rooted in political patronage. Most ordinary Zimbabweans know full-well that Zanu PF’s claims to empower the poor are more directly linked with Zanu PF’s desire to further enrich the Zanu elite, with devastating consequences for the majority of Zimbabweans.
The comments from the other three people on the Hot Seat panel give a snapshot of opinion being expressed by most Zimbabweans. Most of us see this legislation as the final nail in Zimbabwe’s coffin from a party that has destroyed the economy and appears hell-bent on more destruction. The extracts below highlight just a few of the thought-provoking comments made – all good reasons to abandon this legislation. Listen to the Hot Seat programme here.
Mutumwa Mawere : Who would be included, who would not be included? If I am white, I came in to Zimbabwe when the flag was raised in 1980 and I invested, I made my money, how can you distinguish me with somebody who was born in the country, maybe on the same day that I was born and then you build a foundation on that basis.
[...]
Peta Thornycroft: Well I think there are so few white people left in Zimbabwe that it really makes little difference, any issue about race [...] It’s not about white people per se, it’s about reaping where you have not sown. [...] What worries me with these regulations is that they are in the hands of Saviour Kasukuwere, a ZANU PF MP, a ZANU PF person, who might say ‘OK we’re actually going collecting for the February 21 st Movement at the moment and if we don’t get a donation from you I’m afraid that’s your 51%’. And it’s no good saying people don’t behave like that, we all know ahead of ZANU PF congresses over many years, businessmen have been forced to invest in the ZANU PF congress for fear of their business, they’ve done it to protect themselves. And I could give you a string of names if I had permission in advance to demonstrate this. These regulations give far too much power to the Minister, his discretion is absolutely enormous.
[...]
Daniel Ndlela: The point here is, let me go back a little bit and say who in fact are these ‘indigenous Zimbabweans’ that will benefit from this law? The letter of the law simply says that the people who registered their names with the Minister and there will be an allocation procedure. Definitely this is patronage, it is a continuation of patronage as we have seen it in Zimbabwe and that those who will benefit are people in the gravy train in the patronage system. This letter of the law is quite clear that if you don’t comply, five years in prison, if you don’t do this, five years in prison. The issue here from an economist’s point of view is if you want investments from your own country, existing investments or/and new investments out there, you are not going to threaten people that come here, invest but if you don’t comply you are going into prison for five years. From an economist’s point of view, you’ll not have any investors coming into this country.
[...]
Daniel Ndlela: I want to ask Supa himself that if he has a million dollars will he go to a country where he will actually end up in five years with a share value of $49,000. He would be very benevolent indeed [...] because I’ll not do that, I’ll not actually go to a country where they want my 100 dollars and then tell me at the end of the day, you are going to remain with 49, the 51 will go to the locals, so I will stay in my own place.
[...]
Peta Thornycroft: I can’t understand why anyone wants to tamper with companies that maybe running successfully already, why not start a new one? Why not expand it rather than messing up what, if any business has survived the last ten years, particularly say the last five years in this country, my goodness they should get a business Oscar for having survived the chaos of hyperinflation and money printing. If they’ve survived, leave them alone, we’ve got so few industries left. Start new ones. Why don’t previously disadvantaged people of whatever colour start a new business? Shouldn’t government be looking to assist new business establishment rather than tampering with what is already there – because it wouldn’t matter how you wrote the story about those Regulations, the percentage is there and in 400 words when you write that story, that is what the world reads and I’m afraid that is the impression that has been created and it’s not going to go away.
[...]
Mutumwa Mawere: DRC has minerals, 100% are indigenous but there’s no activity taking place in some of those minerals. You can equally convert Zimbabwe into 100% title and nothing takes place. What is good for Zimbabwe? Is it for people to sit to play God and say I own 100% of Zimbabwe but I don’t have the means, or I own 100% of the car but I don’t have fuel? Their car may be worth 100,000 US dollars but if you don’t have one litre of fuel, the car won’t move. So we can end up with cars that provide no motion to it. And equally somebody who has turned 30 years now who was born in 1980 who is white, how are we going to face that person? Born in Zimbabwe 1980, was not part of the previous story, now does it mean that that business ought to carry three passengers or four passengers for it to pass through a toll gate where Supa or the Minister is a Toll Gate Inspector?
Listen to the full Hot Seat programme here.
This is more from the Radio VOP article – commenting on the MDC-T response to the legislation:
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, James Maridadi, said: “What Zimbabweans want is a real economy, with jobs, growth and food security. Instead, these regulations would have plunged us back into the sort of economic decline and wide-scale job losses we saw as a result of the corrupt farm acquisition programme. And all for the sake of further enriching the political eliteini who have already acquired millions through so-called land reform, at the expense of the rest of the population.”
In the past weeks there had been an outcry from trade unions, employers, and economists.
Kasukuwere on Tuesday agreed to shelve the regulations and consult with other Government Ministers, particularly with Elton Mangoma, Minister of Economic Planning and Investment.
“It’s back to the drawing board to devise a true empowerment policy that will meet the needs of the people, and drive economic growth and job creation,” government sources said last night.
“The Prime Minister has always been a strong advocate of policies that empower the poor and marginalised,” said Maridadi. “That is why empowerment was a central platform of the MDC manifesto in the last elections. But to the Prime Minister, empowerment means creating opportunities for people, jobs, education, and hope. The proposed regulations would have achieved the exact opposite. That is why the Prime Minister opposed them in the strongest terms.”
The regulations were gazetted without any prior consultation within the Cabinet Committees or the Council of Ministers, in clear breach of Cabinet Rules and the Constitution.
February 19th, 2010 00:39
there is virtual nothing mugabe and his corhotes can do to improve africa and zimbabwe they are a wicked thieving cartel which only thinks of destruction to the economy.
zimbabweans should resist everything about this saviour bill which they failed to put into place years ago why now in this unity government. this bill is as destructive as the farm invasions it must be put into a referundum for all zimbabweans to have a say in it since mugabe and savior say it is to benefit all and sundry.
if it is accepted in a referundum then bless you my lord.
February 20th, 2010 18:17
My impression is that the rich people in Zimbabwe would prefer everyone else to drop dead, or vanish away.
February 23rd, 2010 00:51
A time shall come ,when
A so called docile nation will
Arise again and fight for its rights.
At that time, no-one will be able to hold it back.
For enough is enough, man can only tolerate so much.
For how long will the children of the soil continue to watch this action packed movie unfolding into a never ending soap opera.
Darkness does not last forever.For light will always shine upon the darkness.
Leaders, do not harden your hearts like Pharoah.
God is with his people and wants his Glory revealed.
Remember he parted the red sea ,He found a way in the desert where there was no way for the children of Israel. He is still doing the same for Zimbabwe.
A leader represents the people. He is the voice of the people ,not the strangler of the people.
We all want what is best for the ordinary Zimbabwean.Do away with selfishness.The rich are already too rich. Give this opportunity to the (Ordinary Zuze from Chirambahuyo )like what Bornwell Chakaodza used to say .How do we alleviate poverty when we are still concentrating on grabbing farms instead of allowing farming life to be back to normal. How do we build investor confidence when we set rules that discriminate, dehumanize and violate the rights of the minority groups.
We need to Change our ways before it is too late. Do not be found on the wrong side for no- body knows the date and time when death comes knocking on your door. You can not take riches to heaven.What inheritance , what legacy do you want to leave to your children’s children , if not S H A M E and curses upon your family name.
Please change