Zimbabwe Minerals Development Corporation Chairman Goodwils Masimirembwa said despite having injected $2 million into the firm, investors were needed to start the ball rolling at the two mines.
“We need investors because we cannot go it alone,” said Masimirembwa. “We have been having meetings with potential investors but nothing tangible has come out of these meetings. We also have been meeting with workers to chart the way forward but still more needs to be done to start work at the two mines,” Masimirembwa added.
According to experts in the industry a staggering $150 million is needed to resume operations. Sources said most of the workers had been sent on forced leave while those remaining were doing menial jobs such as pumping water from the shafts or cleaning the premises.
A spokesman for the workers who refused to be named for fear of victimisation told The Zimbabwean that government should not look for investors while Mawere was willing to come back and take over his empire. He said workers were being paid paltry salaries ranging from $50 to $100 per month by the ZMDC
“We have always criticised the stance by the then Zanu (PF) government of grabbing things. Why did they grab the mines from from Mawere in the first place?” asked an angry worker. “When we were working for Mawere everything was rosy and it is every worker’s wish that the businessman be allowed back to take over,” he added.
The Parliamentary portfolio committee headed by former Mines Minister Edward Chindori-Chininga has accused Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and his self-appointed administrator Afaras Gwaradzimba of looting the company’s resources.
The committee recommended that Chinamasa and Gwaradzimba be arrested for running down the company, but they both refuted the allegations arguing that they had tried to ensure that the companies did not collapse.
Post published in: News