JOHANNESBURG - Guth South Africa has denied any wrongdoing in building a dairy plant for President Robert Mugabe and his wife, saying that its relationship with Zimbabwes first family is purely business.
In March, The Zimbabwean broke the story that Guth SA, a subsidiary of German-owned firm, GUTH Ventiltechnik, was building a large-scale dairy plant valued at over US$13.5million for the Mugabes.
After weeks of trying to get comment, an official this week said that the companys South African subsidiary was autonomous and operated independently of the German mother company.
Yes, we are building the dairy plant, but that is only a business deal between our company and its clients and we cannot reveal all the details, said the official, who requested not to be named.
While we are a subsidiary of the German-owned firm, we are allowed to enter into business deals with any partner that can give us business, regardless of who they are, he said.
While he would not mention the amount involved and where the money came from, he did say that US$13.5million was not wide off the mark.
I think you should ask the clients themselves if they are willing to give you that information. Ours is to deliver on the contract we signed with them and we cannot be asking people where they got their money from when they contract us to do business with them.
Even if GUTH Ventiltechnik had been involved in the deal, this was not be classified as sanctions busting, as the European Unions travel restrictions against Mugabe and other senior members of Zanu (PF) party are restricted to a travel ban and the freezing of assets, Albrecht Conze, the German Ambassador to Zimbabwe told The Zimbabwean through email.
No EU based company is prevented from doing business with any of the persons concerned. As we have said many times, the EU has never imposed economic sanctions on Zimbabwe, he added.
It is not clear whether the Mugabes refunded the Reserve Bank, who is believed to have paid for the equipment, from their own resources or whether taxpayers dollars were used for the project. Mugabes official salary for the past 30 years does not amount to US$13,5 million.
Post published in: News