HARARE - The Zimbabwean government has finished drafting new mining regulations that among other things seek to compel both foreign and local mining houses to fund development projects in the local communities where they operate. (Pictured: OBERT Mpofu .... Minister of Mines)
The Mines and Minerals Act Amendment Bill which has been on the cards for the past seven years comes in the wake of a government drive to force foreign owned mining firms to sell controlling stake to black Zimbabweans as a part of a controversial scheme to indigenise the economy.
Secretary for mines Thankful Musukutwa at the weekend said the government was looking to submit the Bill soon to all stakeholders for further consultation. The Attorney Generals office has completed drafting the Bill, we should have the Bill so that we submit it to mining stakeholders for corrections and consultations, he said, adding that delays in finalising the bill had been because of bureaucratic red tape.
The proposed new law will compound uncertainty in Zimbabwes mining industry, thrown into turmoil when the government in March announced that it was fast tracking indigenisation of the mining sector and gave foreign-owned mining firms up to mid-May to submit details of how they plan to transfer 51 percent stakes to locals by next September.
Firms that fail to disclose to Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere their share-transfer plans within the stipulated period face prosecution, according to the regulations that have cast a dark shadow over the lucrative mining sector, while splitting the unity government of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mugabes wing of the coalition government backs the fast track empowerment plan, while Tsvangirai and his MDC party favour a gradual approach, fearing that rapid and wholesale indigenisation could wreck a fragile economy. The Chamber of Mines has proposed trimming the indigenisation quota to a minimum of 26 percent with the balance of 25 percent made up of credits arising from corporate social investments such as roads, schools, dams and hospitals that most major mining firms have over the years built for local communities.
The government has not responded to the Chambers recommendations made about three weeks ago. And Musukutwa did not say whether the new Bill requiring mining firms to fund local development will consider previous spending on social investments or shall simply require the companies to plough more funds into social infrastructure over and above what they have already put in over the years.
The International Monetary Fund has warned that the empowerment programme could damage Zimbabwes impressive but still fragile economic recovery after a decade of acute recession.
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