sport repoter

Singapore — On the eve of his 100th international Brazilian appearance, striker Neymar spoke Wednesday about his committment to both his country and his club, Paris-Saint Germain.

Brazil face Senegal on Thursday in a friendly in Singapore and the Brazilian federation presented Neymar with a special shirt on Wednesday with the number 100 on the back instead of his customary 10.

“I’m happy in the national team and with my club too,” said Neymar, who tried to escape Paris and return to Barcelona in the summer.

“Everyone knows what happened during the last transfer window, my initial desires, but today I’m happy and I feel comfortable in my club.”

The 27-year-old, who has struggled with foot injuries during his time in Paris, added: “The season has started well for me. I’m going to defend my club tooth and nail.

“I will give 100% so that we can do great things.”

The shirt was presented by Bebeto, a striker who played 75 times for Brazil, appearing in two World Cup finals, winning the first in 1994.

“I’m happy to reach this number,” Neymar said.

“The results are very positive, even if a footballer’s life is not all about winning. There are also many disappointments, defeats. You make mistakes.”

Neymar has scored 61 goals in 99 games for the Selecao, making him the third highest scorer in the history of his national team. He is one behind Ronaldo, but needs 16 to catch Pele.

He won an Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, but has experienced many disappointments, particularly at the World Cup.

In 2014, in Brazil, a back injury in the quarter-finals against Colombia prevented him from being on the field during the 7-1 semi-final debacle against Germany.
— AFP

BY RICHARD MUPONDE

Tourism players in Victoria Falls are building about 520 blair toilets for Monde villagers who have been using bush system.

The move is meant to prevent an outbreak of cholera during the rainy season which could affect the tourism industry in the resort town.

Most of the villagers have never had toilets in their lifetime and were relieving themselves in the bush, increasing chances of waterborne disease outbreaks.

To avert disaster, tourism players decided to provide cement and roofing material for villagers to build toilets.

The village is about 11km on the outskirts of the resort town and is also popular with tourists who come to experience traditional village tours and the pole and dagga accommodation built by villagers popularly known as votels, derived from village hotels.

Monde Headman Dumisani Dingani Mpala, who is spearheading the project, yesterday confirmed the development.

“Yes, it’s true we have embarked on the project to build toilets for villagers. Monde has about 520 households and we are looking at each household to have its own toilet and desist from using the bush. These people have never had toilets since the time they settled in this area,” Mpala said.

“Tomorrow, we are looking at distributing cement to build the toilets for 200 households that already have bricks and toilet pits. This projects started in May, but practically we are starting tomorrow (today).”

He said tour operators in Victoria Falls were the ones who were assisting the villagers with materials for the project.

“When we came up with the project, we approached safari and tour operators in Victoria Falls with the proposal. After realising that our project was noble since an outbreak of diseases such as cholera and typhoid would affect their tourism businesses, they decided to help us. These are the people who are supplying us with material to build these toilets,” he said.

In Zimbabwe, open defecation was said to be at 40%, according to a survey done in 2015.

When contacted for comment, Employers Association for Tourism and Safari Operators president Clement Mukwasi referred Southern Eye to Mpala for more details on the toilets project.

BY FARAI MATIASHE/PATRICIA SIBANDA

Zimpost employees in Bulawayo and Harare on Wednesday downed tools over poor salaries and unfair labour practices.

The workers picketed at the Main Post Offices in the two cities demanding a salary hike and payment of outstanding salaries and bonuses.

The protesting workers described their poor remuneration as unfair labour treatment by company management and an insult to them and their families.

Zimpost workers said for over two years, the postal services provider has been paying them half salaries and has also failed to pay bonuses since 2014.

Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday, Communication and Allied Service Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe general secretary David Mhambare said they had tried to engage stakeholders, but their efforts were futile and they had to communicate through a stay-in.

“We are taking home $200; that’s not enough to feed our families. It is not even enough to send one child to school. So, we are saying we have tried, we engaged the minister (Information Communication Technology Kazembe Kazembe), we have engaged the new board, we have even written to the employment council, but Zimpost has been refusing to burge,” he said.

“We are incapacitated. We are not on strike. We are simply saying we do not have money to go back home. This is our second home we are sleeping here until a solution is found to our problems.”

Mhambare said they were demanding a living wage from their employer.

“We don’t want luxurious salaries. We are not demanding much. We are demanding a living wage. We certainly know that the company is going through a difficult time, but we would appreciate if the company could give people a living wage,” he said.

Bulawayo regional workers’ committee chairperson Sikhawuliso Zondo said they want management to increase their salaries urgently.

“We are trying to force management to adhere to their promises. For instance, they can increase our $300 salaries to about $2 000 which is above the poverty datum line. We are now even afraid to go to church because we cannot pay tithes,” Zondo said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a worker from Bulawayo said: “This is an insult to us. We will sleep here if that helps our cause. We are languishing in poverty and they must know that they cannot simply generate revenue through cheap labour because we are not slaves.

“We cannot be getting $300 every month and be expected to take care of our family needs. We have children who go to school and rentals to pay.”

Another worker also said their salaries did not allow them to invest or save.

“We need to invest for our children who will become our future leaders in years to come,” he said.

“It’s been years now since we have been getting our salaries in halves. They also do not pay everyone at once, but they use the pay grading system which disadvantages others. We have not been paid our September salaries,” a worker in Harare said.

A circular to the Zimpost workers signed by acting managing director Sifundo Moyo said proposals to cushion workers and pay their September salaries were awaiting approval and management had only reviewed transport allowances.

“To cushion employees from the increase in transport costs, management has with immediate effect reviewed upwards the transport subsidy. Commuting staff will be paid $10 per day from $6 while none-commuting will be paid $2,50 a day from 1,50,” he wrote.

Since January, the cost of living has skyrocketed with medical and funeral insurance fees, kombi fares, fuel and electricity tariffs going up as the local currency continues to weaken against the benchmark United States dollar, piling more misery on workers.

Another employee said a plate of sadza which they buy at the company’s canteen has also gone up from $3 to $4,50 yet their salaries remain stagnant.

BY STAFF REPORTER

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s junkets have caused a storm after he hired a luxury jet from Dubai early this week to fly him to Victoria Falls, where he officially opened the third edition of the rural district councils chairpersons’ indaba on Thursday.

The development came shortly after MDC deputy president and former Finance minister Tendai Biti told a party rally recently that Mnangagwa could have blown in excess of US$200 million in travelling expenses since coming into power in November 2017.

But Mnangagwa yesterday told the Zanu PF women league that his never-ending trips were good for Zimbabwe.

“The media is busy saying I travel a lot. But look (at) what I bring. On Monday or so, we shall be receiving more medicines from the Arabs. They are giving us
for free,” the President said yesterday.

According to flightware.com, the luxury Royal Jet A6-RJX left Abu Dhabi at 0930hrs on Tuesday and arrived at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare at 1420hrs.

It then left Harare for Victoria Falls on Thursday before departing the resort town on the same day at 1340hrs and arrived in Harare at 1643hrs.

Royal Jet, according to their website, offers luxury executive flight services and can provide their customers VIP treatment when necessary and can charter any
private jet anywhere in the world through their 24/7 charter brokerage service.

NewsDay Weekender understands that it costs between US$10 000 and US$30 000 per hour to fly the luxury jet.

From July 6 this month, the luxury jet has flown the President from Harare to Niger and Benin, and back before returning to its base in Abu Dhabi more than seven times, cloaking nearly US$1 million.

The country is currently facing massive electricity load-shedding lasting for as long as 18 hours a day, while most public hospitals are failing to dispense critical drugs, which many could not afford in pharmacies. Motorists are also spending days in fuel queues across the country.

Although Finance minister Mthuli Ncube has defended Mnangagwa’s frequent international trips, saying he had to travel to countries like China because deals could not be sealed over the phone, it is not clear whether such huge costs were necessary for local travel.

MDC secretary for international relations Gladys Hlatywayo said: “The extravagance displayed by Zanu PF in a sea of poverty, suffering and economic distress is deeply disconcerting. A thorough investigation must be made into these trips, something is just not adding up and there could be more than meets the eye! I fail to understand why Zanu PF would put in so much resources in traveling and get next to no returns for such an investment.”

CAIRO — A Zimbabwean nurse travelled from Cape Town to Cairo by road, enduring visa delays, internet blackouts and revolutionary protests, all for the love of football.

Alvin “Aluvah” Zhakata had intended to make it to Egypt for the opening match of the Africa Cup of Nations on June 21, when Zimbabwe’s Warriors took on the hosts.

But he missed the match because his epic journey took much longer than expected.

Yet, thanks to those following his adventures on Twitter, he has now become a celebrity — and the African football boss presented him with a ticket to last night’s final between Algeria and Senegal.

When the 32-year-old arrived in the Egyptian capital last week, completing his 44-day 10 000km trip, he said it was well worth it despite some nerve-wracking experiences.

And he says he has learnt a lot about himself and Africa.

“I used to think I was not patient — but my patience was stretched to the maximum — I’ve got a bigger patience threshold than I thought,” he told the BBC.

His other more sobering discovery was that “Africa is not friendly to Africans” — in terms of visas and borders.

Most people visiting from Europe or the United States were treated better, he said.

“And some of the visa fees for African countries, they are actually more expensive than visa fees when you want to go to Europe — and the waiting period is too long.

“I believe we need a borderless Africa.”

The journey began on May 27 on a route passing through South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.

He started off with his friend Botha Msila, a South African football fan, who lives near Cape Town, and they hitched lifts or caught buses.

“We wanted to make history as the first people to make it from Cape to Cairo by road for a sports tournament,” Zhakata said.

The locum nurse, who lives in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, had kept in touch with Msila since meeting him at the Cosafa Cup final in South Africa’s Sun City two years ago.

He had told him about how he had made a solo road trip in 2016 from Harare to Kigali to support the Warriors at the African Nations Championship in Rwanda.

They then cooked up their plan and raised funds for the journey from well-wishers following the hashtag #CapeToCairo to see their progress across the continent.

But the two friends were separated when Msila turned back at the Kenya-Ethiopian border as he could not get a visa.

Ethiopia only allows online visa applications for travellers by road.

While they had the fee in cash, they needed help to get the funds electronically into their account. But then, their application was further delayed by five days.

“Unfortunately, their system was down because there was a national internet shutdown to avoid examination cheating,” Zhakata explained.

“I was so dejected that I couldn’t finish my food and beer.”

Msila, known for his travels across South Africa and beyond to support Bafana Bafana and his local club, Bloemfontein Celtic, was so distraught he threw in the towel, returning to Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

A South African broadcaster came to his rescue, paying for a flight for him from Nairobi to Cairo.

But Zhakata was determined to stick to his guns.

And that is exactly what he walked into in Sudan, where the security forces were out in force as protesters took to the streets of the capital, Khartoum, on June 30 demanding an end to military rule.

The country has been hit by turmoil since the military ousted President Omar al-Bashir in April, but Zhakata hadn’t a clue what was going on.

He walked directly into the path of the protest as he was making his way to the Egyptian consulate in Khartoum.

“I could tell that something was happening, but I couldn’t tell what,” Zhakata said.

“I saw graffiti on the walls written in Arabic, with the number 30, but I couldn’t understand it. There were soldiers everywhere and people told me it’s not safe.”

He was detained by police briefly and then released in what he called a “shaking moment”.

People who were following his journey on social media then became extremely concerned as there was no news from Zhakata for more than a week.

The internet had been shut in the country since a crackdown on pro-democracy activists on June 3.

“I did find a place where I could go online for $30 for an hour. I saw all of these messages on social media, with people being worried about me.”

His wry observations about life on the continent have been a subject of debate.

He posted one video as heavy rain turned the streets of Ethiopia’s capital into rivers, saying: “You hear that? These ain’t gunshots. It’s giant hail, the size of tennis balls.”

The Kenyan capital does not get a particularly good write-up: “Enter Nairobi, everything changed, traffic congestion unbearable, filthy and muddy streets, potholes, lots of activity, vendors with megaphones, bikes hooting, and generally dodgy pip.

“Everyone who helped us asked for a tip, even police officers.”

In central Tanzania, he observed that children of school-going age were working as vendors on the highway, “selling farm produce, grapes, honey and fish. It seems education is not a priority in this part of the world”.

Besides the visa headaches, language was the most difficult barrier. In Tanzania, he said most people were unwilling to communicate in English, and they were “even told to learn Swahili at school”.

In Ethiopia, when he was ordered off a bus at 1800 hours local time because of a transport curfew, he tried to find a bar to watch the Warriors’ match that night — but ended up, after many crossed wires and an expensive taxi ride, at a shop selling sports equipment.

But he was welcomed in some towns by people who were following his journey online — like Firew Asrat in Hawassa in Ethiopia, who gave him football shirts and shared a beer with him. He tweeted: “This #Tweethiopian is the walking embodiment of the mantra #AfricaUnite.”

He says he tasted the best beer of his trip in mainly Muslim Egypt — a Stella — perhaps out of relief that his exploits were over. The best food — of roasted meat and maize meal — was in Zambia.

His one disappointment has been the performance of the Warriors, who crashed out in the first round — amidst rows over pay. But he says his achievement — which has become one of the biggest stories of this Africa Cup of Nations tournament — shows it pays to “dare to dream”.

“If you have a passion for something, go for it. Pursue it until you get it. It may be delayed, but delay is not denial — be patient and be strong, because the harder the battle, the sweeter the victory,” he says.

BBC Sport

BY FORTUNE MBELE

FOLLOWING a morale-sapping defeat to Hwange at the Colliery last week, championship chasing Chicken Inn will be seeking an immediate response this afternoon when they face tricky Bulawayo Chiefs at Luveve Stadium.

The Gamecocks coach, Joey Antipas, blamed complacency for their 2-1 defeat that cost his team a position on the top of the log standings.

He has been preaching consistence this week.

“We are busy trying to make up for the defeat to Hwange last week. It was a game that just went awry; a game of halves, in which we played well in the first half and scored and then we just imploded in the second,” Antipas said.

“Consistency is eluding us and the boys sometimes just sit off and become over-confident. I have been preaching to the boys about respecting opponents and that if you approach a team without respect, it becomes a big problem.”

He said the loss was now water under the bridge and they would be out to get a win against struggling Bulawayo Chiefs, who have a knack for troubling big teams.

“All in all, we are going out to redeem ourselves. The boys are down, but we have to lift their spirits. I believe we have good team. We have a clean bill of health and a full squad ready for the game tomorrow (today),” Antipas said.

His talisman, Clive Augusto, who has netted 13 goals to date and was voted the Castle Lager Player of the Month for June, will be out to increase his tally as he aims for the Golden Boot award at the end of the season.

Weekend Fixtures

Today: Chicken Inn v Bulawayo Chiefs (Luveve), Herentals v Hwange (National Sports Stadium), ZPC Kariba v Triangle (Nyamhunga), Yadah v Harare City (Rufaro),

Ngezi Platinum Stars v Black Rhinos (Baobab), FC Platinum v Chapungu (Mandava)

Tomorrow: Manica Diamonds v Highlanders (Vengere), Dynamos v Caps United (Rufaro), TelOne v Mushowani Stars (Luveve)

EDITORIAL COMMENT

THAT corruption must be condemned in all its various forms and manifestations, regardless of who is involved, is not in doubt.

From that perspective, citizens will no doubt agree with the Zanu PF youth league, which seems to be well focused, in their campaign to expose graft among the ruling party chefs.

The naming and shaming of corrupt party heavyweights is, of course, in order if the individuals are found to be in the wrong.

We are aware that Zimbabweans have always complained against corruption at the highest offices, but Zanu PF refused to join all and sundry. We hope that since they have now rediscovered the light with regards to dealing with this scourge, the fight is not going to be self-serving, political or meant to tarnish or soil some among them with a good standing in society, just for power.

Citizens are not interested in power games — the Zanu PF succession politics always. No. The fight should be a genuine one, and for it to be so, this should not be owned by Zanu PF alone, but by every citizen across the political divide.

Indeed, we agree with Zanu PF deputy youth secretary, Lewis Matutu, on corruption. What we do not agree with, though, is the approach that the party’s youth league is using to deal with the problem. Corruption is not only a Zanu PF thing that should be dealt with at party level. The country has sufficient structures and legal instruments to pursue that campaign. Those found to be corrupt should be handed over to the relevant authorities so they are dealt with within the confines of the law.

We are alive to the fact that the land reform programme that began in 2000, to correct land ownership imbalances in the country, was fraught with corruption such that some powerful politicians ended up with many farms, in direct violation of the doctrine of one man, one farm. This problem cannot be rectified by having Zanu PF youths reclaiming those extra farms and redistributing them among themselves. That is another form of corruption. Such farms must be taken over by the State and proper procedures for redistribution must be observed.

Matutu’s sentiments that they feared no one and will gladly take the “war” to anyone who holds multiple farms should be taken seriously. They may point to yet another “revolution” that will not only destabilise Zanu PF, but is also likely to have far-reaching national consequences.

Land should not be given to people on the basis that they are young. In fact, a serious blunder was made in 2000 when land was just given to people because they were war veterans, or Zanu PF apparatchiks, government ministers and associates. Many of the farms that have been stripped bare and had their productivity capacity destroyed are proof of the fallacy of giving land to people who have no expertise in farming.

The distribution of land — which has serious implications on national food security — has largely been done to rub people’s egos as they boast of having farms, but with nothing to show for it. It would have been laughable, if it was not tragic, that a country with so much land and promise as Zimbabwe imports tooth picks and match sticks.

If youths are going to be given land, there has to be proof of their productive capacity, otherwise we will just sit by and watch tragic history repeating itself. This must not be allowed for a second time.

Guest Column Miriam Tose Majome 

THIS continues from last week as we look at actual examples of some of the rot happening in councils reported in the Auditor-General’s Report for Local Authorities 2018.

The report shows the extent of the gross financial mismanagement of council affairs and abuse and mismanagement of ratepayers’ funds and abuse of office.

The report is full of evidence of gross mismanagement, fraud, negligence and general ineptitude by councillors running different local authorities.

Of interest are the curious dealings of the former minister of Higher Education Professor Jonathan Moyo, who is now in political exile.

His opaque dealings with Zimdef funds just won’t go away from the books. On occasions, large funds were mysteriously deposited and transferred back and forth between his then ministry and Tsholotsho Council’s bank account. US$250 000 was transferred to and from Hillside Teachers’ College for ‘Zimdef STEM’ activities on November 14, 2017 and November 16, 2017, respectively. The transactions are even more curious as the dates coincide with the week that saw the unexpected exit of former President Robert Mugabe’s 37 from power and his own flight from the country.

Moyo was one of Mugabe’s closest henchmen.

Another payment of US$25 000 had passed through Tsholotsho Council’s bank account for Zimdef STEM activities.

Tsholotsho RDC received and utilised other Zimdef STEM funds of approximately US$70 000 funds deposited by the ministry.

The council did not avail any supporting documents for auditing and upon enquiry, the AG was told that the transactions were done on the instructions of Moyo.

It is the AG’s opinion and, indeed, anyone else who encounters these unexplained transactions that the council’s bank accounts may have been used as a conduit for processing irregular transactions by the minister and his cohorts.

Moyo was eventually accused of embezzling Zimdef funds, but the matter is still pending due to his inglorious flight from the country in November 2017
There was a noted rise in red flags over governance issues.

Generally, councils are just not being managed and run properly.

It is a complete shambles in many councils. Some councils simply do not have policies and procedure manuals and their accounting is shambolic.

Examples of such are Chitungwiza, Karoi and Bubi councils, among others.

Many are not remitting statutory obligations despite effecting deductions from employees’ salaries for LAPF, Paye, Zimdef, Standards Development Levy and NSSA.

This has serious adverse implications on pensions and individual tax compliance for council employees.

They are just doing what they want. In Chiredzi, allowances paid to council executives for electricity, water, security, school fees, rentals and gardener costs are not being taxed.

This is corrupt, illegal and in breach of the Income Tax Act. Gweru City Council could not reconcile its rates and water accounts with bank statements. In one account, payments of more than US$12 million dollars were irreconcilable with bank statement balances, reflecting only US$303 942. One account with payments of more than US$7 million only showed US$70 582.

This is not to conclude the money was stolen, but may only show poor accounting methods and poor management of ratepayers’ money. In Harare, overall lack of accountability and good governance by the council was noted.

Very questionable decisions were made, which resulted in the council losing ratepayers’ money.

One example was the council’s decision to hire equipment at exorbitant prices when it was substantially cheaper to repair its own equipment.

The council also borrowed US$32 million dollars without the minster’s approval in defiance of the Urban Councils Act.

Almost all councils, including Chegutu, Mwenezi Disitrict Council, Hwange and Bubi, among others, were specifically fingered for their poor financial management systems. However, some of the councils are so underfunded that they are unable to operate.

The poor allocation of resources can be attributed to central government for failing to play its role in ensuring the welfare of all citizens.

While other councils are wasting money like Harare, others like Pfura Rural District Council, Mt Darwin and Dotito are so poorly funded and resourced that they use ox-drawn carts to transport refuse.

In Pfura, there was no evidence of systematic billings being made to ratepayers. They use manual registers and antiquated filing and billing systems, such that council records are in total shambles.

Most of the corruption in councils involves the sale and allocation of residential and commercial stands. Gweru City Council was unable to provide the layout plans for the stands it had sold during the year. Such bungling is inconceivable and is highly suggestive of corruption.

In Karoi, there were no records of stands sold. In Lupane, stands owned by employees were exempted from paying rate charges. This was in contravention of the Urban Council’s Act, which only allows exemption for non-profit organisations.

For the 2018 financial year, only three out of ninety-two local authorities had their financial statements audited and reported on. Seventy local authorities did not submit their financial statements for audit so their affairs are largely unknown, but it is highly suggestive of many bad things.

It was, therefore, impossible for the AG to check if recommendations given in prior reports had been followed. So, it is likely to be the same issues in the 2019 report.

BY SIMBARASHE SITHOLE

THE University of Zimbabwe’s Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering has urged government to support its ongoing Nutritional Post-Harvest estimation (Nutri-P-Loss) programmes, which are aimed at promoting good farming methods.

In an interview at a Grain Post-Harvest Stakeholder Learning Fora in Mbire and Guruve districts, programme team leader Brighton Mvumi urged government to facilitate investment in the initiative.

“The government should facilitate for investment in the ongoing nutritional post-harvest loss estimations we are currently rolling on as UZ. The institution on its own cannot go around the country fostering the programmes due to lack of funding, hence we need their support,” he said

The programme encourages farmers to adopt new technology that is non-chemical.

“Our programme needs thick plastics for hermetic bags and that plastic is imported, thereby making it very difficult for farmers to access it. It is our wish that government and the private sector join hands in coming up with a locally produced plastic that meets the standard to mitigate harvest loss,” Mvumi said.

The programme was launched in the 2017-2018 agricultural season by the UZ. Results from 2018-2019 experiments showed that the hermetic bags method was more efficient than the chemical method.

Addressing farmers at the meetings, UZ PhD candidate Patrick Ngwenyama said they had tested grains of cow peas and maize with hermetic bags to measure the quality of nutrition rather than quantity of the grains for eight months.

“We observed that of late, farmers were worried about the quantitative aspect while overlooking the nutritional aspect of it. Hence, we chose two districts with different climatic conditions, that is Guruve and Mbire. We ran the programme for eight months with different treated and untreated grain in a bid to see the effectiveness of the method,”Ngwenyama said.

“The hermetic bags method proved very useful in fighting weevils and it is chemical-free. A farmer can consume the grains soon after using it, unlike the chemical method. But if attacked by rodents, they become effective.”

Farmers in Mbire said they were trying to adopt the new method, but are facing challenges in accessing the plastics as there was only one type so far available.

Guruve farmer Solomon Chimanikire (60) praised the UZ for fostering education on the safe methods of keeping their grain.