CEMENT producer PPC Zimbabwe has, in the last five years, spent over US$140 million in plant refurbishments and it aims to invest some of its dividends in government bonds to increase local procurement.
The company’s general manager for sales and marketing Nkosana Mapuma told a business meeting in Bulawayo recently that the cement maker was committed to the country’s economic development.
“We have an asset base which is quite huge. In terms of refurbishment, it’s actually world-class because we have spent, in the last five years alone, over US$140 million refurbishing our plants and also building a brand new factory in Harare,” Mapuma said.
“We believe that we are still the market leader in Zimbabwe with a highest capacity to produce over 1,4 million tonnes of cement per annum . . . We have a product portfolio which is quite huge, currently with six products and very soon we will be launching a seventh product which I am sure the engineering community is going to benefit a lot from,” he said.
“We are aiming also to invest some of our dividends in government bonds so that at least we can lobby them in there and increase local procurement, and also increase our exports.”
Mapuma said they had managed to secure sources of clinker from outside Zimbabwe, to add to their capacity.
PPC operates three plants in the country, including the new $82 million plant in Harare, which was commissioned in 2016 and produces 700 000 tonnes of cement per annum.
The other two plants are in Bulawayo and Colleen Bawn near Gwanda, with a combined annual production of 700 000 tonnes, bringing the total annual production of the company to 1,4 million tonnes of cement per year.
“We have been exporting into Malawi, a little bit into Mozambique and also Zambia and Botswana. Currently, 60% of our exports in the last financial year went to Malawi from the factories in Bulawayo and Harare.”
“Seventy percent of our inputs now are being sourced locally, so we are really moving towards achieving imports substitution and also trying to create jobs locally,” he said.
PROSPECT Resources (Prospect) says it is currently reviewing multiple financing strategies for its Arcadia lithium project in Zimbabwe.
The project is one of the largest hard-rock lithium resources in the world, with about 808 000 tonnes of the resource.
In its first quarter report, the company said it had scaled down exploration activities to focus its resources on securing finance for Arcadia and progressing the project from financing through to production.
“During the quarter, Prospect continued to focus its resources on securing a project finance facility for Arcadia and has, therefore, scaled back exploration activities,” the report read in part.
“The company is currently undertaking continuous improvement and value engineering initiatives to further reduce Arcadia’s technical risk and improve its economics,” the company said.
“The strategies are focused on providing funds at a low cost of capital and minimising dilution to existing shareholders,” it said.
In anticipation of development, Prospect said it was undertaking numerous continuous improvement initiatives in order to further de-risk the project technically, and to improve project economics.
During the quarter, Prospect introduced the use of high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR) technology to replace the tertiary and quaternary crushers.
The use of a HPGR is expected to reduce capital expenditure by 1,4% to US$163 million; operating expenditure by 2,46% to US$278 per tonne, while maintaining or improving metallurgical recoveries, the company said.
It also expects to increase project net present value (NPV10) by US$22 million to US$533 million as well as average annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation by US$3 million to US$109 million.
The company was awarded special economic zone (SEZ) status for the Arcadia project, which will grant it generous tax breaks and other concessions.
“With Arcadia now securing SEZ status, Prospect can hold and transact in foreign currency. This simplifies Prospect’s ability to make payments to and from suppliers and customers, as well as providing financiers confidence that the company can manage its currency freely in order to meet its operational and capital management requirements,” it said.
Arcadia is Africa’s second-largest undeveloped lithium project. It is estimated to contain 610 500 tonnes of lithium oxide and 11,3 million pounds of tantalite pentoxide. It has an ore reserve of 26,9 million tonnes.
The company also operates Sally Gold Mine and Prestwood Gold Mine in Gwanda.
Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya has attributed the injuries that have hit the team to low fitness levels, which he said shocked him when he took over following the departure of Lloyd Chigowe slightly over a week ago.
The new technical team, which also includes Biggie Zuze and Gift Muzadzi, conducted fitness tests for the players on Tuesday as they started their first full week of training in office. Ndiraya said the results were shocking and they had started to work on the fitness of the players.
On Sunday, DeMbare take on ZPC Kariba in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Rufaro and they will be without Claude Junior Ngahan, popularly known as Neymar, as well as Herve Mbega, who are both nursing injuries.
Neymar is struggling with an ankle injury, while Mbega limped out of training yesterday with a suspected hamstring strain.
“We have had some of our key players getting injured. Neymar is injured, he has an ankle injury. He tried to come back, but on Tuesday, we had some fitness tests, which he failed,” Ndiraya said.
“We have Mbega, who also limped out of training with a suspected hamstring injury. He is still to be assessed, but I think it will be difficult for him to play this weekend.
“We had fitness tests on Tuesday. From that exercise, we got shocking results.”
He said the fitness levels were “way below standard” and they had immediately started working on the players’ levels of fitness, “particularly those we want to improve in certain areas”.
“Some of the players are picking up injuries because of the low fitness levels. We are doing what we can, but acquiring fitness will take time,” Ndiraya said.
“We are pushing the boys to the limit. Because of the intensity of the training sessions, some of the players are picking injuries, a clear sign that the fitness levels were not up to scratch.”
Having overseen the draw against TelOne on Sunday, Ndiraya said he was pleased with the improvements.
“There is a huge improvement in attitude, mentality and competition. We are trying to create competition among players so that we get some bit of quality from them. It’s looking promising, though I should say we have a long, long way to go,” he said.
“This weekend, we are expecting some improvement because of what we have done. But the whole process takes time, I must stress.”
The club will take action against vice-captain Godfrey Mukabi, who earned what Ndiraya termed an unnecessary red card in the last match and will miss the weekend action.
“We have lost Mukambi because of the red card that puts us in a difficult position. Senior players should not miss matches because of such unnecessary bookings,” Ndiraya said.
“We have made it clear to the whole team that we will not accept such nonsense. We will not tolerate it and for that reason, we are going to sanction Mukambi, we have made it clear to him.”
THE late music superstar and national hero, Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi’s children may find it difficult to challenge his will and testament lodged with the Master of the High Court early this week, as there is no legal provision that entitles adult children to benefit from their father’s estate, NewsDay Life & Style has established.
In the will, Tuku bequeathed his entire estate to his widow Daisy, leaving all his children — Selmor, Samantha, Sandra and Selby — and other relatives who were probably expecting to get something in the cold.
“I hereby bequeath all my properties, share and shares in any company or companies or entities to my wife, Daisy Kudzai Mtukudzi born on the second of February 1959,” reads the will.
Although Selmor and Sandra’s sympathisers felt the daughters could challenge the will and also get a share of their father’s wealth, a legal expert who deals with the administration of deceased estates yesterday said chances of such a legal challenge succeeding were virtually nil.
The expert — who declined to be named for professional reasons — said there was no legal provision that entitled adult children to their father’s wealth upon death.
“All adult children, even minors, can be part of the beneficiaries, but there is no provision in the law that they should benefit. But the advantage of minor children is that they can have recourse to the law if the deceased had the legal duty to provide for them,” he said.
“Selmor and others are self-supporting adults so the chances of successfully challenging the will are very remote, unless if there are allegations of some form of interference (in the drafting of the will), but they need to prove that,” he said.
The legal practitioner said while it was within anyone’s right to challenge a will, the doctrine of freedom of testation gave Tuku the liberty to draft his will as he saw fit.
He admitted that the will may not have been updated as it was drafted at a time when Tuku was at loggerheads with his daughters with former wife Melody Murape — Selmor and Sandra — after the former made damaging claims of neglect and ill-treatment against Tuku.
The legal expert said it would have been more prudent and responsible for Tuku to award something to his children because by default, Daisy’s children, Samantha and Faith, stand to be the biggest beneficiaries.
“That was not proper and progressive estate planning,” he said.
Immovable properties declared by Daisy in the inventory included several original deeds of transfer, offer letters for subdivision 5 of Bloemfontein, Mazowe, in favour of Oliver Mtukudzi, while movable properties included a Land Rover Discovery, Nissan NP200, Tata bus, Tata truck and a Challenger trailer.
Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa)-Zimbabwe has cautiously welcomed steps taken by the government through three draft Bills to shore up commitment and pledges to implement the long-overdue media law and policy reforms.
In a statement to mark today’s World Press Freedom Day, Misa-Zimbabwe chairperson Golden Maunganidze said the envisaged reforms should not be “piece-meal, hurried and nebulous, but extensive and underpinned by democratic values and best practices”.
“The process cannot end with the repealing of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (through the Freedom of Information Bill), Broadcasting Services Amendment Bill, Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill and Data Protection Bill,” he said.
Misa-Zimbabwe said a range of other laws whose provisions infringe on free expression, media freedom and access to information such as the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Interception of Communications Act, Official Secrets Act and Censorship and Entertainment Controls Act also needed to be relooked at.
“The obtaining situation demands wide consultations and active citizen participation, moreso when the relevant Bills are subjected to public hearings and scrutiny. Parliament should fulfil its oversight role with a sense of greater national responsibility,” Maunganidze said.
“Parliamentarians should, therefore, be well-versed and knowledgeable on the importance of the relevant regional and international instruments and constitutional provisions in entrenching democracy.”
Panos Institute Southern Africa urged media houses and media practitioners to position themselves to become conduits of information that advances democracy.
Director of the regional media organisation, Lilian Saka Kiefer said the theme for this year’s World Press Freedom Day commemorations Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation brings to fore the role of the media in advancing democracy, peace and reconciliation.
“At a time when there has been a proliferation of disinformation through fake news and false news, the need for the media to be more responsible cannot be overemphasised.
“Panos is aware of the numerous challenges that the media face in carrying out its duties. These include financial, technical and human resources constraints, which hinder the media from effectively informing and educating citizens on important development issues, such as participation in democratic processes. We are also aware that some stakeholders have made it their hobby to infringe on the media’s freedom to seek and disseminate information to the public,” she said.
Kiefer said the challenges have caused some media houses to either scale down or completely shut down, condemning many journalists and other media workers to unemployment. A number of media houses and practitioners have been threatened, suspended, arrested, convicted, imprisoned, fined or censored.
Misa-Zimbabwe criticised telecommunications companies for hiking data tariffs by more than 100%, saying the adjustments were unjustifiable.
“These recent increases ignore the fact that even before the official devaluation in February, internet service providers and mobile network providers had already implemented several data cost increases again in the name of coping with rising inflation and service delivery costs,” Misa-Zimbabwe said.
“According to howmuch.net, a gigabyte of data costs US$70 in Zimbabwe. This figure does not take into consideration the official inter-bank exchange rate. The actual average cost of mobile data in United States dollar terms is around US$15 to US$20, which translates to between ZWL$45 to ZWL$70, depending on the value of the exchange rate used. Local internet service providers and mobile network operators have capitalised on this same confusion to continuously and unjustifiably increase data costs.”
FC PLATINUM gaffer Norman Mapeza has warned his players not to take their clash against Herentals for granted, when the two sides face-off in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League encounter at Mandava Stadium tomorrow.
The reigning champions sit at the top of the log table with 13 points having gone for the first five games unbeaten with four wins and a draw.
In their last assignment, Pure Platinum Play narrowly beat Chicken Inn 1-0, but despite the morale-boosting win away from home, Mapeza has remained grounded warning his charges not to underestimate the so-called league light weights.
“For now the most important thing is to be consistent, we are playing a very good side on Saturday (tomorrow).
“Morale will be very high in their camp after they collected four points in their two games against Dynamos and Ngezi Platinum, so we know the challenge we are going to face.
“But like always, we have to put everything in this game if we really need to get maximum points.
“It is very important for us to collect maximum points in each game we play because for me, there is no game in our league that I can pin-point and say this one looks very much easier.
“All the coaches and teams have been doing their best, so we should give them the respect they deserve and not underestimate anyone because we are still in the early stages of the league,” he said.
The miners welcome Gift Mbweti who had been out due to injury while the quartet of William Stima, Kelvin Madzongwe, Wallace Magalane and Rapheal Muduviwa remains on the sidelines. “We still have the same players out due to injury but we are welcoming Gift Mbweti who has been out for some time.
“The majority of the players are pushing. I just hope to have a full squad at my disposal because that gives us confidence.”
Herentals on the other hand will be looking forward to keep their momentum after an impressive record in their last two assignments where they collected maximum points against Dynamos before sharing spoils with Ngezi Platinum on Sunday.
LABOUR and Social Welfare minister Sekai Nzenza says the establishment of a tripartite negotiating forum (TNF) would assist in addressing the plight of workers and in solving the economic crisis.
Addressing journalists on Workers Day yesterday, Nzenza said while waiting the enactment of the TNF law, social partners to the forum should start dialogue to better the welfare of workers.
“I wish to commend the social partners for the engagement that resulted in the tabling of the TNF Bill in Parliament. I have great hope that the august House will pass it when it resumes its business this month,” she said.
The minister did not attend the Workers Day celebrations organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions at Dzivarasekwa Stadium, saying she was due to travel to Chimanimani and Chipinge districts.
Trade unions have demanded that government convenes an all-stakeholders’ meeting to address the economic crisis, which has seen companies closing down and those still in operation failing to fairly remunerate their workers.
“The TNF Bill, which is before Parliament, will provide the necessary legislative framework to ensure greater accountability and effectiveness in the work of the TNF. Accordingly, the TNF will emerge as a strong and vibrant institution capable of greater contribution to the development of the country,” she said.
The TNF is a voluntary social dialogue platform which brings together government, business and labour to discuss socio-economic progress constituted in 1998, but has not been operational because it does not have a regulatory framework.
“Fellow Zimbabweans, it is in this spirit that we continue to strengthen our democracy in the world by giving high regard to the tripartite negotiating forum. We believe that this social dialogue platform affords the social partners a genuine opportunity to exchange ideas that can facilitate growth of the economy, through greater investment, productivity and innovation,” she said.
Nzenza said the envisaged national dialogue with TNF partners will assist in the implementation of the International Labour Organisation commission of inquiry findings on the future of work in an environment of the informal sector.
“Indeed, in our country, we need to understand and respond effectively to these envisaged new challenges regarding the future of work in the scheme of an inclusive development for Zimbabwe with decent work at its heart,” she said.
SOUTH Africa-based Zimbabwean hip-hop artiste Ngonidzashe “King 98” Dondo said he had travelled a painful journey in music and will not allow negative criticism to hamper his march into the future.
King 98 was speaking to NewsDay Life & Style on the sidelines of the grand launch of his debut album, Francesca, at Wingate Golf Club in Harare on Wednesday night.
The launch was graced by Nigerian music icon David “Davido” Adeleke and celebrated South African rap star Nasty C.
“I am not going to give up, no matter how much people may criticise me. I am not going to quit. I am going to keep going because a lot of people say a lot of stuff,” he said.
King 98 said he had a marvellous experience during the launch and was optimistic about the future.
He said he was inspired by the positive message he received from Davido as they “learn with each other” and nothing could stop “a God-given talent”.
“I enjoyed the set and I was happy with the numbers. I wanted the youths as they are my target market,” he said.
He advised upcoming musicians not to give up on their dreams, even if their parents did not understand them.
“At first, my parents were like, you are crazy, but if it’s God’s plan, go and do it. Have fun, enjoy it,” he said.
After supporting acts warmed up the stage with sterling performances, King 98 took over at 22:30hrs and after his set, he later returned to the stage to join Davido for their duet, No Bad Vibes, amid wild screams from the multitude of fans, who had thronged the venue.
The launch was also graced by an array of local artistes, among them ExQ, Selmor Mtukudzi, Tammy Moyo, Shashl, Union 5 and South Africa-based Nadia Nakai, including wheelspinner Silence Dosh.
IT’S quite refreshing that many Africans — both black and white — have refused to submit to Eurocentrism, where all things from the West are viewed in utopian terms in which everything is projected as perfect, on the one hand, while, on the other, everything from Africa is looked at as dystopian or is associated with great suffering or injustice.
For one, Senegalese-American singer, Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam, better known as Akon, while speaking at an event for hundreds of African youths last month, made thought-provoking observations, saying that Africa is better than the United States in many ways, but that Africans are not telling their story.
“The images they show about Africa are so negative. This is conditioning what we believe. Africa has a rich story too. More people died in Chicago, more school shootings in America,” he said.
Akon stated that the US seems like the greatest country on earth because filmmakers, directors and even the media seem to pass out only positive stories about the country and water-down the negative, but that Africans are not telling their own story.
The renowned singer said to counter that, Africans need to start telling their positive stories to their children and help curb the spread of negative news about the continent to the rest of the world.
Well, this resonates with earlier observations made in the Zimbabwean context by Cynthia Marangwanda, a young Zimbabwean woman, who is a proud — not self-disparaging — African.
Not only that, she has also identified the factors behind that proverbial selling of the soul to the devil: filthy lucre. Yes, people are being persuaded to do things — especially bad things — because of the money or other rewards they will receive for doing that.
Says Marangwanda: “Donor funding is killing arts in Zimbabwe. We need to get our economy fully functional again so that artistes are not forced to work on projects with themes like HIV and Aids, poverty and child marriage just to make a living. Our artistes deserve the creative licence to create freely from their souls and not feel pressured to create work that pushes a Western stereotype of Africa.”
Indeed, we should not perpetuate Western stereotypes that lump and objectify Africans. Africa needs people with such consciousness to take its place as an equal among other peoples. A Eurocentric concept of Africa cannot explain the ways of Africa and vice-versa.
Some sections of the private media in Africa have also shown sickening deference, docility and obsequiousness to the Eurocentric ideas of media freedom to the point of being dystopian and even racist against themselves, accepting, for instance, without really thinking the annual so-called Press Freedom Index compiled by the Western-centric Reporters Without Borders, which routinely finds that there is a deficit of Press freedom in Africa and a surfeit of it in the West.
But, how factual on the ground are these findings by Reporters Without Borders? Don’t private newspapers criticise and draw cartoons — some of them inflammatory and provocative — of President Emmerson Mnangagwa day in day out and nothing happens to them? You find cartoonists based in Zimbabwe who have made prosperous livelihoods from drawing caricatures of former President Robert Mugabe and now his successor Mnangagwa, saying there is no Press freedom in Zimbabwe. That’s a glaring irony.
Besides, don’t some newspapers seem to make it a point day in day out, week in week out to lead with reports that are mostly uncomplimentary and hostile to the government and ruling party? Doesn’t that show media freedom in operation?
As one can see, besides filthy lucre, what is in short supply in Zimbabwe are journalists who are up to date with current affairs and modern history and know how to localise and apply that knowledge. Those Western journalists who pointed out the lies behind reports that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction — which was used as a pretext to invade Iraq in 2003 — were labelled traitors by government officials and the mainstream media.
Observes Stembile Mpofu: “I think the Western establishment has finessed their control of their journalists. Those who tell the real stories are ostracised and can never find success in the mainstream. They will never be given the space.”
As for African authorities being accused of harassing local journalists, those with knowledge of current affairs know that whistleblower website Wikipedia founder Julian Assange and his lawyers are also saying that he was a victim of State harassment when he was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorean embassy in London by the United Kingdom authorites and arrested last month, and then jailed for a year, and after release, will face deportation to the US, where he could be jailed for life. And recent history shows that former US President Richard Nixon harassed Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward to intimidate them from exposing his Watergate Scandal in the early 1970s.
Furthermore, those singling out African leaders as being secretive about their private lives as militating against media freedom, citing Mugabe’s refusal to provide his health record to the media, ought to know that US President Donald Trump instructed his own doctor to falsify his health records. Up to now, the American media and the American public do not know Trump’s true health status.
No wonder Mpofu has observed: “I am always very wary of these type of media surveys. They are part of the propaganda used to make some societies look worse than others . . . There is likely more Press freedom here than in the US. But the statistics will always tell us that we are worse.” On point.
As observed by acclaimed Pan-Africanist Kenyan academic, Professor Patrick Lumumba, we should not let foreigners appropriate and then misappropriate the essence of who we are. Says Lumumba: “Those who claim to be experts on Africa are in many cases not African and, therefore, when they write about Africa, they write about it as if it was an object of curiosity. If you listen to former colonial states in their unguarded moments speak about former colonies, they still speak of them as if it were still their territories. And if they are speaking to them, they speak at them in a very condescending way.”
Yes, why should the Piers Pigous of this world posture as the foremost authorities on African politics? Why should Western-centric organisations impose themselves to declare what’s good and what’s bad for Africa? Africans should discard this Eurocentric mindset which falsely paints us as inherently undemocratic. We should stop aping the West and find our own niche in the world like the Chinese did with great success.
The West, which includes Europe and the US, “behaves as if they have a divine right to tell Africa what to do, and unfortunately, Africans also behave as if they have a divine duty to listen to what they are being told,” added Lumumba.
Yes, it’s time to slap on the wrist those cringing yes-men and sycophants among us so that they wake up from worshipping and aping the West.
Conway Nkumbuzo Tutani is a Harare-based columnist. Email: nkumbuzo@gmail.com
CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe is excited with the way his team has performed in the last three games, which has ensured that the former champions remain one of two only teams in the Castle Lager Premiership yet to encounter defeat, with the other being FC Platinum.
Chitembwe has praised his forwards for creating opportunities and also scoring goals.
“The forwards are playing fantastic football. All of them are appearing on the scoresheet. Considering the fact that we have some of the best forwards in the country, who know how to score, it puts me in a comfortable position. The forwards have the ability to create opportunities and, at the same time, score important goals,” he said.
The Green Machine forward line-up consists of wingers Gabriel Nyoni, Phineas Bhamusi and central striker Dominic Chungwa.
Caps United stretched their unbeaten run when they beat basement side Bulawayo Chiefs 4-1 at the weekend.
Chitembwe said he was impressed by the way they had started the season and was full of praise for his defence, which has so far conceded only one goal.
“As a team, we have been very solid defensively and efficient. It is an attribute to very good work ethics. If you look at (goalkeeper) Prosper Chigumba’s contribution so far, how he controls the game and how stable he is with his leadership skills, the morale of the team is high and on top level. I’m very grateful to have players like Method (Mwanjale), the way he tackles and wins balls; his experience has really helped the squad. I am very happy with the team at the moment,” he said.
Mwanjale and Godwin Goriyati’s partnership at the heart of the defence will be tested by Harare City, who have had an indifferent campaign so far.
The Sunshine Boys are coming from a 2-1 defeat to Black Rhinos and will be hungry for a win to bounce back.
But the Caps United coach has admitted that he is anticipating a very difficult match against Harare City, who he has a lot of respect for.
“We are anticipating a very difficult game. We are preparing for the match and the team looks good to me. I’m fully aware that games against Harare City won’t be that easy. It will be a difficult game, but football is only about confidence and morale,” he said.
