In a speech near the Berlin Wall on June 2 1987, commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin, former United States President Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall as an emblem of Gorbachev’s desire to increase freedom in the Eastern Bloc.
Mutumwa on with Mutumwa Mawere
Reagan understood that the Berlin Wall was undermining the very people it was built to protect and, therefore, there was an urgent need for serious restructuring of the Soviet system.
In the case of Zimbabwe, the existence of a wall — State-induced ignorance — that has served to undermine the promise of independence is obvious even to a casual observer.
So when Tachiona Chiminya, the MP representing Mashava (Masvingo West), called me two weeks ago to invite me on behalf of the workers at Mashava Mine, I did not hesitate in accepting the invitation. The mine is part of the Shabani Mashaba Mines (SMM) comprising two asbestos mines located at Zvishavane and Mashava.
The workers, whose memory must be fresh, were told by their government representatives in 2004 that the shareholder had run away with the export proceeds generated by the mines and, therefore, the government was forced to rescue them from the alleged irresponsible shareholder.
The workers will recall that the government accused me of siphoning $300 million out of Zimbabwe and this was in 2004.
An application for my extradition was made on allegations that I had caused export proceeds due to SMM in the sum of about $18,5 million not to be remitted.
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It is needless to say that the extradition application was dismissed in June 2004.
Immediately, following the dismissal of the extradition application, (Justice Minister) Patrick Chinamasa issued a specification order on July 9 2004 against me on the same charges.
SMM was also specified on the same charges and subsequently placed under reconstruction using state of emergency powers.
This is what Lovemore Madhuku said at the time about the actions taken on SMM: “The very fact that the government used the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Regulations 2004 showed that there was no law to enable them to do what they did. The powers were in effect an infringement of Section 16 of the Constitution, which protects private property.
“There was no urgency in what the government did and the acquisition of private property without compensation amounts to the violation of the Constitution. We have always said that there should be a new constitution because of these loopholes, but many people, especially those in the private sector, thought that this was just political.
“Maybe businessmen will now realise what we meant. The government may have been right when it said there is a need to protect workers, but this must be done legally. In any case, so many workers have been retrenched over the years, but what is (government) doing for them and what is so special about SMM workers?”
Wise words do not age and today — on the eve of a new constitution — the mine workers at SMM find themselves not only without a future, but a silent President whose hand was used to give life to the draconian reconstruction legislation with the support of a compliant Parliament that retrospectively legalised his actions.
Chiminya advised me that the workers wanted to meet me and this view was expressed by the workers’ committee on their behalf.
However, a few hours after speaking to Chiminya, I received a phone call from one Charumbira in Botswana advising me that the visit to Mashava was ill advised as one of his relatives, a prospective candidate for the Mashava constituency, Mureyi, felt strongly that I was being used to prop up Chiminya’s chances.
He wanted to know whether I had any objection to speaking to Mureyi to which I said there was no problem. A few minutes later, I received a call from Mureyi who gave me his own side of the story.
Mureyi thought that the visit to Mashava could easily be exploited by Chiminya for political purposes, and as such, it was not advisable for me to be seen associating with a lost cause.
Against this backdrop, I suggested to Mureyi that it was beneficial to think of the people and workers at the mine rather than focusing on elections.
To the extent that Chiminya had deemed it fit to invite me to Mashava, it was important to establish directly with him what motivated the request.
I then proposed that we have a conference call with Chiminya to discuss this matter.
We then spoke and eventually agreed that it was important for the two rivals to work together in the interest of the people concerned and the visit could assist in bringing the people together.
We agreed that they should be part of the organising committee, but it was clear that the two minds could never meet what matters to the people they seek to represent.
I reminded both of them that it would be simplistic to blame Zanu PF for job losses at the mine as the inclusive government has not fared any better in terms of resolving the matter.
I told them of my unhappy experiences with the performance not only of Zanu PF ministers, but also MDC officials. Some workers believe that the mines were closed as a result of a Zezuru plot completely oblivious of the role played by Karangas in the SMMgate scandal.
Others were told that funds were externalised and to date no clear information after nine years has emerged as to who stole from whom.
The workers will be aware that the government is not an exporter and all the export proceeds belong and belonged to the exporter.
The workers, including the two gentlemen mentioned above, are not aware that the remaining allegation is that a cession court order was obtained in South Africa that was used to divert money allegedly due to SMM from its agent, Southern Asbestos Sales (Pty) Limited (SAS), to Petter Trading Pty Limited.
The allegation reads as follows: “On May 6 2004 Petter obtained judgment against SAS for payment of the amount of R74 872 468,49, together with interest and costs (the cession court order).
“Purporting to act in accordance with the cession court order, SAS during or about the period May 2004 to December 2004 paid to Petter an amount of R18 043 373,21.”
It is clear from the above that there is no mention of the $300 million that was used to justify the take over the company and also the 18,5 million has also evaporated.
The workers at SMM will know better about the role of Petter in the supply chain to the mines.
They will also recall that at the material time, SMM owed Petter an amount of about R28 million for goods sold and delivered.
In this unusual matter, SMM, whose control is still clouded in mystery, but whose former administrator is on record as saying the alleged payment to Petter during the specified period prejudiced SMM.
It is clear that both the MDC and Zanu PF would rather that the SMM matter be contained so that it does not become an election issue because the facts of the matter is that the inclusive government has failed to deliver the promise despite pretentions by some members of the government that they care about the welfare of the SMM workers.
The wall of silence that has been imposed by President Mugabe can only be broken when people are free to express themselves and associate as they wish.
Mutumwa Mawere is a businessman based in South Africa. He writes in his personal capacity.
