Mineworkers demand shares in industry from government

By Tererai Karimakwenda
22 March 2006

The government announced a planned takeover of the majority of shares in the mining industry earlier this month, but did not bother to consult any stakeholders that would be affected by this controversial move. This included foreign companies that own mines in Zimbabwe, local companies and the mineworkers who risk life and limb deep down underground. As industry officials began making noise about the intended takeover, Robert Mugabe met the top chefs from South Africa’s Implats, which owns the Zimplats mining outfit in Zimbabwe. The next day, the mines minister Amos Midzi met with industry officials. But the mineworkers were not invited to any of these discussions.

Tinago Ruzive, president of The Association of Mineworkers Zimbabwe, told us Wednesday that they will demand shares in the industry. He said:
“We think we should have been involved but unfortunately we have not been invited to such meetings and we only hear it through the media.” Ruzive said as far as he knows, there are no mineworkers in the country that own any shares in the industry. He revealed that mineworkers in South Africa, represented by the National Union of Mineworkers, own a stake in the wealth that they contribute to through mining. Ruzive wants the same for Zimbabweans.

The government has said it wants as much as 51% of the shares in all mining concerns. Ruzive said he has not been told if the plan was to hand over some of those shares to mineworkers, and he has not been part of any formal talks on the subject. He complained that he could not even discuss much about the planned takeover because no information had been provided to the union. Asked if the union itself had contacted authorities, Ruzive said they would now write to the ministry since it seems as though the bill might soon be rushed through parliament.

As for the current state of the industry, Ruzive said the biggest problem they are facing is the shortage of foreign currency which is needed to buy spare parts. He said this has slowed down the industry considerably, and the government has not done enough to address it. And on behalf of the mineworkers in Zimbabwe, Ruzive said once more: “We demand to be involved.”