European Investment Bank team arrives in Zim

European Investment Bank team arrives in Zim

Posted on April 14, 2015 by ZimSitRep_M via European Investment Bank team arrives in Zim – DailyNews Live

 A high level team from the European Investment Bank (EIB) have been said to have arrived in Zimbabwe to assess the economic situation in the country, European Union (EU) Ambassador Philippe Van Damme has said.

 EIB officials are scheduled to meet with Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa, the central bank governor, John Mangudya, and several players in the private sector with special emphasis on the financial services sector.

They arrived yesterday, and will be in the country for a week. This is a follow up to last year’s mission with prospects in the private sector for possible contribution to Foreign Direct Investment and domestic investment in the banking sector.

 The envoy noted that the delegation would be in Bulawayo today to meet up with players in the private sector.
 

The latest visit by the EIB delegation comes after the European bloc last year lifted sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe 13 years ago on allegations of human rights abuses.

The move paved way for the union to resume aid to hard-pressed Zimbabwe.

Earlier this year the EU gave Zimbabwe $270 million in development assistance, with most of the money expected to fund numerous projects which include health and the constitutional alignment

.

All the above was set of in November 2014 to fix investment law via Fix investment laws, EU tells Zim – DailyNews Live

This comes as the bloc is set to advance Zimbabwe $300 million in funding support after it lifted decade-long trade restrictions imposed on the southern African country  criticised for disregarding property rights and violation of bilateral investment promotion and protection agreements.

 In the recent past, Zimbabwe has experienced a significant slump in foreign direct investment.

Besides political instability at some point, investors were wary of the country’s indigenisation law, which compels foreigners to cede majority shareholding to black Zimbabweans.

In another development, which analysts said brought confidence in the country, a British business delegation visited Zimbabwe for the first time in nearly 20 years.

PAYMENT OF BONUS’ SCRAPPED

PAYMENT OF BONUS’ SCRAPPED
Zimbabwe has scrapped payment of bonuses to civil servants in the course of an admission of the government that it is struggling to raise $260 million a month to pay its workers.

The country’s economy has been on a downward spiral since President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu PF party won a controversial election in 2013.

Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said the freeze on the annual bonuses will be reviewed in the 2017 budget.Zimbabwe has 500,000 civil servants but the government is currently conducting an audit following indications that its payroll has thousands of ghost workers.
 
According to some reviews the government still owed some of its workers $13.4 million for 2014 bonuses and this has led to labour unrest at State universities.

They is a blame that the collapse of the formal economy for dwindling government revenues made it difficult for the Treasury to meet its obligations.

However, the move was described by the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as an admission by President Mugabe’s government that it had failed to turn around the economy.

“They stole elections in 2013 thinking that they can do the same with the economy but this has failed,” said MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu. “The only option for this clueless government is to resign and let those who are able to lead the country do so.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe says one of the ways the economic collapse can be reversed is a temporary freeze on salary increases. Zimbabwe has been experiencing serious economic problems since around 1997 and the cycle was only interrupted between 2009 and 2013.

Irony of Mugabe’s xenophobia disgus

 Irony of Mugabe’s xenophobia disgust – NewZimbabwe 

DOES Robert Mugabe still have his conscience to attack Zuma’s South African xenophobic incidences across the country? Has he forgotten the way he perpetrated genocide in Mathebeleland and Midlands leaving more than 20,000 people dead, brutally massacred. What about the killings of black and white farmers in 2,000, the Murambatsvina in 2005, the brutal elections of 2008 that left thousands killed and maimed?

Right now Itai Dzamara was abducted 4 weeks ago without trace. Jestina Mukoko and Beatrice Mtetwa were abducted and treated like criminals!  And just three days ago Sydney Chisi was selectively beaten to near-death during the anti-xenophobia at the South African embassy in Harare. He is fighting for his life, breathing with the assistance of a ventilator! That is Mugabe for you, at 91 years talking high morals to the world.

Pot, what are you telling the kettle? What high moral ground is this President assuming right now? Does he understand why there is xenophobia in South Africa in the first place? Does he know the number of Zimbabweans in South Africa looking for those jobs they cannot get in Zimbabwe? Why and how did they leave Zimbabwe? Does he know what it is like to cross the crocodile infested Limpopo River? He does not and he will never know.

here is xenophobia in South Africa because Zimbabwe is a completely failed state. Mugabe must be told that his administration is worse than that of Ian Smith. In fact he should pack and go because 99% of the citizens of this great country do not want him anymore. He knows this too and that’s the reason why he has to rig elections to overstay in power. Mugabe has remained in power because of cheating the electorate, rigged the elections because he knows he is no longer wanted. Who wants Robert Mugabe’s administration that has failed since 1980, we have to be forced to say its 35 independence so far so good, forced to say that.

The situation in the Mediterranean Sea needs the attention of the AU Chairperson, where is he? Where are the Presidents of the African continent? Those citizens perishing in the Mediterranean are coming from Africa, most of them, and the situation needs urgent attention from the African Union to solve the issues coming from the continent. They should ask simple questions why African citizens prefer to risk the deep seas of the Mediterranean than face hunger and uncertainties in their own countries of birth.

African Presidents should stop this exodus of their citizens by actually taking practical solutions that benefit the masses and not the few elite. As we speak right now European countries, their relevant ministries are meeting to discuss the drowning of migrants trying to reach the European shores. Why is such a meeting not taking place in Africa? Why is such a meeting not taking place in the SADC region? The head of these two bodies is Mugabe himself! Proust mahlzeit!

President Jacob Zuma made an attempt to visit migrant workers in their sheltered areas. He told them that those who want to go can go and they could come back if they so wished! Those words from a President are not convincing anyone, not even his body language was supporting those words. Some ministers and traditional leaders openly provoked xenophobia in South Africa. Zuma should tell his ministers and traditional leaders and citizens of South Afruth Africa that millions of South Africans where in exile for dozens of years and they were well looked after especially in Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, Mozambique and many other countries to the north of them. 

Zimbabweans leave South Africa following xenophobic violence.

South Africans where resident almost in every country in Africa, and were given all the assistance they needed. They are the ones now chasing foreigners like animals and calling them lice, said the King of Zululand. Their treatment of other Africans should be kept in history diaries; we shall make references later; as they say, what goes around comes back with vengeance. History will easily remind them of the atrocities of hate speeches from a King, and a son of the President defending xenophobia in their land. Zuma himself married a Mozambican wife when he was in Mozambique. Has he forgotten?

South African should constantly be reminded about the sacrifices Zambia made towards the liberation of countries south of it. Zambia, with very little resources, shared what they had with Zapu, Zanu, Swapo and the ANC. The Zambians should be the ones much more disappointed than all other countries in Africa. In 1978 the brutal Ian Douglas Smith sent his Selous Scouts to go to Zambia and abduct Nkomo and bomb the freedom fighter camps. They bombed many Zapu places and Comrade Nkomo’s residence. So many people died in those savage acts.

President Kaunda came out coughing fire, and said he was going to assist all freedom fighters south of Zambia to the bitter end, and indeed he did that to the bitter end. President Kenneth Kaunda still lives today and I wonder what he thinks and feels when he sees how unthankful South Africans are to foreigners; what is he saying? What is President Nelson Mandela doing in his grave? He must be turning in his grave. The East German government assisted thousands of South African refugees by giving them the best education so that when their country became free they would economically liberate South Africa. In East Germany all foreigners were treated like first class citizens.

East Germans, as people who had seen two world wars, tried to give their best to other people who were in the same situation like them during those world wars. They empathized with foreigners including ANC freedom fighters and students. They respected and adored foreigners and they embraced the difference in cultures. What are they saying now when they see those very people, the very ANC party they gave so much assistance and so long, sending conflicting messages about xenophobia in their politically liberated South Africa? What about Tanzania, President Nyerere must be turning in his grave. What about Angola, what about Cuba? South Africa’s ANC and government are morally beholden of all these countries.

It takes generations to teach a nation about UBUNTU and this is what South Africa has lost.  It is the young generation meting those heinous crimes against humanity today. SADC ministries concerned should meet and map the way forward. President Zuma cannot stand alone without the assistance of the SADC countries whose citizens are being butchered to death by criminal cabals without a moral compass. Even if all foreigners left South Africa, they will find another reason to be at each other’s throats again, something will trigger another wave of violence again. Foreigners are not the root cause of their social problems; the causes lie deeper than the presence in their midst of human beings from the north of the Limpopo.

Work on $18mln Victoria Falls tourism park starts

via Work on $18mln Victoria Falls tourism park starts |the source

buildings under construction

victoria falls

Work at the planned $18 million historical and recreational park in the resort town of Victoria Falls by Africa Albida Tourism group is set to begin in June this year after a consultant engaged by the developer started an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) last week.

The Santonga Park, the biggest private investment in Zimbabwe’s tourism hub, will also house a zoo on an 80-acre piece of land close to the group’s flagship Victoria Falls Safari Lodge.

It is expected to attract up to 120,000 visitors yearly and increase the average stay of tourists in the town from three to four days.

Black Crystal Consulting has started consultations with stakeholders as part of the EIA for the proposed Santonga Project, Africa Albida said in a statement last week.

Construction will start in June this year, with the park expected to open to public in July next year, It said.
The facility will act as an education and entertainment park for visitors and locals while also complimenting tourist facilities in the resort town.

i t will involve interaction and close encounters with different kinds of game and wildlife that would be caged, partly resembling the Africa Kingdom in the USA, Africa Park in Dubai, and similar facilities in China.

“What none of them has is the authentic and natural wildlife resources that we have. This will extend visitors’ stay and bring economic benefits such as jobs and income. The Santonga Park is a must see for tourists to view canned and caged wildlife together with historical and cultural monuments,” said Africa Albida.

The theme park is expected to create 1,500 direct and downstream jobs  while the developer expects a 40 percent increase in hotel occupancy rate, between 20 and 40 percent increase in transport activity among other benefits.

“This may all be good for African Albida but not necessarily for the wider community. All residents and businesses in Victoria Falls should take a keen interest in understanding exactly what this project is really about,” it said.

In 2013, government announced plans to establish a $300 million “Disneyland in Africa” theme park on 1,200 ha of land near the airport which will house shopping malls, banks, exhibition and entertainment facilities such as casinos.

$18mln entertainment park for Vic Falls 30 October 2014
AFRICA Albida Tourism (AAT) says it will build a historical and recreational park in the resort town of Victoria Falls at a cost of $18 million, the biggest private investment in the tourism hub for over a decade.
The developers said the park could attract up to 120,000 visitors yearly and increase the average stay of tourists in the town from three to four days.

AAT chairman Dave Glynn told Victoria Falls town councillors this week that the park, named Santonga, will be built on 80 hectares of land adjacent to the Victoria Falls Safari lodge and will open to the public in mid-2016.

“This $18 million Santonga education and entertainment park will be a must-see for tourists. It is expected to bring major benefits to the Victoria Falls community and is set to create 1,500 jobs,” Glynn said.

Despite thousands of tourists visiting the resort town every year, there has been little investment in infrastructure.

Last year, the government started refurbishing the Victoria Falls International Airport at a cost of $150 million to increase its passenger handling capacity.

The expansion work, which is being carried out by China Jiangsu and funded by China Exim Bank, also includes upgrading the domestic terminal building, constructing a new fire station, control tower and installation of state-of-the-art aviation equipment.

The project would not rival the $300 million “Disneyland in Africa” theme park envisaged by tourism minister, Walter Mzembi to be built on 1,200 ha of land near the airport.

It would have shopping malls, banks and exhibition and entertainment facilities such as casin

Zimbabwe: Delta Cash Inflow Declines

DELTA Corp, the country's largest listed company says revenue for the full year to March 2015 declined 6 percent due to the decline in sales volumes for lagers and soft drinksBut the company sees improved demand across its product portfolio following price cuts, Delta said in a trading update yesterday. In the last quarter, turnover was 5 percent lower compared to the same period last year as consumer spending softened.

The lager beer volume declined by 3 percent during the last quarter and 17 percent in the full year, reflecting deceleration in the rate of decline compared to the preceding nine months.

The soft drinks volumes comprising sparkling and alternative beverages were down 5 percent and 6 percent for the quarter and the full year respectively, the company said.

"We report a mixed performance across the beverage categories in an environment of a contracting economy," said Delta.

"This is characterised by constrained consumer spending, declining local manufacturing capacity and weakening regional currencies which encourages imports."
 

				Increase (Decrease)
				4Q14 versus 4Q13
				Change	Unit
Passenger Revenue		4Q14 ($M)		YOY	Revenue	Yield	Capacity
	Domestic	4,190		10.7 %	5.2 %	2.8 %	5.2 %
	Atlantic	1,229		1.7 %	(0.5) %	2.0 %	2.2 %
	Pacific	759		(5.6) %	(5.2) %	(3.0) %	(0.5) %
	Latin America	560		8.5 %	(4.2) %	(1.2) %	13.2 %
	Total mainline	6,738		6.7 %	2.1 %	2.0 %	4.5 %
	Regional	1,497		(4.1) %	(2.3) %	(2.8) %	(1.8) %
	Consolidated	8,235		4.6 %	0.8 %	0.6 %	3.7 %

With the general global economy outlook indicating that US is performing well, the situation has led to the appreciation of the US dollar against major currencies, which include the SA rand.

Zimbabwe is a net importer with South Africa and the depreciation of the rand has led to the reduction of the cost of imports and is reflected in the country's inflation dynamics.

Delta said the price reductions implemented at the beginning of this year have, however, improved the affordability of its brands and should, over time, stem the volume decline.

"The recent review of prices of some brands and packs will improve the affordability and competitiveness of this product portfolio," said the company.

The Maheu and dairy mix beverages recorded a growth of 11 percent for the full year.
This category is expected to benefit from the additional capacity commissioned in October last year, the refreshed Shumba Maheu package and the roll out of additional flavours.

The sorghum beer volume rose 6 percent for the quarter and was 8 percent above prior year for the full year. The supply of Chibuku Super improved during the quarter, attaining a contribution to total volume of about 50 percent by March 2015.

The installation of the new production facility at Fairbridge in Bulawayo is on schedule for full commissioning by July 2015. The results will be published on the 14th of next month and will reflect some loss of financial leverage due to the changes in the sales mix and the deliberate strategies to preserve volumes, said Delta.

Zimbabwe faces bleakest post-dollarisation outlook

Zimbabwe’s economy is this year seen  contracting  by four percent,  weighed down by weak mineral prices and poor foreign direct investment flows, research by a brokerage firm has shown.


Government and the World Bank have projected a 3.2 percent growth this year premised on stability and higher mineral prices.

But Invictus, in its latest research paper, warned that the economic outlook was bleak  because of the underperformance of the country’s economic drivers—agriculture and mining.

“Zimbabwe’s short-term economic outlook is bleaker now than at any time since the hyperinflationary meltdown of 2007/8. Real GDP will fall this year by at least three percent and the outturn could be much worse depending on the 2015 harvest and outlook for key commodity prices, including tobacco, base and precious metals,” said Invictus.

“We expect GDP to decline by four percent in 2015 reflecting lower commodity prices and lower than expected agricultural output. The lack of domestic liquidity combined with poor FDI flows will continue to have a negative impact on growth.”

The slowdown in growth in 2014 and 2015 reflects greater structural issues such as trends in investment, employment, living standards and poverty that needs to be addressed, it added.

Official figures show that Zimbabwe has lagged regional peers in FDI, with neighboring Zambia receiving $8 billion in FDI between 1980 and 2013, Mozambique $16 billion but only $1.8 billion for Zimbabwe.

“In Zimbabwe agricultural output, which grew some 20 percent in 2014 and kept the economy out of recession for most of the year, will fall sharply this year. Mining and manufacturing will decline modestly as will retail activity,” said Invictus.

“The tobacco outlook is poor – a combination of a smaller crop, lower prices and the 2014 overhang of leaf bought by merchants but not yet sold on to export markets. Metal prices are at their lowest since mid-2009 and 45 percent below their April 2011 peaks, but food and agricultural raw materials have fared better and are 23 percent off their record highs. Oil prices are down 53 percent from their April 2011 peak.”- The Source

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Zimplats plans to retrench

Zimbabwe's largest platinum producer, Zimplats, is set to retrench 25 managers as part of the company’s cost-containment measures in the face of declining international metal prices and a challenging economic environment.

Busi Chindove, Zimplats head of corporate affairs, told business daily yesterday that the retrenchment exercise was being necessitated by challenges the mining company has been facing in the last nine months.

“Labour is the single biggest cost line item in the company’s cost structure and has a bearing on both productivity and efficiencies. Taking cognisance of this fact one of the strategic cost containment initiatives being implemented by management is a labour rationalism exercise on the back of a review of the company’s top structure,” she said.

Chindove noted that engagement with the affected individuals was currently underway, prior to implementation.

Like most miners in the country, Zimplats has been facing a severe liquidity crisis that has been precipitated by a prolonged depression of metal prices, the impact of reduced production volumes arising from the collapse of Bimha Mine and the challenging business operating environment.

Chindove said Zimplats has been implementing other stringent cost control measures including cancellation or deferment of capital expenditure as part of the company’s survival strategies.

“Zimplats remains committed to the base metal refinery (BMR) project scheduled for commissioning in July 2016,” she said.

The company last year began refurbishments of the refinery — located in Selous, about 80km west of Harare — following mounting pressure from government on beatification of minerals to ensure that the country derives maximum benefits from the exploitation of its natural resources.

A base metal refinery may process platinum up to 60 percent of platinum group metals, which will be further processed by a precious metal refinery.

Zimplats suspended operations of its BMR, which separated minerals such as nickel, chrome and copper from platinum group metals, a few years ago after it had become prohibitively expensive to operate due to outdated technology.

The platinum miner — 87 percent owned by South Africa’s Impala Platinum — is one of Zimbabwe’s largest employers, with nearly 5 000 employees including contract labour.

Mining experts say the latest announcement by Zimplats, which comes after the Zimbabwe Statistical agency (Zimstat) recently said the mining sector shed over 4 600 jobs last year, said government must come up with viable policies to shore up the sector.

Mining is one of the economic pillars Zimbabwe is anchoring its economic revival.

Zimbabwe: Financial Results Reflect Ailing Economy

 A FLURRY of financial results have come to the market in the just ended reporting season with the figures projecting a picture of an economy paralysed by biting liquidity problems and general economic decline.

The figures by and large show that the majority of the counters reflected either moderate or negative top or bottom line growth.

Other results showed mounting pressure on the bottom line from increased provisions, high finance charges and negative revaluations reflecting the deteriorating economic climate, analysts have said.

Even property firms such as Zimre Property Investments are signing the blues.

ZPI chief Edson Muvingi laid bare the problems besetting his company when he presented his company full year numbers to December 2014. Although his disclosures were confined to the property sector and his company in particular, the problems he highlighted had a familiar ring and touched on the broader economy.

He said tenants had failed to pay rentals; the company had property voids and rising debtors. It was the same story to an extent, but with a different setting.

Muvingi said his company was contendingith high levels of debtors. "We are just like banks who are also lending to people who might never pay back," he said.

And when it comes to recovering such debts, companies are getting no joy.

For instance, Muvingi said auctioneers have run out of storage space for furniture. Against such a background, attaching property is no longer a good idea.This, analysts say reflects the liquidity problems in the country.

Instead of attaching property, opting for payment terms was a much more prudent way, Muvingi said.
The problems highlighted by Muvingi are not confined to property companies alone.Additionally, tenants are demanding lower rents, he said.

Even banks have to contend with such problems of bad debts.
The Reserve Bank last year said non-performing loans (NPLs) stood at almost US$800 million.

An NPL is when payments of interest and principal are past due by 90 days or more, or at least 90.
A special purpose vehicle, Zimbabwe Asset Management Corporation (Zamco), was set up last year to deal with bad loans.


Zamco intends to clean up and strengthen banks' balance sheets and provide them with the liquidity to fund valuable projects for the economy to rebound and to mitigate loss of confidence.

MMC Capital warned in July that the cut back on lending would "have a huge bearing on the economy as the reduced credit supply will lead to working capital challenges and in many instances businesses" failing to fund capital expenditure.

"The net result will be a decline of private gross fixed capital formation and private consumption which in turn will negatively impact on economic growth," MMC said. "In a high NPL environment, banks increasingly tend to carry out internal consolidation to improve the asset quality rather than distributing credit."

A number of financial institutions have obtained writs of execution to attach property to recover the money from defaulting clients.

Every week, national newspapers are awash with auction adverts.

Many face starvation

 When man-made disasters correlate with natural phenomena, there can only be one outcome: total collapse of whatever is in question.

Such is the case for the Zimbabwean economy, where the man-made policies spearheaded by President Robert Mugabe are positively correlated to what nature has bestowed on the southern African country. This year there is going to be drought in Zimbabwe, and this at a time when government does not have a budget to import maize
.
That President Mugabe’s policies have been largely disastrous cannot be disputed by anyone in the know. You only have to look at the potential the country has and compare it to what it has achieved, to see how far the current government has taken the country downhill.

Examples of economic decline abound. There is talk of the collapsed manufacturing sector now operating at a capacity utilisation level of about 36%. The unemployment rate is as high as 95%. At least nine banks have closed since 2011, two of them this year.

Talking about food, this year Zimbabweans are going to starve with government having already declared 15% of the food crops planted this season as complete write-off. Coming from government we know the figure is a conservative one; the actual outcome is much worse. What is however more scary is that on its own, government is unable to raise the cash needed to fund the grain deficit.

The government has therefore started issuing maize import licences to companies as part of efforts to avert food shortages, following a dry spell that has dampened prospects of a good harvest in many parts of the country. There is no question that erratic rains affected the harvest, but it is also a fact that the looming food crisis has several causes. Besides drought, there is the issue of lack of productivity following the land reform programme and government policy failures in agriculture.

Back in the day, farmers would have turned to irrigation to avert a national crisis, but some of the farmers who were given land destroyed the infrastructure that was on the ground and cannot turn to irrigation in times of drought. The other problem on the land is that farmers do not have security, hence they cannot put money into such businesses.

Farmers - whether black or white - are still losing farms, with those politically connected pitching up at successful farms with dubious offer letters. No one in their right mind would invest significantly in a farm politicians could claim any given day.

It’s high time that these greedy Zanu-PF backed politicians realise that “it’s not the hoe in someone’s hand that is ploughing, but it’s the strength of the ploughing.

 One of the Mugabe policies that has brought nothing but cheap shoes and clothing that might not even last a day on your back is the Look East Policy.

While other African countries  while most Zimbabweans have managed to weather the storm and hang on through the hard times, the scary thing is that worse is yet to come. The tobacco farming season, which has been touted as a beacon of success for the land reform programme, is slowly losing steam.

 This year, overall output is not expected to surpass the 216 million kilograms that were achieved last year are getting the bulk of their FDI from the West, Zimbabwe is getting nothing from the favoured East.

Britain gives Zimbabwe $72m

 Britain has given Zimbabwe $72m to help increase food production by rural farmers over the next four years, as the southern African country faces the prospect of poorer harvests this year due to inadequate rains.

 

Once the bread-basket of the region, Zimbabwe has since 2000 struggled to feed its people due to droughts and President Robert Mugabe's seizure of white-owned farms to resettle landless blacks, which badly affected commercial agriculture.

Catriona Laing, Britain's ambassador to Zimbabwe, said with 70% of Zimbabweans living in rural areas and mostly surviving on farming, supporting agriculture would speed up economic recovery.

The money would be paid out through the Food And Agriculture Organisation and other relief agencies.

Zimbabwe and Britain have had frosty ties since 2000, with London, the European Union and United States, accusing Mugabe of rigging elections and human rights abuses. Mugabe denies the charges, saying Britain is leading the West in trying to remove him from power as punishment for the land seizures.

According to New Zimbabwe.com, more than 160 white commercial farmers in Mashonaland East province will soon be removed from their properties as the government claims they are occupying the land illegally.

The government purported that scores of white commercial farmers were still occupying vast swathes of land under the guise of special sectors protection, yet they are engaging in farming activities which are not covered by the scheme, the report said.
The land grabs were set to continue despite Mugabe publicly admitting a few days before his birthday celebrations that he blundered by giving ill-equipped black farmers vast tracts of farmland seized from whites under his controversial land reforms
.
News Day reported on Thursday that the European Union had warned Mugabe over his threat for more land grabs saying the move could ruin business re-engagement efforts between Zimbabwe and the EU block.The EU recently lifted restrictions on most government officials, but retained Mugabe and his wife Grace on the sanctions list.

Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF party launched the land reforms in 2000, taking over white-owned farms to resettle landless blacks.

Mugabe said the reforms were meant to correct colonial land ownership imbalances.
At least 4 000 white commercial farmers were evicted from their farms.

The land seizures were often violent, claiming the lives of several white farmers during clashes with veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s liberation struggle.

Critics say the redistribution sparked food shortages and contributed to a massive inflation.

A family stand next to their grass-hut dwelling which was destroyed by the police at Manzou Farm in Mazoe, north of Harare, in Zimbabwe.

13,000 SCHOOL DROPOUTS 

School children going to school without fees

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Some 13,000 children dropped out of school in 2013, a 43 percent increase on the previous year, a report from the ministry of primary and secondary education has revealed.

 Lack of school fees was cited as one of the main reasons for the spike in dropouts as Zimbabweans struggle to send children to school in a failing economy.

Unemployment is estimated at more than 80 percent with most people resorting to vending to feed their families.

Significantly too, the Education Management System report released last week shows that about 52 percent of secondary school drop-outs were females.

At primary level about 40 percent of all school pupils who failed to proceed with their education were also females.

“At secondary level 2,289 dropped out of school because of school fees,” reads the report.

“At primary level, 2 784 dropped out because of school fees consisting of 1 646 males and 1 138 females.”

Early marriages were also responsible for a significant portion of the dropouts.

“At secondary level, 1,191 failed to continue because of marriages… while pregnancy has a total of 856 drop-outs,” the ministry said.

The report also shows that the government’s Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) which is meant to assist children from poor families with school fees is failing to cope with the increasing demand.

At least 165,000 pupils failed to have their fees paid through BEAM due to cheques being dishonoured as well as bureaucratic bungling.

NUST lecturers down tools

LECTURERS and non-academic staff at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST)  went on strike Tuesday demanding that government pays them outstanding February salaries.

The decision was announced at a meeting addressed by the Nust Educators Association (Nusteda) at the university's campus.

At the meeting it can be  understood that Nusteda members unanimously agreed to down tools until they are paid their dues.

Lectures agreed not to return to work until the government honours its obligation

.

The lectures and non-teaching staff  met and agreed to down their tools until government pays up their February salaries and December bonuses.

This time the strike have crippled operations at the university because even the non-teaching staff have also joined in.

Last  week  also Great Zimbabwe University lecturers and non-teaching staff went on strike, protesting non-payment of their salaries since January and their outstanding December bonuses.

The government did  not take immediate action,  and the situation have spread to other state universities like UZ.

 The reality on the ground is that lectures are  likely to get their bonus and salaries at end of February or March.

UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE lecturers have launched a massive strike against their employer, government, after failing to get their salaries on time.
Every single lecturer has joined the strike as they voiced they are not backing down until government acts on their requests.
- See more at: http://www.zimeye.com/breaking-news-uz-lecturers-launch-massive-strike/#sthash.fNUJjXeX.dpuf

The lecturers said their worst fear and worry was that the government might resort to the staggering or slashing their salaries on the pretext they were too high.

State university lecturers earn an average monthly salary of between $1,500 and $3,000 depending on grade.

The government is in the midst of a crippling financial crisis which has led to numerous shifting of civil servants' pay dates as the administration literally survives from hand to mouth.

usavengana Hove| Almost a week has elapsed since lecturers at Zimbabwe’s state universities began their strike over non-payment of last years’ bonuses and delay in payment of their January salaries.
Government’s failure to pay civil servants is well-known by now but what staggers the mind is the docile climate that has come to characterise state universities. It is compelling to write off student activism as a phenomenon past its prime. Student activism used to be no mean power broker in Zimbabwe during the 1990s. When students used to project freely themselves the government used to listen to their clamour. The power that used to be associated with student leaders was something to be considered by the government when dealing with issues critical for the smooth-running of education system, including the lecturers’ welfare.

Lecturers strike for their own cause, being non-payment by the government not students but if the Student Representative Councils (SRCs) thorough across state universities could come together and fight in solidarity with the lecturers whose rights the government is trampling on, it would be for the good of our higher education system.
The strike by lecturers is an academic battle to restore the dignity and value that was once associated with our education system.
If the SRC leaders were bused to Mazowe to endorse Grace Mugabe whose fast-track PHD is still a talk in Zimbabwe’s academic circles, why should the same “patriotic” student leaders remain quiet when professionals with authentic credentials are being stripped naked by the government.
What is so academic about Grace Mugabe’s accession to the post of secretary of ZANU-PF women’s league?
What is so academic about the relationship between ZINASU and MDC Renewal?
It is not only shameful but uncalled for to see future leaders fight for association in old-fashioned political entities which are not only retrogressive but have DNAs that disregard youthful vitality.
It would be no surprise if the Zimbabwe Congress of Student Organisation (ZICCOSO) was to send a solidarity message to Finance Minister Chinamasa for failing to avail funds to cater for the lecturers’ welfare on time.
It is pathetic to see the once vibrant ZINASU waiting in mendicant fashion for donors and MDC formations to pour in money for them to realise their founding principles and values.
Our “future leaders” have become copies of the old establishment self-evident but shameful reasons.
Student leaders are now frontiers of political parties not the students they claim to represent.
University students continue to multiply but instead of uniting into a relevant voice that the government can hear, their unions are an unpleasant discord.
The political economy of these unions has turned them into stooges who know nothing as to why they exist.
ZICCOSO waits for the order to strike from ZANU-PF’s commissariat department while ZINASU waits for anyone to give its grease its leaders’ hands for them to wake up to their mandate.
The shameful results are self-evident, that is, the downgrade of our once prestigious higher learning system.
This semester is a decider for thousands of destinies. Dissertations are mid-course and it is the time when students are in the most critical need for lecturers.
When lecturers come back for work, we are likely to see a marathon teaching style where students are going to be taught how to pass exams rather than critical engagement with concepts and theories that apply to their different disciplines.
This partly explains why our universities are now producing half-baked graduates a matter that has been raised by a number of mainstream media.
The development has been attributed to high enrollments exceeding the capacity of lecturers who are up against poor working conditions.
This should be a cause for concern for Zimbabwean students.
It is time students came together to chart a new chapter, with the restoration of dignity in our education system as a starting point.
Student leaders should come out of the decaying institutions in which they are helping to destroy their own future and face reality.
Youths are builders not pallbearers.
Musavengana Hove is a part 4 Journalism and Media studies student at the National University of Science and Technology. Email him soldierjournalist@gmail.com for feedback
- See more at: http://www.zimeye.com/lecturers-strike-continues-one-week-comment/#sthash.8E1DnoVr.dpuf

UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE lecturers have launched a massive strike against their employer, government, after failing to get their salaries on time.
Every single lecturer has joined the strike as they voiced they are not backing down until government acts on their requests.
- See more at: http://www.zimeye.com/breaking-news-uz-lecturers-launch-massive-strike/#sthash.fNUJjXeX.dpuf

UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE lecturers have launched a massive strike against their employer, government, after failing to get their salaries on time.
Every single lecturer has joined the strike as they voiced they are not backing down until government acts on their requests.
- See more at: http://www.zimeye.com/breaking-news-uz-lecturers-launch-massive-strike/#sthash.fNUJjXeX.dpuf

UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE lecturers have launched a massive strike against their employer, government, after failing to get their salaries on time.
Every single lecturer has joined the strike as they voiced they are not backing down until government acts on their requests.
- See more at: http://www.zimeye.com/breaking-news-uz-lecturers-launch-massive-strike/#sthash.fNUJjXeX.dpuf