(NEWZIMBABWE) Workers' strike shuts down Shabanie

Workers' strike shuts down Shabanie
by Lindie Whiz
08/09/2009 00:00:00

A WEEK-LONG workers’ strike has paralysed operations at the Shabanie Mashaba Mines, currently being managed by a government appointed administrator.

The estimated 1,500 workers went on strike on August 31. The workers say they have not been paid their full salaries since January at the country’s largest asbestos mine in Zvishavane.

A meeting called between the workers and government-appointed administrator Arafas Gwaradzimba broke down without an agreement last Friday.

The mines were seized from businessman Mutumwa Mawere in 2004 under a reconstruction law which he is challenging in the Supreme Court.

President Robert Mugabe and Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono have both recently said the companies must be returned to Mawere, but Gwaradzimba and Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa have dug in.

Shabanie Mine workers have been meeting every morning at an area known as Pamushuku near their plant which is along the Buchwa-Rutenga Road, but refusing to enter the company premises.

One worker said: “The company owes us eight months’ pay. It owes us between US$800 and US$1,000 per individual depending on one’s grade. Payslips issued to us for August indicated that we were to receive salaries ranging from US$100 to US$150 depending on grade but when we went to check at the bank, our accounts had $40 and $50 per account.

“The company has been producing all along as trucks have been loading fibre for the market showing that there is money.”

The workers said they were prepared for lengthy strike action.

South Africa-based Mawere was accused of "externalising" – taking out of the country – some US$80 million in assets from Shabanie Mashaba Mine Holdings (SMMH), and the Zimbabwean government moved to nationalise his company in 2004.

Mawere has tried to open negotiations directly with President Robert Mugabe. On May 9, and again the following day, he met personally with Mugabe in Tshwane during the inauguration proceedings for newly elected South African President Jacob Zuma.

In June, he began to have almost daily text-message conversations with Reserve Bank governor, Gideon Gono. The text messages now form part of Mawere’s Supreme Court battle to win back control of his companies.

In a June 6 text message, written in typical shorthand on his BlackBerry, Gono wrote to Mawere that there was strong opposition within Mugabe's inner circle to resolving the Mawere case.



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Justice Minister Chinamasa warned Gono against involving himself in the matter on Mugabe's behalf.

"Chinam group insisting tht me and vakuru [the old man, i.e. Mugabe] shudnt interfere with the cot processes - as it wil set bad precedents'!" Gono wrote in his clipped text-messages.

"If w do tht it makes it dificult 2 argue tht we cant do the same with [Roy Bennet MDC Treasurer who is in court facing treason charges], Jestina Mukoko [tortured human rights activist accused of plotting to kill Mugabe] and others. U c the strait jacket vakuru is being given 2 wear."

In a May 19 letter, Arafas M. Gwaradzimba, the administrator of Shabanie Mashava Mines, wrote to Chinamasa instructing him to resist any efforts to "give back" Mawere's company.

According to the letter, a Gono deputy told Gwaradzimba that "this was a directive from the highest office in the land, coming through the office of the Governor of the [Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe]. According to him, a deal might have been struck between the President and MDM (Mawere), whereby the Government of Zimbabwe would give back the control and ownership of SMM to MDM. I however advised [the deputy] to go back and advise why it was ill-advised to temper with the reconstruction process [of the company] at this point in time."

In a June 7, 2009, text message to Mawere, Reserve Bank governor Gono writes that he is facing stiff resistance from Chinamasa and Defence Minister Emerson Mnangagwa, who are trying to stop Mugabe’s efforts through legal and illegal means.

"We want to move swiftly so that matter is not intercepted," Gono writes. "I hear guys were lining up to snap your cos [companies] after legal or illegal process in cot this or next week. They wil b surprised."

In a separate message on that day, Gono adds, "Pse accept an apology frm 4 any distress I may have bn said I caused tho my prez and me are now clear wht we seem 2 hav bn up gainst! Misrepresentations and malice behind our baks! Gud day."

Mawere says he does not know how long the court case will take, nor what the outcome will be. Civil cases in Zimbabwe can take years to complete, or they can be thrown out in a day or two.

" To date, His Excellencey [Mugabe] has not officially informed me of the outcome of his intervention," Mawere writes in an August 2009 court affidavit. "All I have been able to establish is that the negotiations were interrupted by the Respondent [Chinamasa] with the support of the Minister of Defence, Hon. E. Mnangagwa, whose interest and involvement in the matter remains undefined.

"One can hardly say that the decision to stop negotiations was made by the government as alleged by the Respondent," Mawere continues. "There is no basis for the Applicant [Chinamasa] to withdraw this appeal because the decision to postpone the litigation was at the instance of Dr. Gono under the instruction of His Excellency, The President of Zimbabwe. However, this case appears to have its own peculiar features that go beyond national interest."