Wednesday, March 14, 2012

(NEWZIMBABWE, REUTERS) Zanu PF buoyed by Implats capitulation

COMMENT - Isn't it great? :) Those 'analysts' need to declare their financial interests. It is almost touching how they call the PM 'Morgan', and tell the world how much he loves Anglo-American Corporation. :))) All the 'hate Mugabe' propaganda of the last decade has been nothing more than the fear of losing the transnational corporation's (Anglo-American De Beers, for instance) death grip on Africa's resources. And using their positions in the international media to make this campaign happen.

And isn't Reuters supposed to be an independent news agency? Oh I forgot, they are owned by the same people who are the largest single shareholder in Anglo-American De Beers, the world's largest diamond miner, and Zimbabwe owns 20% of the world's known diamond reserves. The very same family that also owns Rio Tinto, and it's Murowa diamond mine. Feel the radicalism. ;)

Zanu PF buoyed by Implats capitulation
14/03/2012 00:00:00
by Reuters

THE capitulation of a major platinum miner to Zimbabwe's demand to hand over a majority stake to local black investors will embolden President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party to pressure other foreign companies ahead of elections expected this year.

[Right, because 51% ownership of foreign corporations in Zimbabwe and them paying taxes is all about paying for the next elections. Poor Zimplats. - MrK]


Other miners are likely be targeted to fill Zanu PF election campaign coffers while the policy will be wrapped in the flag of liberation and portrayed as a hammer blow to the last remnants of white colonial rule, analysts said.

South Africa-based Impala Platinum, the world's second largest platinum producer and the biggest foreign investor in the country, bowed on Tuesday to Zimbabwe's pressure to surrender a 51 percent stake in its Zimplats unit, a cave-in that followed months of wrangling.

Platinum's spot price has been soaring and shot past gold on Tuesday.

Mugabe, 88 and in power since Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980, and top Zanu PF officials have been hit with international sanctions after being accused of using political violence to stay in power.

[The country and government were hit with economic sanctions in 2001, which came into force in 2002, called the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001. - MrK]


One of Africa's longest-serving leaders, Mugabe is pushing for elections this year,

[The dictator! The despot! How dare he push for elections? The humanity. - MrK]


one year ahead of schedule,

[Ahead of whose schedule? The MDC's? Downing Street's? - MrK]


arguing the unity government he formed with Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai after a violent 2008 vote has broken down.

"This is more about Zanu PF not having ready access to cash ever since the MDC took control of the finance ministry," said Tara O'Connor of Africa Risk Consulting.

"And dollarisation (of the economy) has taken away Zanu PF's ability to print money and decimated the power of the central bank. They are strapped for cash and the mining industry has become the next target to fund the Zanu PF patronage system," she added.

[Which is really what dollarisation (or euro-isation) were all about - taking the power to regulate the money supply away from national governments. - MrK]


Zanu PF has been criticised over the past decade for patronage when seizing white-owned farms. Many farms are now in the hands of party loyalists instead of the landless black peasants who were supposed to benefit.

[And we all know the veracity of those claims. Over 200,000 families have received land under the Fast Track alone, another 150,000 under the Willing Buyer, Willing Seller program before it. The slur was that land went from 6,000 white farmers, to 5,000 'friends and cronies of Mugabe'. The entire Economist financed hitjob called 'Mugabe And The White African' is based on that premise. However, if you read Prof. Ian Scoones book, based on an actual survey of 400 farms, only 3% of recipients in Masvingo Province could be described as connected to the security state or ZANU-PF leadership - 'friends and cronies of Mugabe', as the slur goes. Also see from this article here: Myth 2: The beneficiaries of Zimbabwean land reform have been largely political ‘cronies’ This is the data from AGRITEX/World Food Program/Food and Agriculture Organisation:

OLD RESETTLEMENT (WBWS): 159,985

FAST TRACK
A1 145,000
A2 29,902

SMALL SCALE COMMERCIAL FARMERS
29,902
LARGE SCALE COMMERCIAL FARMERS
920

Source: AGRITEX, World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN); table 2. Agricultural land utilization pattern, 2006/07

And this is the data for 5 years ago, even more people have been resettled today. - MrK]


Analysts said the big winner from the Implats move was Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, a Zanu PF stalwart, while MDC leader, Prime Minister Tsvangirai, was a clear loser.

Victory

"It will be construed as a big political victory for Mugabe and Zanu PF and defeat for Tsvangirai who has been saying such actions will hurt the economy," said Tony Hawkins, a professor at the University of Zimbabwe's Graduate School of Business.

[And how old is the geriatric rhodesian Tony Hawkins, now age is an ok issue to condemn candidates by? - MrK]


"The guys (Zanu PF) will have certainly been emboldened and will look to extend this to the other mines," he said.

Other companies in the firing line now include Mimosa, a 50-50 joint venture between Implats and Aquarius Platinum , and Rio Tinto's Murowa diamond mine.

Zanu PF has also been accused of profiting from the Marange diamond fields, where human rights groups estimate

[Estimate based on what? The same way they 'estimated' thousands of deaths during the last election? - MrK]


at least 200 artisanal, or small-scale, miners were killed in 2008 when Zimbabwe's security forces seized the workings. Mugabe's government has denied this.

The valuation of the Implats stake transfer has not been worked out and the murkiness surrounding the agreement has raised questions about where the funds will really go.

But 31 percent of the total is nominally earmarked to go to the state's National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund, which is Zanu PF-controlled. Ten percent will go to local communities and 10 percent to Zimplats employees, according to the agreement announced by both sides.

The nationalisation drive also plays to the narrative Zanu PF wants to weave for the election: the black liberation movement recovering assets seized by white colonialists.

[Apparently that is more than 'a narrative'. More editorialising by Reuters' anonymous writer. - MrK]


"Mugabe is determined to show that he is the true Africanist taking back all the land and resources that whites have stolen. This is the image he wants to create," said Allister Sparks, a Johannesburg-based independent political analyst.

['A true Africanist'? Interestingly, Ben Freeth (Mugabe And The White African) equated Pan-Africanism with 'this hatred of the white man you have'. Pan-Africanism is the 'racism' they are talking about when they accuse Africans of 'being racist'. - MrK]


In contrast, Zanu PF has persistently portrayed Tsvangirai, a former miner, as a puppet of white capital.

"Morgan loves the mining industry because he was a miner and was given his start in life by Anglo American. He is a miner at heart but he sees both sides of the picture and this policy is not good for the workers or investors," said Tsvangirai biographer Sarah Hudleston.

[In fact, 'Morgan' loves Anglo-American so much, that he and his MDC helped to draw up the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, which destroyed the Zimbabwe Dollar from Jan. 1st 2002 onwards. Even though it ended up killing thousands of Zimbabweans from preventable diseases. Yes Sir, Morgan Tsvangirai loves Anglo-American. - MrK]


Control

The ruling Zanu PF welcomed the Implats decision. "We are absolutely delighted. We have said this time and again, that we need to control our economy and resources," said spokesman Rugare Gumbo.

"The opposition (MDC) has no programme. I do not take them seriously, they don't understand the dynamics of liberation and they are just parroting their masters' line of thinking," Gumbo added.

Zimbabwe is not the only African country that is pushing for a bigger share of state ownership in resources and so the Zanu PF nationalisation march can also be portrayed as part of a wider Africanist agenda.

[No, really? So it may not be all about financing the next elections? - MrK]


But while mineral-rich countries from South Africa to Ghana are trying to get a bigger slice of their resource pie, Zimbabwe stands out for its radicalism.

"Zimbabwe always provides us with an extreme example of things happening elsewhere. Resource nationalism is not unique to Zimbabwe, it is happening across the continent. But Zimbabwe is just taking it to extreme levels," said O'Connor.

COMMENTS

RG_M

Tara O'Connor, Allister Sparks, Sarah Hudleston, Tony Hawkins......Can anyone see how interesting the Rhodesians are no longer asking the MDC-T to talk on their behalf now? They feel betrayed by the MDC-T because ZANU PF is scoring major blow-out successes.

Re-read the article again critically and you will see how even Tsvangirai's photographer is diving into directly demonising ZANU PF......They know that ZANU PF's ambitious Empowerment drive is real and it will bring about proper and lasting wealth, lasting prosperity for Blackie!!!! The whole article by Ed Stobbart is very similar to an article on the Wall Street Journal today.

I think this is the time the nation needs to be on high alert.....I am convinced the Rhodesians are going to their PLAN B if those in the know know what I mean. These guys were quite convinced that Implats was not going to budge.....now this has opened the floodgates.

The tone from the many whites who have commented here is definitely angry....even more angry than sender52......now compare their tone to Tsvangirai's statement in the Herald today that sanctions must be removed completely because they are hindering economic progress. Conflicting stance from the MDC-T and their handlers......could this be evolution of the MDC-T?


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posted by MrK @ 7:17 PM

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