The Zimbabwe government said it is pressing ahead with legislation to seize a controlling share of foreign-owned mining interests in the country, the official media reported on Friday.
Police also said on Friday a total of 23 585 corporate executives, store managers, traders, street vendors and bus drivers were arrested for overcharging since a prize freeze was ordered on June 26, according to state radio.
Minister of Indigenisation and Empowerment Paul Mangwana said amendments to existing mining laws, giving black Zimbabweans 51% ownership of mines, were to be presented to the Harare Parliament after it reconvenes October 30, the government mouthpiece Herald newspaper reported.
The ruling party-controlled Parliament recently passed a Bill that will give Zimbabweans a 51% stake in foreign firms, including the important mining and banking sectors.
Those new laws were rushed through the legislature in less than a month, but have still to be signed by President Robert Mugabe before being enacted. Mugabe returned home on Monday from a two week foreign trip to Egypt and the United Nations.
”We want indigenous Zimbabweans to participate in every sector of the country,” the Herald reported Mangwana as saying.
Mining, one of the biggest earners of scarce hard currency, has been dominated by international conglomerates with the necessary capital and expertise.
Mining production, however, has declined because of shortages of equipment, spare parts, gasoline and other materials.
The government’s programme of hasty seizures of mines and businesses was criticised in a key policy statement on Monday by state central bank Governor Gideon Gono as endangering already dwindling hopes of recovery in the worst economic crisis since independence in 1980.
Zimbabwe has the world’s worst official inflation, at about 6 600%. Independent estimates put real inflation closer to 25 000% and the International Monetary Fund has forecast it reaching 100 000% by the end of the year. Chronic shortages have fuelled a thriving black market where basic goods cost up to 10 times the government’s fixed prices.
The official media said the government on Thursday offered a 300% salary increase to teachers, the biggest single group of government employees, on strike since Monday.
It was not immediately clear whether striking teachers accepted the offer. Some teachers in central Harare schools were not at work Friday though several schools were not affected by the work stoppage earlier in the week. — Sapa-AP