RBZ, ministry official squabble over diamond claim
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010 12:43
A SUBSIDIARY of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has accused an official
in the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment of
using government indigenisation policies to grab a diamond claim in which
the central bank has an interest.
On the other hand, Wilson Svova, the Indigenisation ministry official,
argued that the RBZ should have no business in diamond mining because the
government had already weaned it off quasi-fiscal operations.
The case brings to the fore fears of how individuals and institutions could
be abusing controversial government policies to enrich themselves.
Svova, a partner in Shuma Mining Syndicate, has claimed ownership o
f two
mining claims where Carslone Enterprises, a subsidiary of the RBZ, is
constructing a diamond processing plant at a disputed farm in the Midlands.
The processing plant and ownership of the land is already at the centre of a
dispute between the RBZ and Gweru farmer Magiel Jovner. Svova’s firm has
entered into a deal with Jovner, hence his insistence on staying on the land
ahead of the RBZ.
The takeover prompted Carslone to petition the High Court in Bulawayo
seeking an order to interdict Svova and his associates from entering
Carlsone’s diamond processing plant.
Carslone director Emmanuel Shuro accused Svova of forcibly entering the
processing plant after claiming that the government’s indigenisation policy
empowered him to gain access into the plant.
“He cannot therefore be allowed to intrude into the area under the guise of
indigenisation – which he clearly does not comprehend,” said Shuro in his
court papers filed in July.
“As earlier on mentioned, the applicant (Carslone) is a subsidiary of RBZ.
It is owned by the central bank of Zimbabwe. It is an indigenous company.
How the indigenisation policy can be applied to the applicant therefore
boggles the mind. The respondent (Svova)’s misconception of indigenisation
must not be allowed to infringe upon applicant’s rights to its operations.”
Shuro charged that Svova had visited the plant on several occasions where he
forced Carslone’s employees to leave their employ and join Shuma Mining
Syndicate and made threats to the employees in a “manner reminiscent of
medieval barbarism”.
The Carslone director said the area that Svova wanted to convert into his
“playground” housed a strategic government project and was a high security
area.
“Diamonds need to be protected given that they are a strategic mineral. The
respondent’s conduct is an affront to these efforts. He basically has a low
appreciation of all this,” Shuro said in his founding affidavit lodged with
the High Court in Bulawayo.
But in defending the takeover of the mining claims at Kleimpton Farm, Svova
said the RBZ had no right to continue with mining operations at the farm as
it had been barred from conducting any quasi-fiscal operations.
He said Carslone was neither the owner, tenant nor tributary of the property
and had no right to interdict him from accessing the processing plant. This
was because the company had failed to renew its tribute agreement with
Jovner, the owner of the farm, after the expiry of their partnership
agreement with him on June 24.
“The Reserve Bank was instructed to refrain from its fiscal policy and it is
to this effect that subsidiaries are to wind up and the Reserve Bank focuses
on its core/main business.”
High Court Judge Justice Cheda has since ruled in favour of Carslone and
interdicted Svova and his associates from entering the diamond processing
plant.
Apart from battling with Svova, the RBZ has also been taken to court by
Jovner who sought to interdict the central bank’s subsidiary from mining and
processing diamonds on his farm.
Jovner took Carslone to court after a joint-venture mining deal which the
two signed in 2007 turned sour. A High Court judge has since ordered Jovner
and the RBZ to find an amicable solution before approaching the courts.
Kumbirai Mafunda