Sugar producing concern, Tongaat Hullet, seems to have escaped the threatened expropriation of part of its plantations.

CHIREDZI — Sugar producing concern, Tongaat Hullet, seems to have escaped the threatened expropriation of part of its plantations.
Not so long ago, the company was threatened with closure in a bid to force it to cede 4 000 hectares to ruling ZANU-PF party members after it was accused of sponsoring a faction linked to ousted former vice president Joice Mujuru.
Although the company vehemently denied the allegations, ZANU-PF bigwigs had made it clear that the powers-that-be were seething with anger over Tongaat’s alleged involvement in the party’s internal affairs.
But one by one, ZANU-PF heavyweights in Masvingo recently tried to outdo each other in singing praises for the sugar-producing concern.
At the launch of the US$500 000 winter maize project being undertaken by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed firm on 329 hectares of arable land in the Lowveld, Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister, Shuvai Mahofa, made the first surprise climb-down on the fiery threats she once directed at the company in May.
Commenting on Tongaat’s maize project, Mahofa said: “This project will help not only Chiredzi, but Masvingo as a whole. You are the only company in the province which can help us and you have done better than all other companies. We have Bikita Minerals, Renco Mine, among others, but they did nothing, they have never helped us.
“We also have RioZim which has operations countrywide including here in Masvingo, but we have never benefitted anything from them. The companies keep milking our resources yet the people in their vicinity remain poorer. When you see us shouting at you, we will be trying to remind you that people have no money and if you do not help us, who will? We don’t have resources, but we have the manpower. A good turn deserves another. Any other business you may want to venture into, if we are working together, we will give it the green light.”
Mahofa also appealed to the company to sponsor all the aspiring ZANU-PF Members of Parliament in Masvingo during the campaign period for the 2018 plebiscite.
“We want you to support each ZANU-PF parliamentary candidate so that they bounce back into Parliament. If you can pledge US$500 for every MP, that would be great,” she suggested.
Dubbed “the iron lady of Masvingo”, Mahofa is a politician who does not give up easily; and many now wonder how she has suddenly softened her stance towards Tongaat.
And not to be outdone at the function, Psychomotor Minister, Josiah Hungwe, who is perceived as the “godfather” of ZANU-PF in Masvingo and also believed to be a blue-eyed boy for Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, ran short of superlatives to glowingly describe Tongaat.
“I am glad with what the company has done. It is befitting for the President to come and tour this project just like he did when the same project was initiated during the severe 1992 drought.
“The managing director of this company, Sydney Mutsambiwa, comes from Gutu. Many leaders from Zimbabwe come from Gutu. Gutu is Zimbabwe. People from Gutu are always ahead, they are many and educated.
“I am going to China and I will talk about your company activities there. I will also invite the Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe to tour your cane plantations as well as this winter maize project after his visit to Tokwe Murkosi Dam. Let the company be yours and ours,” Hungwe said.
Also present at the same function was president of the Chiefs Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira, who spoke highly about the project.
ZANU-PF insiders said Tongaat was safe for now, judging from the climbdown by Mahofa and Hungwe, who appear to have been wowed by the massive winter maize project the company has embarked on.
Many now doubted whether ZANU-PF hardliners will go ahead with the idea of taking over the 4 000 hectares from Tongaat, given its substantial investments into communities surrounding its operations which has earned the party kudos from ZANU-PF politicians.
Acting provincial ZANU-PF chairman, Paradzai Chakona, said the issue was being handled at government, not party level.
Both Mahofa and Hungwe refused to comment on whether government was still pressing ahead with the takeover of the land from Tongaat.
The maize crop, which is now at knee level, is expected to produce about 1 300 metric tonnes to be given to Masvingo villagers in the wake of poor harvests in the last farming season.
The crop is set to be harvested end of October.
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