REPORTS that there are organisations that have been approaching Bulawayo companies using Zanu PF’s name and demanding proof of compliance with the indigenisation laws are a serious cause for concern.
Southern Eye Editorial
Zanu PF Bulawayo province has moved in to disassociate itself from the criminals, but such statements would not be enough given the behaviour of the party’s youths in the past who appeared to be taking instructions from senior officials.
The Zanu PF youths wreaked havoc in the city last year occupying buildings owned by the Asian community on the pretext of fulfilling the party’s policies.
To their credit, police reacted swiftly and evicted the criminals, but reports of gangs now roaming the city’s Belmont industrial area would be a cause of fresh concerns about the safety of investments in this part of the country.
Zanu PF Bulawayo provincial deputy secretary for indigenisation and empowerment George Mlala advised company owners to insist that these individuals or organisation produce proof that they were sent by the party.
According to the reports, the organisations that are said to have links with Zanu PF members have been visiting struggling companies in the Belmont area promising them money from the Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf).
It must be stated that both the indigenisation or empowerment policy and Dimaf are government programmes and they must continue to be implemented through recognised structures.
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Everyone knows that through legitimate ways or otherwise, Zanu PF won the last elections and President Robert Mugabe will form the next government.
But this does not give Zanu PF members the licence to act with impunity, especially towards strategic areas such as the economy.
Zanu PF must not just stop at disassociating itself from individuals and groups going around terrorising people who are working hard to keep Bulawayo’s economy ticking despite all odds, but also ensure that it reins in officials whose names have been used in this scam.
The party must also ensure that the empowerment policy it is sponsoring is not ambiguous because that would provide easy fodder for criminals.
