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SENATE HANSARD 12 DECEMBER 2024 VOL 34 NO 18

PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE

Thursday, 12^th December, 2024

The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.

PRAYERS

(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE

APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS

THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: We are supposed to have our questions without notice but with me I have a list of apologies as follows;

Hon. (Rtd) Dr. C.G.D.N. Chiwenga, Vice President; Hon. Vice President Dr. Mohadi; Hon. S. G. Nyoni; Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife; Hon. K. Coventry; Minister of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture; Hon.  E. Jesaya, Deputy Minister of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture; Hon. B. Rwodzi, Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry; Hon. O. C. Z Muchinguri-Kashiri, Minister of Defence; Hon. Prof. A Murwira, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Hon. C. Sanyatwe, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage; Hon. P. Kambamura, Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development; Hon. S. Sibanda, Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation , Science and Technology Development; Hon. R. Modi, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce; Hon. E. Moyo, Minister of Energy and Power Development; Hon. D. Marapira, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement.

In the House, we welcome the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Minister of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Affairs, Hon. Sen. Mavhunga; Hon. Mavetera, Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services; Hon. Sen. Moyo, Deputy Minister of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Affairs; Hon. Sen. Tawengwa, Minister of State for Harare Metropolitan Province; Hon. D. Phuti, Deputy Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services. We welcome you because we expect the whole bench but anyway, we respect the few of you for coming. Hon. Y. Simbanegavi, Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development, we welcome you. So, Hon. Members, we have got work to do. We can start with those that are here. We welcome the Minister of Housing and Social Amenities.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

         ^*HON. SEN. KADUNGURE: Thank you Madam President, my question is directed to the Minister of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Affairs. I want to thank the Hon. Minister for the support that she is giving to the war veterans. How far has the vetting exercise gone?

         ^*THE MINISTER OF VETERANS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE AFFAIRS (HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA): Thank you Madam President and thank you to the Hon. Senator for that pertinent question. Indeed, the vetting of war veterans was completed in November and we are now in the process of data capturing, then we will gazette the names of the war collaborators and non-combatants. The number of those who were vetted this year and in 2022 is more than 29 000. The results will be published in 2025, I thank you.

         HON. SEN. TONGOGARA:  Thank you Madam President, my question was supposed to be directed to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development but in his absence, I will direct it to the Leader of the House, Hon. Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi.

THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi, Leader of this House?

HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Oh, he is leader of the Lower House. Hon. Sen. Matuke is the leader of this Upper House

THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Anyway, I think he will help us. We will appeal to him

HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Can he confirm if he can help us?

THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: That is not your duty my Hon. Senator, yours is to ask the questions.

THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Madam President.

HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Could the Hon. Minister update us on the progress of infrastructure development in our State Universities, particularly regarding the student accommodation.

THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Madam President. I want to thank the Hon. Senator for her question where she is seeking clarity on the policy position with Government with regards to students’ accommodation at tertiary institutions.  Government’s policy is that whenever possible, students must be accommodated within campus or closer to campus. 

What we have embarked upon is that Government is now partnering with other agencies or private sectors to ensure that we build students’ accommodation.  You will recall that in Chinhoyi, for example, there is student accommodation, very modern that was built by Chinhoyi University of Technology in collaboration with our own state pension fund and NSSA.  That is the thrust that we are doing across the country to say where we have pension funds that are able to assist, we invest in students’ accommodation where students will then pay a reasonable amount while they have all the facilities that they need as learners.  That will be the best way forward.  Short of that then we engaged the private sector.  As Government, we are saying if resources are available as and when Treasury avails resources, we will then build our own student accommodation on campus.  I thank you Madam President.

*HON. SEN. HUNGWE: My question goes to the Hon. Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.  We are hearing on social media that we are likely to experience Cyclone Chido.  What is Government’s state of preparedness because we once fall victims of cyclone Eline.  How prepared is our Government in regards to this?

*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI):  I thank you Hon. President and I thank the Hon. Sen. for her question.  I want to begin by saying that we thank God, Cyclone Chido is in Madagascar.  The Metrological Dept. is saying that as Zimbabwe, we are not likely to experience the cyclone.  The rains that we are expecting to receive will be coming from Botswana. 

On the state of preparedness; the Government is very much prepared.  The Ministry of Finance has allocated funds to Civil Protection Unit.  If we experience a disaster in our communities, districts, council and DDC; we urge people to pass on the information in case of disaster so that they can be helped.

THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: We have been joined by the Hon. Minister of Housing and Deputy Minister of Finance.  I welcome you Hon. Ministers.

*HON. SEN. MUZODA: Thank you Madam President.  The question I wanted to ask has been asked already but however, I have another question. I will direct my question to the Leader of Government Business.  Madam President, as you are aware that we had drought this year, people are losing their livestock because the grass has dried up and the cattle have nowhere to graze in most communities. 

Hon. Minister, we used to see small dams in our areas as we were growing up.  I could witness DDF coming to desilt those small dams.  These dams helped the community as the source of water for animals, the cattle did not travel long distance to fetch water.  What is Government plan in rehabilitating those small dams so that our animals will not die?  I thank you.

*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI):  I thank you Hon. President and I want to thank the Hon. Sen. For his question. It is true that the ministry that overseas this, they have this and it is one of the tasks they are seized with right now so that we desilt small dams.

We faced drought this year, if we experience hunger as a country, the Government will look for food aid. We realised that this year we faced drought, the department of Agriculture are encouraging farmers to scale down on their cattle.  The people with a large herd must sell some and then look for bales of hay so that they can feed their cattle.  The Ministry of Lands is looking into this matter.

         +HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Thank you Madam President. We heard that people will be given food and food will be distributed to everyone throughout Zimbabwe, especially in rural areas. People are not getting food in rural areas. The question is when is food going to be availed?

         * HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: The Hon. Senator asked a question. The question is concerning the issue that government is intervening and giving people food. The question is that people are not receiving food what is the challenge? I believe that is the question that was asked by the Hon. Senator. What exactly is the challenge when you said that food is coming? It is true government promised that food is going to be availed. So government had said that food will be taken to the wards. Madam President, the challenge is that our food is being cultivated in Mashonaland West, mostly Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East but it is mostly in that region. The movement and the transference of the food to the depots is the challenge.

Instead of waiting for government, the issue that was raised is that MPs and Councilors and others could intervene so that food is taken from GMB to the people instead leaving people to suffer and die of hunger. This issue was raised and delt with because we are facing drought, there might be a challenge in terms of transporting food to the different communities. Members of Parliament, Councilors and businessmen should intervene so that food cascades down to the communities. Then we will be able to overcome this season, the season where we are facing drought. I thank you.

         +HON. SEN. R. NDLOVU: My supplementary is from what the Minister is encouraging, is it not going to cause corruption just because there is always corruption in food distribution.  If you are to go and fetch maize from GMB, what will happen Madam President because we are experiencing challenges out there? Right now, what the Minister is saying is, let us say for me as Hon. Ndlovu if I am to go to GMB to collect maize, what will happen? We need to ensure that we carry this exercise accordingly so that we do not encourage corruption. Thank you.

          *HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam President and thank you Hon. Senator for the question. What I mentioned is things that we have always been exercising. The MP is not the one who signs because those who are responsible would sign. It is only a government officer who would sign so that grain would be taken to the communities. I believe that the issue has been addressed.

         *HON. SEN. NGWENA: Thank you Madam President. My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care since the Hon. Minister is not present, I will direct to the Leader of Government. What steps are you taking in order to avail tablets in public hospitals? Since when you go to a hospital there are no tablets and prescriptions are given to patients to go to pharmacies because many patients  do not have money to buy such medication, like medication for diabetic and those who have heart ailments. The question is that what steps are being taken by government in order to correct that?

         *THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank Madam President Ma’am and I thank the Hon. Senator for that pertinent question. As government the policy is that for medication to go to hospitals they are taken to Natpharm which has that responsibility. The Hon. Senator’s question is specific that there is no medication but as government we have a policy that this should be happening. I would request that the Hon. Senator puts the question in writing so that the responsible Minister would go and research about the question and come back with statistics talking about the quantities. I am here to address policy questions which address policy issues but, in this case, this is a question which requires the Hon. Minister to go and research. Thank you.

         THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I believe it is important because the response will benefit the whole nation, not you as an individual. So Hon. Senator I request that you put it in writing so that the responsible Minister would go and research fully so that the question will be addressed properly. I thank you.

         ⁺HON. SEN. RITTA NDLOVU: My question is directed to the Minister of Energy. What is happening with regards to electricity? It has been a while since we last received electricity and as early as 5 am, electricity will be gone and it comes back around 2 a.m. What answers are you going to give us with regards to electricity? Ican  sight one incident which happened when the President was in attendance, there was a power outage, so we need to know and be told the truth about what is happening.

         THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. SIMBANEGAVI): I am not very fluent in isiNdebele, so I am not sure if I got the Hon. Member correctly. You were asking about load shedding or why we have low electricity supplies. Is that so?

         THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I am sorry Hon. Minister; we were supposed to have someone translating so that you could get the question clearly. I do not understand what is happening. I think there is a technical fault. Can you repeat the question again Hon. Member?

         HON. RITTA NDLOVU:  Our request is that Ministers should understand other languages and also …

         THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: No, I think you are going out of line because the Ministers cannot start to learn the language today. What we want today is for questions to be answered.

         HON. RITTA NDLOVU: Again, the translators should translate. ⁺My question is, what is happening with the electricity situation because there is no electricity totally. We note that electricity comes and goes in the early hours of the morning and comes back at 11 p.m. Throughout the day, sometimes for two days there is no electricity. My question is, what is happening? Please tell us about the electricity situation because it seems as if nothing is being fixed. I also want to say that when the President was in attendance in this august House, there was a power outage. So the question is, what is happening so that we plan whether to adopt the use of solar or accept that there is no electricity in urban areas.?

         HON. SIMBANEGAVI: My apologies for the communication breakdown. Technically, the reason why we have load shedding in the mornings and evenings, some days it is because we are trying to address the issue of power shortages during peak hours. In domestic set-ups, usually people cook more in the mornings and evenings. So to ensure that our industries do not lack energy, we sometimes switch off domestic set-ups and provide energy to industries so that industries are able to function in the afternoon and then we re-supply to homes in the evenings because industries will have closed by then.

         I think it is common knowledge that we have power shortages because of the low water levels in our dams and other challenges we are having with our fossil fuels. This is a national problem and we are looking forward to improvement in our energy supply, God willing. If our weather patterns also improve and we get more rain, we will be able to improve our energy generation. What we are advising as Government is for people to not just rely on electricity coming from ZESA but also look into other sources of renewable energy like solar energy so that they can also be able to alleviate some of these shortages themselves. They can put solar systems in their own houses or even use gas to cook so that the problems are also reduced.

I want to assure the Hon. Senators that as Government, we are doing our best to look into all the other options that we can utilise to improve our national generation capacity. Thank you.

         ⁺HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Thank you Madam President.  I had good news from the Hon. Minister, highlighting that in the afternoon we do not have electricity because of the intention of serving industries.  How come industries can go for about five days without electricity? Where do you use that saved electricity?  

         HON. SIMBANEGAVI: Thank you Madam President Ma’am, the issue of load shedding will not totally solve the issues of energy shortages that we have. It is only a measure to try to share what we have.  It is not going to be like, if we load shed one area, it means the whole industrial section will be energised.  It still means that shortages will continue.  Consumption also differs with what we will be generating on a particular day.  Some days we have more and other days we have less.

         We have a standing deficit of almost 500 megawatts as it stands.  We are not able to bridge that gap right now.  That gap is standing, it still means as we load shed, shortages are still going to continue.  It is just a question of encouraging our people to also be patient with us as we also try to come up with other sources of energy generation.

         *HON. TONGOGARA: Thank you Madam President.  I would like to thank the Hon. Minister for the response he gave with regards to encouraging the public to use solar energy in their households. The issue of electricity is quite pertinent, so the question is that; as Government, how do you plan to assist people so that they are able to have electricity?  Solar systems are expensive. The components are beyond the reach of many people, what is Government planning in terms of providing solar units at an affordable price so that everyone can have access to electricity when there is no electricity from the national grid?  I thank you.

         ^*HON. SIMBANEGAVI: Thank you Madam President.  Government has a lot of interventions, especially when looking at the fact that people in different areas can use solar energy.  Government has suspended the payment of tax on all solar accessories upon importation. Whenever a person wants to buy a solar system from outside the country, it will be less expensive because there is no duty paid. 

         This was done deliberately so that people can be able to afford to import solar units and so that they can install them in their homes.  We want to encourage people to use solar energy. Solar systems are now readily available in the market, we urge people not to buy cheap fake products because what matters is that a person buys good quality batteries which can store energy so that they will be able to harness solar energy.

         I want to respond to the Hon. Senator who asked a question that - how is Government assisting the public to be able to use solar energy?  We have a programme which we anticipate to be launching in a few days which is meant to be an intervention, which will provide electricity for every household. 

         We are going to be distributing solar kits in rural areas through the Rural Solarisation Programme.  These solar systems will be distributed for free.  They will be complete kits which would be ready for installation and people would be able to use the lighting system to pump water from their boreholes.  School children will be able to use their computers for their studies even for charging cell phones for their studies. 

         This is a programme which we anticipate to be launched in the near future and the President is going to be launching that particular programme.  I thank you.

         HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Thank you Madam President.  My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Energy and Power Development. Zimbabwe is facing losses of huge tracts of forest to provision of energy to tobacco farmers, et cetera. The loss amounts to something like 327 000 hectares of forestry land. This is thought to be one of the highest losses in the region.  As I said, partially lost to provision of energy to farmers and to veld fires.  Specifically with respect to provision of energy to farmers, particularly tobacco farmers, what alternative energy is the Ministry thinking of or considering so that we can serve the forests which are being lost in a big way, in the process affecting our thrust on climate change as well as our good global citizenship around the carbon footprint? I thank you.

         THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Yes Hon. Minister, but only if you have an answer.  I would have loved that question to be in writing so that the Hon. Minister would give a full researched information to this House. If you have the answer, you can give us.

         HON. SIMBANEGAVI:  Thank you Madam President.  Initially, what we are encouraging as Government is that anyone who is using wood or trees to do anything in terms of their industry or company or factory, should then be able to plant trees in return.

         We are now saying, farmers in their own farms should plant gum trees and other trees, those that they would have cut down.  We are also levying them for what is called a tobacco levy in leu of then trying to make sure that as Government, we also plant the trees ourselves so that we also come up with tree orchards and other tree plantations to replace the lost forestry. 

         Our farmers are also now aware of the issue of carbon credits that our President said we need to adhere to issues of how we manage our carbon levels. So, we now discourage the cutting down of trees so that they can find other ways of making sure that their tobacco is cured. These include the use of coal where it is available so that we minimise the cutting down of trees. 

         Otherwise, our farmers are very much aware that whenever they have cut down trees, they also need to plant more to replace those that have been used.  I thank you. 

          HON. SEN. L. SIBANDA:  My question is directed to the Leader of the House.  Leader of the House, I will not stop making noise about the radiation …..

         THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE:  Order Hon. Member! You must address the Chair. 

HON. SEN. L. SIBANDA:  Madam President, I will not stop making noise about the radiation machine at Mpilo because my health is at stake.  The radiation machine has been down since August, 2022.  I went back two weeks ago and the machine is still down.

 THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE:  Order Hon. Member! That is not a policy question can you please go and put the question in writing so that the Hon. Minister will give the House a researched answer.

HON. SEN. MATIBIRI:  Thank you Madam President, my question is directed to the Minister of ICT and Courier Services.  We note and appreciate the rapid transformation in our education system.

THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE:  Order Hon. Member! You must address the Chair. 

HON. SEN. MATIBIRI:  Thank you Madam President.  I make reference to the transition from Education 5.0 to Heritage Based Education.  Two critical questions arise Hon. President.  The first one is what role will the deployment of ICT play in meeting the objectives of Heritage Based Education.  The second one is, what is being done to prepare our teachers so that they are better placed to utilise ICT in meeting the objectives of Heritage Based Education? 

THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. DR. MAVETERA):  Thank you very much Madam President and let me also thank the Hon. Senator for this question which is very important.  Our President has enunciated to us to make sure that we need to also push on a whole Government approach, which will see all Government Ministries working with one goal and also collaborating on all efforts to make sure that we achieve a digitalised Zimbabwe towards Vision 2030. 

The role of ICT in Heritage Based Education – right now we are very much seized with the fourth industrial revolution which I believe that we need to utilise ICTs in everything that we are doing.  You realise that even the devices that we are using, we need to be able ….

THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Your voice is too low, I do not know Senators if you are hearing the Minister.

HON. DR. MAVETERA:   It is too low, I know if I speak very loud, I will be too fast so let me try.  Thank you Madam President, I was saying His Excellency, the President often say we need to be able to work on a whole Government approach which Heritage Based Education is under the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education but as the Ministry of ICT, we work together with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education and all other Government Departments and Ministries to be able to assist in digitalising Zimbabwe towards Vision 2030. 

Madam President, how then are we coming in as Ministry of ICT?  Firstly, I would say we should be able to provide the connectivity and to assist our young people to be able to come up with innovations. That will be able to assist them to contribute towards Heritage Based Education.  We are also talking about education being practical, the practicality of education also entails young people being able to come up with innovations …..

THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE:  Order, can you please address the Chair?

HON. DR. MAVETERA:   Thank you Madam President, they should be able to come up with ICT startups which can actually be able to assist us.  For us as Ministry of ICT, definitely the first thing we are doing is connectivity, the second thing is also to provide for training and skills around and also to be able to assist the same way that is being done by Heritage Based Education.  We are also assisting and also equipping our personnel.  We are working together with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education which then goes to the second question.  We are assisting and also upskilling and imparting skills to our teachers.  We have realised that there is need for us to be able to also assist our workforce and also making sure that they would actually be able to also assist our students to be able to achieve this.  What we are doing in terms of ICT is to be able to assist and also make sure that there is enabling environment which allows us to be able to deploy ICT, which entails us also assisting in terms of training, connectivity and making sure that we avail devices.  We must also make sure that we have the right policies which are there in place to make sure that we assist in the achievement of Heritage Based Education.  I thank you.

THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE:  I encourage Hon. Senators to address the Chair because this is the procedure.  You are not supposed to talk straight to the one who has raised the question because at times someone becomes angry and this is where the fight starts from, please that fight should come to me. 

*HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA:  Thank you Madam President.  I want to direct my question to the Minister of Finance. Firstly, I want to start by thanking and appreciate that our local currency the ZiG has stabilised, the inflation rate is now stable.  I want to understand from the Ministry that since we are going for holidays what plans have been put in place so that we retain the same value because we might be having an influx of people who are coming from the diaspora and this might end up tempering with the local currency and its stability. The question then is, what plans are in place so that shops in rural areas would accept local currency?  I thank you Madam President. 

*THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA):  Thank you Madam President and I also want to thank the Hon. Member for that pertinent question.  For our currency to retain its value, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is taking some measures which will ensure that the ZiG which is in circulation would be in tandem with the US dollar stocks which are in our banks.  We do not anticipate to print more notes and this would result in a situation where we retain our value.  The Hon. Senator then asked about the steps that are being taken that in rural areas people should use  local currency. If there are any specific areas which are not adhering to this, then I am going to share our toll-free numbers before the end of this session, so that we can communicate with the financial intelligence unit about shops which are not talking local currency. I believe that I have addressed the question. I thank you.

*HON. SEN. S. NDEBELE: Thank you Madam President. I want to thank the Hon. Minister for the response. Whilst they are tasking the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) the responsibility of monitoring whether shops in the rural areas are adhering to that policy, I want to request that even the big shops be monitored. Where we buy goods everyday, you would find that there are people who would be saying that should I give you a card for swiping and other things. We do not want that as a Government, we need to correct that. I thank you.

*HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA: Thank you Madam President, I thank the Hon. Member accepts that she is part of Government, and we appreciate that. Not accepting local currency is a crime. If it is not reported, then this crime will not come out. We urge Hon. Members of Parliament, Senators, and community leaders to communicate that information regarding shops which are not accepting local currency. There are fines which were passed by this august House. I have forgotten the exact figure, this has been gazetted, it is a crime and people will be prosecuted. I thank you.

Questions Without Notice were interrupted by the PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in terms of Standing Order Number 67.

HON. SEN. RITTA NDLOVU: I request that time for questions without notice be extended by 10 or 15 minutes Madam President

THE PRESIDENT OF SENATE: By how many minutes?

HON. SEN. MLOTSWA: I propose 20 minutes.

HON. SEN. GWATURE: I second.

*HON. SEN. S. NDEBELE: Madam President, I did not get the response to my question. The Hon. Minister responded to the first part. S I asked about big shops where you find people in OK and Pick `n Pay or other supermarket requesting for cards. We are Chairman of SADC, so we do not want our names to be tarnished. People are moving around freely and changing money even in supermarkets. That is my question Hon. Minister.

*HON. D.K. MNANGAGWA: I think I had missed that part. The law is clear, it is a crime to change currencies. When the police see people doing that, they must arrest these people. As the responsible Ministry, we have laws in place.  We are going to engage those who enforce the law, so that when these big shops have been identified, we would send people who would go to these shops and they will act in an overt manner and they would be arrested. Our law enforcers are going to be deployed so that they nipple this thing in the bud. I thank you.

*HON. SEN. KUNAKA: Thank you. Hon. President. I want to direct my question to the Minister of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion. On the issue that the Hon. Minister raised, I want to say that we need to identify the source because basic food is packed in USD value, so you would find that Government employees earn their salaries in ZiG yet goods are packed in USD value. So, to cover basics, people have to change their money, so that they buy goods. Let us first identify the problem so that we address it. My question is, what steps are being taken by Government, so that it corrects the issue of civil servants who earn ZiG yet goods are packed in USD. What  can be done so that civil servants will be given hard currency instead of going to money changers to change their money?

*HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA: It is true Mr. President Sir. There are some who takes good from big shops and sell in USD and refuse to accept our local currency. However, there are also big shops which have such commodities which are sold in ZiG. So, that is what I was alluding to, that if they are formal shops which are not taking ZiG currency, then you should notify the Ministry so that we know and address the issue. The issue of the informal sector and the informal economy is an issue that we want to address. It cannot be addressed overnight but it is an issue that indeed is prejudicing those who would be earning ZiG. If there are formal retail shops or big shops which have goods, and they are not taking the local currency then we want to know such shops, so that we trace the issue, identify and solve it. I thank you.

*HON. SEN. KUNAKA:  Supplementary question.  There is a service station which does not take local currency.  

*THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE:  Hon. Senator, may you please put the question in writing, indicating the different shops that are doing that? I thank you.

*HON. SEN. CHINYANGA:  Mr. President Sir, I want to direct my question to the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion that firstly, the Honourable Minister's phone rings continuously and no one answers the phone.  Also, downtown no one accepts the ZiG currency.  They sell their goods in US dollars and they do so saying that we are the Zimbabwean economy.

*THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE:  The issue that was raised is that this is happening downtown. May you please put it in writing Hon. Member? This is the last supplementary that I am taking.  We have almost exhausted our 20 minutes.

HON. SEN. RITTA NDLOVU:  Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion. My question is, what is the Government rate of the ZiG against the US dollar?  The reason why I am asking is because those big supermarkets which used to rate us using Government rate now are rating us at 30 ZiG or 35 ZiG against US$1. So, I just want to understand what the Government rate is as we stand.

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA):  Thank you Mr. President.  In response to the question that is coming from the Hon. Senator, the Government does not have a rate.  The exchange rate is determined at the interbank platform.  What happens Mr. President, is that based on the willing buyer/willing seller, depending on who is holding US dollars and at what rate they want to sell, an equilibrium rate is set by the banks and this exchange rate is what then prevails in the market.  

The question that the Senator then brings is - what is the rate? It is changing week upon week depending on the interbank.  I am not exactly sure what it is today but the 35 that she mentioned does not sound like the official interbank rate.  It would seem as if this particular supermarket or grocery store was using a black-market exchange rate and would need to be dealt with.  The official interbank is something that is gazetted, I think daily and officially but the rate that she just mentioned does not sound as if it is the official one.  I would have to check but I do not believe it has reached 35.   Thank you Mr. President.

THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE:  Thank you Hon. Minister.  From the list that I inherited here, there is Hon. Senator Chief Chikwaka and Hon. Senator Chakabuda, followed by Hon. Senator Gwatuwe.

HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA:  Thank you Hon. President.  I wanted to direct my question to the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services.  Mr. President, we are worried with what is happening on our televisions.  The content that we see on television is sometimes inappropriate.  My question is, is the Censorship Act still in place?  You find issues being raised on radio stations and television stations that we consider to be taboo.

In the past, we had Chakafukidza Dzimba Matenga.  Now you find vulgar programmes and obscenities being broadcast on both radio and television.  What is Government doing in terms of preserving our culture, yet we find these things happening on radio and television?

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION, PUBLICITY AND BROADCASTNG SERVICES (HON. MARUPI):  Thank you, Senator Chief Chikwaka.  In broadcasting, there is a law or there are laws in place which should be adhered to.  These laws apply to both radio and television.  There is a law which is clear and the Minister of Information is clear on that.  

In different programmes that are being broadcast, there are programmes that will be coming from independent producers or private players who broadcast or who package their programmes.  They bring them or they take them to State broadcasters.  Sometimes issues might be found coming from such productions but there are gatekeepers who are responsible for listening and watching such programmes.

Let me say that in the past there were some programmes which came out and such programmes were condemned.  They were returned to independent producers so that they would be edited because they were violating our culture.  On radio, the programme that was mentioned, indeed it might happen that there are some people who might be discussing on air about a particular topic but we cannot override call-in programmes or listeners who will be calling in but if this is happening, we are found reprimanding people because there is language which is not acceptable.  Our programmes have different time slots and there are times where we say that now this is adult time and parental guidance is required.  If there are those under 18, they are requested to leave. 

Also, there are refresher courses to encourage our broadcasters so that they are sensitive to different issues and be able to communicate in a way which is acceptable to people because language is dynamic. Sometimes you would find that some things might not be acceptable in other tribes, for example, the Sotho, Ndebele, Tonga, Shona or other different communities. We normally encourage those who are in broadcasting to try by all means to learn different cultures. I thank you.

*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA:  I want to thank the Hon. Minister for the response. We find radio presenters playing music which is prepared well in advance. Some of these songs are obscene and these are songs which are not acceptable. How come this is happening where you find offensive music being played on radio? This affects us culturally. I thank you.

 *HON. MARUPI:  Thank you. There are so many songs and we agreed that under the New Dispensation that we issue licences to many broadcasters and some radio stations are independent. We have people who are embracing technology in a wrong way. Some are abusing technology to destroy and not to build. We no longer do what we used to do in the past where we would go to studios to record music. Nowadays, you would find someone recording a song anywhere they want and send the music to social media and the music is played online on radio station.

Hon. Senator Chief, when you hear a radio playing music which violates our moral and cultural values, please feel free to communicate because if the radio station is licenced, then the licence will be taken away. Even for artists who sing offensive songs or music which does not augur with our culture, then such music might be violating our peace and our culture. So, this should be communicated.

*HON. SEN. CHAKABUDA:  Thank you Mr. President Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Transport. We are finding many black spots in our roads and there are many accidents. Is there no way of reducing these accidents on our roads? Thank you.

*THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL HOUSING AND SOCIAL AMENITIES (HON. SODA):  Thank you Mr. President Sir. I am going to respond on behalf of the Minister of Transport. Indeed, there are many accidents on our roads. Sometimes we do not know whether it is because of our roads which are in a good state. So, people are enjoying the beauty of our roads and end up over-speeding, ending up being involved in accidents.  As we approach the festive season, the Ministry of Transport, together with the departments they work with in terms of preventing accidents, are seized with public campaigns. They are teaching motorists on what they should do in order to preserve human life. That is why we see in junctions and intersections people teaching motorists about safe driving and warning people about the dangers.

This is happening in our roads. Right now, they are teaching people about safe driving. I believe that you have heard that buses are going to be regulated in a way that their maximum speed will reduce. You find a bus overtaking a car which will be travelling at 120km/hour. This has been noted and is being addressed so that buses and public service vehicles would have their maximum speed reduced so as to protect lives of people who use public service vehicles. I thank you.

*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA:  Thank you Mr. President Sir. I would like to thank the Minister for the response. We want to request that even as we prepare for the festive season, there are some things which can be seen as being condoned. You will find a vehicle without lights in the highway and a stationary truck in the highway, broken down and is just left there. You find buses over-speeding and on roadblocks, you will realise that most of these buses have a good relationship with the police. There are a lot of things that are happening. I would suggest that there is need to look at the causes of accidents that are claiming human lives through buses and public service vehicles. We have unlicenced drivers and unroadworthy vehicles in our roads. I thank you.

*THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. SEN. KAMBIZI):  This is not necessarily a question Senator Chief but Hon. Minister, would you want to respond?

*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION, PUBLICITY AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. MARUPI):  Thank you Mr. President Sir. It is true. I heard the recommendation and I am going to take it up to the Minister of Home Affairs who works with the police because the police are under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Hon. Senator indicated that you would find that there are unlicenced drivers and the police are not addressing this issue. We are going to take this issue with the Minister of Home Affairs so that law enforcement is implemented in an efficient manner because it might seem as violations are allowed to take place. I believe the preservation of human life is important. We are going to take the issue with the responsible Minister. He also mentioned that there is need for researching on why this is happening and we are going to take that up also. Thank you.

         Questions Without Notice were interrupted by the TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in terms of Standing Order Number. 67.

ORAL ANSWER TO QUESTION WITH NOTICE

ELECTRICITY SUPPLY AT HWENGE VILLAGE AND MAITENGWE BORDER POST

12. HON. SEN. S MOYO: Asked the Minister of Energy and Power Development to inform the House why Hengwe village and the neighbouring Maitengwe Border Post has no electricity supplies resulting in officers having to use candles to perform their duties given that the border post is always busy.

         THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. SIMBANEGAVI): Mr President Sir, electrification on remote areas is a costly endeavour, despite this challenge, we have successfully extended the grid to within 25km of the Maitengwe Border Post. We are currently mobilising funds to complete the connection to the border post. In light of funding constraints, we also encourage client driven projects. Under this approach, clients can pull their resources to fund electrification of projects. The Zimbabwe Electricity and Distribution Company (ZETDC) will reimburse them through a mutually agreeable agreement such as providing electricity units. To extend the grid to the Maitengwe Border Post, the clients have two options. The first one is to apply for a new connection to ZETDC to replace the old one that is no longer working. They can obtain a quote and then they pull funds for the electrification.

         The second option is to approach the Rural Electrification Fund (REF) for potential subsidies to support the electrification project. REF is what used to be called REA.  I thank you.

         Questions With Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, in terms of Standing Order Number. 67

MOTION

REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON INDIGENISATION AND EMPOWERMENT ON THE STATUS OF COMMUNITY SHARE OWNERSHIP TRUSTS

         HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI:  Thank you Mr President, I rise to move the motion in my name that;

That this House considers and adopts the Report of the Thematic Committee on Indigenisation and Empowerment on the Status of Community Share Ownership Trusts under the existing Indigenisation and Empowerment Policy.

HON. SEN. S. MOYO: I second.

HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Section 14(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that, “The State and all its institutions and agencies of government at every level must endeavour to facilitate and take measures to empower, through appropriate, transparent, fair and just affirmative action, all marginalised persons, groups and communities in Zimbabwe.”  In line with this provision, the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act (IEEA) was enacted in 2007.  The Act carried provisions which provided for the empowerment of the indigenous people.  One of the implementation tools used to fulfil the empowerment of local communities was the establishment of Community Share Ownership Trusts (CSOTs).

Following an oral evidence session with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Committee noted that most of the empowerment provisions in the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act were amended and, in some instances, totally removed through the Finance Act (No. 1 of 2018).  During the implementation stage of the Indigenisation Policy, up to 60 CSOTs were established across the country.  However, after the enactment of the Finance Act, most of the CSOTs collapsed due to lack of capital.

Against this background, the Thematic Committee on Indigenisation and Empowerment embarked on a series of fact-finding visits to selected CSOTs across Zimbabwe from the 17^th to the 23^rd of June 2024. The CSOTs visited were; Mhondoro- Ngezi, Gwanda, Tongogara, Bubi, Zvishavane, Bikita, Marange- Zimunya and Bindura. These visits marked an initial phase of the Committee's overarching mission to ensure that the Constitution is upheld, particularly as it relates to total empowerment of marginalised groups across the country.  The visits also served as a foundational step towards evaluating the existing policies and their effects on CSOTs. This report synthesises the Committee's, findings, observations and recommendations.

Objectives of the inquiry:

• To have an appreciation of the empowerment projects being undertaken by CSOTs
• To assess the impact of the amendments made on the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act on the operations of the CSOTs.
• To examine the challenges faced by CSOTs in their operations, if any and to have an insight into the funding mechanism for CSOTs

Methodology:

• The Committee held an oral evidence session with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce on the policies guiding indigenisation and empowerment within the country which in turn led to the Committee conducting fact-finding visits to selected Community Share Ownership Trusts.

COMMITTEE FINDINGS:

Mhondoro-Ngezi Community Share Ownership Trust was funded by Zimplats through an initial capital of USD10 million.  The capital injected was used to fund the following community projects; piped water system at Neuso Growth Point, construction of a classroom block at Muzvezve Primary and a clinic in Zvimba District. The CSOT owned the following assets, a low-density house which was being used as an administration office, tipper trucks, 3.5 Shacman Howo-30 tonne trucks, Navara double cab truck, one Massey Ferguson tractor, a 5000 litre bowser, 33.3% shares in Sable Chickens Private Limited and a citrus fruit plantation co-owned with Delbrands Private Limited.

In order to sustain their community projects, Mhondoro-Ngezi CSOT embarked on the following income generating projects; joint venture with a company called Delbrands (Pvt Ltd) in Chegutu, bought 33.3% shares from Sable Chickens (Pvt. Ltd) in Chegutu where they received dividends equivalent to the shares, a trucking business with 5 Howo trucks and hired out a water bowser and a grader. Despite the new provisions in the Finance Act of 2018, Zimplats had continued to fund Mhondoro-Ngezi CSOT under the Corporate Social Responsibility initiative.

The Gwanda CSOT received initial capital of USD6.9 million from Blanket Mine and embarked on the following community projects: Water and sanitation, construction of classroom blocks in schools, borehole drilling, funded a Form 3 student with school fees up to university level at Midlands State University, assisted a student enrolled at Mkoba Teachers’ College with fees and construction of Silikiwe Rural Health Care. The CSOT owned a double storey building nearing construction and five residential stands in Gwanda. To sustain its operations, the Gwanda CSOT ran a poultry project and intended to lease out offices from the double storey building which was still under construction.

Bikita Minerals injected an initial capital of USD193 000.  The CSOT constructed classroom blocks at Chivaka, Nyemba and Zindove Primary Schools.  There were no assets left and no income generating projects were carried out. The qualifying company only provided the initial capital and did not continue with any form of funding towards the CSOT.

Unki Mine funded the establishment of Tongogara CSOT with a starting capital of USD10 million.  The CSOT undertook the construction of a new school, Musasa Primary, drilled community boreholes and constructed a hospital mortuary at Zvamavande District Hospital in Shurugwi. The CSOT had a broken Drill Rig, a vehicle for a driving school and a Toyota Hilux Double Cab in its assets register.  The Driving School was still being set up but it was at an advanced stage.

Mimosa Mine injected a starting capital of USD7.3 million into the CSOT.  With the startup capital, Zvishavane CSOT construced classroom blocks at Lundi, Mapanzure, Sivanga, Msipani and Rusvinge Primary schools.  Dayataya Clinic was built from scratch. In addition, the CSOT constructed 11kv power lines for the electrification of Mutambi and Murowa Clinics and Chivizha High School. Chomunyaka Dam and an irrigation scheme were also constructed. The CSOT owned a 15 tonne UD truck and a house in Zvishavane which was being used as an office furnished with office equipment.  The CSOT ran a poultry project as an income generating project under a fowl run which was well equipped with running solar powered water system.  The Trust also owned a 4x4 Toyota Single Cab vehicle.

Thathile Investments injected a total of USD200 000 to Bubi CSOT.  With this capital, the CSOT constructed classroom blocks and made renovations at Mvundla, Sishawe and Battle Field Primary schools.  Bubi CSOT also made repairs to Inyathi District Hospital Mortuary and made donations of seven wheel chairs to persons with disabilities. The CSOT had assets in the form of a broken-down Mazda B1800 and a broken-down mining compressor. The qualifying company only provided startup capital and did not continue with the assistance.

Zimunya- Marange CSOT, Mbada Diamonds, Anjin and ZCDC were the qualifying companies which pledged USD50 million but the CSOT ended up receiving USD550 000. The CSOT managed to construct Madanga Clinic, a community hall and Mbudzi Foot Bridge. The CSOT had no assets left and did not attempt to establish any income generating projects.

Freda Rebbecca was the qualifying company and provided a seed capital of USD2.2 million. Bindura CSOT resuscitated Tsundadwe and Zvarima Weirs for irrigation purposes. The CSOT undertook the construction of Mudengere, Muome Diptanks, Tallington, Katanga and Foothill clinics.  In addition, classroom blocks were constructed at Kambira Primary and Cowley Secondary Schools. The CSOT owned a 140 G Cat Mine Grader, 3 MF Tractors, 3 Disc Planters and a Toyota Single Cab Truck. The assets were kept at Bindura Rural District Council but were no longer functional as the graders and tractors were broken down. The CSOT did not engage in any income generating projects yet the qualifying company only provided the startup capital only.

Impact of the amendment of the Indegenisation and Economic Empowerment Act on CSOTs operations; the IEE Act provided that at least 51 percent of shares were to be owned by local communities in which mining companies were located.  With the advent of Statutory Instrument 21 of 2010, Community Share Ownership Trusts were established and were to manage funds released by the mining companies. The Committee observed that the amendment to the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment through the Finance Act No. 1 of 2018 led to the withdrawal of any form of funding or share ownership to both local communities and CSOTs by qualifying Companies.  With the intention of attracting foreign direct investments into the economy, it was no longer mandatory for the qualifying companies to contribute funds towards CSOTs, marking the beginning of financial challenges for all CSOTs in Zimbabwe.

Community Share Ownership Trust Funding Mechanisms; all the community share ownerships trusts’ funding were from mandatory seed capital contributions from qualifying businesses mainly mining companies operating in the respective areas as was required by the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act. Mhondoro-Ngezi, Gwanda and Zvishavane CSOTs which still had qualifying companies funding their operations had running profit-making projects meant to sustain operations within their communities, even though some were not very lucrative. In the absence of funding by qualifying companies, it would be impossible for CSOTs to continue operating save for those which started businesses to sustain operations. 

Challenges faced by CSOTs in Zimbabwe.

All CSOTs do not have adequate funds to sustain their operations and to discharge their mandates of transforming communities. Hence, most of them are now dormant with three, which were still being funded struggling to sustain operations. The management of the CSOTs was compromised with no proper governance ethics being followed, for example, there were no proper records kept on remaining assets and no board meetings were being held.  There were no annual general meetings being held as well as no audits.  Bubi CSOT operations had stopped and books were under the custody of one individual who works as the Chief Executive Officer for Bubi Rural District Council.  There was a lot of meddling by the Rural District Councils in the management of some CSOTs, especially in Bindura and Bikita. This had resulted in poor management of the CSOTs’ assets.  In Bindura, the RDC took functioning graders and tractors without even a written memorandum of agreement with the council failing to properly take care of the assets.

CSOTs which were still being funded by qualifying companies, Zvishavane, Gwanda and Mhondoro-Ngezi were no longer focused on community projects.  Instead, they were conducting businesses without the involvement of the community which brought them into existence. The absence of explicit statutes guiding the operations of CSOTs was making it difficult to manage their daily operations in an accountable manner. Due to the template provided by the then Ministry of Indigenisation and Economic empowerment which emphasised use of the money towards mainly social services like health provisions, roads construction, education, borehole drilling, water and sanitation, no meaningful income generating projects were done by the CSOTs save for Gwanda, Mhondoro Ngezi and Zvishavane CSOTs. However, the income generating projects were too small to sustain operations of the CSOTs and fulfill the objectives of bringing tangible benefits to their respective communities.

The provisions of Statutory Instrument 21 of 2010 made it mandatory for CSOTs to use accruing monies to any or all the following purposes among others; the provision, operation and maintenance of schools and other educational institutions, facilities and amenities, educational scholarships, hospitals, clinics, dipping tanks, roads, water works and water sanitation, soil conservation and environmental conservation. This provision restricted CSOTs to solely focus on expenditure, making it difficult to sustain operations in the absence of funding.

OBSERVATIONS:

Of the eight CSOTs visited by the Committee, only three, namely Mhondoro-Ngezi, Gwanda and Zvishavane were still operating though at a low capacity. The three CSOTs which were still operating had their qualifying companies still funding them through corporate social responsibility. The establishment of CSOTs was a noble idea in directly and quickly fostering tangible development and transformation of communities using proceeds from the exploitation of their natural resources endowments by companies. CSOTs were viewed as a pillar in terms of community empowerment and chiefs were worried about the amendments which led to the withdrawal of funding by most qualifying companies

All the Community Share Ownerships Trusts were funded from mandatory seed capital contributions from qualifying businesses mainly mining companies operating in the respective areas as was required by the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act.  Mhondoro-Ngezi, Gwanda and Zvishavane Community Share Ownership Trusts which were still being funded had running projects meant to sustain operations within their communities.

RECOMENDATIONS:

In light of the above observations, the Thematic Committee on Indigenisation and Empowerment recommends the following: The Ministry of Industry and Commerce should ensure that the Economic Empowerment Bill provides for Community Share Ownership Trusts (CSOTs) establishment, revival and survival as a tool to community empowerment. Additionally, the new Bill should provide for a mandatory funding of CSOTs by qualifying Companies (Companies exploiting resources and operating within communities). The Ministry should develop a monitoring mechanism by April, 2025 to ensure that CSOTs are run transparently and to the satisfaction of the communities involved. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce should ensure that the new Economic Empowerment Bill carries provisions which widen the list of qualifying businesses apart from only mining entities to other sectors like tourism, conservancies and other extraction and manufacturing companies operating within communities.

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce should come up with provisions to ensure that CSOTs are autonomous in their operations to detach them from frequent meddling by Rural District Councils as observed. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce to propose for a Statutory Instrument to ensure provision of budgetary allocation to bail out existing CSOTs.

CONCLUSION:

The policy guiding indigenisation and empowerment was stripped of provisional tools to implementing indigenisation and empowerment, one of which was the establishment of CSOTs.  As such, the fact-finding visits by the Committee on the status of CSOTs established that these trusts were an integral tool to transforming lives of citizens in their respective communities in areas such as health, education, infrastructure development, water and sanitation and income generating projects. The provisions in the Finance Act of 2018, amending the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, resulted in communities failing to enjoy the right to empowerment, through appropriate, transparent, fair and just affirmative action as provided for in Section 14 (1) of the Constitution.

There is need for local communities to benefit from the proceeds of resource extraction within their environments, while marginalised groups should benefit from the extraction of local resources through mechanisms such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding, this responsibility has been left to the discretion of qualifying companies, a seemingly unfair practice to the communities within which extraction of resources is taking place.  The previous mandate requiring these companies to contribute 10% of their profits to community development yielded immediate positive results. In contrast, the current provisions carry the risk of excluding communities from possible economic benefits fostered by resource extraction in their areas. I submit. 

         I move that the debate do now adjourn.

         HON. SEN. S. MOYO: I second.

         Motion put and agreed to.

         Debate to resume: Tuesday, 17^th December, 2024.

On the motion of HON. SEN. GOTORA, seconded by HON. SEN. E. NYATHI, the House adjourned at Twenty-One Minutes to Five o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 17^th December, 2024.