Anglo American Platinum chief executive officer (ceo) Chris Griffith said he told Zimbabwe’s Mines Minister Winston Chitando that his company cannot up their invest in the country because of the ever-changing laws.
Griffith said laws and rules on processing had changed three times since work on Amplats’ new smelter Unki started. The Amplats CEO told the minister that constant changes made taking any investment decision difficult. Said Griffith:
I said (to Chitando):‘You think I will bring half a billion dollars to Zimbabwe when you guys keep chopping and changing the rules? There is no way I will do that.’
Unki, the smallest of three platinum mines in Zimbabwe, is Amplats’ only operation outside South Africa. The smelter under construction will produce a matte product that will be sent to the company’s refinery in South Africa. Speaking during a a mining conference on Wednesday, Chitando said Zimbabwe will impose a 15% penalty tax from January 1, 2019 on exports of platinum producers which do not build refining facilities in the country. Impala Platinum (IMPJ.J), Zimbabwe’s largest platinum producer, last year said the imposition of the levy could lead to the closure of its Mimosa mine.
More: Reuters
And the crocodile bites his own tail and the people of Zimbabwe loose AGAIN
We need to be very careful when it comes to investors. They are all out to get a good deal for themselves. Look at what the Chinese did, they took out billions without even upgrading our infrastructure. Compare with BHP Chegutu: they built townships, roads, schools and more in Kadoma, Chegutu and Norton.
So my brethren, it’s not only about rushing to accept the investors money and terms but also taking into consideration our needs, our goals, our future investments, ongoing benefits to the economy.
I fully agree with the government to fine mines that don’t have smelters. No matter how much BHP invested ($2 billion in 1991), we still got a raw deal because the ore was being sent to the UK for smelting where there no Zimbabweans to verify what we got. They claimed that they made a loss a few years down the line and handed over operations to a subsidiary company of theirs.
I believe we have grown wiser from those experiences and it’s best to wait for a good deal than to be fooled all over again.
Why is that each time when some of us think we are heading somewhere, negative forces come out strongly opposing? Are we a cursed lot? Why can we pull together as a nation? Why cant we believe in ourselves and move forward? Why is there so much unbelieving and unforgiveness? Assuming that the MDC wins the election, I can promise you there is another group that will be on their case again. Why us of all people? Just a few days after Mugabe’s ouster, the opposition trouped to the USA to ask that country to keep her foreign policy on Harare, why? Do you know that those policies affect the common man? In the midst of the supposed sanctions on certain individuals, they instead built themselves mansions whilst we can not access certain stuff from the internet by virtue of indicating that you are Zimbabwean. Why?