Parliament: Ziscosteel Is A “Dead Asset” And Cannot Be Revived

The chairperson of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Caston Matewu, has described the crumbling Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Ziscosteel) as a “dead asset” that cannot be revived.

He urged policymakers to stop trying to bring the plant back and instead focus on alternative uses for its remaining resources.

Speaking to Business Times at Freda Rebecca Gold Mine last week during a fact-finding mission by the committee, Matewu said further capital injections into Ziscosteel would not deliver meaningful returns.

He called for a fundamental rethink of how the company’s assets, including its limestone deposits, could be repurposed.

“I don’t think Ziscosteel can be resuscitated, and part of our report, which shall be tabled before the House, will seek to explore what the Mutapa Investment Fund can do with the steel giant,” he said.

“We don’t think the current structure can work because the machinery is rusty and archaic. To think it can be resuscitated is misleading. The proper way to describe it is that Ziscosteel is dead.”

Matewu said the Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF) should explore alternative commercial options for Ziscosteel’s remaining resource base, particularly its limestone, as competition intensifies from new entrants such as Dinson Iron and Steel Company in Manhize.

MIF deputy chief investment officer Ernest Denhere acknowledged the scale of the challenge facing the State since the company was placed under its management, saying options for Ziscosteel’s future are still under review.

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