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The long awaited revival of Ziscosteel, now NewZim Steel, appears to be gathering momentum with the arrival of engineers from Essar Global, the company which bought the majority shareholding in the steelmaker from the Government three years ago.
The engineers’ arrival signals that both the government and Essar are serious and remain committed to reviving operations at Zisco, at one time one of the largest steel companies in Africa.
When Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha told delegates to the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries annual congress in Bulawayo in October that the revival programme would begin before the end of the year, many were skeptical.
The skeptics could be forgiven for doubting the minister because the Zisco-Essar deal has had many false starts.
After all, at the time he made the announcement, it was two months before year-end while consummation of the agreement has been dragging for more than three years.
Addressing delegates at a CZI meeting in Gweru at the weekend, Minister Bimha said the engineers arrived last Wednesday while more were expected this week.
We hope that the arrival of the engineers means that all loopholes that have been stalling the agreement have been removed.
It is also critical that no new spanners are thrown as this might delay the revival of Zisco.
Already management workers are alleging that Minister Bimha is ignoring their plight as they have not been paid for a long time.
While we understand the plight of workers who have gone for years without salaries, incurring heavy debt in the process, these management workers’ representatives are behaving like shop floor workers.
As managers, they should know better. There is no way Zisco or Essar, or any other company for that matter, can pay them when there is no production.
There is a danger that if workers continue getting salaries where there is no production, assets would be stripped to raise money for salaries.
Attacking the person of the minister or comparing him to his cabinet colleagues will not help their cause.
Zisco is critical to the economy.
No meaningful economic recovery will take place if the steel giant does not resume operations. Local manufacturers who require steel as a raw material are being forced to import either from China or South Africa because there is no local supplier.
Relying on imported steel makes local steel products to be more expensive than imports.
We believe that now Essar engineers are here, Zisco’s Canaan is around the corner.
More than ever, all stakeholders must work together so there are no more distractions to the deal.
With unity of purpose, Zisco can once again become a giant it was decades ago and be the source of life for not just Redcliff and Kwekwe, but the country as a whole.
The interest of large international companies when government announced its plans to sell 54 percent of its share in Zisco is testimony of the viability of the company.
There is no way the Who is Who in the global steel industry would have submitted their bids, if Zisco had no potential because it is a known case that these companies are not charitable organisations but enterprises out to make as much profit as possible.
Online Reporter