Ex Zisco workers to be rehired

Charity Chikara, Business Reporter

THE Zimbabwe Iron and Steel company (Ziscosteel) is expected to be fully resuscitated in the next 12 months and ex company employees will be given first preference in the rehiring phase, board chairman Engineer Martin Manhuwa has said.

Speaking in an interview, Eng Manhuwa said good times were now set to roll for the Midlands based company.

“The closure of Ziscosteel was a sad time for Zimbabwe as a whole because Ziscosteel is a national asset that benefited a lot of people.

In all the companies that had come upfront for the revival of Zisco, Kuvimba Mining House came out as a partner,” he said.

Zisco ceased operations in 2008 and efforts to revive the company have suffered false starts since then.

More than 6 000 employees were retrenched from the company upon its closure.

However, with the US$300 million capital injection to kick-start the revival of Ziscosteel, the company is set to be back on track.

“Kuvimba’s bid was quite unique, they were looking at Ziscosteel as a mining contractor, through that we are to grow organically.

From the onset they were pledging to invest up to US$300 million to start immediately the resuscitation and the mining operations over which we will then make certain organic initiatives throughout the Ziscosteel value chains to raise $1 billion in three years,” he said.

The capital injection is expected to grow up to $1 billion in the next three years. The best part is the utilisation of local resources, including skills.

“If better action is to come there has to be very thorough and excessive planning, from 2 May there will be visible movement on the ground.

This will probably take us one year where by the procurement is done, staff is in place and so forth.

“One of the strengths of Kuvimba bid was to use local content and local resources.

We are already utilising high level skills, ex Ziscosteel employees, we have a 30-member advisory team which consist mostly of ex Zisco staff.

Those who lost their jobs will definitely be given first preference in the rehiring process.

As it is, Zisco employed over 6 000 employees who impacted over 50 000 people and the whole economy of Redcliff, Kwekwe or better, and yet the backbone of the Zimbabwean economy,” he said.