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Midlands Reporter
REDCLIFF municipality is failing to operate properly due to NewZim Steel’s continued delays in commencing operations, the Town Clerk, Elizabeth Gwatipedza has said.
In an interview, Gwatipedza said the local authority was facing challenges to venture into new projects due to Ziscosteel (now NewZim Steel)’s performance which has always been their major source of revenue.
“We have a lot of projects we wish to venture into but we are cash-strapped at the moment since NewZim Steel is not operational. The steel company used to generate revenue for us when it was fully operational,” said Gwatipedza.
Gwatipedza said the steel manufacturing company used to employ close to 5, 000 workers but the numbers have greatly dwindled owing to retrenchment and lack of production.
She said the lack of activity at NewZim Steel has resulted in Redcliff residents struggling to service their rates and water accounts since the majority of them were employed by the giant steel company.
“NewZim Steel used to have about 2,000 employees which is no longer the case these days. These people are our ratepayers and the retrenchment exercise has affected our revenue base as a local authority,” she said.
Gwatipedza said the lack of productivity within NewZim Steel was also affecting downstream industries which used to get supplies of raw materials from the steel company.
This, she said, was affecting the town’s economic growth.
Said Gwatipedza: “We are hoping the situation is going to change since we have engaged the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and they assured us NewZim Steel would be operational soon.
“We managed to talk to the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Cde Mike Bimha and he said the issue of NewZim Steel had been settled and what was left were some technical issues which he said have since been attended to,” she said.
Bongani Ndlovu