Need to rebuild trust among Govt, business and labour

Oliver Kazunga, Acting Business Editor
THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) says there is a need among stakeholders to rebuild trust and confidence through which business thrives for the country to achieve economic growth and turnaround.

Speaking on ZBCtv current affairs programme, The Big Debate, CZR president Mr Denford Mutashu last week said under the existing political administration, it was imperative for the Government, business and labour to ensure trust was re-established so that confidence in the economy was restored.

“I think there is serious trust deficit among those three (Government, business and labour). And the trust deficit, I must say may have been probably inherited from the previous administration (former President Mugabe’s Government) and the manner in which the parties used to engage,” he said.

Government, business and labour are this week convening a crucial dialogue to initiate parameters for social dialogue aimed at addressing economic woes besetting the country.

The new dispensation, which came into power in November 2017 led by President Mnangagwa, has vowed to set the tone for economic transformation through various means among them listening to stakeholder concerns in order to improve the ease of doing business.

“Probably what we would want under the current administration is to ensure that we build that trust back so that it then brings in the confidence especially when we look at policies.

“There has been a lot of policy inconsistencies and a lot of pronouncements that may actually dent the environment under which business is operating. For business to thrive, you want an environment that is stable and guided by sustainable policies.

“We also want an environment where we can be competitive and a lot of issues that we have been seized with are to do with an uncompetitive environment, ease of doing business and lack of foreign direct inflows as well as a shortage of foreign currency,” he said.

Mr Mutashu said when Government, business and labour engage, the engagement has to be premised on genuineness and putting national interest first.

For that to happen, he noted that all stakeholders need to share a common vision that they craft together and build trust and confidence taking it forward as it would be a product of genuine sitting by all concerned parties.

Speaking during the same programme, political and economic commentator, Mr Danny Musukuma, accused business of having in the past engaged in acts of economic sabotage.

“That (economic sabotage on the part of business) can be substantiated with ease to a greater extent. For example, when the TSP (Transitional Stabilisation Programme) was enunciated by the Finance Minister, we had a reaction that came from business (industry).

“The president of CZI (Confederation of Zimbabwe Industry) in particular, issued a statement in which he (Mr Sifelani Jabangwe) clearly set out that as a consequence of lack of confidence and perhaps some kind of clarity in respect of the policy that had been enunciated, business is taking a decision to withhold production,” he said.

The reaction by business, he said, was responsive to the policy on the two percent tax on electronic transaction that Government had announced.

Last October, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube announced the Intermediated Money Transfer Tax of two cents per dollar transacted with electronic transactions below $10 not attracting the two cents tax.

All transactions above $10 up to $500 000 are required to comply with the tax regime while those above $500 000 attract a flat tax of $10 000.

“The reaction on the two percent tax on electronic transactions was instant and not even comparable then.

“But after clarity was proffered by the Government through the Ministry of Finance, still we do have the same scenario.

“In my honest opinion and view, there is economic sabotage at play because the economic fundamentals that are much talked about by many of these economists are a smokescreen.

“Of course there are fundamentals that ought to be addressed, but the greater part of it, we are now seeing the Government seized with coming up with instruments that have to deal with problems of a political nature,” he said. -@okazunga