Poverty dogs ex-Zisco workers

Patrick Chitumba Midlands Bureau Chief
FORMER Ziscosteel employees in Redcliff town and their families are living in abject poverty, the Minister of State for Midlands Provincial Affairs, Cde Jason Machaya has said.

He said since the closure of Ziscosteel and the subsequent loss of 5,000 jobs, poverty, debts, and failure to pay school fees were constant headaches faced by families in the town.

He said the continued existence of Redcliff municipality was baffling considering that the people in the town were unemployed and were failing to pay rentals.

“There is a sad situation at Ziscosteel in Redcliff. We had high expectations when the New ZimSteel deal was signed but up to now, there is no activity taking place. As such, the people of Redcliff are now living under difficult conditions,” he said while briefing Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko who is on a three day visit of Midlands province.

“The people there can’t pay school fees, they can’t pay rent and they’re in debt.”

Cde Machaya said service delivery was compromised as the municipality was owed huge sums of money.

He said the situation could be worse for the Midlands province as Kwekwe could soon see a surge in unemployed people since Zimasco had started firing workers.

Turning to the state of agriculture, Cde Machaya said the small amounts of money paid by cotton buyers were an insult to farmers.

He called on the government to swiftly intervene to bring the cotton industry back to its old days when farmers used to make a living out of cotton farming.

“In terms of food security, Midlands South which has areas such as Mberengwa, Zvishavane and Shurugwi is in dire need of food aid. The farmers there didn’t get much from the fields. The situation is better in Midlands North where they got a reasonable harvest,” he said.

He said despite the challenges bedevilling the province, his leadership was fully behind the leadership of President Mugabe and Zanu-PF.

VP Mphoko said the future of the country was bright as the government was working on ways to improve people’s lives.