CZI president, Sifelani Jabangwe

By Farai Mabeza

THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) expects prices of basic household commodities to stabilise by March with anticipated foreign currency inflows from tobacco sales.
Zimbabwe, which imports most of its basic goods following the collapse of its agriculture and manufacturing sectors, has seen price hikes over the past few months, driven mainly by worsening foreign currency shortages.
The foreign currency shortages, which intensified over the past two years on a widening trade gap, have seen most businesses funding their imports using cash sourced from the black market.
The country, a major global tobacco producer, reports increased foreign currency inflows during the crop’s auction, which starts in February and draws sales in excess of US$500 million annually.  
CZI president, Sifelani Jabangwe expressed optimism that the tobacco selling season and efforts by government to open the country up to foreign investment would bring stability.
“The state where we are at is not catastrophic because as we get into March the prices are going to be more stable because the (tobacco) auction floors will be open.
“The country’s economy is in a very good position for growth right now and any investment that comes in will ensure that this economy grows especially given the position we have with the new economic dispensation,” Jabangwe said, insisting that the proposed re-engagement with the international community meant that Zimbabwe was “headed somewhere”.
“From March onwards, the prices will be stable. We also need to grow soya (beans) because that will reduce the amount of money we are pouring to import crude oil. We are spending about $240 million per year which is a lot of money,” he added.
The CZI president said attracting more investment would bring a lasting solution to the foreign currency problem.
“There is not enough foreign currency. We are pushing for FDI (foreign direct investment) because that brings currency into the economy and we are also pushing for exports. What we are now saying is that we need to make sure that when the third quarter comes we are stable. If we don’t plan for that we are going to have the same problems again because it’s a cyclical issue,” Jabangwe said.
Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, recently said government would not resort to price controls, but would instead engage business in the face of continuing price hikes.
The country imports most of its goods after the collapse of the productive sector, which is anchored on agriculture, following the seizure of commercial farms over a decade ago.
Chinamasa said Zimbabwe’s economy was afflicted by low levels of confidence, but stressed that the new administration, led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, was working hard to resolve the crisis.
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Energy Minister Simon Khaya Moyo

INDUSTRY has pledged to lower prices of basic commodities by up to five percent following government’s fuel tax cut.

Energy Minister Simon Khaya Moyo on Tuesday said government had now set the price of petrol at $1,35 per litre, down from $1,41 while a litre of diesel will cost $1,23 down from $1,33 previously after cutting duty on fuel for the first time in nine years.
Khaya Moyo said energy was crucial to all economic and social activities and service providers across all sectors of the economy.
“This reduction of excise duty should, therefore, benefit and stimulate the economy at large,” he said.
Prices of basic commodities have been rising in the southern African country over the past six months as shortages of hard currency deepened, resulting in inflation jumping from -0.65 percent in January 2017 to 3,46 percent in December last year.
The private sector yesterday said it would pass on, to consumers, the resultant cost savings in production and distribution of basic commodities.
“The industry shall, therefore, incorporate this fuel price reduction into its pricing structures, which will result in the pricing of some basic commodities falling by ranges of one percent to five percent. The overall consumer price index is, therefore, inclined to fall further from the 1,2 percent increment experienced over the 2016-17 period,” the business sector said in a statement.  
“Out of the 15 monitored basic commodities, prices of economy beef, for example, are expected to fall by an average of 10 to 20 percent,” industry added.
In addition, the private sector has agreed to adopt global best practice by publishing the recommended wholesale and retail prices on either the product packages or in the media.
In particular, the cooking oil industry shall be working with its distribution partners to ensure that the wholesale and retail mark-ups are guided by the manufacturers’ recommended prices.
“The Industry acknowledges the commitment made by government to improve the national macro-economic conditions and ensuring an improvement in the supply of scarce foreign currency resources required to stimulate domestic production and stabilise prices of basic commodities.
“In turn, the industry commits itself to continue engaging with government through the National Competitiveness Commission in order to address the major cost drivers affecting the domestic economy,” said the private sector comprising the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries and Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, among other groups.
The industry bodies also embraced renewed efforts to improve business confidence and competitiveness in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors by reducing current regulatory cost of compliance by at least 50 percent.
“It is paramount that, as a nation, we continue to work towards improving domestic production and productivity for the benefit of all stakeholders and, as industry, we in the private sector business community re-affirms our commitment to playing our part,” business said.
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President Emmerson Mnangagwa

DISPOSSESSED white farmers have tabled a US$9 billion compensation claim before President Emmerson Mnangagwa, for assets expropriated during the chaotic land redistribution programme as they seek redress from the new government, multiple sources said this week.
The size of the claim does not enjoy the unanimous support of all affected farmers, with a small group reportedly pushing for a US$30 billion claim and international arbitration.
Mnangagwa, who took over power after former president, Robert Mugabe, was ousted last November, has promised to compensate the white farmers as he seeks to restore relations with international lenders and the West to repair an economy damaged by years of mismanagement and looting.
Sources said this week the former white commercial farmers’ claim amounted to US$8,6 billion and  it was submitted to Mnangagwa shortly after his November inauguration.
The compensation figure includes land, which the farmers valued using regional rates, a well as fixed assets.
The bill for fixed assets under the claim amounts to US$5,5 billion, said a source. This puts the value of land at US$3,1 billion.
“The US$5,5 billion is for assets that don’t exist anymore,” said the source, who cannot be named for professional reasons. He indicated the compensation bill did not include land or assets lost by sugar cane farmers, whom he said were conglomerates rather than individuals. It also did not include compensation for disruptions or forcible removal of the farmers from their land, as well as at least 350 000 farm workers who equally lost assets and had their houses burnt down during the oft-violent land redistribution exercise.
The source indicated that at least 20 other farmers wanted international arbitration.
“They are not happy with the local process. They want to go to the Court of International Arbitration in Singapore. The quantum of their claim would include a lot of assets — loss of income, interest at international rates, compensation for dislocation and for violence in cases where farmers were beaten or killed,” he said.
But he said the majority of the farmers — at least
4 100 farmers who were forced off their land — favoured a local resolution to the problem.
Mugabe embarked on hasty land reforms in 2000 to counter a surging opposition, which had successfully campaigned the previous year against a new Constitution that was meant to expropriate white-owned farms without compensation. The land reforms were executed swiftly and ruthlessly, courting international criticism and plunging the country into its worst economic crisis since independence in 1980.
Western countries reacted by imposing sanctions on Mugabe and his government, prompting Zimbabwe’s long-time ruler to allege that the sanctions were meant to protect their kith and kin and to undermine his regime, which lost considerable popular support among the impoverished populace.

Finance and Economic Planning, Minister Patrick Chinamasa

Peter Steyl, president of the white-dominated Commercial Farmers’ Union, said he was not yet in a position to discuss the issue because the union had not yet met with the Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Resettlement, Perrance Shiri.
He indicated they were going to “get down on the table and discuss the issue” of compensation once they were given the opportunity by government.
Eddie Cross, a member of the opposition who has spoken highly of Mnangagwa’s capacity to turn the economy around, said the issue of compensation had been “intensively in motion for the past two years”.
He said Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa had indicated recently that an assessment of farmlands for valuations had been completed in all provinces except Masvingo and Midlands.
“Once all the provinces are complete, he has indicated that government will meet with farmers and establish the quantum of claims arising from expropriated land,” said Cross.
He added: “I don’t think the compensation claim will be less than US$10 billion.”
The white farmers are said to already have a six member committee in place ready to kick-start negotiations with government, which is likely to be led by Chinamasa and Shiri in the talks.
An agreed compensation bill will be admitted to the national account as a national liability, and will likely come before Parliament through a Debt Assumption Bill, said Cross.
But he noted: “I don’t think compensation is possible until after the elections.” Elections are scheduled for this year between July and August.
While the compensation hot potato was one of Mnangagwa’s earliest promises upon coming to power, he has emphasised that the land reform programme, the ruling party’s centrepiece policy, was not reversible.
In an investment guideline the new president took to Davos for the World Economic Forum this week, Mnangagwa noted that compensation for losses incurred through the land reform programme was part of the reforms that required “immediate action”.
“The Government of Zimbabwe has stated its intention to compensate those farmers who lost their investments through the land redistribution programme. To ensure equitable compensation, the Government of Zimbabwe is considering a number of measures including establishment of a special ad-hoc tribunal based on international good practices to determine, amongst others, the value of compensation payable and modalities for payment,” said the government document.

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Minister of Mines, Winston Chitando

ZIMBABWE’S government will relinquish absolute control of its vast but under-utilised mining assets,  which have chronically underperformed due to under-capitalisation and mismanagement.

In a call for “expression of interest” seen by The Financial Gazette on Wednesday, the government-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) is inviting investors to partner it in a range of under-exploited mineral assets, which include gold, coal-bed methane, emeralds, tantalite, lithium and graphite.

Finance and Economic Development, Minister Patrick Chinamasa

ZIMBABWE’S 2018 budget deficit could surpass the $2 billion incurred last year due to multiple factors, including the possibility of a poor agricultural season, economists have warned.

They said Zimbabwe’s budget deficit this year could surpass that of previous years, with dire consequences on the economy. “Currently, we have a deficit crisis and it’s likely to further widen this year,’ Ashok Chakravarti, a University of Zimbabwe lecturer and advisor to the Office of the President and Cabinet, told an economic outlook symposium organised by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) this week.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa

GOVERNMENT has fired the country’s eight provincial land officers and replaced them with acting land officers from the Department of Agricultural Technical and Extension Services (Agritex), The Financial Gazette has learnt.

Sources told The Financial Gazette that the substantive officers were relieved of their duties after President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over power in November, resulting in a Cabinet reshuffle and reconfiguration of ministerial portfolios.

Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri

GOVERNMENT has issued a directive for white farmers to be issued with 99-year leases instead of five-year leases subject to renewal upon meeting “certain conditions”.

In a letter addressed to acting provincial land officers from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, land officers were instructed to immediately issue the farmers with 99-year leases.

British Prime Minister Theresa May

THE British government’s development finance institution, the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), is actively considering investing in Zimbabwe under a $1 billion fund targeting Africa over the next three years, sources familiar with developments revealed this week.
Former coloniser Britain fell out with former president Robert Mugabe’s government in 2000 over Zimbabwe’s land reforms, alleged rights abuses and electoral fraud. Both countries have shown willingness to mend ties following Mugabe’s ouster last November, with Britain sending two high-level officials to Zimbabwe since then.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa

ZIMBABWE’S business sector appears to be warming up to the progress being made under the country’s new administration.

However, local business is demanding that President Emmerson Mnangagwa speedily put his plans into action.

The southern African country, home to units of South African companies including Impala Platinum, Sibanye-Stillwater, Nedbank and Tiger Brands, is still struggling to emerge from a prolonged economic meltdown.

Since taking over from Robert Mugabe in November last year, Mnangagwa has brought some optimism that the country’s business and economic fortunes may change.

But economists and investment analysts say investors want to see more action before they commit any new significant capital to projects in the country.

Zimbabwean economist Johannes Kwangwari says the new administration has shown good intentions and a different approach to running the economy. This is in contrast to Mugabe’s confrontational approach with investors, evident in policies such as indigenisation and taking over land from mining companies.

“If the pronouncements can be acted on, we do have a good ground from which to start,” Kwangwari said.

“Although we haven’t seen much meaningful reform on the part of the state’s commitment to fully opening up the economy, the right signals have come through in terms of reducing the burden of indigenisation only to foreign-owned platinum and diamond mining companies,” he said.

Mnangagwa said last week that his mistakes must be singled out at each and every step, so that he can make the necessary corrections – although this is far from his putting words into action.

Executives with investment and fund management companies have told City Press that there is still concern about corruption, slow progress in dealing with government bureaucracy and property rights policies that are yet to be effectively set down in law.

Last month, Mnangagwa released a policy statement, titled Investment Guidelines and Opportunities in Zimbabwe, in which he declares the state’s “commitment to companies that invest in Zimbabwe” and support its economic development.

“Zimbabwe’s economy will be founded on sound market principles and principles of legal protection that encourage and protect private enterprise. The government commits to the protection of all investments from expropriation, or from measures taken that will have a similar effect,” he writes.

The country has been reforming how it does business, which is part of a 100-day plan and involves all government ministries.

Under Mugabe, foreign investors shunned Zimbabwe. UN Conference on Trade and Development data show that foreign direct investment inflows into the country declined from $421 million (R4.9 billion) in 2015 to $319 million in 2016.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month, Mnangagwa called for investment in the country’s travel and tourism sector. He invited fund holders to build golf courses and hotels in return for incentives.

Mnangagwa had a chance to get advice from International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde. She told him she was pleased with his pronouncements on fixing Zimbabwe’s economy.

The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) in South Africa said it is looking at opportunities to invest in the country’s fertiliser processing, hospitality and tourism sectors and in agroprocessing.

This week, the IDC of Zimbabwe said it is “inviting expressions of interest for the provision of financial advisory for the investor search and dilution” of its companies.

“The investor is expected to inject additional capital into the business, bring in new technology and access to wider markets for the business,” it said.

Companies such as Zimbabwe’s beer and soft drink producer Delta Corporation, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, say there are “challenges in the macroeconomic developments in the country”, according to corporate affairs manager, Tsungai Mazani.

However, most of the problems companies are facing in Zimbabwe are industry-wide. These range from steep premiums for the purchase of foreign currency to expensive electricity and other essential services. The government has moved in to reduce its excise duty on diesel and petrol by 7c and 6.5c, respectively.

Business groupings such as the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) are optimistic about a shift for the better in Zimbabwe’s economy.

CZI president Sifelani Jabangwe told City Press Business that utility costs weigh heavily on the cost structure of local manufacturers.

“We expect to see some benefits for industry from things such as the reduction of petrol and diesel duties under the new administration. This is what we have always called for and we hope to start seeing some changes in terms of pricing of products in the next few weeks, but more still needs to be done to completely fix the operational framework for local producers,” Jabangwe said.

From the beginning of February, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe will be levying its airport tax on the Air Zimbabwe fee. This is in contrast to the previous scenario, where travellers would pay at the airport on departure.

In addition, the country is on a drive to lure back airlines that had stopped flights, such as Lufthansa – fin24.com

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

THE central bank will issue government paper to mop up excess liquidity on the Real Time Gross Settlement platform to reduce inflationary pressure in the economy, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, John Mangudya, said yesterday.

There has been a substantial increase in money supply in Zimbabwe over the past year as a result of government’s expansionary fiscal stance, which increased RTGS money within the banking system from $954 million in 2016 to $1,732 billion in 2017.

Russian fertiliser billionaire Dmitry Mazepin

RUSSIAN fertiliser billionaire Dmitry Mazepin arrived in Harare on Tuesday afternoon to explore opportunities in Zimbabwe’s agro-chemical sector, the latest mogul to peek into the country as President Emmerson Mnangagwa actively courts foreign capital.

Mazepin is one of Russia’s richest businessmen, Forbes puts his worth at $3,2 billion, but various Russian newspapers value his wealth at up to $7,7 billion. Forbes places him in the top 100 of richest Russians.

The value of bond notes significantly went down in December last year due to the high demand for foreign currency for payment of externally sourced goods and services.

ZIMBABWE’s government could introduce a new currency in three years, or within a maximum of five years, according to researchers at advisory firm, IH Securities, who also forecast gross domestic product to rise by 3,8% in 2018.

If achieved, the 3,8 percent would be a significant surge from last year’s 1,7 percent and is expected to be underpinned by a rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to be unlocked through improved policies being rolled out by the country’s pro-business new administration.

Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri

ZIMBABWE’s maize production may drop by more about 50% this season due to a January dry spell that rendered the early planted crop a complete write-off, farming industry players and forecasters said.

Last year, Zimbabwe produced 2,1 million tonnes of the staple grain, more than its 1,8 million tonne annual requirements.

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, John Mangudya

ZIMBABWE’S high spending government went beyond its central bank overdraft limit, spending $400 million more that the stipulated $1,2 billion in 2017, Reserve Bank governor John Mangudya revealed yesterday.

In any given year, government borrowing from the central bank is capped at 20 percent of its revenue the previous year.

Godwin Matanga is the new Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Republic Police

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has appointed Godwin Matanga as the substantive Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Republic Police. He takes over from Augustine Chihuri who retired last December.

In a statement, chairperson of the Public Service commission, Mariyawanda Nzuwah said the appointment was in terms of section 22 (1) and 2 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment number 20 as read with section 340 (1)

Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Paul Mavima

THE High Court has ordered the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZimSec) to abandon its controversial order to convene the resitting of the 2017 Ordinary English Paper 2 examination which was mired in cheating claims by among candidates.

This follows a court challenge filed by some parents represented by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Justice for Children Trust against Primary and Secondary Education Minister Paul Mavima’s directive to have students who sat for the 2017 ZimSec examination rewrite the leaked paper.

The Minister was adamant there was massive cheating in the particular exam, hence the order for students to resit.

Most parents and guardians vehemently opposed the order insisting the order by the minister ignored a lot of issues including their poor financial status as cash was needed to relocate children who have since left areas close to their schools.  – VOA

MDC -T leader Morgan Tsvangirai

THE country’s main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has died aged 65. He had been suffering from colon cancer for at least two years, but his condition deteriorated rapidly in recent days despite treatment in neighbouring South Africa.

His death will be an enormous blow to the opposition in Zimbabwe, coming only months before the first elections were due to be held in the former British colony since the end of Robert Mugabe’s near four-decade rule last year.

Tsvangirai’s illness, revealed in 2016, has divided his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, with three deputy leaders and other officials publicly manoeuvring to succeed the former trade union leader.

The party will have to choose a new leader and launch a campaign against a resurgent Zanu-PF, the ruling party, to contest polls that may be held as early as May.

Without its founder at the helm, the MDC is likely to face immediate instability and could even split, handing a gift to Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa. A broader alliance of seven political parties formed last year to take on Zanu-PF could also be destabilised.

“Tsvangirai’s death will force the MDC to convene an emergency conference to sort out the differences between the three vice-leaders. His sickness meant an impasse around internal dynamics so this might force a resolution. That’s a possible silver lining to this tragic event,” said Piers Pigou, Zimbabwe analyst for the International Crisis Group.

Tsvangirai died in a clinic in Johannesburg. Elias Mudzuri, one of the MDC’s vice presidents, said on Twitter: “Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai has not been feeling well for some time, it is sad for me to announce that we have lost our icon and fighter for democracy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, the party and the nation at this hour.”

Temba Mliswa, an independent MP, called Tsvangirai “a true democrat who fearlessly stood up to the Mugabe regime and was an inspiration to many”.

He added: “Although we may have differed politically I held a deep respect for MT.”

David Coltart, one of the founders of the MDC, said Tsvangirai was “one of the giants of the long struggle to bring democracy to Zimbabwe”. He added: “I will remember him for his courage, humility, humour and relentless determination.”

The course of Tsvangirai’s life was determined by his long political battle against Mugabe, the former guerrilla leader who had run Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980 until November.

The oldest of nine children, Tsvangirai left school at 16 to help support his family. As a young miner he become a labour activist and rose through the ranks of the Associated Mine Workers Union. In 1988, he was elected secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the overarching body of the country’s labour movement.

In 1999, Tsvangirai founded the MDC. Although heavily influenced by the trade union movement, the party incorporated the church, business, women’s and students’ organisations and other interest groups.

As Mugabe launched a programme of radical measures designed to bolster his power but which brought economic chaos, Tsvangirai and the MDC stepped up their challenge to the government through a series of nationwide strikes and, despite fierce intimidation, came close to winning power in parliamentary elections in 2000 and in a presidential vote in 2002.

Tsvangirai’s leadership was questioned after a serious split in MDC ranks in 2005, when he overruled a decision by the party’s leadership to take part in elections for the senate and ordered a boycott.

Mugabe’s tactics of harassment enhanced the opposition leader’s reputation as a tenacious, courageous opponent of repression. Images of Tsvangirai after being badly beaten following a prayer meeting that police claimed was illegal were published around the world.

The MDC won the first round of elections in 2008 in the face of a vicious state campaign of violence against party workers and supporters. The MDC eventually joined a unity government that lasted until the 2013 election, which Mugabe won.

Criticised for his obvious affection for the outward trappings of power and failure to make a significant impact in the office of prime minister, Tsvangirai emerged from office a diminished figure. A leaked US diplomatic cable described him as “a flawed figure, not readily open to advice, indecisive and with questionable judgment”.

Tsvangirai nonetheless dominated the fractured opposition in Zimbabwe until his death.

“He was the presidential candidate for the opposition alliance. Recently they have been campaigning on the spirit of Tsvangirai alone. The dilemma is now to find someone who will play that central role,” said Pigou. www.theguardian.com

Morgan Tsvangirai

A powerful orator from humble beginnings, Morgan Tsvangirai was arguably Zimbabwe’s most popular politician and came within a whisker of unseating Robert Mugabe only to be outmanoeuvred and ultimately outlived by his long-time nemesis.

At the peak of his career, the self-taught son of a brick-layer served as prime minister to Mugabe’s president in a 2009-2013 unity government cobbled together after a disputed and violent election in which scores of his supporters were killed.

His presence helped stabilise an economy in freefall but Mugabe reneged on pledges to overhaul the former British colony’s partisan security forces and Tsvangirai was shunted back into his familiar role as opposition gadfly.

A hefty electoral defeat in 2013, blamed in part on Tsvangirai’s involvement in two sex scandals, put paid to his dreams of one day leading the southern African nation and three years later he revealed he was being treated for colon cancer.

He died on Wednesday aged 65, after 18 months of treatment in neighbouring South Africa.

Despite their rivalry, 93-year-old Mugabe harboured grudging respect for an opponent who suffered multiple abuses at the hands of security forces, including a police beating in 2007 that left him with deep gashes in his head.

During their time in power together, the two men developed an uneasy working relationship, squabbling frequently but also taking afternoon tea every Monday and even joking about their frequent head-butting.

“I’ve got my fair share of criticisms and also dealt back rights and lefts and upper cuts. But that’s the game,” Mugabe said on the eve of the 2013 vote, mimicking the movements of a boxer.

“Although we boxed each other, it’s not as hostile as before. It’s all over now. We can shake hands.”

In the coalition’s early days, Tsvangirai even said he found Mugabe to be “very accommodative, very charming”.

CHALLENGING MUGABE

As a young man, Tsvangirai worked in a rural mine to support his family – he had six children with his first wife, Susan – and cut his political teeth in the labour movement as a mine foreman.

In 1988, he became full-time secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, which broke ranks under his leadership with Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, a bold step less than a decade after independence.

Tsvangirai led paralysing strikes against tax increases in 1997 and twice forced Mugabe to withdraw announced hikes, a rare setback for the former guerrilla leader who enjoyed almost total political control of Zimbabwe.

Buoyed by his union successes, Tsvangirai helped found the labour-backed Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in 1999 and quickly became Zimbabwe’s most visible opposition figure, harnessing the frustrations of urban workers bearing the brunt of a struggling economy.

In February 2000, the MDC engineered Mugabe’s first poll defeat – the rejection in a national referendum of a draft constitution that would have entrenched his presidential powers.

That June, the MDC endured killings and police intimidation to stun ZANU-PF by winning 57 of the 120 seats in parliament after Tsvangirai captivated the public with his combative and compelling pro-poor rhetoric.

As he would do on two other occasions, Tsvangirai claimed to have been cheated by a mixture of cunning and violence meted out by Mugabe, who ruled for 37 years until forced to step down after a de facto coup in November 2017.

In March 2008, he came closest to unseating Mugabe.

Still bearing the scars of his treatment by police – an outrage that bolstered his popularity – Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in a first round vote but was forced to pull out of a run-off due to a campaign of violence against his supporters.

MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai

“FLAWED FIGURE”

His undoubted personal courage and political obduracy earned him plaudits in the West, with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard likening him in 2012 to pro-democracy figureheads such as South Africa’s Nelson Mandela or Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi.

Those who knew him better described a headstrong man ill-equipped to take on a figure as entrenched and ruthless as Mugabe.

“Tsvangirai is a flawed figure, not readily open to advice, indecisive and with questionable judgment,” former U.S. ambassador Christopher Dell said in a diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks in 2009.

“He is an indispensable element for opposition success… but possibly an albatross around their necks once in power.”

Dell’s misgivings proved correct when, in 2013, voters failed to credit Tsvangirai with Zimbabwe’s economic turn-around under the coalition government and handed him his biggest electoral defeat.

Tsvangirai, whose colourful love life had been laid bare in Zimbabwe’s tabloids and the courts over the previous two years, dismissed the result as “monumental fraud”.

After the defeat, the MDC split for the second time in less than a decade as loyalists led by former finance minister Tendai Biti laid the blame squarely at his door. As age and illness crept up, Tsvangirai never had a chance to prove him wrong. – Reuters

Jacob Zuma has been president of South Africa since 2009

SOUTH Africa’s embattled President Jacob Zuma has resigned his office with immediate effect.

He made the announcement in a televised address to the nation on Wednesday evening.

Earlier,  Zuma’s governing ANC party told him to resign or face a vote of no confidence in parliament on Thursday.

The 75-year-old has been under increasing pressure to give way to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, the ANC’s new leader.

Mr Zuma, who has been in power since 2009, faces numerous allegations of corruption.

His resignation came at the end of a long speech in which he said he disagreed with the way the ANC had acted towards him.

He said he did not fear a motion of no-confidence, adding: “I have served the people of South Africa to the best of my ability.”

The ANC issued a statement saying Zuma’s resignation provided “certainty to the people of South Africa”.

Zuma, a former member of the ANC’s military wing in the days of apartheid, rose through the ranks of the party to become president. He led the country for more than a third of its time after apartheid.

But he leaves office with several scandals hanging over him, and with South Africa’s economy in dire straits. bbc.com

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya

ZIMBABWE’s economic crisis hit catastrophic levels in September last year, when a foreign currency crisis forced government to halt importation of vital commodities like medicine until the intervention of a regional financial institution.
The worst could have happened, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, John Mangudya revealed last week, saying a bailout from the African Export and Import Bank, which has availed a cumulative US$1,1 billion in nostro-stabilisation facilities, saved the situation.