Mawere does not own SMM claims Chinamasa

By Chengetai Zvauya    

The dispute between Justice and Legal Affairs minister Patrick Chinamasa and businessman Mutumwa Mawere over the control of Shabanie Mashaba Mines (SMM) is set to escalate after the minister said the South Africa based tycoon does not own the company.

Giving evidence before the parliamentary portfolio committee on Mines and Energy, Chinamasa, who refused few weeks ago to appear before this committee, said government was the majority shareholder in the mines and did not recognise Mawere’s ownership claims.

”The mines are owned 100 percent by government and we are working hard to invite new investors to come and inject funds to put back the mines on track. Mawere siphoned a lot of money from the mines and he can no longer lay any claim on them because he failed to manage them,” said Chinamasa.

He expressed disappointment with the de-specification of Mawere last year by the Ministry of Home Affairs over allegations of corruption involving SMM funds.”I was not contacted on the de-specification as there was no correspondence between my office and Ministry of Home Affairs.

“I was going to ask them on what legal grounds the de-specification was done as I am aware that  he externalised a lot of funds,” said Chimanasa. Mawere has been engaged in a legal battle against the government over the takeover of Shabanie Mines since 2004.

The mines were placed under curatorship. Since the government took over the company, nearly 10 000 workers at Shabanie Mine in Zvishavane and Gaths Mines in Mashava were rendered jobless after the mines stopped operations.

The dispute has sucked in president Robert Mugabe and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono in support of Mawere while the Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa is siding with Chinamasa. Daily News