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HARARE Feb 26 (Reuters) – Impala Platinum’s
Zimbabwe unit, Zimplats, has been ordered to transfer
29.5 percent of its shares to a state-run fund in order to
comply with local empowerment laws, according to a letter
written by a government minister.
Zimplats, 87 percent owned by Implats, had failed to comply
fully with the law, which seeks to localize at least 51 percent
of shares in all foreign-owned firms, empowerment minister
Saviour Kasukuwere wrote in a letter seen by Reuters on Sunday.
Failure to present the government with a plan to transfer
the holding within two weeks would result in unspecified
“enforcement mechanisms”, the letter added.
Kasukuwere has in the past threatened to cancel the mining
licences of firms that do not comply.
On Friday, Implats said Zimbabwe had rejected part of its
empowerment plan, along with that of Mimosa, its 50-50 joint
venture platinum mine with Aquarius Platinum.
Both mines have recently launched community share ownership
trusts, to which they each gave 10 percent shareholdings each.
Zimbabwe’s empowerment laws, being championed by President
Robert Mugabe, have been criticized by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, his partner in a shaky coalition government formed
three years ago after violent and disputed elections in 2008.
Analysts say the law is holding back the impoverished
southern African country’s economic recovery from a decade of
turbulence and contraction.
Critics link the empowerment push to Mugabe’s plans to hold
elections this year.
(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Ed Cropley)
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