By Beverly Bizeki

As calls to have locals benefit from natural resources through beneficiation of minerals increase, Sinomine owned Bikita Minerals has revealed its intentions to have a new lithium smelter plant in Masvingo Province.
This was revealed by Sinomine Manager Xuadong Gong during the tour of the mine by Mines and Mining Development Parliamentary Portfolio Committee who said the company had intentions to keep investing in the country and plans for the smelter, which cost US$500 million, were already underway.
“Despite ongoing fluctuations in the prices of lithium globally, Sinomine has plans to keep investing in Zimbabwe with a projected new lithium smelter to be constructed at Lake Mutirikwi for the benefit of the communities in the mining area,” said Gong.
Parliamentarians who visited the mine queried the mine officials on why the company did not sub-contract local transporters for them to benefit as well. Gong said it was difficult to find local transporters with the handling capacity which is why the company opted for international transporters.
“Some products should be sent to the final customer in pallets and such handling capacity is not easy to find locally. The previous owners of the mine also used foreign trucks although 50 percent are local,” said Gong.
“All of our contractors get paid after reaching a milestone but it is only the local contractors who get paid first as they do not have capacity so we pay them first and they do the work. In some instances the local contractors after getting paid, quit before meeting their obligations,” said Gong.
Bikita Minerals Finance Manager, Amanda Makausi said plans for the new smelter were at an advanced stage with the feasibility study under way.
“Before introduction of the beneficiation policy by government, our phase two investment plan and expansion of the mine was to have a smelting plant to produce lithium sulphate, a further value addition to the product we are mining here.
“Feasibility studies are underway and we expect to invest at least US$400 to US$500 million, a project which we believe is going to change the face of Masvingo province and we are committed to increasing the provincial GDP,” said Makausi.
Makausi however said they were facing challenges in logistics as the company had a shortage of containers to transport lithium products to the port for shipping which is why it resorted to using flatbed trucks and 1 tonne bags.
“The reason why we use flat back trucks and pack our products in 1 tonne bags is because there is a huge shortage of containers. We would have loved to containerise at the mine and take products to the port but there are no required containers in Zimbabwe,” said Makausi.
She went on to say the mine had another challenge of taking a longer route to Beira as they could not use Birchenough Bridge due to the bridge’s weight limitations although they had plans to construct a new one.
“The other challenge that we face in terms of logistics is that the Beira route is shorter but we have to take a longer route. From here we go via Chivhu since we cannot use the Birchenough Bridge because of its weight limitations.
“It is against that background again that as Bikita Minerals being a responsible citizen, we would like to construct a new Birchenough Bridge. We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the ministry of transport, conducted a feasibility study and the designing of the bridge is underway. We would like the support of the committee on mining in getting benefits that accrue from that proposed public private partnership agreement. We have plans to set aside about US$40 million to construct that bridge which is to benefit the whole country,” said Makausi.
Bikita Minerals is one of the biggest lithium producers in the region. The company has since grown its capacity over the past two years after Sinomine took over with investments worth about US$200 million.

By TellZim Reporter

After years of success in business, Beatrice Ngilazi (nee Shava) who runs Arlytatim Hardware is now sharing her musical gift with the world, unveiling her debut gospel album, ‘Great God’, a testament to her faith and talent on Friday October 11.
A trailblazing businesswoman, Ngilazi is breaking new ground with the release of her debut album, inspiring listeners to find strength in faith at Alliance Church in Masvingo.
The multi-talented, Ngilazi, who is a teacher by profession and has two singles prior to the album said it featured ten tracks with a gospel message.
“The main message in the album Great God is that of our Lord Jesus Christ being the Great God, the supreme King over all.
“No collaborations were done in the album and the songs are, Kunyangwe zvikaoma sei, Moyo wangu rumbidza Jehova, Adonai great God, Ngoni dzake, Hakuna umwe wakaita saJesu, Ndinomutenda, Mwari baba, Rumbidzwai Jehova, The unchangeable God and Shongwe Yedu,” said Ngilazi.
Ngilazi said her favorite track on the album is Shongwe Yedu which praises God as a pillar of fire and cloud, leading his children through and through, as He did with the children of Israel.
The Mberengwa-born artist said she had a passion for singing for the Lord Jesus Christ from a tender age and draws inspiration from South African gospel singer Hlengiwe Mhlaba.
Guest performances during the launch will be done by Worshipper Larry Gunda and Worshipper Wedzerai, both gospel ministers.
The album launch show will start from 5:30pm and admission.

By Beverly Bizeki

Government is still to pay Civil Registry contractors who were used during the identity documents registration a year after the work was done.
The victims have since written a letter, which is circulating on social media, to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Professor Mthuli Ncube querying the ministry’s position on their unpaid allowances.
“We are a group of employees from the ministry of home affairs/civil registry department. We upto this date have not been paid what is duly ours, a year after embarking on the vital national mobile registration programme. Please note that the money was supposed to be used during the exercise, common sense and a clear un-schizophrenic psych will tell you that we are deeply in debt as a result of financing this crucial programme.
“Kindly respond to the following questions honourable- When are you going to pay us our June-July allowances? What is stopping us from being paid for the work we did a year ago? ,” reads part of the letter.
Masvingo District Registrar Lawrence Mapara said he was not aware of the matter and referred the reporter to the provincial registrar Sithembeni Chitsa who asked the reporter to submit her questions in writing.
However, sources who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation raised concern over the delays in payment saying.
“We were supposed to get US$120 per day for mobile workers while those working from the office were supposed to get US$60 per day. We have not been paid since 2023 for June 15 to July 31st 2023,” said the source.
The money is supposed to be around US$2 400 for the minimum paid worker.
This incident is not the first one as government took time to pay transporters who provided service during the 2022 census as well as during elections.
Government recently torched a storm on social media after government through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water And Rural Development entered into a contract with Blackdeck Livestock and Poultry Farming valued at US$87 757 168 for supply and delivery of over 600 000 goats over a period of five years in which the suppliers were given an advance payment of US$40 million implicating its directors Moses Mpofu and Mike Mpofu.

By Beverly Bizeki

A school head at Gomba Primary School in Gutu has left the community devastated after she buried two tonnes of maize meant to feed learners at the school after keeping the maize for four years.
The head, Varaidzo Tazvivinga is said to have kept the maize until it went bad since 2020 while school-going kids who were supposed to benefit from it were going hungry.
Gomba Primary School Development Committee (SDC) Chairperson Samson Chidya confirmed the incident and said upon being asked why she had buried the maize, Tazvivinga said it was attracting rats to the fowl run where it was being kept.
“The maize was brought to the school in 2020 for the school feeding programme but classes were later disturbed by Covid-19 lockdowns and children stopped coming to school. We had used only about a tonne and the remainder was kept at the school,” said Chidya.
He said the head later told them that the remainder was supposed to be taken back to the Department of Social Welfare since it had not been used, with the school being asked to raise funds for its transportation back, which the parents resisted.
“We then suggested that since the school had poultry projects, we could use the maize for those projects as we had two batches of chickens. We went on to use some of the maize there but I later heard that the school head had told the SDC vice chair about wanting to dig a compost pit at the school. Little did we know that it was meant for burying the much needed food,” said Chidya.
He went on to say the head hired someone who dug the compost pit and buried one tonne intending to bury another tonne the following day but the contracted guy told other villagers who then informed other parents.
Contacted for comment, the school head Varaidzo Tazvivinga said she could not comment, saying she was not allowed to speak over the phone before dropping the call.
“We are not allowed to speak over the phone,” said Tazvivinga.
Gutu District Schools Inspector (DSI) Ronald Muganhu said he was yet to establish what had transpired at the school as he had only came across the story on social media.
“I have only seen the story on social media and I am yet to establish how authentic it is thereafter we can do our own investigations,” said Muganhu.
“The matter came to light after the man who was contracted told other parents at a beer binge that he had buried maize at the school and will bury some more the following day. The concerned parents then notified Chief Mazuru.
Other sources who spoke to this publication said the school head is believed to have tried covering up for taking part of the maize for personal use without authorization after parents enquired about the maize.
“It was alleged that she had been using the maize to feed her own poultry project, hence burying the maize,” a local villager said.
Headman Mazuru born Mukandatsama Mazuru condemned the school head’s conduct and said it was retrogressive equating it to an indirect act of murder considering the drought-induced food scarcity.
“What the head did is totally unacceptable and this did not sit well with us as a community. Some families have no food but she had guts to bury maize in a compost, ndiko kutiurayira vanhu uku (that is like killing people).
“The government is helping vulnerable families yet someone is destroying grain. I do not know where this places her job as a teacher and school head because she is supposed to be looking after these children
“The maize could have been distributed to children from vulnerable families and this could have served the purpose, the worst part is that her answers were not satisfying when we asked her. Our plea is for the ministry to give us another head as we cannot be working with someone like this,” said Mazuru.
Gutu East ward 13 councilor Theresa Dhehwa said the head was supposed to have agreed with parents on what to do with the grain before it went bad.
“We saw the maize that had been buried in a compost and it had gone bad and could not be used neither for cooking nor poultry feeds. The school head should have sat down with the SDC to come up with a way forward.
“She probably wanted to clear the room in which the maize was stored because it was no longer edible, even the sacks in which the maize was stored had been worn out and this was probably because of rats,” said Dhehwa.
Gomba Primary has an enrolment of about 650 learners and according to some sources the school had received about five tonnes of maize. Learners are said to have had meals for a few days from the same programme.
The government and other development partners are currently on a drive to maintain high enrolment in schools against the ongoing El Nino drought by supplying food to schools in vulnerable communities.
According to the Department of Social Welfare, Gutu District had an allocation of about 480 000 tonnes of maize and has already received about 65 000 tonnes of maize meal which has been disbursed to some of the primary schools in the district. Gomba Primary had however not received its allocation of the maize at the time of writing as schools are still in the process of receiving their allocations.