The chairperson of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, Caston Matewu, has declared the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company a “dead asset.”
He urged policymakers to abandon revival efforts and pursue alternative investments instead.
Matewu spoke to Business Times last week at Freda Rebecca Gold Mine. The committee was conducting a fact-finding mission.
He said further funding for Ziscosteel would not produce meaningful returns. He also called for a complete rethink of the company’s future.
“I don’t think Ziscosteel can be resuscitated, and part of our report, which shall be tabled before the House, will seek to explore what the Mutapa Investment Fund can do with the steel giant,” he said.
“We don’t think the current structure can work because the machinery is rusty and archaic. To think it can be resuscitated is misleading. The proper way to describe it is that Ziscosteel is dead.”
Focus Shifts to Limestone and New Investments
Meanwhile, Matewu urged the Mutapa Investment Fund to explore alternative commercial opportunities.
He highlighted Ziscosteel’s limestone deposits as a potential investment area.
Additionally, he warned that competition was increasing from Dinson Iron and Steel Company in Manhize.
MIF deputy chief investment officer Ernest Denhere acknowledged the scale of the challenge.
He said the State was still reviewing options for Ziscosteel’s future after taking over management of the company.
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