The much-heralded rescue of the CSC, at one time one of the biggest meat processors on the continent, gave a lot of hope to the workers who had gone without full salaries for nearly seven years, but that hope soon faded when the company closed operations for four months in September to allow for retooling but it has not re-opened since.
Instead, more than 100 workers were lined up for retrenchment but plans were scuttled by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in March.
A senior government official conceded that the government had made a bad decision and was trying to find out a way of getting out of the deal without breaching the agreement it reached with Boustead Beef.
It is understood that cabinet agreed on the way forward before Shiri died but he had not yet disclosed the deal.
When asked for comment permanent secretary John Bhasera asked for questions in writing. This was done on 8 July but he has not responded since.
It is not clear whether the new minister Anxious Masuka who is reported to be a hands-on man and has corporate experience, but might not have political clout, will be able to extricate the government from the bad deal, especially since there have been reports from workers that the new owners have been stripping the company of its assets.
Under the agreement, Boustead Beef was supposed to:
It is understood that one of the things that the government might want to do is to ask the company to show it the money it said it will be investing.
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This post was last modified on August 16, 2020 12:58 pm
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