Power restored at CSC-Boustead Beef after more than 7 weeks

Power was restored at CSC-Boustead Beef after the company had gone for more than seven weeks without electricity over the failure to pay an electricity bill of about US$20 000 clearly indicating that the investor has no capacity to revive the meat processor which was one of the biggest on the continent.

Power was cut off on 20 February and restored on 14 April.

Whispers say the company was put under pressure by Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga who complained that it had asked him to commission a plant that was not operational in August last year. The company claimed it had invested US$24 million, a figure workers at the company scoffed at..

Boustead Beef has been running the Cold Storage Company since February 2019 but has failed to resuscitate it forcing the government to place the company under corporate rescue in December 2020.

The government, however, seems to have back-tracked on the corporate rescue leaving Boustead Beef to run the show.

Corporate rescue practitioner Vonani Majoko was removed in July last year but his team is reportedly still at work.

Tenants renting old CSC premises from Boustead Beef were cut off when the power was disconnected but they applied for and got their own separate power way before Boustead Beef got its.

Watchers are baffled at why Boustead Beef continues to run the show despite its failure with the only plausible explanation being that the government is afraid of the contractual obligations it has with Boustead Beef.

Boustead Beef has, however, breached several of the contractual obligations like providing proof of funds, investing US$45 million in the first year and even paying rentals for CSC premises.

A United States investor Ethos Asset Management announced on 1 November last year that it had entered into a long-term financing agreement with Boustead Beef but there is nothing to show for it nearly six months down the line. 

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