The poverty in Zimbabwe today is unacceptable because God blessed the country with a lot of natural resources

So, what has happened today? The Hwange Colliery Company is no longer the same company that it used to be. It is a pale shadow of itself. It has fallen from grace. In the meantime, in the last 20 years, we have seen more new companies coming to Hwange. We have seen companies coming from China to invest in coal mining and the experience that we have had in the last 20 years as a community is exactly the opposite of what used to happen when I was a child. The new companies that have come to mine the coal are investing in what we call extractive mining, where they do not prioritise the local communities but prioritise profits and themselves more than the local communities. They have not invested in education, healthcare or infrastructure like housing and roads but they have polluted the air and destroyed our water system. The Deka River is polluted, our mountains and hills have been destroyed, our trees are no longer green but they are grey in color due to these mining companies that do not prioritise the local communities. More importantly, their employment system is always and continues to prioritise non-local people. We have seen people from Hwange watch buses bringing people from other parts of Zimbabwe to be employed at the Hwange power station.  At the mines around Hwange, we have seen priority being given to people who were not born and raised in Hwange and this is something that is happening in front of our eyes. We continue to become poorer while other people who are not from Hwange continue to benefit from the coal which is a natural resource that God has given us. This should make us not a poor community.

Why am I supporting this motion? I am supporting this motion because I know that the concept of corporate social responsibility is not working in Hwange. It might be working elsewhere but in Hwange it has failed dismally. Companies that have invested in Hwange have done very little to promote local community development. They have not employed locals or invested in building the infrastructure of Hwange. In any case, they have destroyed Hwange and there is no sustainable mining in Hwange.  To that extent, since we are failing to rein in these companies, what we could call foreign companies, we need to find new ways to force them to do that. We could change the law to force companies to make sure that there is compulsory corporate social responsibility but it also violates the very concept because it is supposed to be done voluntarily by the company. The other thing that we could do is to force the companies to make sure that their boards have got local community representatives. Some companies have tried to do that but the experience we have learnt is that most of the people who have been appointed into boards of these companies have no say and have no influence.  They just benefit personally leaving the rest of the Hwange community to suffer. So, that concept of board appointments of co-options has not necessarily benefited the local communities but a few individuals in Hwange. We have also seen a situation where as we announced the profits, the companies actually claim that the people of Hwange benefited and we have tried to challenge these issues but we have failed to receive support, especially from the Central Government. What has been happening over the years is a very sad story to tell and as a way forward, I support the concept of community ownership and I have got some suggestions to make.

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