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Source: JUST IN: Zim executives implicated in financial scandal | The Herald 29 NOV, 2019

Business Reporter
South African and JSE listed sugar producer Tongaat Hulett, says it intends to institute civil claims against former and current top executives at Hippo Valley and Triangle Limited, over misstatements in its financial reports.

The executive that are facing civil claims include Zimbabwe based executives John Chibwe (Hippo Valley Estates Finance Director), Mr Sydney Mtsambiwa (former managing director of THL’s Zimbabwean operations), Mr Raphael Pfunye (Zimbabwe Sugar Sales Finance Executive) and Mr Steve Frampton (former Zimbabwe Sugar Sales General Manager).

This comes after the JSE-listed company received the results of a six-month forensic probe into its finances carried out by PwC which found that profits and assets had been overstated in earnings reports.

“Certain senior executives initiated or participated in undesirable accounting practices that resulted, among others, in revenue being recognised in earlier reporting periods than it should have been, and in expenses being inappropriately capitalised to assets,” it said. “This resulted in profits in the respective years being overstated, and in the overstatement of certain assets in THL’s financial statements.”

The PwC Investigation identified that certain agreements in Zimbabwe which, in substance, were financing arrangements, were structured as sales of significant sugar stocks, and accounted for as sales every six months, at financial half year and year-end. Furthermore, even though at least part of the sugar stocks comprised raw sugar, these ‘sales’ were accounted for as sales of refined sugar, and priced accordingly. As a result, revenue pertaining to sugar sales was overstated.

Zimbabwean executives were mentioned as some of the individuals “involved in some or all of the above practices, to a greater or lesser extent.”

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Source: Fired Zimbabwe state doctors reject offer to return to work | Physician’s Weekly

HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe state doctors who were fired for going on strike have rejected a government offer to return to work, their union said on Friday.

The doctors went on strike on Sept.3 to protest against poor wages, in some cases less than US$100 a month.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government, which responded to the job boycott by firing 448 doctors and pursuing disciplinary action against more than 1,000 others, on Thursday offered to reinstate them if they returned to work within 48 hours.

Zimbabwe is experiencing its worst economic crisis in a decade that has seen resurgent inflation soaring to three-digit levels, eroding salaries and bringing back bitter memories of the hyperinflation era of a decade ago.

According to the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA), the last wage offer by the government would see the doctors earning a total package, including allowances, of Z$3,900 (about US$240) per month.

“Sadly, the moratorium has come without a new offer on the table having been communicated to us,” ZHDA said, explaining its rejection of the offer.

The strike by junior and middle-level doctors has paralyzed state hospitals, used by Zimbabwe’s poor majority. Even before the strike, the hospitals had already been struggling with shortages of drugs and other basic products.

Critics say President Emmerson Mnangagwa has failed to keep promises he made in last year’s election campaign to revive the economy by pushing through reforms, attracting foreign investment and rebuilding collapsing infrastructure.

On Thursday Parirenyatwa Hospital, the country’s biggest, was deserted, with only a handful of desperate patients being attended to by nurses.

Sheila Muzanenhamo, who lives in one of Harare’s poorest townships, Epworth, grimaced as she explained how she had been turned away from the hospital because there was no doctor to attend to her.

“I have been here since dawn, hoping to get assistance but the nurses said they could not help me,” said Muzanenhamo. “They told me to go to private doctors, but I have no money to pay for that.”

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WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — With more than 85% of votes counted, Namibia’s president was set [...]

Source: Let’s focus on nation-building: Mutsvangwa | Herald (Top Stories)

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Source: Bread prices go up again | Newsday (News)

BY TAFADZWA MHLANGA

THE prices of bread have gone up to $18 from $14 a loaf, further putting pressure on already overburdened consumers who are struggling to put food on the table due to the escalating prices of basic goods.

A snap survey done by NewsDay Weekender yesterday revealed that a standard Bakers Inn loaf was now going for $18, while a Lobels loaf was trading at $16,50 in supermarkets.

National Bakers Association of Zimbabwe president Denis Wala said he could not comment on the issue as he was attending a long meeting.

In January, a loaf of bread was going for 90 cents, but the prices have continuously been going up due to shortages of wheat and foreign currency as well as rising costs of fuel and power outages, which have forced many bakers to rely on costly generators.

In his 2020 national budget, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube removed government subsidies on maize and wheat causing a sharp rise in mealie-meal and bread prices.

But on Wednesday while addressing Zanu PF youths in Kadoma, President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced that government would restore the subsidies.

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