Zimbabwe govt set to evict farm invaders Abraham Etieyibo
9/22/00 Harare, ZIMBABWE ANN   It appears that the government of Zimbabwe has at last realized the enormous financial implications of the invasion of white owned farmlands in the South African country. The government of President Robert Mugabe has announced that it would increase efforts at the eviction of illegal black settlers on white owned farms. Those to be evicted are blacks that invaded white owned farmlands after the government launched a resettlement scheme in July.
John Nkomo, the Minister of Home Affairs, disclosed the government's determination to evict liberation war veterans. He said that the government had approved the evictions, aimed at ending what it termed, "corruption and violence in the land redistribution process." On Monday, and as part of the government's determination in ending the invasion, armed policemen destroyed shacks. They also drove away hundreds of black squatters and their supporters from five farms outside the capital city of Harare.
Nkomo said that it is only the government that has the authority to allocate lands. He said, "There are too many criminals now on the farms who are inviting people in and selling land to them. Our stance is that no one, except the central government has authority to allocate land," Nkomo said. The statement of the Home Affairs Minster was the first official comment on the government's use of force against land invaders. President Mugabe had initially said that the government would not force the veterans out of the farms.

9/15/00 Zimbabwe Independent "MDC opposition offices raided, officials picked up" F. Maisokwadzo
IN the first major confrontation between the government and the Movement for Democratic Change in the post-election period ( other than an anonymous hand grenade lobbed in the party HQ week before ), police yesterday raided the party's three offices in Harare, arrested four party officials and ransacked the home of the party's Zengeza MP, Tafadzwa Musekiwa.
9/9/00 Washington Post $400 million civil lawsuit filed in US court (Manhattan) against Mugabe for alleged human rights abuses against political enemies, alleging that Mugabe & two associates in his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriot Front (ZANU-PF) orchestrated a campaign of violence against opposition parties.

9/12/00 IRIN "Evicted farmers sue for breach of contract"
JOHANNESBURG About 13 farmers, evicted in July from state farms they were leasing in the Sessombia area to make way for a resettlement programme, have sued the government for breach of contract, news reports said on Tuesday. According to the reports, the farmers were on five-year contracts which were set to expire on 5 May 2002. Their leases were terminated to allow top government officials allocated land under the controversial commercial farming resettlement scheme last year, to begin work. Reports said that the scheme was publicly criticized for benefiting cabinet ministers, high court judges, two senior journalists, university lecturers and army generals at the expense of farmers.

8/3/00 Mugabe vehemently opposed offers of aid conditioned on a restoration of the rule of law or a review of his land reform policies, saying: "The donors can stay with their money if their condition is that that money can only come if we give up the demand on land we are pursuing."

Since June 2000 elections, due to President Mugabe's insane push to retain power at all costs, as a result of the farm invasions and acquisitions, it is estimated that over 500,000 black Zimbabwean farm workers and their families will end up jobless and poverty-stricken. Inflation is now around 70%. Unemployment stands at over 50%. Petrol and diesel are in short supply. One in every four people has AIDS. The Zimbabwean people voiced their rejection of Mugabe's Zanu-PF party at the June elections, and despite internationally-reported violence and intimidation, and proven "electoral irregularities", Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party succeeded in gaining an effective majority of votes. I say effective because if it weren't for Zanu's secured 30 seats, the MDC would now be the governing party. The next step for Zimbabwe is the 2002 Presidential Elections. But in the meantime the world has forgotten.

1919: Birth of Ian (Douglas) Smith, Rhodesian Prime Minister who advocated white supremacy and unilaterally declared independence (UDI) from Britain in 1965. After the transfer of power to the black majority in 1979, he was elected a member of parliament in the government of Robert Mugabe. In 1998, Mugabe said that they could have beheaded Ian Smith who still lives in the country & authored The Great Betrayal. more history
late April 2000 of many attacks of armed poor Africans against white landowners. Violence commenced in February 2000 when President Robert Mugabe and his party first lost a vote on a constitutional referendum. In one case about 200 attackers beat dogs to death and burned down workers' homes only one day after a leader of the attackers promised a cease-fire. The native squatters occupied more than 1600 white-owned farms across Zimbabwe. President Mugabe promised peace but continued to incite the natives to violence, apparently to gain their support in the national elections.

The politcal campaigns were violent, as in early June 2000, and the opposition party was more popular in some parts than the ruling party that instigated the violence against white farmers. President Mugabe declared on June 17 that, although whites would be permitted to live in Zimbabwe, never again would they be allowed to have power over the native south African blacks. Mugabe called the whites "the greatest racists in the world." Elections were scheduled for June 24 and 25. About 31 members of the opposition party have been killed since February, and many more have been beaten.
As the election neared, by June 23, 14 oppostion poll watchers had been detained by the Mugabe government, and one was not released. Although Mugabe, whose party has ruled Zimbabwe for 20 years, was not on the ballot, his term runs to 2002, his party and a popular opposition party were, but increasing violence seemed aimed at intimidating the opposition. Mugabe promised to redistribute the white farms to landless blacks after the election.

Zimbabwe takes fight against US sanctions to SADC Voila via s.c.z

6/13/2000 Chester Crocker former AsstSec Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. State Dept
Testimony House International Relations Committee Subcommittee on Africa WashDC
excerpted Situation in Zimbabwe
I first visited Zimbabwe some 33 years ago, at about the time when the national liberation war against minority rule was getting started. I've been there many times since then. Shortly after independence in 1980 there were other bloody episodes as the governing ZANU-PF party consolidated its rule, using foreign troops to smash the power base of another, rival political party. While the country's political life has featured the trappings of democratic practice, the reality of its elections has frequently included the arbitrary use of official power, an uneven playing field for opposition candidates, and the occasional resort to tactics of intimidation. But until the late 1990s, these practices remained within certain limits. Gradually, it seemed that a semblance of tranquility and decency came to Zimbabwe. This may have been due, in part, to the fact that until recently Zimbabweans have not been in a position to mount a serious challenge to the de facto one-party rule they have lived under for the past 20 years (a situation reflected in the parliament where ZANU-PF controls all but 3 seats out of 150). The situation today is quite different. I said earlier that it is dramatic: we are some 10 days away from one of the most important elections in modern African history. Opposition candidates will run in all 120 open constituencies. Hundreds if not thousands of local and foreign observers will be watching.

The upcoming election will take place against a backdrop of government-sanctioned and sponsored violence directed against farm workers (that is rural African voters), farm owners, and opposition leaders in which there have been some 28 deaths and a widespread pattern of brutal intimidation by so-called "veterans" of the struggle for majority rule. The situation is so severe that one stands in awe of the sheer courage and conviction of unarmed oppositionists who have the guts to stand up to a regime which increasingly lives by the gun. These impressive leaders have come together from a wide range of backgrounds--the free trade union movement, the law, journalism, grass roots human rights advocacy, women's groups, united in the belief that it is possible for Zimbabwe to have peaceful, democratic political change. Yet, as Amnesty International has reminded us in recent days, there is "a pervasive atmosphere of fear and intimidation which in turn is hampering the rights to freedom of assembly, association, movement and expression"; the National Democratic Institute has declared that conditions for a credible democratic election do not now exist.

Zimbabwe's industrial and commercial farming sectors have, until recently, been a source of regional dynamism, making the country a significant commodity and food exporter and a key economic partner for all its neighbors, including South Africa. Zimbabwe's political leadership which has been in power since 1980 also had a record of some accomplishment, at least until recently. While economic growth has been uneven during these 20 years and the government has never been what we would call "market friendly," there was a pragmatic streak to government policies in the political and economic arena. We are talking, after all, about the second most important economy in the subregion, a pivot for regional integration and development, and a nation whose institutions have at times played an important and constructive regional role. Sadly, those legacies have gone out the window. Zimbabwe's policies of pragmatism, reconciliation and regional cooperation have been replaced by the politics of greedy adventurism in the region,--most notably, of course, in the Congo, and the politics of envy and racial scapegoating at home.
The problem is not land ownership or colonial legacies or the continuing place of whites in the agricultural economy. The problem is that Mugabe and his key associates (more below) fear losing power in a democratic election in which their adversaries are fellow black Zimbabweans. Everything else is a pure and simple cover story, the playing of race cards by an embattled regime. This is not the way Robert Mugabe began his career as Zimbabwe's first elected leader in 1980 when he sent signals of reconciliation to all his fellow citizens. I have known Robert Mugabe and have met with him on and off over these 20 years. I respect him. He has made substantial contributions to his nation's liberation, its development, and that of the Southern African region. We have often differed on some major issues. But this is a man of substance, intelligence, and deep conviction. It is tragic that his fear of losing power is crowding out those other qualities.

Zimbabwe's intervention in Congo appears based on a mixture of classic state motivations in a power vacuum situation and the motives of an adventurous, greedy and somewhat isolated regime. What are we doing about it?
One press for an open and fair election process but resign ourselves in practice to the likelihood of a stolen or substantially bent outcome. Assuming that violent intimidation and police state tactics work, we could accept that reality and decide to work with it. This would mean actively engaging Mugabe and his team with a conditional strategy, using both stick and carrot to move them back from the edge of their self-destructive orgy. This will not be easy to do and it may not be pretty to watch. The goal, of course, would be to salvage a regionally dangerous situation and move the country's leadership back within the pale of minimally acceptable conduct. However unappealing such a strategy in terms of our political values, this course is strongly to be preferred to one of self-isolating, petulant ostracism which only marginalizes our own voice and influence.
The other choice is to work through all appropriate channels for a change in power in Zimbabwe after a flawed election, resigning ourselves to the likelihood that Zimbabwe is slated to become Africa's Romania and Mugabe its Ceausescu. That regime, it will be recalled, was ended by the actions of the people of Romania, and the same may ultimately happen in Zimbabwe if the recent patterns of official conduct continue. Hence, our role under this approach ought to be maximally discreet and low-key in order to avoid giving the Mugabe regime the sort of external adversary which dying, authoritarian regimes crave in order to stave off their inevitable demise. Under this approach, we would treat Zimbabwe like the pariah it appears almost to want to be, disengage from official relationships and government-to-government programming of any sort, and wait for the pressures to mount ... helping where we can without distorting the political equation.
This is a case where the current American penchant for sloppy unilateralism and photo-op foreign policy making needs to be brought under some semblance of control so that we can work effectively with others.

9/15/00 ZIndependent "Commercial farmers destock; Zimbabwe to run out of beef" V. Kahiya
ZIMBABWE is set to run out of beef next year as commercial farmers who own about a quarter of the national herd have embarked on a massive destocking exercise in reponse to the accelerated land resettlement exercise and the pressure from skewed economic fundamentals, the Zimbabwe Independent established this week.

9/7/00 IRIN "Farmers get tough with Mugabe"
JOHANNESBURG Zimbabwe's 'Financial Gazette' reports that mainly-white commercial farmers have abandoned their softly-softly approach to the government's seizure of farms. They've unanimously agreed to take President Robert Mugabe to court again over the 3 000 farms gazetted for takeover in the new fast-track land resettlement programme. The Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) last month applied to the High Court and the Supreme Court to order Mugabe, war veterans' leader Chenjerai Hunzvi and Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri to remove self-styled independence war veterans and ZANU-PF supporters from more than 1,600 farms they have occupied since the start of the year.
The CFU later withdrew the applications to appease the government in the hope that dialogue would precede the fast-track land reform programme. The government has, however, continued to seize land, targeting more than 3,000 farms for seizure so far to resettle ruling ZANU-PF supporters and landless peasants. The CFU's decision to withdraw litigation against Mugabe and some of his top lieutenants had created a huge rift in the farming community, with most farmers threatening to dump its top leadership at a union congress that began in Harare on Wednesday.

Addressing the congress, CFU director David Hasluck said his union would now challenge the acquisition of 3,000 farms without compensation, as well as the validity of temporary presidential powers used in the process to seize them. Meanwhile, the CFU says the situation on most occupied farms was still tense, with the veterans continuing to cause work stoppages, a development likely to derail farming activities this year. White farmers vow to battle on against Mugabe Zimbabwe's beleaguered union of mostly white commercial farmers is reported to have issued a defiant message to President Robert Mugabe's government on Wednesday. The union urged members not to give up in the face of state-backed lawlessness.
"Today we are still on the land, limping maybe, but not down and definitely not out," Tim Henwood, president of the Commercial Farmers' Union, told about 450 representatives at an emotionally charged opening of the union's annual congress. At the start of the meeting, the congress observed a one-minute silence for the six farmers murdered during recent violent land grabs. At the meeting, farmers said invaders had launched a new tactic to try and drive farmers off their land by starting dry season veld fires. They said hundreds of thousands of hectares of pasture, crops and forest had been torched in the last two weeks.
Henwood added that the lawlessness on commercial farms and Mugabe's land-grab bid "is not only affecting the agricultural industry, it is threatening the future of every Zimbabwean and is guaranteed to bring about the collapse of our nation".

8/24/00 via s.c.z COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION
680 properties affected by farm occupations since 6/2000 elections.
9/15/00 CFU Farm Invasions Update
The extent of the break down of law and order is illustrated in two reported cases of farm invaders retaliating against arrests by lighting veld fires. The damage to grazing through deliberate veld fires country-wide is of extreme concern to the cattle industry. Invaders on Crewkerne Farm in Mutepatepa have threatened farm irrigation workers with axes and have cut the main irrigation pipeline in an attempt to prevent irrigation. The foreman has received a death threat. In Beatrice, a labourer on Bhara Bhara Farm was assaulted after he attempted to recover a water cart that the owner had lent to illegal occupiers.

Wedza continues to be subjected to mass lawlessness, with reports of a car-jacking, widespread theft, fence-cutting and deliberate fires. On Fair Adventure Farm, invaders retaliated to the arrest of poachers by lighting a veld fire. In Bromley / Ruwa farm labourers on Mara Farm assaulted illegal occupiers and were arrested for inciting violence. The invaders have threatened retribution. On Stewartonia Farm in Chegutu / Suri Suri, the owner was threatened by a war veteran with a spear and tractor drivers were told to get out of the lands that they were ridging for tobacco or else the tractors would be burnt.
Also in Chegutu / Suri Suri, the DA is settling 70 settlers on Katawa Farm today in the clear knowledge that this farm has not been conceded. There has been no valuation, no agreement of sale and the farmer has already committed considerable investment to the forthcoming season. There has been serious stock-theft in the Zvishavane area of the Midlands, with six bills and seven head of cattle stolen in the last few days. Successful arrests by the police for previous stocktheft has resulted in deliberate fires.

Soon after a rancher had received assurances from the provincial governor of Masvingo that the Save Conservancy was not identified for resettlement, twenty new invaders moved into the middle of the ranch. There is an increase of invaders in Gona Re Zhou Game Park. No regional reports were received from Manicaland and Matabelelend.
REGIONAL REPORTS:
Mutepatepa: On Crewkerne farm, invaders have threatened the irrigation gang with axes and have cut the main irrigation pipe in an attempt to prevent irrigation. Police have made several arrests. The owner has impounded cattle that have consistently been driven onto wheat fields. The farm foremen has received a death threat via one of his children. Police are investigating.
Mazowe / Concession: Police are now investigating the hut-building, tree-cutting and verbal abuse reported at Amatola Farm. A deliberate fire has burnt out 800 ha on Mazowe Ranch.
Marondera: On Carolina Farm, electrical goods were stolen last night. At Barrowdale Farm, a cow was slaughtered on Tuesday night.
Marondera North: Agritex, DDF and the Governor are expected to come and start pegging and allocating Rupture Farm.
Beatrice: A labourer on Bhara Bhara Farm was assaulted after he attempted to recover a water cart that the owner had lent to illegal occupiers. Police are investigating. A war vet visited Argyle Farm and warned the owner that they should expect similar treatment to Stoneridge Farm, which has experienced serious work stoppages.
Harare South: The Daily News correctly reported yesterday that the owner of Blackfordby will no longer be farming this farm. The problems at Stoneridge Farm have decreased since field work has been suspended. The harassment on Dunottar Farm continues - there are now about 20 brick houses built in this season's tobacco land and brick-making continues.
Wedza: On Rapako Farm, game fences are being cut and repaired on a daily basis. On Wednesday, illegal occupiers attempted to drive game out of the fence. Trees are being cut for hut building and to sell for firewood. Police in Wedza have told the owner that they cannot react to the tree cutting for hut building but will react to timber being carted off the farm for sale. The arrest of poachers at Fair Adventure Farm on Wednesday triggered a reaction from invaders, who started a veld fire that night. At Nelson Farm, a pump was stolen but recovered. Maize theft was reported from Chakadenga Farm; tagging materials and dip was stolen from Lifton Farm and a borehole motor was stolen from Imire. An extensive veld fire burnt out large portions of Mt Arthur, Mandy, Plymtree and Raleigh farms and affected some neighbouring farms. A white Mazda pick up was car-jacked two days ago from an individual on his way back to his communal area in Wedza.
Enterprise: There are strong suspicions that two fires which broke out last night on Olympus Farm were started deliberately.
Bromley/Ruwa: Some of the farm labourers on Mara Farm assaulted illegal occupiers and were arrested for inciting violence. The invaders have threatened retribution. There have been deliberate fires on Belmont and Luwande farms. Hut building continues and police are not reacting to any reports at all.
Macheke/Virginia: Work stoppages continue in the district.
Mashonaland West (North): Game and fish poaching is rife in the province and there have been numerous veld fires.
Banket: The roof was stolen from a farm store in the area.
Lions Den: Police and Tredar arrested twenty five fish poachers at the Pondoro dam.
Selous: Hut building continues on several properties.
Chakari: On Newbiggin Farm there has been another work stoppage due to war vet interference.
Chegutu / Suri Suri: On Stewartonia Farm the owner was threatened by a war veteran with a spear and tractor drivers were told to get out of the lands that they were ridging or else the tractors would be burnt. On Farnham there has been another pig stolen. On Leny farm there was five hundred metres of four strand fence stolen last night and another impala shot. This property has been conditionally conceded, but no government valuation has been undertaken. In the meantime, improvements continue to be stolen or vandalised by the invaders. On Tiverton Farm, war veteran Gilbert Moyo continues to occupy the old homestead.
Kadoma / Battlefields: There is severe poaching on Damvuri and Rockbar farms.
Zvishavane: Six bulls were stolen from Zimasco plus another animal and all were slaughtered at Maglass Village. Six head were also stolen from Kinsale Ranch - one person has been arrested. Stolen cattle have been recovered from the Mziwa District and members of a syndicate have been arrested for receiving stolen cattle. In apparent retribution to the arrest of poachers, four veld fires were caused by arson. Charcoal burners are starting fires on ranches as are people clearing land by slash and burn methods. On Kinsale, the owner's son has been unable to return to the property for over five weeks due to a death threat.
Masvingo East and Central: On Fomax Dairy, which borders Mucheche Township, 16 000 residential stands have been issued and agricultural stands have been demarcated under the supervision of the DA and Agritex. Twenty more invaders have moved on to Beauly Farm and a new invasion took place on Heathcote Farm.
Chiredzi Area: Soon after a rancher had received assurances from the provincial governor that the Save Conservancy was not identified for resettlement, twenty new invaders moved into the middle of the ranch. There is an increase of invaders in Gona Re Zhou Game Park. Veld fires were reported last night on Mukwasi and Hammond Ranches. On Ruware Ranch, a re-inforced game scout patrol has had some success in containing poaching.

4th World as derivative investments
9/8/00 ZIndependent "ZNCC Urges Return to Rule of Law" G.M. Harare

Eco-Flash said donors were crucial to the country's thirst for foreign currency injections, estimating that the economy needed at least a billion United States dollars to kick-start, otherwise "it is certain to virtually collapse within weeks". ZNCC said for the donors to return, the government had to start working immediately. "In, particular, there is an immediate need to for a drastic restructuring of government so as to reign in on excessive expenditure. The restructuring should include trimming of government ministries to manageable levels, say 16, and the abolition of non-essential posts such as the deputy ministers and provincial governors," said ZNCC.
ZNCC called on the government to reduce its diplomatic missions abroad which it accused of failing to justify their existence. "Politics of patronage that have characterised the past should no longer be allowed as these have contributed much to the wayward government expenditures and their horrible consequence over the past 20 years," ZNCC said. The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange has come back to life over the last two weeks, with several counters starting to show their resilience, bringing to mind the almost forgotten saying that there are opportunities in every situation. Investors were woken from hibernation, brought on by the offering of early pickings as returns in several stocks heated up.

Several key counters led the way forward as the industrial index headed towards the all time high of 17 600 points achieved in mid-January this year. One has to ask though, with listed companies having to comply with IAS 29, whether the stock exchange is going to inflation-adjust the industrial and mining indices in the same way as changes in equity are calculated? Despite these gains, the industrial index has shown a negative return in real terms since January. Year to date CPI inflation (based on actual to July and estimates for August and September) is 39%, meaning that to derive a positive real return, the industrial index should have gained at least 5 626 points since the beginning of the year, bringing the desired level to 20 052 points! The share market however is volatile, with some counters yielding returns of over 70% or more in one week while others can show a negative return of close to 100% in the same brief period.

... Unusually the main source of the group's income was the contribution from non-interest income. At $491,7m for the six months under review, it was 237% higher than that achieved last year, and accounted for 80% of total income. The main drivers of non-interest income appear to be net profits on investment securities, net dealing income from securities, and net profits earned from dealing in foreign currencies. The investment income is attributed to the bull run on the stock exchange during the first quarter. Interestingly, foreign exchange related income grew by a surprising 195% in an economy facing a catastrophic shortage of foreign currency! NMB has launched its commercial bank in spite of market sentiments indicating that Zimbabwe is now becoming over-banked. In that regard, NMB is placing strong emphasis on a high level of quality service and innovative products, tailor- made for corporate entities and high net worth individuals. So far, branches have been established in Harare and Bulawayo.
Economic conditions in Zimbabwe have, however, recently been particularly difficult. Attributable earnings were significantly down from Pounds601m ($44,9 billion) to Pounds39m ($2,9 billion). By late May National Foods had issued a profit warning outlining several issues that had negatively impacted the group's performance. Farm occupations and fuel shortages as well as the economic environment reduced sales volumes in all divisions with the exception of the general trading division. The good maize harvest and reduced disposable income shifted demand away from refined products to hammermilled and home-grown maize meal. High inflation and the managed Zimbabwe dollar negatively impacted exports with increased import competition in the flour and edible oil divisions.

Probably where the two accounting standards differ in principle is where inflation adjusted accounting tends to "reward" companies for being in debt despite the interest charges. This can be seen with National Foods where although the interest paid is slightly higher under inflation-adjusted accounting, there is an $88m monetary adjustment as a result of the gain in purchasing power from net liabilities exceeding monetary assets. However, when depreciation changes are subtracted from the operating profit, inflation adjusted accounting charges are doubled in the case of National Foods, more than outweighing any monetary gain from being indebted. Just how investors read this new standard of accounting is uncertain. Only when all companies comply will it be fully applicable in making valid comparisons.

Rwanda role in Congo

Rautenbach's Congo war role
Mining tycoon Billy Rautenbach's bankrolling of the Kabila side in the Congo war is behind this week's fraud squad raids on his home and office
Ivor Powell, Donna Block & Mungo Soggot Mail & Guardian 11/26/99

Rautenbach was appointed as head of Gecamines in September 1998 in a deal whereby, it is alleged, Gecamines's copper and cobalt would be used to underwrite and guarantee Zimbabwe's military involvement in the Congo war. His appointment was apparently made as a result of intense pressure from the Zimbabwean government, notably its Minister of Justice, Emmerson Mnangagwa. Rautenbach denies being backed by, or in partnership with, the Zimbabwean government. However, attempting to reassure the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank that the Congo war was not bankrupting the Zimbabwean economy, government officials admitted last month that the country was being reimbursed, through mining concessions and partnerships, and other business opportunities, by the Laurent Kabila government.
The Zimbabweans revealed that a consortium of government ministers and military commanders, operating as Osleg Private Limited, has been set up to deal in diamonds and gold in Congo -- to generate revenue for Zimbabwe's military adventures. Named as the man at the centre of the deal is Mnangagwa, who was also allegedly the architect of Rautenbach's ascendancy in Congolese mining. Mnangagwa is widely tipped as the heir apparent to Mugabe. Zimbabwe currently has between 11 000 and 13 000 troops in Congo (a third of its army) at a cost of $30-million per month.

Rautenbach's mining concession in Katanga is held via a company called Ridgepointe Overseas. In terms of agreements struck with the Congolese authorities in 1998, Ridgepointe would take 80% of profits from the mine, and the Congolese government 20%. This could have changed recently, with sources putting Ridgepointe's slice of the Katanga pie as low as 35% in terms of an adjusted contract. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ridgepointe was represented in meetings setting up the original mining deal by Rautenbach and Mnangagwa. The signature of Congo's Minister of State, Victor Mpoyo, a close advisor of Kabila, is one of those appearing for Ridgepointe on contracts formalising the deal. This has fuelled speculation that the company, registered offshore in the Virgin Islands, represents a joint kleptocratic venture, where the resources of Congo were siphoned off into the private accounts of senior Zimbabwean and Congolese politicians and their associates.
It was a deal that went sour in recent months, as Rautenbach failed to live up to his promise of turning the Gecamines operation around within six months. Only days before the OSEO raid, Rautenbach was replaced as Gecamines chief by Belgian mining operator George Forrest. His removal came amid claims by Gecamines executives that it was difficult to distinguish between Ridgepointe and Gecamines in Rautenbach's books. There were also allegations that six cobalt-bearing trucks belonging to his transport company had disappeared. This was apparently one of the spurs to the presidential decree which fired Rautenbach from Gecamines.
According to Africa Energy and Mining, Rautenbach was forced to sell shares in South Africa in June to cover revenues of $10-million owed to Kabila's government for mining partnerships. Kabila was apparently in urgent need of the money to pay for the deployment of Angolan troops in Kananga and Mbuji Mayi. The investigations into Rautenbach's activities centre on allegations of fraud and theft. Among other things, Rautenbach is alleged to have been guilty of "double discounting" -- using lines of credit opened up by banks as though they were assets in order to raise additional loans from other banks.

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