The Swiss-based food giant Nestle has agreed to reopen its Zimbabwean operations after hammering out a deal with the government under which the Harare regime assured the company of the safety of its local staff in the wake of threats by President Robert Mugabe’s supporters.
Nestle Zimbabwe shut down its Harare factory on Monday following weeks of pressure from pro-Mugabe militias and empowerment groups to resume purchases of milk from a dairy farm owned by Mugabe’s wife.
The state media reported here Friday that Industry and Trade Minister Welshman Ncube had met with officials from Nestle Zimbabwe and the dairy industry who agreed that milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate would now be absorbed by local processors and not the Swiss-based firm.
“As a result of those consultations, the parties have collectively reached an understanding to work together in ensuring that milk produced at Gushungo Dairies is absorbed by the local dairy processors,” Ncube said.
Nestle stopped buying from the dairy farm in October but not before an international protest by human rights groups which triggered calls for a worldwide boycott of its products.
The Zimbabwean First Lady reportedly gained control of the dairy farm as a beneficiary of her husband’s controversial and internationally criticized land-reform program.
The decision to stop milk purchases from Mugabe’s Gushungo Dairy Estate did not go down well with local indigenous pressure groups led by the pro-Mugabe Affirmative Action Group (AAG) which said the move was tantamount to the company imposing sanctions on the country.
Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere and the AAG last week led a group of protesters that allegedly threatened Nestle with closure unless it resumed milk purchases.
Source African Press Agency
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