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Old Mutual loses

The High Court in Johannesburg on Friday upheld an earlier ruling allowing axed Old Mutual CEO Peter Moyo to return to work.

Judge Brian Mashile dismissed Old Mutual’s application with costs  and granted the company leave to appeal.

In his ruling, Mashile addressed the “irreparable harm” argued by Moyo.

“Other than the humiliation of being ejected from his office, the irreparable harm is plain for every day that he spends at home without work regardless of whether he has been paid for sitting or not.”

NPS transactions

Zimbabwe’s transactions processed through the National Payment System (NPS) registered an increase of 16,9 percent to $30,16 billion in June 2019, from $25,80 billion in May 2019 on the back of recorded increases across most payment platforms.

Despite the increase in values, volumes were, however, down for the period.

According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s latest monthly report, the volume of NPS transactions processed declined by 1,7 percent to 181,9 million, from 185,1 million during the same period.

Getbucks new board

ZSE-listed Getbucks last week announced the appointment of Mr Paul Soko as deputy managing director of GetBucks Microfinance Bank Limited effective June 5, 2019.

He will deputise the managing director and handle the portfolio of Chief Operations Officer. Mr Soko is a Chartered Accountant and holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town. He joined the bank in 2015 and was previously the Company’s Chief Finance Officer.

The board has also appointed Mr Patrick Mashinga as  chief finance officer, effective August 19, 2019.

MedTech diversifies

HEALTHCARE products provider, MedTech Holdings says it is considering disposal of some of the firm’s assets to finance a venture into a new undisclosed business that is divorced from the usual health care products.

In a cautionary statement to shareholders the company secretary Muhammad Patel said; “Shareholders are advised that the directors of MedTech Holdings Limited are in discussions to sell certain of the company’s operating assets and also for the acquisition of a business in a different sector.”

Exports down

The central bank has released the monthly economic review for June 2019, indicating a 10 percent decline in merchandise trade to US$697 million from US$780 million recorded in May 2019.

The decline is on the back of a “slump in monthly exports”.

The statistics show that merchandise exports fell by 32,6 percent to US$309,2 million from US$458,6 million achieved in May 2019.

The downward trend was on the back of a fall in export earnings of gold, ferro-chrome and industrial diamonds.

Nyore Madzianike  Senior Arts Reporter
SCORES of people braved the chilly weather on Saturday and attended the Harare Wellness Festival held at Glamis Arena.

A number of activities, including music performances, took place on the day.

Running under the theme, “Rhythm Towards Mental Health and Well-being”, the festival kicked-off in the morning with health enthusiasts participating in activities that included soccer, gym and police displays.

The major highlight was when an array of musicians took to the stage and entertained people who graced the event.

First to take to the stage was the ageless Mechanic Manyeruke, who proved that he was still in the game.

He played songs from his yesteryear discography much to the delight of people who sang along to the tunes.

Manyeruke’s act was almost dampened by poor sound, which forced him to continue requesting engineers to fine-tune codes to his acoustic guitar and the microphone .

Victor Kunonga failed to rise to the occasion on a day when most people expected him to prove what he said that he had the capacity to drive revellers crazy. 

Although he was armed with yesteryear hits that charmed most of his followers, Kunonga did not give a performance that saw people dance to his music.

Dendera musician, Sulumani Chimbetu took fans down memory lane when he played songs composed by his late father Simon like “Ndarangirira Gamba”.

Sulu, as he is affectionately known in music circles, played a special dedication to former President Robert Mugabe before he asked people to observe a moment of silence for the revolutionary icon.

It appears as if the Zimdancehall pair of Seh Calaz and Enzo Ishall, stole the show as they gave energetic performances that kept people singing along and dancing to their songs.

Selmor Mtukudzi also played at the venue before Jah Prayzah took to the stage. Dancehall star Winky D closed the day with a polished act.

Health and Child Care Minister Obadiah Moyo, who graced the event, said the festival should be taken to other provinces.

“This is a noble idea that should be taken to other provinces. The message should get to every citizen that drugs are dangerous and people should shun the.

“I there recommend that this should continue until all people get the message,” he said.

Jeffrey Gogo Climate Story
A recent hard news article by The Sunday Mail, “No To GMOs, Position Unchanged,” presents common arguments on why the State should allow the growing of genetically-modified crops (GMOs).

Underlying the arguments is an assumption: genetically-modified crops can provide the necessary wherewithal to boost food output, end hunger and increase exports.

The arguments and the assumption of the article, as presented by proponents of the GMO movement from the National Biotechnology Authority (NBA) and the Cotton Producers and Marketers Association (CPMA) are the opposite of what is true.

The assumption is the most important aspect of the position of the two entities.

However, because the arguments rest so heavily upon it that they are almost offered as self-evident assertions. If you buy the presumption, you’ve bought the conclusions.

In the article, Dexter Savadye, chief executive officer of the NBA, opens with a nod to the idea that “it is the right time to adopt these GMOs,” because, according to him, “of the state of national food security as well as to improve better yields (sic).”

Another nod goes to countries like South Africa and Botswana, which already consume GMOs.

So, Zimbabwe “must not be left behind”- or forever be doomed to the dustbins of history, stalked by hunger and starvation at a time of recurrent droughts triggered by climate change.

The acknowledgements are cursory and dismissive to both science and the State’s position barring GMOs.

Following the herd

It is common knowledge that there is no baseline data on the safety of genetically-modified crops to the environment and human health in most African countries of the east and south, hence no foundation for the assessment of food and feed safety.

When considered against the fact that millions of Zimbabweans remain ill-informed about the health impact of GMOs, it almost becomes clear that State policy against such crops and foods is more of a moral issue than it is scientific.

The National Biotechnology Authority itself does not provide any compelling scientific evidence on the matter, save for anecdotes.

But Savadye moves on quickly.

“Actually, we (Zimbabweans) are already consuming the GMOs,” so “it is ideal to start engaging now,” ostensibly to embrace what to him would be undoubtedly reasonable and responsible regulation.

The conclusion of this debate between GMO crops and Government control is apparently foregone.

This means the debate will be limited to what type of regulation should be imposed.

Moreover, Savadye’s statement contains an odd leap of logic: it argues that because two of Zimbabwe’s neighbours are eating GMOs, then Zimbabweans should consume such foods also — or risk being left behind.

Eating habits, good or bad, should not necessarily be established by authority; they are a natural result of the cumulative choices and exchanges of individuals. Without adequate labelling of foods with traces of GMO, Zimbabweans have never been granted that choice. Indeed, if GMOs serve individuals, then liberty should reign.

The illusion of GMOs ending food shortages

Dexter Savadye assumes that only genetically modified crops will for the long-term ensure food security, now rendered almost catatonic due to extreme events resulting from climate change.

He does not consider the potential environmental hazards from GMO crops, which in turn will likely fuel the cycle of climate change into a vicious one. Or that genetically modified crops, despite their solve-it-all tagline, could fail.

For example, in 2013, Australian farmers found problems with a GM Round-up Ready canola, which failed to germinate properly, and asked for compensation.

Round-up is the most commonly used herbicide worldwide.

Most GMOs are engineered to carry the herbicide.

In Brazil a few years ago, several farmers sought compensation from four major manufacturers of Bt maize 1507 after incurring losses for applying further pesticides.

Research has shown that pests become resistant to the GMO maize variety by the third year of cultivation.

The conclusion toward which the Sunday Mail article had been driving now arrives. “This position (anti-GMO policy) has to be reviewed,” Stewart Mubonderi, who heads the Cotton Producers and Marketers Association, demanded.

“GMOs will enable local farmers to produce more, even enough to export so that the country earns the much needed foreign currency,” he told the paper.

The contours will probably include prominent multi-nationals like Monsanto, Syngenta and Dow Chemical, the biggest manufacturers of genetically modified seed, and even Zimbabwe’s cotton seed maker Quton, which sold its soul to the devil a few years ago after it was bought by the Indian subsidiary of Monsanto, Mahyco.

To pause for a second: big, profit-driven multi-national GM companies are the type of problem against whose control small farmers in Africa have been trying to rebel: their policies having centralised seed breeding, taking away centuries of home-based seed independence from the African subsistence farmer.

In India, suicide rates involving highly indebted small farmers, particularly contract GM cotton farmers, have gone through the roof while farmers in Pakistan are seeing bollworms increasingly becoming resistant to Bt cotton, a seed variety created by its manufacturers supposedly to fight against such pests.

Challenging The Status Quo

Genetically modified crops, not organic crops, present the greatest risk of failure, environmental hazard, and to human health when measured against experiences from other countries where scientific research has validated such positions and lawsuits won against seed companies.

Seed sovereignty, environmental protection and human health are not the purpose of Savadye and Mubonderi’s argument, however.

The duo’s intent is to champion the extreme centralisation of seed breeding into the hands of the same trusted third parties that have ravaged the wealth of communities over and over again.

But, ultimately, there can be no honest debate over how much control to assert over farmers, consumers and their wealth and eating habits.

There can be no ethical debate about how best or how much to steal through centralised genetically modified crops, sold to all as the panacea to food shortages – or a healthier alternative.

God is faithful.

jeffgogo@gmail.com

Isdore Guvamombe
In Mbire, geography and history condemned the land into inhabitability that requires resilience for human beings to survive.

Unbearable heat, poor and unreliable rainfall patterns, malaria, tsetse fly, lack of infrastructure, free-roaming wildlife; all brought a pommel of problems to the few people who live there.

Before Independence in 980, Mbire was largely inhabitable, but today, the Government has sanctioned the construction of a town at the northern-most point of Mbire at Kanyemba, having eradicated tsetse fly, largely contained malaria and invested heavily in road infrastructure.

“We are more than overwhelmed by the response. It all started as an idea when we had our business investment conference in 2017, that’s when everything started moving.

“The take up for stands, residential and industrial is amazing. The interest by both local and foreign investors is serious.

“This year alone, we have received more than 10 investment delegations from Belarus to China among others and our investment profile is growing by the day,’’ said Phineas Mushoriwa, the Mbire District Council development consultant.

Originally, Kanyemba was mainly occupied by a very small population of the nomadic Doma and Chikunda people, and it is here that a new town is being built, undoubtedly to become a game changer in industry, commerce and international trade.

For more than three decades, the only known business in Kanyemba were the commercial hunting concessions in Dande North Safari area that encompassed Usanga Usanga, Masawu and Mupedzapasi and a few fishing camps dotted along the Zambezi River.

Mupedzapasi in particular is known for its uranium deposits that have interested many countries, while Luangwa on the other side of the Zambezi River also has its own share of uranium deposits.

Zumbo on the Mozambican side is yet to confirm uranium deposits, but given its proximity to Mupedzapasi, it is almost certain that the uranium deposits are there too.

All along, Kanyemba was also known as a crossing point into Zambia, using home-made canoes. But, today, Kanyemba is being built out of nothing but a realisation that it is a strategic point that could change the region, the continent and indeed the world.

Here, the mighty Zambezi River meets with Luangwa River, making water a worthy benevolent mistress. Again, here, three countries: Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique meet in a wrap of land abundant with water, wildlife, salt and uranium deposits.

Fishing, commercial hunting of wildlife and tourism abound. Situated almost halfway between Kariba and Cabora Basa dams, just off the north-gate of Mana Pools, Kanyemba has been famed for canoeing and river-bank camping, the most famous being the Seven Days and Seven Nights on the Zambezi from either side. When operational, Kanyemba Town becomes a link with Zumbo Town in Mozambique, Luangwa Town in Zambia and the trio will open up a corridor of commerce and trade in a route that is the shortest from Harare to Lusaka. Already. Government has accorded the Kanyemba Town project a National Project Status, opening it to Government fiscal support and multi-lateral and financial bankability. Today, Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) has moved in to spearhead infrastructure development in situ. It has acquired its own land along the Zambezi River. So serious has become the competition for land in Kanyemba that it has attracted big names like tennis icon Byron Black, who is among the people now owning land there.

A police station perched on the bank of Zambezi River, an Immigration office a spitting distance away and several supporting Government departments have started the ball rolling for a purely run town.

Mbire Rural District Council is now overwhelmed by the demands and is turning to Government for more support. The Government has also responded, riding on the National Project Status and started tarring the 150km road between Mahuwe and Kanyemba, to make it an all-weather road for free movement of people and building material. 

The road from Harare to Kanyemba in Mbire stretches due north, slowly burying behind it vast swathes of farmland, dotted bucolic settlements and a few mountains, then the town of Mvurwi, past the Great Dyke Range, then breaks into communal lands in Guruve. Past Guruve, the road starts snaking up and down, following the dictates of geomorphology until it drops into Mbire — that floodplain of the Zambezi River.

“We are also grateful that the Government has managed to start work on tarring the road to Kanyemba. The Government is moving at amazing speed, as we can all see,’’ says Mr Mushoriwa.

Mbire District used to be part of Guruve District until 1999 when the Government wined off Mbire. Since then, the council has had to find ways of developing the area once rejected by everyone because of its tsetse flies.

Victor Maphosa Herald Correspondent
ZANU-PF’s annual conference has been moved to Goromonzi, Mashonaland East Province, the party’s Mashonaland East provincial chair Cde Joel Biggie Matiza has said.

He said this while addressing a Provincial Co-ordinating Committee (PCC) meeting in Marondera over the weekend.

Initially, the party had planned to hold the annual conference at Mandedza High School in Seke.

Speaking to The Herald after the PCC meeting, Cde Matiza said the change had been necessitated by high preparation.

“Due to high costs which were to be incurred in hosting the congress at Mandedza High School in Seke, the party decided to find a less expensive venue and settled for Goromonzi High School,” said Cde Matiza.

“The new venue has all the facilities needed to host the big event. As a party, we need to minimise our expenses; that is why we settled for the venue, this is the only reason we changed the venue.

“This is not the first time to hold this event at Goromonzi and now we are heading there again because facilities needed for the conference are available.”

In 2006, ZANU-PF held its annual at Goromonzi High School.

ZANU-PF Mashonaland East provincial commissar Cde Herbert Shumbamhini urged the province to hit the ground running in preparations.

“Now that the venue has been endorsed, we have nothing to stop us in making all the necessary preparations. I urge the province to hit the ground running in preparations to make the event a resounding success.

“Let us all in this province be united; this is a very big event and we must make it a memorable one, as always,” said Cde Shumbamhini.

He concurred with Cde Matiza that the cost of hosting the event at Mandedza High School was way too high.

“The cost for all the preparations at Mandedza High School were too high for the party, hence the shift to Goromonzi. Still it is within our province and I call upon all our members to work as a team to make the event a success,” he said.

Davison Kaiyo Correspondent

Robert Gabriel Mugabe was an enigmatic leader even unto his death. He was a revolutionary hero, who fought racial oppression and stood up to Western imperialism and neo-colonialism.

He was a shining beacon of the African liberation struggle, who dedicated his life for the total liberation of his people in Zimbabwe, Africa and beyond.

While to some, especially those in the West, he was an evil dictator; a tyrant who should have ended his days in jail for crimes against humanity.

In one of his famous speeches in 2003, the man would say “this Hitler has only one objective: justice for his people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people and their rights over their resources. If that is Hitler, then let me be Hitler tenfold.”

There will always be mixed views about the man with loads of stories of the good and the bad. Much has been said, and much more will be said.

Only a few can be in the same bracket as the man himself — Baba Chatunga, mwana waBona, the towering Robert Gabriel Mugabe, we choose to celebrate the man described by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa as a “towering leader of the struggle for independence and outstanding leader on the African continent.”

A liberator, educator, founder, empowerer, leader and African icon, he was a different man to everyone. He was an elder statesman, a freedom fighter and a Pan Africanist, who played a major role in shaping the interests of the African people, and was not afraid to speak his mind.

He fought for what he believed in, albeit not always in sync with everyone. No doubt he made decisions he thought were good for his country; some, as is oft the case with all leaders, turned out to be bad, but he stood by them.

He stood tall against global bullies and challenged Africa countries to find their place and voice in this globalised world. His Pan-Africanist ideology, and his stance on the land reform and that Africa will not be truly free until its people are economically emancipated are some of the ideas he has left for the African child to emulate.

At one point many would agree with him and at times disagreed with him, but such is life. Like all men, he had his strengths and weaknesses — he did well and he also did badly; such is the nature of all men. Controversial he was and a hero he remains.

Former president Mugabe was a man of principle, who stood for what he believed in even in the minority. He was a man of courage, who was never afraid to fight for what he believed in, fight for his people and stand against neo-colonialism and imperialism

One of his legacies lies in the education sector. Upon taking office in 1980, he revolutionised the education sector and today the country is among African countries with the highest literacy rates. He opened doors for many to attain the education that they were denied in racist Rhodesia.

His legacy in ensuring education for all cannot be taken away from him. The man dealt with racist land ownership, the only way he knew how and today many stand proud as successful farmers.

Many may not agree with the way the land reform was done, but it was long overdue. He, indeed, empowered the nation. A visionary leader, who invested in the education of his people, his successes stand out more than his failures.

Gushungo to many, the man was without his controversies such that even in death, opinions about him are divided, but that cannot take away his great legacy, especially for the emancipation of Africa, both politically and economically — that struggle to emancipate Africa must continue.

He played a huge role in the efforts for regional integration from the days of the Frontline States as he was fighting for the unity of the continent and defending it against the forces of colonialism and imperialism.

No doubt, the voice of former president Mugabe shall be missed, as he would clearly articulate the African agenda.

As described by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the late former president was, indeed, the embodiment of the Pan-African spirit offering assistance to neighbouring countries such as South Africa against apartheid, Mozambique against the REMANO rebels in the early 1990s, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He always insisted that Africa should solve its own challenges earned him both friends and enemies.

After all has been said and done we will need to interrogate why the predominantly white countries focus on his legacy as a dictator while the predominantly black ones acknowledge his role as a liberator. That should be telling for an African child.

An African liberator from colonialism, a giant of Pan-Africanism has fallen. The mountain has fallen. His contributions to the history of Zimbabwe and the African continent are indelible and shall never be forgotten.

Cletus Mushanawani Mashonaland Central Bureau Chief
AT least 8 000 farmers have so far registered under Command Agriculture in Mashonaland Central Province, with the figure expected to treble when the summer cropping season begins.

Mashonaland Central provincial Agritex officer Mr Stancilae Tapererwa said registration began on a high note and they were targeting 72 800 hectares to be put under maize, while 20 000ha will be put under soya beans.

“Registration and verification for beneficiaries under the Command Agriculture programme is already underway,” he said.

“So far, 325 farmers have registered under Command Irrigation. These farmers have a total hectarage of 6 319ha.

“Under dryland farming, 7 295 farmers have registered. They have a hectarage of 24 344ha. Contract forms were distributed to all the district Command centres, save for Mbire.”

Mr Tapererwa said under the Command Soyabeans programme, they had registered 41 farmers with irrigation facilities with a total hectarage of 754ha.

A total of 363 farmers have been registered so far under dryland farming, with a total hectarage of 4 198ha.

Mr Tapererwa said Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri has since assured the nation that inputs under all Government-funded programmes will be availed before the onset of the rains to ensure they were put to good use.

“As a ministry, we are also encouraging the growing of small grains like millet, rapoko and sorghum,” he said.

“The seeds will be availed through local Grain Marketing Board depots across the country.

“Communal farmers are encouraged to grow at least an acre of small grains on their land, A1 farmers, a hectare and A2 farmers anything that is 10ha and above, depending on the plot size of the farmer.

“If this is embraced by the farmers, the nation’s food security will be guaranteed.”

Mr Tapererwa said the province was grappling with draught power challenges, something which will be addressed in the near future with the arrival of tractors from Belarus.

“Under the Belarus Tractors Scheme, 50-horse power tractors will be availed to A1 farmers, while A2 farmers will benefit from 75 to 100-horse power tractors.

“This will go a long way in ensuring that our farming becomes a success story,” said Mr Tapererwa.

His comments come at a time when Mashonaland Central is reported to have lost at least 5 633 cattle to tick-borne diseases from 2018 to date. The most affected district is Mt Darwin, which lost 2 342 beasts, followed by Mazowe which lost 1 796.

The least affected district is Mbire, which lost 68 beasts.

On the Presidential Input Support Scheme, Mr Tapererwa said at least 1,6 million households will receive maize seed  and fertilisers, while 300 000 cotton                farmers were expected to benefit across the country.

Oil producers and their suppliers are cutting budgets, staff and production goals amid a growing consensus of forecasts that oil and gas prices will stay low for several years.

The US has 904 working rigs, down 14 percent from a year ago, and even that is probably too many, estimated Harold Hamm, chief executive of shale producer Continental Resources, which has reduced the number of rigs at work.

Bankruptcy filings by US energy producers through mid-August this year have nearly matched the total for the whole of 2018.

A stock index of oil and gas producers hit an all-time low in August, a sign investors are expecting more trouble ahead.

“You’re going to see activity drop across the industry,” Earl Reynolds, CEO of Chaparral Energy, told Reuters at the EnerCom oil and gas conference last month.

The Oklahoma energy firm has slashed its workforce by nearly a quarter, trimmed its spending plan by 5 percent, and agreed to sell its headquarters and use some of the proceeds to reduce debt.

Investment bank Cowen & Co estimated last month that oil and gas producers spent 56 percent of their 2019 budgets through June, based on its review of 48 US companies.

It expects total spending this year to fall 11 percent over last year, based on proposed budgets.

The slowdown in drilling is spurring cost-cutting in oilfield services, including staff cuts and restructurings at top firms Schlumberger and Halliburton Corporation.

Schlumberger plans a write-down yet to be determined this quarter, noting its results in North America have been “under significant pressure,” CEO Olivier Le Peuch said on Wednesday.

Halliburton is paring its North American workforce by 8 percent because of customer spending cuts, and National Oilwell Varco recently offered buyouts to its US workers.

“The service sector  . . . I think is going to be flat,” said Superior Drilling Services CEO Troy Meier, whose firm cancelled plans to add new machinery.

Such signs of a downturn come as the shale sector had just started generating the cash flow long demanded by investors, who have grown weary of drilling expansions without returns.

Last quarter, a group of 29 top publicly-traded producers generated more in cash — $26 million — than it spent on drilling and dividends, according to Morningstar data provided by the Sightline Institute and the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

A year earlier, the same group had spent $2,4 billion more than it generated.

Despite that progress, many small to mid-sized shale firms are now pulling back on production targets amid the gloomy price projections.

A slowing oil industry could weigh on the United States economy.

The boom in shale oil output added about 1 percent to US gross domestic product, or 10 percent of growth, between 2010 to 2015, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

In Texas, the centre of shale oil production, energy employment dipped 1,8 percent in the first six months of 2019, according to the Dallas Fed.

New drilling permits in the state fell 21 percent in July compared with the same month last year, according to state data.

MAJORS STAY THE COURSE

Any broader economic impact, however, could be limited by the massive investments in shale drilling by some of the world’s biggest oil firms — Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and BP PLC.

Even as small and mid-sized firms dial back, the majors continue to pour billions of dollars into years-long shale drilling plans.

They have argued their integrated well-to-refinery networks allow them to control costs enough to withstand a sustained period of low prices.

Spokespeople for Exxon, Chevron and BP declined to comment on the industry downturn but referred to previous statements of their long-term commitment to shale.

Shell did not respond to requests for comment.

Chevron has focused much of its production growth plans on shale, and CEO Michael Wirth has called its Permian Basin holdings in West Texas and eastern New Mexico the “highest return use of our dollars.”

Exxon CEO Darren Woods told a Barclays energy conference held recently that the company continues to take the long view.

“The way we look at the business is tied to some very basic fundamentals that haven’t changed for decades, if not hundreds of years,” he said, noting it took oil a century to replace coal as the world’s dominant energy source.

Exxon has estimated it can earn a double-digit return in the Permian Basin even if oil falls to $35 a barrel.

BRACING FOR LOW PRICES

US oil prices largely have traded just above $50 a barrel since last November, requiring higher output to generate the same profit as when prices were higher.

Prices this quarter are about 18 percent lower than this time last year, according to US government data.

US oil prices are likely to remain below $55 a barrel for the next three years, said Scott Sheffield, CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources, one of the largest oil producers in the Permian Basin.

Lackluster prices will result in a “significant fall-back in Permian growth” and probably “no growth for most,” he said on a recent earnings call.

Part of the slowdown comes as the best drilling spots in some areas of the field are being “exhausted at a very quick rate,” Sheffield said.

The severity of the looming downturn is a matter of debate.

Flotek Industries Inc, a supplier of oilfield chemicals, has cut staff twice this year. CEO John Chisholm told Reuters that the industry is just “pumping the brakes” as it grapples with well-design issues.

Matt Sallee, a portfolio manager at energy investors Tortoise Capital, expects a longer industry decline.

“It’s hard to see how this gets any better for several quarters,” he said. — Reuters.

Steven Gordon Correspondent

Mobs have attacked foreign-owned businesses on the streets of at least three South African cities in recent days. This has caused outrage across Africa. There have even been retaliatory attacks. The South African government, under pressure to protect her large international migrant community, quickly defused the attacks.

Such attacks are not new. For more than two decades, this type of crime has bedevilled the country. There is growing frustration that so little has been done to stop it.

To combat anti-immigrant hate crime, we need to understand its drivers. Scholars at the Human Sciences Research Council have recently made new discoveries about the drivers of anti-immigrant hate crime in South Africa.

We found that a significant share of the general population hold anti-immigrant views and blame foreign nationals for many of the socio-economic challenges facing South African society. Yet there is little empirical evidence that immigrants are driving problems like crime or unemployment.

But beliefs about the role played by foreign nationals in the country clearly influence how people think about anti-immigrant hate crime. Anti-immigrant statements by politicians also feed into the problem.

Tracking anti-immigrant hate crime

Data from the South African Social Attitudes Survey, conducted annually since 2003, was used. The survey series consists of nationally representative, repeated cross-sectional surveys. It is designed as a time series and is increasingly providing a unique, long-term account of the speed and direction of change of public participation in anti-immigrant behaviour in contemporary South Africa.

Using this data, researchers have found that anti-immigrant hate crime is more widespread than previously thought.

Beginning in 2015, the following item was added in the survey questionnaire:

Have you taken part in violent action to prevent immigrants from living or working in your neighbourhood?

People may be disinclined to disclose this type of potentially incriminating information during face-to-face interviews. But community research suggests that the stigma attached to participation in xenophobic activities may not be as great as we may imagine. Still, the reader should be aware of this possible under-reporting of anti-immigrant behaviour when reviewing the survey’s results.

A minority of the South African adult population reported that they had participated in this form of anti-immigrant aggression. The share of the general public who admitted engaging in violence fluctuated within a very narrow band over the period 2015-2018. This shows the willingness of survey participants to respond to this question varies by only a small margin between the two periods. It also suggests a linear relationship between behavioural intention and attitudes.

The survey results demonstrate the ugly reality of violent anti-immigrant hate crime in South Africa. Although this is an important and dangerous type of prejudice, such crime is not the only form that xenophobia may take. Other forms of peaceful anti-immigrant discrimination are also evident in South African society.

Research has shown that more peaceful forms of anti-immigrant activities are often the first step in a process of escalation that leads to xenophobic violence. Past participation in peaceful anti-immigrant activity (such as demonstrations) was found to be a major determinant of this type of violence.

One of the most troubling findings to have emerged concerned possible participation in anti-immigrant aggression among those who had not taken part before. More than one in 10 adults living in South Africa reported in the 2018 survey that they had not taken part in violent action against foreign nationals — but would be prepared to do so.

This finding is quite disturbing given that there may be under-reporting of the propensity for violent action. Anti-immigrant stereotypes were shown to be a robust driver of this kind of behavioural intention. This suggests that anti-immigrant attitudes could have a mobilising effect, spurring individuals towards acts of violent xenophobia.

The results of this study show that millions of ordinary South Africans are prepared to engage in anti-immigrant behaviour. So it is vital that the resources dedicated to combating xenophobia be equal to the size of the problem.

The South African government has a national action plan to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. The progressive measures put forward in the plan include immigrant integration, better law enforcement, civic education and increased immigrant access to constitutionally entitled rights.

Recent research suggests that many of these measures have a degree of public support. The plan was approved in March this year. If it’s to work, it requires adequate resources and support from all sectors of South African society.

Instead of focusing on short-term solutions civil society, foreign governments and the general public must work with the state to progressively implement this plan. — Conversation Africa

Senior research specialist, Human Sciences Research Council