Former Gwanda mayor Lionel De-Necker got the shock of his life on Friday after he was told that his business does not comply with the provisions of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act.
BY OUR STAFF
The law compels foreign owned businesses to cede majority shareholding to locals.
The National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board (NIEEB)’s classification of De-Necker’s business as non-compliant seems to suggest that they do not view him as an indigenous Zimbabwean.
De-Necker yesterday took to Twitter to express his dismay at the development and vowed to fight it.
“Today I received papers from NIEEB about Reserved Sector Compliance Status Notice. They say it’s reserved for Zimbabweans,” he tweeted.
“I refuse to run out of my country Zimbabwe and town Gwanda. I refuse to be intimidated too.”
Efforts to get De-Necker to elaborate on his claims were fruitless last night. He is a former MDC councillor in the Matabeleland South capital.
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The government last year vowed to press ahead with controversial plans to ban foreigners from owning bakeries, barber shops, estate agencies and a host of other businesses.
Foreigners were given a January 2014 deadline to comply with the regulations put in place in 2010.
Last month NIEEB temporarily closed down popular Golden Fast Food outlets in Bulawayo claiming it did not comply with the controversial law.
However, the owner of the business, Paul Evans said he was an indigenous Zimbabwean who should not be subjected to the requirements of that law.
President Robert Mugabe recently indicated that the government was willing to relax the Indigenisation regulations.
