Stringent govt lockdown requirements cripple companies

THE ministry of Industry and commerce has given industry a seven day moratorium to obtain exemptions to operate during the 30-day national lockdown while at the same time introducing stringent demands for compliance with the lockdown requirements. The move has been largely condemned as a major impediment to the operations of businesses.]

Government tightened restrictions last week with a 30-day a new lockdown as a result of the surge in covid-19 infections.

Last Tuesday alone there were 1 365 new infections and 34 deaths. This was the highest number of cases and fatalities recorded in 24 hours since the first case was reported in March last year. The recovery rate has also plummeted from 90% to below 70% indicating the severe impact of the pandemic.

There has been outrage over the stringent measures from the largest industry lobby group, the confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (cZI), which says most of their members could not operate last week because staff were unable to report to work because they did not have exemption letters.

Under the new demands, acting secretary in the ministry of Industry Wilson Kaerezi said companies should give their employees individual letters which must be accompanied by the exemption letter from the respective parent ministry.

The letter should state the employee's name, national identity, registration number, the points of commute so that they can only travel for work, the company's line of business or production including an explanation of how that is covered under the existing legislation, working hours and shifts where necessary.

Kaerezi said the letters must be signed only by the chief executive officers or managing directors of companies.

"When companies apply, they should include the following information: brief company profile; certificate of incorporation; cR14; tax clearance certificate (and) Standard Development Fund (SDF) Levy Receipt," he said.

Kaerezi said the definition of essential services for the manufacturing and commerce is as defined in Statutory Instrument 200 of 2020.

He added that companies in the manufacturing, distribution, wholesale, retail, commerce, tourism and hospitality sectors were allowed to make use of the lockdown exemption letters previously issued by their ministries for the next seven working days, during which companies should renew their exemption letters.

CZI vice-president Joseph Gunda told Standardbusiness that industry across the country was suffering as workers were being turned back while fresh demands for clearance to operate during the lockdown were being made.

He said the cZI had been engaging the Industry ministry to expedite processing of applications, but to no avail.

"Now we hear there are fresh requirements from the ministry, they want a motivational letter from the individual company, they want a tax clearance certificate, and Standard Development Levy receipt that you are complying and all these are fresh requirements," Gunda said, adding the requirements were too stringent.

The demands by the government could further impede the operations of companies who are already beset with a number of challenges which include a debilitating liquidity crunch, foreign currency shortages and high inflation.