HARARE – Zimbabwe's government has set up a cabinet committee to review regulations published last month that force foreign and white-owned companies to 51 percent of their shares to blacks, Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube said yesterday.

Ncube’s comments are in sharp to contrast to those of his counterpart, Youth Development and Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Savior Kasukuwere who has in the past month said there would be no further debate on the new rules.

But Ncube said the gazetting of the Indigenisation and Empowerment Regulations had been done prematurely and flouted laid down procedure, which requires that all such laws have to pass through a cabinet committee, which then makes recommendations to full cabinet.

“Unfortunately those regulations were published prematurely before the discussions which ought to have taken place had taken place,” Ncube told business leaders at a meeting.

Ncube’s comments seem to support comments by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who last month said the regulations were “null and void” because they had been published without consultation with cabinet.

The regulations came into effect on Monday and give the companies 45 days to submit proposals to Kasukuwere on how they plan to bring on board locals to take 51 percent of their businesses.

Ncube said the cabinet committee should determine whether regulations were consistent with the constitution, the enabling Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act and government policy.

The committee would also seek views of other ministries, which oversee industries that may be affected by the legislation.

“That did not take place in this case. It is now taking place,” Ncube said.

The rules have been a source of controversy and besides dividing the unity government along party lines, they have rattled foreign investors who analysts say may continue to stay away from the country.

The coalition government of Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe has been struggling to win donor support from the West, who want the government to implement irreversible economic and political reforms.

Ncube said while there was consensus on the need for indigenisation, the government was divided on how to implement it.

“We have consensus that there is need for indigenisation. We have not consensus as to how we should achieve that indigenisation in a manner that empower our people and grow the economy,” Ncube told the business leaders.

“We don’t have it (consensus) in the inclusive government either in terms of methodology.”

Critics fear Mugabe’s ZANU-PF wants to press ahead with transferring majority ownership of foreign-owned companies as part of a drive to reward party loyalists with thriving businesses.

Analysts say the empowerment programme could see Zimbabwe being shunned by investors again who fear a repeat of the land seizures, at a time the new government is out to attract to grow an economy that was in decline for ten years.

“Because of the land reform, everything we do is placed under a great deal of scrutiny and we must act with a bit of care so that we don’t jeopardise what we want to achieve,” said Ncube. – ZimOnline.