Closed for over a decade, Ziscosteel in Redcliff was once one of the largest steel mills in Southern Africa, producing over one million tonnes of steel annually with around 8 000 workers.Ziscosteel was the major industry in the Midlands, with Redcliff housing most of the workers and Kwekwe hosting a string of industries supplying the steelworks or using its products in downstream industries.Both the city and the town were heavily reliant economically on Ziscosteel and the buying power of its large workforce.Several attempts to resuscitate the steel giant have hit a snag and Cabinet’s Tuesday announcement that the Government-owned company had secured Kuvimba Mining House as a partner, has rekindled the hopes, the nostalgic piece of history and the aura that surrounds the Redcliff community and the country at large when the company was up and running.Amid the mixed feelings that shrouds the good news on the revival of the steel giant, there is confidence from among the community of Redcliff and Kwekwe that the new dispensation has never failed to deliver since assuming power in 2018.In the last four years, President Mnangagwa has scored successes in the economy and the talk of the Ziscosteel revival is somewhat sweet news to many especially the Redcliff community.“It’s sweet news that our Zisco will be back. We are very confident the new Government will deliver because the old dispensation has had many false promises on the revival of Zisco.
