Villagers in Manhize, Mvuma, reportedly staged a protest against Dinson Iron and Steel Company (Discosteel), on Friday, 14 June, over alleged degrading treatment including the arbitrary acquisition of their farmland without compensation.
As reported by The NewsHawks, the villagers blocked Dinson trucks on Friday afternoon. They were also complaining of hunger and dust pollution.
According to the report, villagers from the Mushenjere area of Manhize, who are settled at Inhoek Farm in Mvuma, say they are facing displacement from land they have occupied for more than 40 years.
Communities in Chivhu and Mvuma, particularly those relocated to pave the way for the establishment of Disco’s US$1.5 billion steel plant, claim their standards of living have deteriorated.
According to a governance watchdog, the Centre for Research and Development (CRD), since 2021, more than 100 families from Manhize’s Mushenjere Village have lost their land to Disco’s operations, with the villagers, once self-sufficient, now unable to produce enough food. It said:
The conditions of living on the land outlined in their permits rest solely at the discretion of the minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement.
Thus the minister ‘may for any public purpose reverse this permit at any time and under such conditions as he thinks fit on payment of the holder of such compensation the minister may decide.
On Wednesday, 12 June, Discosteel fired up its blast furnace at Manhize, marking the start of pig iron production at the plant.
The company expects to produce 600,000 tonnes of steel products annually at the peak of its first phase of production.
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