Zimbabwe insists on mine land grabs

Harare - Zimbabwe vowed on Wednesday that it would not roll back on plans to seize mine land.

"If there is anyone who thinks they own land, please prepare yourselves for the shocks that will actually befall you," said Mines and Mineral Development Minister Obert Mpofu.

"No one owns land especially mining land. It is owned by the state," he told a meeting in the capital to discuss the government's mining policy.

Mpofu said in February that nearly 28ha of land leased by miner Zimplats will be taken over by the government, in a fresh drive to reallocate assets to local business.

Zimplats is a local subsidiary of platinum giant Impala Platinum Holding [JSE:IMP] (Implats).

The government said it wants the mining land back from Zimplats because it is underutilised.

According to the mines ministry, Zimplats would not exhaust the ore within the tenure of its 25-year lease which was granted in 1994.

In January, Impala Platinum, the world's number two producer agreed to sell off 51% of Zimplats to the government.

But participation in the state-imposed black empowerment scheme did not fend off government advances.

Mugabe, who a decade ago launched a campaign to seize white-owned farmland, has threatened to take over firms which do not comply.