Harare- The embattled Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has stormed out of an Indigenisation meeting after a white businessman had described the Empowerment law as an ‘economic apartheid’.

Kasukuwere who had been invited to address the white business people and stakeholders at an Indiginisation meeting in Harare on Friday stormed out of the meeting citing insults from participants.

Speaking to the meeting chair David Harrison, Kasukuwere said his continued participation at the meeting would cause chaos as he was being insulted by some of the participants.

“I thought you had invited me to meet people of sober senses, not realizing that the meeting was meant to insult me.

“For your own information we are in-charge of this government and there is no going back in as far as the implementation of this law is concerned. At this moment to hell with your meeting and invite me when you have mobilized sober people,”Kasukuwere told Mr Harrison.

The Indigenization meeting organizer Human Resources Private Limited Managing Director David Harrison told journalists that he had received several complaints from potential investors over the economically discriminatory act.

“There is no one as we speaking interested in investing in Zimbabwe; many people have withdrawn their intention to do so. This is very serious in economic terms, because this (Zimbabwe) is the weakest economy in the world, and is further weakened by the withdrawal of potential investors with foreign direct investment.

“The problem we have with this Act is that we have pushed off foreign directive investment. Foreign investors find themselves in a position of more of losing than they are to benefit, whether this is true or not but that is what they are saying and perceiving.

The controversial indigenous law has been widely criticized by political parties such as ZAPU and MDC-T as well as the business community who are saying it is discouraging foreign direct investment, while ZANU-PF who are its authors insists that the law was developmental.

The Indigenization and Empowerment Act provides that foreign owned companies with more than US$500 000 in capital cede 51% of their shares to local indigenous people.

The implementation of this law has caused a lot of debate between political parties signatory to the Global Political Agreement threatening the survival of the one year old coalition government

By ZIMEYE