BY Brenna Matendere THE Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) has called on government to introduce a tax holiday on small-scale players reeling under the effects of the national lockdown which significantly affected their operations. The country has since March 30 been on lockdown meant to slow down the spread of COVID-19, forcing miners to operate at low capacity. In an interview yesterday, ZMF spokesperson Dosman Mangisi said a number of challenges in the sector made it difficult for them to meet their tax obligations. “In order to keep small miners in business, there has to be a tax holiday coming from government. We have not been operating normally for the past five months and our coffers are almost dry,” he said. “There have been challenges like late payment for gold delivered to Fidelity Printers and Refiners, meaning restricted capital. We have also been operating with less than half of our workers due to the lockdown restrictions, while fuel has also been a challenge. Prices of gold and chrome have been falling, so miners just do not have enough to pay taxes.” “The chrome players are perhaps the most hard-hit. They are spending about US$60 to produce a tonne which they, in turn, sell for about US$20 currently because buyers are not willing to pay higher prices. So it is tough for the miners,” he said. Government has of late been relying more on the mining sector to shore up its coffers and raise foreign currency for critical imports such as fuel and drugs.