Fact Check: Is there a gap in law regarding the ZiG currency?

Claim: Outspoken lawyer Thabani Mpofu questioned the legal status of the country’s latest currency Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) on his X page on the 26^th of October 2024. He argued that the legislation supporting it has expired since its launch in April 2024.

Mpofu said: “Unless I missed the law when it was promulgated, the ZIG is no longer currency. The ZIG was operationalised by the promulgation of the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act and Issue of Zimbabwe Gold Notes and Coins) Regulations, 2024.” By law, he said, a statutory instrument promulgated in terms of the Presidential Powers Act lapses at the end of six months unless prior to its lapse, the instrument is validated by primary legislation.

Is this true or false?

Verdict: This was true for about three weeks before the Finance Act was gazetted on 25 October 2024

Did the term of the SI expire after six months?

According to Section 6 (1) of the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, SI 60 of 2024 expired on the 4th of October 2024. The section states, “Unless they are earlier repealed, regulations made in terms of section two shall expire and cease to have any effect immediately before the one hundred and eighty-first day following the date of commencement of the regulations”.

Has the primary Act been amended to incorporate the new currency changes?

The currency reforms outlined in SI 60 of 2024 were factored into The Finance Act No.2 of 2024 which was published as an Act on 25 October 2024 after the Statutory Instrument had lapsed. The Act acknowledges ZiG as legal tender in Zimbabwe.

Conclusion

The observation by Thabani Mpofu was valid before the passing of the Finance Act No.2 2024. Since SI60 of 2024 was established through the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, its term lapsed on the 4th of October 2024, six months after it was gazetted. By the end of this term conditions of the SI had not been ammended into law thus creating a gap at law. On the otherhand, although the SI may have lapsed on the 4^th of October, it left a going concern whose future can only be altered by explicit instruction in an equally binding legal instrument.