Why are Chinese companies being allowed to fire Zimbabweans and hiring unskilled Chinese?

Kwekwe legislator Judith Tobaiwa has asked why Zimbabwe is allowing Chinese companies to flout local labour laws by, for example, firing Zimbabwean workers and replacing them with unskilled Chinese labourers.

She raised the issue as a point of national interest in the National Assembly yesterday.

Tobaiwa gave the example of ZIMASCO, once the country’s biggest chrome company owned by Union Carbide of the United States, but now under Sinosteel, a Chinese company.

She said the Minister of Mines Winston Chitando should make a ministerial statement about this and the operations of Chinese companies in Zimbabwe that were destroying the environment.

She said this could not be addressed as a mere question on Wednesday but requires detailed research from a question-and-answer session as this is a matter of public national interest. 

Full contribution:

HON. TOBAIWA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. Good afternoon. I rise on a point of national interest. There is a mantra that Zimbabwe is open for business from investors across the globe. Being open for business does not mean that investors should not follow our domestic law. My point of national interest Madam Speaker is on the presence of some foreign nationals and entities who are conducting gold mining activities across Zimbabwe in places such as Kwekwe, Makaha, Shurugwi and other places in total disregard to the environmental impact, hence heavily destroying both the flora and fauna of our communities.

The same investors are not abiding by the country’s labour laws. For example, ZIMASCO was recently acquired by a Chinese company and they retrenched Zimbabwean workers and replaced them with unskilled Chinese workers. We request a Ministerial Statement from the Minister of Mines and Mining Development to explain the Government position on sustainable mining and measures being taken to rectify the massive environmental damage which are seen in the country.

Secondly, we need to know why these foreign companies are not abiding by the laws such as labour laws. We also want a cost-benefit analysis done by the Ministry with respect to these mining entities that are destroying our environment and communities. This issue Madam Speaker, with your indulgence, cannot be addressed as a mere question on Wednesday but requires detailed research from a question-and-answer session as this is a matter of public national interest. I so submit.

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