MINE workers at Yakuts Investment in Matopo have allegedly been turned into slaves by their Chinese employer, He Chisheng Mike, as they are being denied rights to leave the mining premises and are forced to stay in shacks with no toilets.
The workers told NewsDay that they are also subjected to
verbal abuse at the hand of their bosses, while at the same time they are
forced to pay US$20 for COVID-19 tests whenever they leave the premises.
NewsDay and six mine workers’ unions, including the
National Union of Mines, Quarrying, Iron and Steel workers of Zimbabwe
(NUMQISWZ), yesterday visited the mine to investigate the abuses.
They were denied access to the premises. Six workers,
Knowledge Mukomba, Spencer Denhere, Chelsani Nyathi, Stanley Muleya, Isiah
Munkuli and Lovemore Mugande, said they left the mine on Saturday to visit
their families, but on their return on Monday, they were ordered to pay US$20
for COVID-19 tests.
“The treatment we get is very harsh. We are not allowed to
go to town. We are being told that there is COVID-19, but he (Mike) leaves the
premises several times a day. We do not have freedom. He is always angry and
insulting us in Chinese,” said one worker Ernest Mudimba.
Another worker, identified as Anderson, said during
meetings, they were not given a chance to comment and were told “to go and
report wherever they want”.
“My mother is currently sick, but I am failing to just go
and give her money to get treatment,” Anderson said. Mine manager Patrick Mleya
confirmed that the complaints being raised by workers were true.
“As a manager, there is not much I can say, but if you see
workers complaining, it definitely means something is wrong. If it is one
worker complaining, then maybe you could say it is a lie. But as you can see,
many workers are complaining. I don’t know if it is the COVID-19 situation, but
regulations were imposed that they (workers) are not allowed to leave the
premises,” Mleya said.
He said the workers were unable even to go to the shops to
purchase food.
NUMQISWZ legal and education training officer Shadreck
Pelewelo said: “They should stop infringements being done on the employees by
charging them US$20 for any COVID-19 tests. It is criminal and violates the
Constitution.”
When NewsDay sought a comment from Mike, he stormed out of
the premises. “You can go and write any stories you want,” Mike said.
Last year, complaints over Mike’s abuses were sent to the
Immigration office in Bulawayo. Newsday
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