Shabanie and Mashaba Mines changing hands: ZCTU no solution

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions cautiously welcomes steps that are being taken to resuscitate Shabanie and Mashaba Mines especially the booting out of controversial Arafas Gwaradzimba.

However, the slow pace with which the revival efforts are moving, are a cause for concern, more so given the fact that production has totally been halted at the mines and workers sent home without any benefits or pay. Handing over control to the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development might just be 'rescuing' a sheep from one wolf and handing it to another. The Shabanie and Mashaba mines saga has dragged on since 2005 and it is the ordinary workers and the communities of the towns that have been adversely affected because political interests have superseded the interests of thousands of workers and their families.

The ZCTU demands a lasting and speedy solution to the SMM saga so that workers can return to work and avert further suffering on the workers and their families. Workers would also welcome being informed of the outcomes of the public hearings conducted by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines in Zvishavane and Mashava. Arafas Gwaradzimba fast tracked the mines to closure and we believe he should be taken to task for that because he gambled with thousands of people's lives.