Hotels accused of exploiting locals

VICTORIA Falls residents have accused hotels and tour operators in the country's prime resort town of exploiting locals by employing them as cheap labour, sometimes "without" pay.

The town runs some of the country's biggest hotels and tour operators, including ancillaries such as eateries, transporters, game drives and others. Over the years Victoria Falls residents have complained that companies and hotels were employing people from other towns at the expense of local youths.

Residents said during a public engagement meeting that locals were only engaged as casual workers and the reason often given is that they lack requisite qualifications.

The meeting heard that casual workers depended on gratuities from clients as they earned very little and in some cases the payment of wages was not regular.

The challenge with gratuities, however, is that in most cases they are pooled together and shared among workers. Business Chronicle also learnt that many of the casual staff are not on contract.

Speaking at a public debate organised by the Victoria Falls Civic Society Consortium on Sunday, disgruntled residents appealed to authorities for protection.

"These hotels take our children and use them as cheap labour without pay for two weeks or even up to three months. They always say they are training them but when they employ people for permanent positions or longer contracts they take people from other towns," said one resident.

Another one said when companies approach council seeking operating licences, they promise to employ locals only to "bus in" people from other towns once granted the licence.

The residents said many of those employed in the resort town came from provinces such as Harare, Masvingo Midlands and Bulawayo.

They said many of their children were as result forced to seek employment in neighbouring countries such as South Africa and Botswana.

The residents accused some Victoria Falls councillors who are also from outside Victoria Falls, of arm-twisting the employers to employ people from where they come from. The residents demanded that the Victoria Falls Municipality come up with a quarter system where companies are compelled to employ locals.

"The council should craft some laws that protect locals. We have a monthly education levy but it has not reached its targeted  beneficiaries. The council should avail it to schools so that our children are trained in some of these courses needed by hotels since we don't have colleges," said another resident.

Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) Victoria Falls chapter chairman, Mr Farai Chimba, exonerated hoteliers saying they actually have programmes specially designed to benefit locals. He, however, said Victoria Falls was suffering from skills base deficiency, which he said could only be overcome through establishing a tertiary institution.

"It's not always the case because we have a mandate to employ locals as well. The challenge is skills base and there is a drive now to engage stakeholders to try and bring some form of tertiary training as a long term solution.

"Right now it's difficult to get a manager locally and the same applies for other skills but it's not true that hotels deliberately side-line locals. For trainee positions we take locals who are coming from tertiary institutions because they have accommodation around, which is convenient than to employ those who will need accommodation from the employer," said Mr Chimba.

He said the issue can be best dealt with on a case by case basis for those concerned, adding that in terms of non-payment, there are some who are engaged on voluntary basis for training while those on contract get paid.

Responding to the issue of lack of qualificiations, the Victoria Falls Combined Residents' Association (Vifacora) chairman, Mr Morgen Dube, said the usual rhetoric that locals lack requisite qualifications was not true.

"It is not true to say locals have no qualifications because we have encouraged people to go to school. Some youths have been trained at Mosi-oa-Tunya High School and what we see is just a deliberate move by whatever authorities not to employ locals. The same applies to the Presidential Scholarship, very few of our children have benefited," said Mr Dube.

He challenged residents to demand their right to equal employment opportunities.

Mr Dube said recently his association confronted some companies that were not employing locals and he hoped in future these companies will consider locals whenever there are new jobs opportunities.

No comment could be obtained from the Employers' Association for the Tourism and Safari Operators.