Opinion / Columnist
The story of Triangle Leadership Crisis?
15 Dec 2015 at 06:20hrs | Views
Upon receiving the news that the place I like the most in Zimbabwe has been brought down by the company's most devastating and daunting strike in recent years.
Obviously for reasons of my profound love for the company I travelled down there to have a glimpse of what was going on. What I saw was a calamity if not a disaster.
Tongaat Hullets group is the sole producer of sugar cane in Zimbabwe and runs several estates across the Lowveld. The group is the last remnant of Ian Smith's regime with a well-documented history of exploiting its helpless workers. From those days of toiling and digging of trenches through the mountains and jungles to ferry water in the, idle 19th century.
The ruthless of those involved is what makes the story interesting. I love triangle the most of all the places in Zimbabwe, mainly because of its scenic cane fields, exciting game parks, its numerous water reservoirs and its wonderful schools of which I am a product of.
Triangle is the land of abundance the reason why people drink tea in Zimbabwe. Before its ill-informed acquisition of the Anglo American company Hippo Valley Estates, the company was a giant both financially and socially. The company has one of the best community development projects in the country.
Unfairness in the group
If the current claims by the leading trade union, that Zimbabwean subsidiary of the group is the most profitable of all its subsidiary and yet they have the least payable employees are anything to go by. This is reflective of a group that is so obsessed with maximising shareholder wealth at the expense of other stakeholders. Key among them are the restive work force. With a work force of over 8000 employees, there is no doubt this contingent are amongst the most important assets the company have. The employees through their leaders have a right to be treated fairly, what explains the wage difference of more than 300% between the lowest Zimbabwean employee and their South African counterpart.
The morale among the employees is at an all-time low, in the entire history of the company, many employees interviewed by this writer vented their anger on the under fire Chief exec Sydney Mutsambiwa whom they accuse of leaving a trail of destruction before being appointed at the helm of the Zimbabwean consortium. They flatly accused him of lacking the acumen to lead a modern consortium. To the improvised workforce he is an ‘evil' and vampire sucking their blood. He has been accused for lacking sympathy with the workers who have been struggling to make ends meet since the dollarization and they have been patient up to now.
The ethics of triangle has been questioned
With the unionists questioning the corporate governance structures at the company, with their main trump card being discrimination. Honestly there is no meaningful explanation why the Zimbabwean workers are getting so much little in terms of salary and benefits compared to their counterparts in other countries. It's crystal clear. One doesn't need a rocket scientist to see this, with their current owners having connections to the apartheid era that rocked South Africa for years they now want to apply that to Zimbabwe. No we can't accept that, not in Zimbabwe. Ordinarily one would think that the Zimbabwean operations should follow the king report. Having read the length and breadth of the King report, there is nowhere where discrimination is allowed.
Obviously the group being tucked far away in triangle, have escaped media and the greater public scrutiny. And who knows for how long the group has been exploiting its desperate and impoverished workforce?
No one wants the strike to go on
The events in the Lowveld manufacturing giant have plunged the nation and the sugar industry into uncertainty. With sugar prices expected to sky rocket in a few weeks. The consequences of this industrial action are devastating both in financial and social terms. I saw huge bundles of raw sugar can which were left to rot in the transporting zones, in trains and trucks. From my own assessment the loss could extend into millions of dollars.
The usually green cane fields are now yellowish as shortage of water and fertilizer begin to take its toll. It's a sorry state of affairs for the group, the employees and the nation at large. I cried when I saw a place I call home in disarray. The sight was not pleasing at all. Upon enquiry with employees they indicated their intention to go back to work at the earliest opportunity they can get to alleviate a catastrophe.
The restive workers sighted the collapse of governance structures at Tongaat group a cause for concern. They described the bulk of the senior management as arrogant and always turning a blind eye to their plea. The company haven't made any meaningful investment to improve the welfare of its employees in recent times. With the bulk of low level staffers mainly cane cutters, irrigators and weeders leaving in squalid conditions like those in Mbare called ma Jaradha or Mazameti in Shona with no electricity. It is because of these ills that the workers have vowed to continue with the strike.
The company has no concern for the environment.
Being a sustainability advocate I want to point straight that the company is the largest single contributor of deforestation and other environmental ills in the Lowveld. Why am I saying this? For an average employees of 7000 they use firewood as their source of energy on daily basis. The company could be felling and estimated millions of trees annually. For a company that pride itself as an icon of sustainability with so many environmental certification to its name, this is unacceptable.
Another area of concern is its waste disposal mechanism, human waste are collected in open pits like dams, and the smelly which comes from this is not pleasant at all given the fact that the bulk of these pits are in residential areas. The company should show more concern for its operational workers if its corporate social responsibility is to gain merit. The waste from the sugar plant is disposed in Cheche River, more often times when we were growing up we would see dead fish in the river, and there is doubt what caused the death. I think more needs to be done to ensure the actions of the company does not affect aquatic life and future generations.
Should Mutsambiwa Resign?
This article has nothing to do with the person of Mutsambiwa, it's mainly based on observations made by the writer when visited the once land of green. However the man in charge of Tongaat's operations in Zimbabwe according to the workers represents a negation of their interests. How then can he continue to lead the workers who no longer trust him?
They view him as a crook full of dishonest and arrogance and unfit for the office of a CEO. Amongst his litany of accusations the man in question is accused of leaving a trail of destruction in all the companies that he has been involved with among them is hippo valley and Mazowe. There is no doubt that he is a marked man at triangle.
As such the expectant workers are calling for his head. Management are expected to safeguard the organisation's assets at all cost, but the current state of affairs in Triangle indicate none of that. With its inventory left to rot, in transporting zones, trains and trucks you wonder if the man and woman at the top are exercising their stewardship role diligently. The financial loss when quantified will stretch into millions of dollars, in my view they are enough to cover the meagre increment the employees yearn for.
The positives
The company is not a monster per ser, it has made other notable strides in developing the Lowveld. The company has built houses workers for its workers and excellent schools for the children. The company also pays 80% of fee for all company employees' children. This is quite commendable and in addition to that they provide one of the safest water in Zimbabwe.
To sum up what is happening in Triangle is a circus that need urgent attention for the good of the nation. Triangle is the solidity of hope, one of the only meaningful business enterprise the nation has. The resolving of the dispute is an ultimate priority even if it means the intervention of the highest office in the land.
Julius Matare is an ACCA finalist and write in his personal capacity. The views contained in this article are not of ACCA. The writer is responsible for any damage caused ,
Obviously for reasons of my profound love for the company I travelled down there to have a glimpse of what was going on. What I saw was a calamity if not a disaster.
Tongaat Hullets group is the sole producer of sugar cane in Zimbabwe and runs several estates across the Lowveld. The group is the last remnant of Ian Smith's regime with a well-documented history of exploiting its helpless workers. From those days of toiling and digging of trenches through the mountains and jungles to ferry water in the, idle 19th century.
The ruthless of those involved is what makes the story interesting. I love triangle the most of all the places in Zimbabwe, mainly because of its scenic cane fields, exciting game parks, its numerous water reservoirs and its wonderful schools of which I am a product of.
Triangle is the land of abundance the reason why people drink tea in Zimbabwe. Before its ill-informed acquisition of the Anglo American company Hippo Valley Estates, the company was a giant both financially and socially. The company has one of the best community development projects in the country.
Unfairness in the group
If the current claims by the leading trade union, that Zimbabwean subsidiary of the group is the most profitable of all its subsidiary and yet they have the least payable employees are anything to go by. This is reflective of a group that is so obsessed with maximising shareholder wealth at the expense of other stakeholders. Key among them are the restive work force. With a work force of over 8000 employees, there is no doubt this contingent are amongst the most important assets the company have. The employees through their leaders have a right to be treated fairly, what explains the wage difference of more than 300% between the lowest Zimbabwean employee and their South African counterpart.
The morale among the employees is at an all-time low, in the entire history of the company, many employees interviewed by this writer vented their anger on the under fire Chief exec Sydney Mutsambiwa whom they accuse of leaving a trail of destruction before being appointed at the helm of the Zimbabwean consortium. They flatly accused him of lacking the acumen to lead a modern consortium. To the improvised workforce he is an ‘evil' and vampire sucking their blood. He has been accused for lacking sympathy with the workers who have been struggling to make ends meet since the dollarization and they have been patient up to now.
The ethics of triangle has been questioned
With the unionists questioning the corporate governance structures at the company, with their main trump card being discrimination. Honestly there is no meaningful explanation why the Zimbabwean workers are getting so much little in terms of salary and benefits compared to their counterparts in other countries. It's crystal clear. One doesn't need a rocket scientist to see this, with their current owners having connections to the apartheid era that rocked South Africa for years they now want to apply that to Zimbabwe. No we can't accept that, not in Zimbabwe. Ordinarily one would think that the Zimbabwean operations should follow the king report. Having read the length and breadth of the King report, there is nowhere where discrimination is allowed.
Obviously the group being tucked far away in triangle, have escaped media and the greater public scrutiny. And who knows for how long the group has been exploiting its desperate and impoverished workforce?
No one wants the strike to go on
The events in the Lowveld manufacturing giant have plunged the nation and the sugar industry into uncertainty. With sugar prices expected to sky rocket in a few weeks. The consequences of this industrial action are devastating both in financial and social terms. I saw huge bundles of raw sugar can which were left to rot in the transporting zones, in trains and trucks. From my own assessment the loss could extend into millions of dollars.
The usually green cane fields are now yellowish as shortage of water and fertilizer begin to take its toll. It's a sorry state of affairs for the group, the employees and the nation at large. I cried when I saw a place I call home in disarray. The sight was not pleasing at all. Upon enquiry with employees they indicated their intention to go back to work at the earliest opportunity they can get to alleviate a catastrophe.
The restive workers sighted the collapse of governance structures at Tongaat group a cause for concern. They described the bulk of the senior management as arrogant and always turning a blind eye to their plea. The company haven't made any meaningful investment to improve the welfare of its employees in recent times. With the bulk of low level staffers mainly cane cutters, irrigators and weeders leaving in squalid conditions like those in Mbare called ma Jaradha or Mazameti in Shona with no electricity. It is because of these ills that the workers have vowed to continue with the strike.
The company has no concern for the environment.
Being a sustainability advocate I want to point straight that the company is the largest single contributor of deforestation and other environmental ills in the Lowveld. Why am I saying this? For an average employees of 7000 they use firewood as their source of energy on daily basis. The company could be felling and estimated millions of trees annually. For a company that pride itself as an icon of sustainability with so many environmental certification to its name, this is unacceptable.
Another area of concern is its waste disposal mechanism, human waste are collected in open pits like dams, and the smelly which comes from this is not pleasant at all given the fact that the bulk of these pits are in residential areas. The company should show more concern for its operational workers if its corporate social responsibility is to gain merit. The waste from the sugar plant is disposed in Cheche River, more often times when we were growing up we would see dead fish in the river, and there is doubt what caused the death. I think more needs to be done to ensure the actions of the company does not affect aquatic life and future generations.
Should Mutsambiwa Resign?
This article has nothing to do with the person of Mutsambiwa, it's mainly based on observations made by the writer when visited the once land of green. However the man in charge of Tongaat's operations in Zimbabwe according to the workers represents a negation of their interests. How then can he continue to lead the workers who no longer trust him?
They view him as a crook full of dishonest and arrogance and unfit for the office of a CEO. Amongst his litany of accusations the man in question is accused of leaving a trail of destruction in all the companies that he has been involved with among them is hippo valley and Mazowe. There is no doubt that he is a marked man at triangle.
As such the expectant workers are calling for his head. Management are expected to safeguard the organisation's assets at all cost, but the current state of affairs in Triangle indicate none of that. With its inventory left to rot, in transporting zones, trains and trucks you wonder if the man and woman at the top are exercising their stewardship role diligently. The financial loss when quantified will stretch into millions of dollars, in my view they are enough to cover the meagre increment the employees yearn for.
The positives
The company is not a monster per ser, it has made other notable strides in developing the Lowveld. The company has built houses workers for its workers and excellent schools for the children. The company also pays 80% of fee for all company employees' children. This is quite commendable and in addition to that they provide one of the safest water in Zimbabwe.
To sum up what is happening in Triangle is a circus that need urgent attention for the good of the nation. Triangle is the solidity of hope, one of the only meaningful business enterprise the nation has. The resolving of the dispute is an ultimate priority even if it means the intervention of the highest office in the land.
Julius Matare is an ACCA finalist and write in his personal capacity. The views contained in this article are not of ACCA. The writer is responsible for any damage caused ,
Source - Byo24News
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
