EMPLOYERS Confederation of Zimbabwe (Emcoz) president Israel Murefu says the introduction of key policies by the government without consulting the populace is a hindrance to the collective bargaining process.
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at coming up with agreements to regulate workers’ salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers’ compensation and rights.
Speaking at the Emcoz collective bargaining summit in Mutare last week, Murefu said it was very important for the government to consult the people during policymaking because they (people) were the ones being affected by the policy changes.
He also highlighted that the ever-increasing exchange rate had become a menace to the collective bargaining process.
“The exchange rate historically was not an issue in our collective bargaining processes, but it has become an issue because of certain policies that have been put in place by the authorities to change currency without consulting the people who are affected by the changes.
“Let’s say, a company that was running its business in forex and is in the business of importing and sells items in US dollars and then all of a sudden it is told you can no longer trade in US dollars, yet that has been the mainstay of that person’s business.
“It means that person is out of business completely, yet you have a workforce that has to be paid and that is a problem, so that is why it is important to have consultation before some of these big decisions are made.”
Murefu also highlighted that productivity had been the missing benchmark in the collective bargaining process.
“It is important to understand productivity and how to measure and understand it, because employers can only pay out of value that has been created and value is created through productivity. If you have not created value, it is difficult to imagine the source of resources you are going to use to remunerate you employees. So more attention should be paid to productivity,” Murefu said.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union vice-president, however, said it was difficult to improve productivity seeing that the current economic situation had significantly diminished workers salaries.
“The workers were used to earning a minimum of US$400 and this has now been reduced to less than US$30 so that worker needs to survive. So you cannot expect productivity from someone who is ailing and demotivated.”
Chirenda also said that it was important for employers to empower their workers.
“So you have to incentivise your employees for them to be productive. Employers have to empower their workers because if employees are able to buy, then what you are producing becomes relevant and productive,” Chirenda said.
ORGANISERS of the annual Zimbabwe Achievers Awards (ZAA) yesterday said they will be taking the awards ceremony to Elephant Hills in Victoria Falls as they celebrate their 10th anniversary in April next year.
Founded in 2010, the awards recognise and celebrate Zimbabweans who fly the country’s flag high in countries such as Australia, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States and Canada among other countries.
The awards founder Conrad Mwanza (pictured) told NewsDay Life &Style that they chose Victoria Falls as the awards ceremony venue as they want to encourage people to visit the resort town.
“As part of the 10th anniversary we are bringing all the chapters from the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Australia, South Africa to congregate as part of the Zimbabwe thrive initiative celebrating the 40th independence anniversary and bringing the people from the diaspora together,”
“A lot of people have seen the place (Victoria Falls) so I think if we are doing a built Victoria Falls initiative, it must be our vision in 20 years’ time. We want to see Victoria Falls becoming like Dubai, Sandton that kind of thing. So we need to start with those small initiatives that bring people together and hopefully from there we have a major impact,” he said.
Mwanza said they were many Zimbabweans doing well outside the country in sectors such as arts and culture, music, sports, business, philanthropy and the event will be an opportunity for them to be acknowledged at home (Zimbabwe).
“We expect to get these Zimbabweans who are making it around the world, to celebrate each other’s works. We also strive to see how we can have a positive impact and contribute towards the betterment of children, the country and how different people from different regions around the world can also contribute positively,” he said.
“As ZAA, we will be bringing in these editions to the mighty Victoria Falls. So on the day we will be recognising people who are having a global impact around the world. It is also part of a holiday and we encourage our diasporas to visit as tourists as well.”
CELEBRATED South African rap star Nasty C has said youths should not be afraid of doing better than their role models, but instead be determined and work hard to achieve their life goals.
The Mzansi singer made the remarks speaking to NewsDay Life & Style as he touched down at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on Sunday evening to promote his Ivyson tour set for December 21 at Pabloz VIP car park in Harare.
“Growing up not staying in South Africa or Zimbabwe, but in Africa, it is so hard for us to look at inspiration and motivation and realise it for what it is because it is never close to us. I am always preaching, just do what you want to do in life, chase your goals, do not let anyone (dampen your spirits) and don’t look at (those who have succeeded) as a big scare as it’s possible to achieve (better), you can achieve anything and can reach any level,” he said.
Nasty C described rising Zimbabwean hip-hop artiste Ngonidzashe “King 98” Dondo as a talented and hardworking artiste who has the potential to achieve a lot in his musical career, promising more collaborations with him later.
“We are definitely going to make some more music, I see him (King 98), more than I see anybody else, I see him like too many times a year, so definitely we going to make some more music,” he said.
King 98 said he was happy to be working with Nasty C whom he described as brother in music.
“I am excited that Nasty C is here till Thursday and will be visiting some schools as we promote the Ivyson tour concert scheduled for December 21 at Pabloz VIP car park here in Harare. It is like a dream come true, I am very happy. I hope everyone is going to be excited and have a good week,” he said.
“Working with Nasty C has helped me get a new fan base. Through the Ivyson tour I have managed to perform at some places I did not dream of staging a performance.”
Yesterday, Nasty C and King 98 alongside Enzo Ishall visited Roosevelt Girls High and Conway College as they continue to promote the Ivyson tour concert.
Today they are scheduled to visit Gateway School, St John’s High School, Heritage School and Dominican Convent. Tomorrow they will wrap up the tour with a visit at Prince Edward, Vainona High School and George Stuck in Mbare.
King 98’s manager said; “I would like to say thank you to all the headmasters, principals who have allowed us to come through with our brother Nasty C, it is a great honour for us to be given an opportunity to do that. I appreciate.”
The third edition of the Ivyson tour that kicked off at The River Club, Cape Town, South Africa on September 20 saw King 98, among other top stars sharing the stage with Nasty C in different countries across the continent.
In Harare, Nasty C will share the stage with King 98, Malawi-born singer Gemini Major and Tellerman, Rowlene, Stunner, Takura, Shashl, Union 5, DJ Silence Dosh and T Gonzi. Proceeds from the concert will be channelled towards charity with Alfred Dondo Foundation being the beneficiaries.
IN a bizarre incident, two Gweru men recently drowned in a dam on the outskirts of the city after one of the man had pursued an eland into the water body and drowned in the process. When the police sub aqua unit was retrieving the body, the other man swam towards where the body was and he also drowned.
In a statement, Midlands provincial police spokesperson Inspector Joel Goko confirmed the incident and identified the deceased as Anderson Mbano (23) and Aaron Mayela (28) of Plot 42, Ruby, Gweru.
“The first incident occurred on November 6 2019 at Mtshabezi Dam, where Mbano of Plot 42 Ruby in Gweru was hunting in the company of two friends. They saw an eland and gave chase, but the animal ran into Mtshabezi Dam,” Goko said.
“Mbano entered the dam pursuing the eland and he drowned. A report was made to the police and the scene was attended. The next day while the sub aqua unit was trying to retrieve the body, Mayela was observing proceedings from a distance. He then entered into the dam and tried to swim to where the body was being retrieved, he also drowned.”
The police spokesperson added that the police managed to retrieve the two bodies and they were taken to Gweru Provincial Hospital for postmortem.
Meanwhile, a 42-year old Gweru man last week allegedly drowned his two-year-old daughter in a dam before hanging himself in a dispute over the custody of the child.
Lot Josiya of Woodlands Park in Gweru allegedly had a misunderstanding with his girlfriend, who lives in Mambo suburb over the custody of the their child and he took the toddler to Insukamini Dam in Lower Gweru, where he drowned her before hanging himself.
A HAILSTORM, which ploughed through Bulilima West over the weekend, destroyed entire classrooms at Ndolwane Primary School, leaving only one, with reports that yesterday pupils were turned away because there was no place to learn from.
Out of nine classrooms, eight had their roofs blown off. A teacher’s cottage had also its roof destroyed.
Ndolwane is about 100km north-west of Plumtree town in Bulilima district.
Reports said roof trusses and roofing sheets were strewn to distances of more than 50 metres.
However, no casualties were reported since the incident happened on a weekend when pupils were away.
The incident happened on Saturday afternoon. Some villagers also counted losses after the storm razed homesteads.
Bulilima Rural District Council chief executive officer John Brown Ncube yesterday confirmed the incident, saying they have dispatched a team to assess the damage.
“We got the information that Ndolwane Primary School was affected by the storm, but we don’t have much detail as of now. We have dispatched a team to investigate the matter,” Ncube said.
Matabeleland South deputy provincial education director Mathomula Nare said Shake Primary School in Gwanda North also faced a similar fate.
“We have received information about the damage at the school, but we don’t have information on the extent of the damage,” Nare said.
A Ndolwane villager said the entire school was destroyed and pupils were likely to stay home until the school has been repaired.
“As parents, we have agreed that it’s not safe for our children to go to school while it’s in that state. These are old buildings which were built close to 100 years ago. They needed to be renovated. It’s unsafe for our children to be in those structures,” she said.
The destruction came barely two days after another hailstorm swept through Lubhangwe in Matobo, leaving two children dead, 30 injured and 847 families affected.
In a report on ZBC, Department of Civic Protection in Matobo district said it is in the process of mobilising resources to assist the affected families.
Last week at Shashi Secondary School in Beitbridge, two teachers’ cottages, a laboratory and a classroom were destroyed by strong winds that followed heavy rains.
About 30 electricity power poles also fell in the vicinity of the school, thereby, cutting off power supplies. Shashi clinic’s solar field was also destroyed.
Several church buildings in Beitbridge ward 8, Maramani cluster, had their roofs blown away.
BULAWAYO City Council, in conjunction with Alpha Media Holdings and other stakeholders, on Saturday conducted their 1 000th clean-up campaign and also planted trees at a local park.
Several companies including NewsDay, Schweppes, Rainbow Hotel, Skyz Metro and volunteers participated.
Addressing participants at the clean-up campaign, mayor Solomon Mguni said the campaign had reached a 1 000-day mark.
“As you know today (Saturday) the Keep Bulawayo Clean campaign initiative reached a 1000-day mark since its inception and people have been cleaning the city voluntarily for the past years,” Mguni said.
“It is our pleasure to join the people of Bulawayo and commemorate that milestone and we are quite happy that they help us in keeping Bulawayo as clean as possible.”
The participants planted trees at the Centenary Park to mark National Tree Planting Day.
“We also took the opportunity to plant trees at Centenary Park, as you know trees are life,” Mguni said.
“We planted tress to reflect on our history as people and also as a country. As we are approaching the tree planting day, we are quite excited that we planted trees to mark the 1 000th-day of the Keep Bulawayo Clean campaign.”
Caps United and FC Platinum are headed for a grand finale of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season after the two sides pulled away from third-placed contenders Chicken Inn with two matches to go before the end of the season.
The Green Machine are now five points ahead of Chicken Inn while FC Platinum remained two points behind Caps following their 1-0 win over Chapungu on Sunday.
Chicken Inn have two tough assignments against the relegation-threatened duo of Herentals and TelOne.
Caps still have to play Ngezi Platinum Stars away before the final day clash with FC Platinum which will be the title decider.
Darlington Dodo’s side can afford to lose against Ngezi in the penultimate match of the season and will still have everything in their hands when they meet FC Platinum.
FC Platinum cannot afford to see the gap between them and Caps increase before the two teams clash, in what will be a historic final day clash at the National Sports Stadium.
The Zvishavane-based side has never beaten Caps in Harare and out of their 10 meetings, FC Platinum won once while six of them ended in draws.
Over the years, title tussles have gone all the way to the last day of the season, but a scenario where two teams with an equal chance of winning the championship clashing on the final day has not been witnessed.
It will be a befitting end to what has been a topsy turvy and exciting title fight.
Caps took a step towards winning their sixth title after the Sunday derby against Dynamos at the National Sports Stadium.
Newman Sianchali scored through a header in the first half to set up the win for his side.
Chicken Inn’s hopes of winning a second Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title were dashed on Saturday following their 3-1 defeat to relegation-threatened Bulawayo Chiefs.
After losing to Bulawayo Chiefs on Saturday, a visibly disappointed Joey Antipas said: “All we have to do is live in hope. If the results (of Caps and FC Platinum) go the other way, then we are done. There is God above; we just believe in that and live in hope.”
Interestingly, since their talisman Clive Augusto left in August, having played his last match against ZPC Kariba at Nyamhunga Stadium where he scored his 14th goal and still leads the PSL scorers’ chart, Chicken Inn players have scored a combined 17 goals in 15 matches, just three more than what the Maritzburg United striker had scored in 17 games of the first half of the season.
Innocent Mucheneka is the team’s top goal scorer with six goals while Brett Amidu has five.
The last time she talked to her guardians was when they left her at Copota School for the Blind, some five years back.
Her guardians, who are in Chivhu, have not bothered to visit or pay fees for her since then. This is the sad reality of a 12-year-old orphan, visually impaired albino inmate at the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ)-run institution. Located about 20 kilometres north of Masvingo City. The school offers special needs education to pupils with multi-disabilities.
Her identity has been concealed for ethical reasons.
“I was born visually impaired and my parents are late. So I grew up in the custody of my aunt, who in the company of other relatives, left me here in 2014, saying she wanted to go and look for a job in South Africa. She promised to come back and bring me new clothes, but up to now, she has not come back. She has never phoned and is not paying fees for me. I do not know the cellphone number she is using there,” said the girl, who is now in Grade 6.
She added: “I feel like an outcast and I wish my parents were still alive. Am sure they would not discriminate me and treat me this way. I, however, thank God that I found people here who are caring and treat me like a human being. These are my real relatives.”
She is among 300 children with disabilities (CwDs) housed at the institution, which offers primary and secondary education.
According to Copota school development committee (SDC) chair, Ernest Dube, who is visually impaired, most of the pupils, some with multi-disabilities have been literally dumped by their parents or relatives due to stigma and discrimination, which is pervasive in most Zimbabwean societies.
“Most of the kids at our primary school were dumped and forgotten. Their parents or guardians left them and never came back and are not paying fees for them. We have some kids who actually call this place their home and even during the school holidays, they remain stuck here,” said Dube, who was speaking on the sidelines of the official handover of braille pamphlets by the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) last Thursday.
“It is all about attitudes by the parents or guardians. You find some parents have able-bodied children, and others with disabilities, but they do not pay for the disabled child. Such perceptions need to be changed so that they know that all children are equal, and that disability does not mean inability,” he said.
Dube said, while the school has income-generating projects, the pupils face clothing and food shortages and sometimes live on handouts from the RCZ as well as other well-wishers.
Another orphaned female pupil said her parents had not acquired a birth certificate for her, yet her other siblings, who are able-bodied, have the identity documents.
“I do not know how I can obtain a birth certificate. I think my parents were not willing to acquire one for me. They passed on when I was five. Surprisingly, my other sibling who is able-bodied has one,” she said.
Copota School deputy head, Tsitsi Muganhu, revealed that only three kids, out of 170 in primary school, are having their fees paid by their parents or guardians. The rest are on government’s Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) support scheme, because they are either orphaned or their parents or guardians seem uninterested.
“The pupils are not paying fees for various reasons. At primary school, only three are paying, the rest are on BEAM, while others have their fees paid by Higher Life Foundation and well-wishers. As such, we face challenges in sourcing learning materials, which are imported. We need foreign currency to procure the learning materials like braille paper from outside the country, but we do not have the money,” Muganhu said.
She, however, thanked government for being up-to-date with its BEAM payments for the school.
“We also have water shortages here because of lack of power to pump water due to the incessant power outages. We only have one borehole, we need a solar plant to power our pumps. We owe power utility, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority $40 000,” she added.
Muganhu further said they are in short supply of special lotions and hats for those with albinism. Some of the pupils at Copota are totally blind, partially blind, have albinism and down syndrome, while others have multi-disabilities and are wheelchair-bound.
According to Primary and Secondary Education ministry annual statistics report for 2018, there are 61 946 learners with impairments, of whom 5 347 (8,63%) are enrolled in ECD A and B; 43 504 (70,23%) are at primary school level and 13 095 (21,14%) at secondary school level.
This marks a sharp increase in the prevalence of in-school children with impairments from 34 734 in 2014 to 52 232 in 2016, according to the figures by the Primary and Secondary Education ministry.
Labour and Social Welfare ministry provincial head in Masvingo, Seanislaus Sanyangowe, when told of the situation at Copota by this reporter, said he was in the dark.
“We are not aware that there are school pupils whose parents or guardians dumped them at Copota, but we will look into that. I will deploy my district officers to go there and see the situation on the ground. We will definitely do something about it,” Sanyangowe said.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), children with disabilities are often excluded from opportunities to participate fully in their communities, and are more vulnerable to violence and abuse.
“Because of more than two decades of socio-economic challenges, many children living with disabilities in Zimbabwe are among the most marginalised and excluded groups of children. Compared to their peers, CwDs are often excluded from the mainstream health, education, legal support and other social services,” notes Unicef on its website.
LRF administrator, Wadzanai Wami, said they were touched by the general exclusion of people living with disabilities in various programmes, hence they with other partners donated legal braille pamphlets to educate them on inheritance, children’s rights, sexual offences, domestic violence, among others.
“CwDs are often left out in legal advocacy campaigns because the materials are not compatible with them since few are in braille. So we identified the challenge. We also realised that like the able-bodied, they also face challenges in accessing legal assistance, hence we educated them about our free legal assistance. We also gave them toll free numbers for those who need free legal services,” Wami said.
According to the 2013 national survey on living conditions among persons with disabilities in Zimbabwe, the prevalence of disability in the country is estimated to be 7%, which translates to approximately 914 287 persons based on the last 2012 population census, which recorded the total population to be at 13 million.
Unicef Zimbabwe says it has formulated a disability strategy (2018-2020), whose mandate is “to achieve equality, dignity and equal opportunities for children with disabilities in specific areas of programming to ensure the best interest of the child, independence, freedom of choice, full and active participation in all areas of life and society”. The Zimbabwe Disabled Persons Act Chapter 17:01 (Acts 5/1992,6/2000,22/2001) considers disability as a human rights and developmental issue.
BULAWAYO residents have honoured the late Alderman Charles Mpofu by posthumously awarding him a certificate of appreciation in recognition of his community work. Mpofu died in a road traffic accident in Bulawayo in March 2014 aged 55.
Ward 25 councillor Mzama Dube, who was the guest of honour at the event, said residents came up with the idea to honour people who have done good for the ward.
Dube said although Mpofu was late, his works still follow him.
“Alderman Mpofu was the servant of the people and he brought progress both as a councillor and the alderman for the ward, hence he deserved to be honoured,” he said.
“We want to foster unity in the ward so that we uplift our community. We want that spirit of togetherness to continue in our ward. There are some people who have shown commitment in their respective positions. We also gave certificates to schools, among them Maranatha Secondary School for producing good results.”
Dube said they also honoured human rights defender, Ambrose Sibindi of Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association for standings for the truth.
He said this is the second time they have honoured community champions. Dube applauded the community for constructing a police base that was commissioned recently.
SOUTH AFRICA-BASED Zimbabwean hip-hop and RnB star Hillary “Hillzy” Chipunza (pictured) clinched the Best Artiste, Duo in African RnB and soul gong for his song TV Room which features Garry Mapanzure at the All Africa Music Awards (Afrima) on Saturday.
The Muroora hitmaker had been nominated with some of the best artistes in Africa, among them South Africa’s Nasty C and Nigeria’s Davido.
In an interview with NewsDay Life &Style, Hillzy acknowledged his fans for standing with and voting for him to scoop the award.
“My fans you are the best. I asked who you would want me to collaborate with and you chose my boy Garry and we did as you said, now the rest is history,” he said.
“I appreciate the votes and plays especially on load shedding times and with pricey data bundles these days. I am thankful and cannot wait to give back whatever I can.”
Hillzy has had a good year so far, with most of his songs being played on some of Africa’s biggest television channels and his latest single, Who Sent You was on number one spot on Trace Africa last week.
He also had a successful tour alongside Mapanzure which saw them perform in different places across the country that included Harare, Mutare, Chinhoyi and Masvingo.
The singer said he was working on his extended play to be released in the first quarter of next year on a date yet to be announced.
