Vice-President John Landa Nkomo’s Nathi Investments Group of companies has reportedly failed to pay workers, with some owed in excess of five months’ salary.
Nathi Investments Group comprises Astra Building Centre, Downtown Spar and Daguiar Tyres, all in Bulawayo, and Kirton Farms, whose chairman and owner is VP Nkomo.
The group employs over 180 workers. Nkomo’s son and group managing director, Jabulani, confirmed the salary backlog, adding it was caused by the depressed national economy.
Some disgruntled employees recently wrote to NewsDay alleging they had just received their August 2011 salaries.
“As we write this letter, we are still getting salaries for August 2011 being given in small amounts, this in the wake of about a five-month backlog. For the festive holiday, we were given vouchers ranging from $40 to $60 to take groceries from Downtown Spar as part of our salaries,” reads the letter written to NewsDay.
Jabulani yesterday confirmed some companies under the Nkomo empire were lagging behind in paying workers’ salaries.
“Facts are all right. The companies are owned by VP Nkomo. As an organisation, we communicate with workers through workers’ committees and in most cases, we have told them our position on such issues and they have understood,” Jabulani said.
He said Nathi Investments, like other companies in the country, had not been spared the vagaries of Zimbabwe’s economy.
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“Depending on each company, departments may be one, two or three months behind,” said VP Nkomo’s son. “We have tried to avoid retrenchments just to save people’s jobs.”
In the letter, the affected workers said Downtown Spar and Astra Building Centre had reportedly not paid workers for the past five months while those at Daguiar Tyres were reportedly earning “allowances” of $100 per month.
The workers said as a result, they had now accumulated huge arrears in school fees and rentals.
Last year, several workers at Nkomo’s Winter Block Farm and Walmer Ranching in Matobo facing theft charges told the court they had resorted to stealing the Vice-President’s cattle to supplement their meagre wages.
