Eight Zambian miners have been arrested in connection with the killing of a Chinese manager by pushing a mine trolley at him during a riot at a coal mine in the south of the country. Four others arrested are villagers from the surrounding communities.
The eight miners have since been charged with the murder, while the quartet faces a charge of robbery after they were found in possession of stolen property. Southern Province deputy police commissioner Fred Mutondo confirmed the development.
The protesting workers killed their supervisor and injured his colleague in a riot over wages at a mine known for tensions with the Chinese investors.
In 2010, two Chinese mine managers were charged with attempted murder after they allegedly opened fire on a group of protesting miners.
Eleven Zambian workers were injured in the incident and the mine has since been a source of controversy between Chinese investors and Zambians.
In last Saturday’s incident, the workers were on strike at the mine in protest against delays in implementing a new minimum wage at the Chinese-owned Collum coal mine in Sinazongwe, 325km south of the capital Lusaka.
They were angry their wages were lower than a new minimum of $220 a month paid to shop workers. A 2011 report by Human Rights Watch said despite improvements in recent years, safety and labour conditions at Chinese mines were worse than at other foreign-owned mines.
Zambian President Michael Sata has lacked consistency on Chinese investment in the copper-dominated Southern African nation following a U-turn on his pre-election anti-China stance.
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The Chinese embassy in Lusaka has not made any public comments so far. — AfricaNews.com
