FORMER workers at Chiadzwa’s diamond mining firms have claimed rampant abuse of their rights, with some female workers saying they were raped by their foreign bosses mostly from India, China and Pakistan, while the males were assaulted.
by VENERANDA LANGA
The ex-workers raised the allegations in Parliament last Thursday when they appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Youth and Indigenisation.
Zimbabwe Diamond Miners’ Union president, Francis Matinyarare told the Justice Mayor Wadyajena-led committee that most rape cases were recorded at Diamond Mining Company (DMC).
“At DMC, we have ladies that are members of our union that were allegedly raped by a company official (named), who is a foreigner and the cases were reported to Zimbabwe Republic Police Bambazonke Base,” Matinyarare said.
“However, they have been swept under the carpet, maybe because of corruption,” he said.
Proportional representation MP Jasmine Toffa (MDC) called on the union to compile a list of rape victims and submit it to the committee for further investigations, but Matinyarare said it was difficult to follow up the matter following the recent consolidation of diamond mining firms.
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“Before we came to Parliament, I communicated with one of the victims, who said she was prepared to come before the committee to testify, but she later chickened out. I am speaking under oath and can testify we have names of the ladies that were raped and the alleged perpetrator,” he said. Matinyarare said he had presided over a number of cases where workers complained of being kicked and assaulted by their Chinese bosses.
“I can testify that at Jinan Mine, workers have been physically kicked by Chinese bosses. When a worker, who is a machine operator does not understand what they are saying, because the Chinese cannot speak English — they end up being physically abused. I almost hit back one of them.
“Whenever we tried to drag them to a hearing about the abuses, they would come in their dozens and make a lot of noise disrupting the proceedings. At one time one of them was transferred after being reported and replaced by another Chinese national,” Matinyarare said.
Wadyajena demanded documentary evidence of the abuses to be handed before Parliament.
