VICE-PRESIDENT Kembo Mohadi has summoned Tongaat Hulett chief executive officer Sydney Mutsambiwa as well as sugarcane farmers associations’ representatives for a meeting at his offices tomorrow to look into problems bedevilling the sector as well as avoid a pending job carnage following the takeover of the sugar producing company’s land by new farmers last year.
By Tatenda Chitagu
Mohadi revealed this at a rally at Tshovani Stadium in Chredzi on Sunday.
This was after Zanu PF Masvingo provincial chairperson, Ezra Chadzamira, raised concern that workers at Tongaat feared for their future after 4 000 hectares were parcelled out to new farmers. Tongaat responded by saying that the land grab had rendered many workers who were working on the land redundant.
“Tongaat employees no longer have job security because some land which was under Tongaat Hulett was given to new farmers and the workers fear they will be retrenched. They are living in doubt without knowing what their future holds,” he said.
In response, Mohadi said: “I know you have problems with Tongaat Hulett and you talked about workers fearing they will be retrenched, but nothing of that sort will happen. Tongaat is doing cane planting on our land. I want to see the Tongaat CEO on Wednesday morning for a meeting at my office and I want to talk to him on a personal level because I know he is an employee also and I want to know what the real problem is.”
Mohadi also said the 700 hectares for the housing project had been availed and he wanted to know when Tongaat would start the project.
He said government was willing to give land and help new farmers in establishing milling plants for their sugar.
