KWEKWE — Former Ziscosteel workers will have to wait a little longer before they can access a once-off three months’ worth of salary payment from new employers New Zimsteel because of legal hurdles. BLESSED MHLANGA
Essar Africa holdings Limited Board Director Firdhose Coovadia, said the processing of the payment was complicated as it involved a lot of legal processes and was also tied to production issues.
“This is part of a process of closing out employee contracts with Ziscosteel, finalising the arrears owing to each employee by Ziscosteel and then onboarding employees into New Zim in phases, given that the initial 24 months of the project will be a construction project,” he said.
Coovadia said the construction process, which will see Essar reap apart what was once the giant Ziscosteel to build a new iron and steel plant, could not be divorced from the payment of salaries to workers and other debtors.
“It cannot be viewed in isolation- it is dependent on other things also happening to ensure a smooth transition,” he said.
“This is part of a legal process which is in accordance with the Labour Act in Zimbabwe and as such, needs to be dealt with in a manner which addresses all the requirements as set out in law. We are hopeful that this process will be completed in the near future.”
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Workers who last got paid an eighth of their salaries by Ziscosteel management last April said they were concerned that the salaries promised by Essar a month ago might not come after all.
“We have received promise after promise. In fact President Robert Mugabe came here and officially opened the plant nearly three years ago, but nothing has worked. We are tired of being lied to,” said an employee who refused to be named.
Workers spokesperson Benedict Moyo, who also chairs a grouping of three unions at New Zimsteel, was said to be in a series of meetings as workers battle to get clarity on the way forward.
The company was yet to pay workers their June salaries. Some of the workers last got as little as $50 in salaries in April.