Shabanie Mine evicts 37 former employees from company houses

Munyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
TROUBLED Shabanie Mine on Friday evicted 37 former employees who together with 700 other ex-workers were served with eviction orders following a High Court ruling. The workers are part of over 1 000 employees who used to work for the collapsed asbestos mine that was once owned by South Africa-based businessman Mutumwa Mawere. Chairman of former Shabanie Mine Workers Union Mr Alois Zhou said “defenceless, poverty stricken ex-employees” were being evicted.
He said cries by the ex-workers for the mine to give them their dues so that they move out of the houses was falling on deaf ears.

“All they are saying is go out, but to where. We don’t have money, we are broke,” said Mr Zhou.
He said they had been told that Midlands State University plans to start operations by August and therefore they need the mine to clear workers to create space for the coming university staff and students.

Mr Zhou said poverty had forced most the former workers who are failing to pay their legal counsels to appeal the eviction judgements at the High Court.
He said those with money had successfully appealed against the High Court order.

Mr Zhou said the workers had been fighting for salaries since 2009 and were now fighting a losing battle over houses.
He said the current mine management had no heart at all for the former miners and was just concentrating on making money through leasing out the company houses and the general office to MSU.

Former Shabanie Mine Workers Union representative Mr Hilton Nhidza said the workers were in the process of filing papers at the High Court seeking an interdict.
He said employees were not refusing to vacate company houses but demanded their salary arrears backdated to 2009 before they could vacate the houses.

“At the moment we are in Bulawayo where we are filing applications at the High Court seeking an interdict. We have been at loggerheads with our former employer for a long time and we want the matter to be resolved amicably. When the company ceased operations most workers resorted to menial jobs for survival and cannot afford rentals. This has forced them to stay put in the company houses,” he said.

Shabanie Mine chief executive officer Mr Chirandu Dhlembeu confirmed the evictions saying the people staying in Shabanie Mine houses had defaulted on paying rentals for a long time.

“I cannot say much on the matter but the evicted individuals were refusing to pay rent,” he said.
Shabanie and Gaths mines were once the world’s sixth largest asbestos-producing entities with an annual output of more than 140 000 tonnes.

The fallen mining giant, which was once under judicial management before being taken over by the State-controlled Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, at its peak employed more than 5 000 workers and supported at least 200 downstream industries.

A few years ago, the Government moved in following accusations that the then owner, Mawere, was externalising funds without State approval.
It has been under judicial management for the past 11 years and the ex-workers are now accusing management of stripping mine assets.

Last week a mother of four poured five litres of fuel inside her house, some on herself before daring people sent by Shabanie Mashava Mine who wanted evict her from the house to get into.