THE district administration in Kalomo has warned foreign investors in the area to stop using racial remarks and exercising inhuman treatment to their Zambian workers or risk being sent back to their countries of origin.
Acting District Commissioner, Justus Phiri, issued the warning yesterday when a number of workers from Estate Bird Farm stormed his office seeking protection for what they called inhuman and victimization by the farm proprietor.
The workers alleged that the named white farm proprietor of South African origin has directed that no relatives of workers should come into the farm compound and while workers’ children should leave the compound when they become two years old.
Female workers have also been directed not to have their babies behind their backs when working in the farm orchard.
The same proprietor of Dentro Game Ranch, Balla – Balla Safaris in Namwala district, early this month is reported to have forced his way into a house of his male game scout in his ranch at night while the worker was sleeping with his wife.
The proprietor allegedly beat up the worker for what he claimed non adherence to company procedures and forced the couple to flee naked into the wilderness infested with wild animals.
The acting DC, who summoned the proprietor, Dene Bird, warned that abuse of workers, racial remarks and victimization would not be tolerated.
Mr Phiri urged the investor, who later apologized for his conduct, to follow disciplinary labour laws when dealing with erring workers other than inflicting inhuman treatment on them.
Mr Phiri also urged investors to respect the Zambian culture of having extended families, saying chasing away workers’ grown up children and their relatives from one’s farmland was abrogating the Zambian family way of living.
ZANIS
Surprising that its only in Zambia where Investors have powers which even makes government officials plead them to treat as well. I have always stated on this platfoam that Poverty is the greatest sin ever coz you tend to lose your principle and intergrity.
lmwe chase such people away, thats why they are being killed in their own countries and now they are coming to disturb our peace we have created without them. dont warn them just let them pack and go just like what the other one did to his worker going in and distrubing their privacy,thats silly
This Nkumba Dene Bird has gone too far. Pipo can do without his investment. How can a sane person beat up a worker late in the night without even respecting his privacy. The Human Rights Commission should take up the issue. This is the only country which can allow mistreatment of workers by socalled investors. The DC was being kind to the stupid investor. Not long ago a Chinese national was killed by a worker coz of such bad behaviour. The man should have speared the investor coz he was an intruder.
thanks for the story, but guys improve on your writing skills – “to follow disciplinary labour laws when dealing with erring workers other than inflicting inhuman treatment on them” come on! sushimikila banzako mukomboni. U talking to the world. then lets write muchinyanja bcoz chizungu sichatu
What is wrong with our country, it is only in Zambia where foreigners have more rights than locals. It is about time that the government should some how ensure that investors aspire to a certain standard, and are not treated like gods. We need investors, but not at the expense of the freedom and rights of the people of Zambia!
#4 dont think you have mastered the queens language than some of us who learnt Chizungu when it was chizungu. Did you ever read “Oxford Learners English for Africa'” Ben & Betty etc. or you learnt English Medium, Mulenga & Jelita. hat matters is connecting the idea. Let the world read coz its Angle. The investor from South Africa has no manners. They cant treat balck South Africans the way they are treating Zambias. These so called investors from South Africa are the criminals who killed blacks at the height of Aparthied and they run away and find peace in Zambia. I know most of them they are former soldiers, Brutal killers. Why is it only coys run by these fellows where there is industrail unrest. At Lumwana mine they used to be kicked out almost every week coz of inhuman conduct.
this mediocre investor should be fined without delay and counselled over the importance of human life.zambia is peacefull because of mutal respect among ourselves.
Zambia is the only country that like to protect these so called investors when they mistreat locals, in other countries like Zim or S Africa those chaps could have been chased or found dead the next morning.We are enjoying peace in Zambia and these guys should respect us, GRZ you are also to be blamed for such nonesense happenings.How do you le go such inhuman behaviour to happen?sure the Human Rights Comms where are you and the rest of concerned agents should come quickly so that these chaps are dealt with accordingly
Why should we waste our time on these evill infestors? The problem is our gornvement that always plead with them that first let them fatten then after that we will tax them. What a d.u.i.i thinking, dont we learn from the past? The guys after making money they run away. now they have started insulting us and intruding into our privacy when we are having nice time with our wives. REALLY OUR COUNTRY HAS GONE TO THE D.O.G.S. Could this happen in KK’s time???
Imwe bantu, once a boer, will always be a boer. Ubuchushi is the true cause of the inhuman kind of treatment my people are getting from these guys. Why cant he employ his white people then? These south African whites are taking advantage of the zambian people. They still love their apatheid, but let it not be in our country. Uluse lwalile inkwale, its true. They ran away from RSA to seek shelter in zambia in the days of apatheid and now they are twangaling. ine ukubapata aba bankusa.
This is why i like uncle ‘BOB’ Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the only outstanding and out spoken African leader who does not buy white supremacy over black race. when will Zambia learn? chase that basturd
What? and where is this ***** now? In my country? Did the law apply on this guy, we need to know the truth. Did he do the things mentioned? Please help me come to terms with this. I am confused!
Whats the warning to others who have done nothing to do with this *****. Acting the right way is enough lesson to all, and I dont mean all others are racists, he could be the only one but please take him to task.
Please someone in Zambia feedback on the progress of this case and witnesses please let us know how it goes through LT or UK Zambians. I was never segregated so I dont understand what it is and the reasons behind some *****s attitude towards my citizens.
“peace” is not the absence of “war”.
Zambians are too timid thats the main problem, plus there is a very big mental disorder that most people in Zambia suffer from, its called an INFERIORITY complex. whites are looked @ as demi-Gods, thats why they get away with such BS. they really brainwashed us really good during colonialisim. well done!! now they arrognantly behave as they please in our country and we go being them to please treat our people well, OR ELSE?
Such people are not inverstors they are an advanced way of bringing slavery back. You are warning this guy, these guys should sue his A** to court. The government also is too investor happy careful who you are bringing in the country. I wonder why these employees can not just gang up against him and leave his farm, lets see if he will take his butt out to work on the farm. As Zambians we also tend to have a notion of treating a ‘guest’ better than yourselves especially people of a different race. I can’t stand such news it just winds me up.
This government should be taking the interests of Zambians first instead of people who are making money out of your country.
” thats why they are being killed in their own countries ”
Exactly. These people grew up under apartheid, and this is how they behave. This is why it revolts me that these individuals are not only being given land but are sought after by certain governments under the guise of ‘development’.
Why is this individual even called an ‘investor’? Just because he bought a farm? When someone buys a farm and they run it themselves, they are not ‘investors’, they are farmers. The government does this too, all the time, and I think it is so they can impress the IMF with how many ‘investors’ they have attracted.
Ahmadinejad,
” This is why i like uncle ‘BOB’ Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the only outstanding and out spoken African leader who does not buy white supremacy over black race. ”
And for exactly the same reasons. Look at the MDC. Selous scouts, BSAP officers, etc. If they were smart, or could move with the times, they would be makings so much money developing the land they had and building commercial farms for Africans. Instead, they want to keep the African people back and maintain their exhalted social positions as the only real earners around. The same in Namibia and South Africa.
mwanida,
” amImwe bantu, once a boer, will always be a boer. Ubuchushi is the true cause of the inhuman kind of treatment my people are getting from these guys. Why cant he employ his white people then? ”
I think the Zambian government should lodge a complaint with the South African government. He may not be an ambassador, but he is one of their citizens. And he was given a visa and passport by their government. I think it should send a clear message that if they engage this kind of behaviour in Zambia, they will be sent back immediately and have their passports revoked in South Africa.
You know, there is a reason these people don’t just go to Australia, because the Australians would never put up with their behaviour, and they would actually have to work their farms…
“chase those crazy baldheads out of town”
This is a tricky one. The dept of labor can prevent a lot of problems if they can come up with guidelines of how workers must live on these farms. The workers needs as well as the farmers needs need to be examined and a compromise found. Workers want to earn a living and support their families. Farmers are trying to run a business and can not be charity organizations. These interests are not in conflict and a way can be found to address them. But the dept must start working immediately since we need to have policies that are investor friendly and also that do not harm human rights. It is totally unacceptable for farm workers to be mistreated. .
Hey Minister of Labour, send that racist Boer back to the slopes of the Dragenburg mountains. We don’t tolerate primitive racist intolerance in today’s world. At least we can do without some piece of rubish.
chase this ***** back to were he came,we won’t tolerate this nonsence in our country.