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Minimum Wage: Mine Workers Kill Chinese Manager, Injures 2 Others In Sinazongwe
File Picture:
The death has been confirmed by Fred Mutondo, the deputy police commissioner for Southern Province, who identified the mine boss as 50- year-old Wu Shenzai, whose place of origin in China has not been disclosed. Two other Chinese managers have been injured.
Two people have been arrested in connection with the killing.
And Minister of Labour Fackson Shamenda, who expressed regret at the incident, said from the scene of the crime that initial findings suggest that Mr Wu was killed by ordinary thugs and not miners.
“It appears the perpetrators of the violence are just a bunch of criminals who took advantage of the disturbance and committed this offence,” Mr Shamenda said, adding that: “We will give proper and official direction on how to implement the minimum wage on Tuesday [tomorrow] in order to avoid confusion.”
A team of police officers has been dispatched to Collum Coal Mine in Sinazongwe to investigate the incident, according to Mr Mutondo, who said the incident happened on Saturday between 11:00 hours and 12:00 hours. Mr Mutondo has described the incident as “criminal”.
The mine offices were looted and computers and other valuable property were stolen.
“The action was criminal because they stole computers and other property, which were not part of the employment conditions,” Mr Mutondo said.
The incident comes about two years after some two Chinese managers opened fire at demonstrating workers – who sought better perks – injuring 13 of them seriously. The managers that injured the workers have since appeared in court.
Mr Mutondo, however, said calm has returned to the area although the mine has shut down following the confusion as investigations continue to establish what sparked the violence.
On arrests, Mr Mutondo said: “It will be premature for me at this stage to state whether we have effected arrests or not because investigations are ongoing.”
He warned that police will not allow lawlessness over matters that can easily be resolved.
According to Mr Mutondo, the riot started after management refused to endorse demands for salary arrears following the revised minimum wage but he could not really say the difference between miners and ordinary villagers.
Mr Mutondo said according to management, they agreed to pay the workers the revised minimum wage without errors.
He said this annoyed the miners who connived with villagers and rioted.
Mr Mutondo said they stoned the Chinese workers at the mine, who ran for cover.
He said the deceased mine boss met his death in one of the shafts by a metal trolley, which was pushed at him by the angry rioters.
“This man was already injured when he ran into one of the shafts but the miners followed him and pushed one of the metal trolleys at him and he [Chinese national] could not avoid the trolley because he was injured,” Mr Mutondo said.
In the past, Chinese ambassador to Zambia Zhou Yuxiao has beseeched the Zambian media to desist from ‘generalising’ wrongs committed by his country’s nationals, saying each individual and company had the responsibility of operating within the confines of Zambian laws.
Last month, Mr Shamenda announced the revised minimum wages for domestic workers from K250,000 to K522,400 per month.
The minimum wage for shop and general workers was also raised by 100 percent, from K419,000 to K1,132,400, and the changes were effective July 4 this year.
The Zambia Federation of Employers has, however, rejected the new wages claiming that it was not consulted by government prior to the increment.
China, which is presently the largest consumer of copper, has been expanding in Africa and tapping the continent’s resources while at the same time investing more than US$30 billion in the mineral resource sector as it continues to expand its economy.
In Zambia, Chinese mining companies have pumped about US$1billion and employed thousands of Zambians but worker-employer relations remain a source of discussion
Posted by Editor
on August 6, 2012. Filed under HEADLINES, LATEST NEWS.
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MA
August 6, 2012 at 1:07 pm
what about this picture, is this dead person or the injured one, ba tumfweko muleumfwa whats your problem? to the govt be careful how u handle this bacause you started this fight next it will be a minister who will die.
john banda
August 6, 2012 at 1:20 pm
what happened was un zambian lets arrest everyone involved and inform HH to be advising properly.shame…..
KAJINTA
August 6, 2012 at 1:23 pm
it is criminal and unacceptable can the law take its course….
zuze
August 6, 2012 at 1:30 pm
this is what happens when you do not take time to educate stake holders and blubber your funny policies to the nation…dear leaders think through matters before you alert the general public!
now lets wait and see how you retract on your minimum wage position.
Mtola Nkhani
August 6, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Ba Tumfweko it is grossly unethical to publish gruesome pictures moreso when they have nothing to do with the story. You must keep in mind you have under fives reading your stories. Think about your readers!
alexis
August 6, 2012 at 1:44 pm
i agree with mtola….daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!!!
Bric Brac
August 6, 2012 at 1:50 pm
This is a cancer that’s creeping into the Zambian society, very primitive, soon there will be anarchy because of irresponsible policies, and pronouncement by so called leaders. Shamende you’ve this man’s blood on your hands.
Union Banda
August 6, 2012 at 1:55 pm
MY GOD: That is very bad news I did not expect see that. These are results of the REVISED MINIMUM WAGES and leaving the shooting incidence unsolved. You are suppose to study the behave of tribes country –wide. For Africans you do NOT leave the problem involving death unsolved then pretend politically or legally are okay. You are lying to yourself. My advice PF government is to withdraw the REVISED MINIMUM WAGE back to the drawing board with immediate effect.
MY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE AS HE WAS NATIONAL DUTIES.
DNICE
August 6, 2012 at 2:09 pm
No one deserves to have their life taken away regardless. People must follow the law of the land. This was ****** and criminal
PLEASE REMOVE THIS PICTURE
August 6, 2012 at 2:26 pm
PLEASE PLEASE Please remove this gruesome picture from here.
oxmos
August 6, 2012 at 2:33 pm
it was bad,but why should we kill mwebanthu? but remember those other chinese people were not arrested after a shooting incident at the same mine
mwinsho wesu
August 6, 2012 at 2:46 pm
ONLY GOD KNOWS WHAT IS GOING ON IN ZAMBIA. LACK OF KNOWLEDGE WILL CAUSE MORE DEATH IT IS UPON GOVERNMENT TO EDUCATE THE NATION THROUGH ORGANIZATIONS NOT ONLY TV OTHERS HAVE NO ACCESS.
pambashe
August 6, 2012 at 2:48 pm
He could be the same one who opened fire or a resemblance MHSRIP,
Lundazi Dweller
August 6, 2012 at 2:48 pm
Why put up a file picture unrelated to what happened and moreso one that might just insight violence.
voltron
August 6, 2012 at 2:56 pm
balichitafye bwino.uyuwine umo twaipaya tumfwe nobulanda.our zambians are killed somewhere also.batwipaya ati christian nation, tupaye fimofine. u think money wil just come without action? efyamba ukulunda impiya kuma workers coz their collegues wil not argue any how.viva sinazongwe, viva miners.
Concerned citizen
August 6, 2012 at 3:12 pm
God has not allowed anyone to shed man’s blood. My fellow Zambians, my fellow citizens,no matter how oppressive your employer may have been,avoid blood shed at all costs.Murder is the most devastating sin under the sun. Killing is not the best solution to your problem, your action will double your trouble, and no serious and normal human being will support your brutal action. Your peace will only be fully restored to you upon genuine confession of your error to God Almighty.
Imbwili kulupako
August 6, 2012 at 3:26 pm
Balikachitafye bwino kachikala. Infact ngamwaipeyefye utuli 20. Shamenda kwata amano y apologise
NIKITA
August 6, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Mwe bantu, this is a babaric act,surely unzambian like.Where is our peaceful nation goin to!! First it was the murder of two innocent girls.No one deserves to die in this manner.May the culprits be brought to book.And as they sleep at nite let them be haunted by the people whose lives have been shortly taken.
kakolwe
August 6, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Chinaman dead. Sorry. Could this be from the area where they beat up mourners a few weeks back? Am thinking ‘mentality.’
Zambiano
August 6, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Zambia cannot be peaceful when there is no peace in a Zambian’s stomach… God bless our nations.
Fredm
August 6, 2012 at 4:18 pm
People!!! its not the minmum wage but how we pronouce things,Education lavels and quality of our leaders.
If these things can be looked at we can not have these problems…..who go on the streets………???? .I would not waste that time but do something constructive.
Mwaume
August 6, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Sata must address a press conference on why his government cannot communicate with Zambians on issues of interest such as Minimum Pay and why he increased his salary while the majority are in poverty. Why did he not see the new French President reduce his and the cabinet’s salaries?
VMM
August 6, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Whichever way you look at this. The action was barbaric and the people involved should face law of the land.People should not be allowed to take the law into their own hands.
Even the devil can not do this evil action.
Please your excellence Mr Sata can you direct the police to investigate this case and arrest the culprits. This is not the zambia I have known and cherished.
Critical Situational Analyst
August 6, 2012 at 5:48 pm
Hear my plea tumfweko and other print Medias or ZNBC TV please remove the gruesome picture of the victim although it’s too late; to avoid International media from sensational broadcasting to those who want to invest in our Zambia. They will think this Gaza strip, Baghdad, Damascus or Bogotá [during Pablo Escobar]
Imbwili kulupako
August 6, 2012 at 5:53 pm
Rape chinese
Kwathu
August 6, 2012 at 7:31 pm
This is a sad story for sure. But for me I will still put the blame on Micheal Chilufya Sata and the PF of their careless politicking.
Workers have rioting because of the PF promises, deliberately promising things the new very well they could not implement. Politicians should not be this careless playing with people’s emotions. It is this same PF that carelessly promised restoration of barotse agreement in the day light, promised to deal with Chines for better conditions for Zambians, promised Zambians to re-estate the windfall tax etc. MCS is very careless politician and we are yet to see the results.
munyele
August 6, 2012 at 9:37 pm
When the chinese shoot at us no one condemns but now that it is a zambian who has acted it becomes an issue.
Chinese defiled our young girls in luanshya and were acquitted.
A zambian was burnt to death by the congolese and we just sit and wait for another foreigner to come and take over zambia.
To me what happened to the chinese at the mine should be taken as an eye opener to those who try to take zambians for granted.
a zambian is known to be a peaceful and law abiding human being but he is slowly learning these evil things from people like the chinese and congolese to mention a few. watch out for what is coming next.
Mr Negativity
August 6, 2012 at 11:29 pm
Hiiiya mr chnse wre’s yo kung fu nw?
okden
August 7, 2012 at 6:49 am
Ba Mtola Nkhani Ba alexis, nomatter what you say, unless you say that, that picture is not the reality of what happened. But if it is let be as it is. Coz if run away from the reality, then you will begin to say Ba Tumfweko are showing us wrong pictures.
HATER
August 7, 2012 at 4:57 pm
and this is a fake picture..which hospital in zambia Dresses patients in Blue?