MP Daniel Molokele speaks out against Chinese companies ‘arrogance and disregard for the law’ in Hwange

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

The activities of Chinese companies in Hwange have raised concerns among local residents and leaders about environmental and social impact.

Councillor Bryn Chikumbo has sounded the alarm on the dire health risks faced by residents of Ingagula due to excessive dust pollution from haulage trucks and coal mining activities.

Despite numerous petitions and engagements with authorities, the community remains vulnerable to the health risks.

We spoke to Hwange Central Member of Parliament Daniel Molokele to understand the steps being taken to hold Chinese companies accountable for their actions.

Question: What steps are being taken to hold Chinese companies accountable for their environmental and social impact in Hwange, and to ensure that they prioritize the safety and well-being of the local community?

Response:

“We have also made efforts to reach out to the Chinese companies, most community local members are complaining that it’s the Chinese companies that are leading in terms of violations of environmental laws and making sure that there’s too much pollution, not just of the air but of the land and the rivers… but what we have learnt is that Chinese companies are very arrogant and they never respect any type of law including labour relations act.

When you look at the terms and conditions of their employees, it’s clear that they are deliberately and arrogantly violating the laws in terms of working hours, in terms of compassionate leave, study leave, medical aid, pension aid and permanent employment and so on… In terms of health and occupational hazards, awareness and protection, so there’s a lot of violations happening… but it’s the manner in which Chinese investors start investments here in Zimbabwe because they come through high-level politics and they have got connections in Harare and some of the companies that China had set up here in Hwange, they major shareholding include the political elite and that’s where the source of arrogance is coming from… I have been working with other parliamentarians to set up a national chapter for the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.

We have an organization that works in over 50 countries that has been set up called IPAC headquartered in London that seeks to ensure that Chinese companies wherever they are investing, they have a sustainable development model and they respect local communities.

So we are in the process of setting the national chapter in Zimbabwe, hopefully, it’ll help to increase our capacity to force the Chinese companies to be more accountable.”

Molokele says in the next parliamentary sitting, he is also going to bring the matter to the house.

Meanwhile, efforts are also underway to get a response from the Chinese representatives in the country over the Hwange case.