By Staff Reporter
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has called for reforms to Zimbabwe’s mineral sector to ensure the country’s natural wealth benefits ordinary citizens, arguing that mineral-rich communities, workers, pensioners and war veterans continue to face poverty despite the country’s vast mineral resources.
The call comes as Zimbabwe commemorates National Heroes Day and Defence Forces Day, with the labour federation saying the national celebrations should also prompt reflection on whether the gains of independence have translated into improved livelihoods for ordinary citizens.
In a statement, ZCTU Secretary-General Tirivanhu Marimo said Zimbabwe could not continue celebrating its mineral wealth while the majority of its citizens struggled to meet basic needs. He said the government should ensure mineral resources were managed in the public interest and that revenue from extraction has translated into tangible improvements in people’s lives.
“A country cannot legitimately celebrate its mineral wealth while its workers cannot afford basic necessities, pensioners live in deprivation, communities surrounding mineral deposits remain impoverished and public services remain chronically underfunded.
“The issue is therefore not whether Zimbabwe possesses sufficient resources. The fundamental question is who benefits from those resources. ZCTU firmly maintains that Zimbabwe’s natural resources must be managed in the public interest and for the benefit of present and future generations. Mineral wealth must translate into decent jobs, decent wages, universal social protection, quality healthcare, education, housing, infrastructure and sustainable community development. The extraction of minerals cannot become a mechanism for transferring national wealth from the many to the few,” Marimo said.
The ZCTU also called for improved welfare for liberation war veterans and pensioners, saying those who contributed to the country’s liberation should be guaranteed dignified living conditions and have access to adequate social security, healthcare and housing, arguing that their welfare should be treated as a national responsibility rather than a political favour.
He also called for the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association to remain non-partisan, while individual war veterans should be free to support or belong to political parties of their choice.
“We also call for urgent attention to the welfare of liberation war veterans and pensioners. Those who sacrificed their youth, livelihoods, health and, in many cases, their lives for national liberation deserve dignified treatment, including adequate social security, healthcare and housing. A society that celebrates its heroes once a year but allows them to live in poverty for the remaining 364 days has failed to honour their sacrifice in any meaningful sense.
“Veterans fought for Zimbabwe, not for one political party. Individual veterans, like every other citizen, retain the right to associate with and support a political party of their choice, but the institutional identity of the veterans’ movement must remain non-partisan,” he said.
On the Defence Forces, ZCTU called for a professional and politically neutral military that protects the country’s sovereignty and constitutional order rather than the interests of particular office holders or political parties.
Marimo said citizens should not be treated as enemies of the State for exercising constitutionally protected rights such as freedom of expression, assembly and peaceful protest.
“The Defence Forces likewise have a constitutional duty to protect Zimbabwe’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and national interests. They must therefore remain professional, disciplined, constitutional and non-partisan. Citizens exercising constitutionally protected rights, including freedom of expression, assembly and peaceful protest, must never be treated as enemies of the State. The Defence Forces must defend the State and its Constitution, not particular office-holders or political interests. Their loyalty must ultimately be to Zimbabwe and its constitutional order,” he said.
The labour federation also criticised what it described as the selective application of the law and the criminalisation of legitimate trade union activities.
It said workers’ rights to freedom of association, expression, collective bargaining and lawful industrial action should be respected by the State and its security institutions.
“Legitimate trade union activity and lawful industrial action must never be criminalised or treated as acts of treason,” Marimo said.
