Labour Commissioner has announced that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security will recommend the revocation of work permits for Chinese supervisors who manhandled and allegedly assaulted a female employee at Zamfresh on allegations of theft.
Givens Muntengwa, who visited the company today, explained that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security had reviewed CCTV footage of the incident.
Mr. Muntengwa stressed that the conduct of the supervisors was unacceptable and contravened Zambia’s labour laws.
“Their permits should be revoked because we do not want you to create a narrative in the labour sector that what happened can be done to any employee,” Mr. Muntengwa stated.
“We are saying no, and we must send a strong signal and the strong signal is whoever does that, must be kicked out of the country.”
He emphasized that the government would not tolerate mistreatment of workers by foreign nationals.
“We must get rid of bad elements in the labour sector. This sector is not for fights, labour sector is for social dialogue. We are recommending that they will have to go back and their work permits should be revoked,” he recommended.
“We are sending a strong signal to everyone out there that if such happens and you are a foreigner, you must go back to your country because we are not going to condone that, its not something that can be tolerated.”
On Sunday, Zambia Police Deputy Public Relations Officer, Chipo Kaitisha said the cashier was restrained after allegedly attempting to flee with company funds.
Ms. Kaitisha noted that investigators recovered K7,500 suspected to have been stolen during the commotion.
She added that another suspect, believed to have acted with the cashier, escaped and remains on the run as police continue their investigations.
