Furore over recruitment rocks Unki Mine

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Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) owned Unki Mine has breathed life into the town of Shurugwi.

Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) owned Unki Mine has breathed life into the town of Shurugwi amid growing concern from the community that the company is importing labour at the expense of locals.

BY MOSES MUGUGUNYEKI

Community leaders and Unki mine management are at loggerheads over the recruitment of both skilled and unskilled labour at the mine which started platinum production in 2011.

The community is accusing the company of employing a handful of locals while a large chunk of the work force is drawn from outside the district.

Engagement between community and mine management during the past three years has hit a brick wall prompting the community to plan a protest against the company tomorrow.

According to minutes of two meetings between Unki Mine management and the community, copies to which The Standard is in possession of, the mine gave in to the demands of the community with regards to recruitment strategies.

However, some of the demands according to the mine management seem unrealistic, especially that the community wants the company to employ people from Shurugwi only for unskilled labour. According to the minutes of meeting held at Unki mine on August 26 2013, members of the community represented by Bernard Dzoriwa allege, “that Unki was importing general hands, breaching its promise to give preferential treatment recruitment Shurugwians”.

They also said, “that Unki was not considering qualified locals for skilled positions and that information regarding recruitment was not being disseminated to locals”.

However, Unki general manager Walter Nemasasi said: “Unki’s commitment to give preferential treatment to locals is evidenced by the recruitment of trainee operators from local schools in Shurugwi and the establishment of recruiting centres at designated community centres for jobs that do not require expertise”.

The Standard also established that there are a number of recruitment centres around Shurugwi and that locals constitute a large chunk of the company’s labour force. As of August 2013, there were 163 workers from Shurugwi out of the 480 people employed by the company.

The coming in of Unki Mine brought in a huge sigh of relief for the community whose development had been stagnant after the demise of chrome mining company Zimasco.

Amplats has agreed to the indigenisation policy, which gives the local community 10% shareholding in Unki Mine in a deal valued at US$143 million to be funded by future dividends.

Last year, the company bought 1 105 hectares from Shurugwi Town Council to undertake a massive housing project. The company will spend US$80 million on the project which has already kicked off at Impali Source Farm on the outskirts of Shurugwi town.

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