BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Minister of Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi has told Mpakeni Dam contractors to respect labour laws of the country.
According to information sourced from Eswatini Government’s Facebook page, the Minister further advised the workers at the project and all those involved in the project to do the same. Buthelezi said this yesterday when he visited the site where the dam is constructed, in Mpakeni, Sihlutse, under Sigwe Constituency in the Shiselweni Region. This follows recent media reports about serious labour related issues engulfing the project.
The Minister was accompanied by a high level delegation from the various departments within the Ministry, including the Department of Labour, The Localisation Unit, the Occupational Safety and Health Section (OSH).
During the visit, Minister Buthelezi had an opportunity to meet with management of Sakhalive Joint Venture, which is the company that was awarded the tender to construct the Mpakeni Dam, Project Manager, who was identified as Mr Vilane, Ministry of Agriculture officials, Senior Officials from Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (EWADE) and Members of the Works Councils (Representing the workers), as well as the Management of Sakhalive Joint Venture represented by Mr Chen and Mr Fang.
The Minister, in his remarks, advised both parties to respect the labour laws of the country and to engage on the issues in order to find lasting solutions to the problems affecting them. He emphasised that for the successful completion of the project, both the employer and the workers need to cooperate and work together.
The Minister then urged the employer to urgently address the issue of the transport provision. He reminded the employer that they cannot arbitrarily variate terms and conditions to be less favourable. The minister alluded to the fact that once the employer provides terms and conditions, he cannot take such terms and conditions without proper consultations. On the issue of the employment contract, he urged the company to seek assistance from the office of the Commissioner of Labour, particularly because some clauses of the fixed term contract were inconsistence with the Labour laws of Eswatini.
On the workers, he urged them to put work first and avoid engaging in work stoppages as this affects the project which the Government wants to see it to its fruition. On his departing note, he urged the Sakhalive Joint Venture to correct all the abnormalities within the next seven (7) days and promised to come back on Wednesday, 28 February 2024 to monitor progress.
Finally, the minister had an opportunity to tour the compound on a fact finding exercise, particularly on the allegations levelled against the management of the company. The project, which is said to be around E3.5 billion, is expected to take 51 months (4 years and three months) to be completed. The project was opened by His Majesty King Mswati III in August last year.
