Scores of women married to employees of Duration Gold’s Vumbachikwe Mine in Gwanda on Saturday stripped naked demonstrating against the new management imposed by the new owners.
The angry and uncontrollable women complained that their husbands have not been paid their salaries for a whole year to date – since January 2015 and the working conditions at the mine have deteriorated since the venture was taken over by Duration Gold, a foreign owned mining conglomerate.
The women cited that their main cause to demonstrate against the company was that their husbands always come home stressed and fail to fulfil their conjugal duties due to the difficult working conditions at the mine.
One woman who only identified herself as MaPhiri told ZimEye.com that her husband has not been able to do his bedroom duties for the last six months because he is always stressed and hungry as the little salary advances the company gives to the workers is not enough to cover their domestic needs. “How would I honestly expect a hungry, stressed and tired man to do anything in the bedroom?” she fumed.
“The bosses come here driving in big vehicles with big tummies and take all the money from the company and go and eat and enjoy with their wives while we remain starved here,” she added.
The women who staged their act at the main entrance to the company’s administration offices, raised their dresses exposing torn underwear claiming that their husband could not even afford to buy them the underwear because of non payment. They sang very derogative songs inviting mine managers to come and quench their sexual desires as their husbands are failing due to stress.
ZimEye.com last week exclusively reported that the workers at the mine were not happy with Duration Gold who they accused of racism and gross and unfair labour practices. The workers claimed that since the company took over the mine from previous owners Forbes and Thompson the new owners had changed the entire mine management and employed new staff which was failing to run the venture.
The workers further claimed that every time they raised complaints against the company, the owners openly told them that nothing will ever be done to them as they are “very big friends” with Kasukuwere from his days as Indigenisation Minister and so are “protected”. The company’s indigenisation status has remained unclear for a long time.
Senior staff at the mine refused to talk to the media or attend to the demonstrating women who had to be dispersed by heavily armed anti riot police from the support unit in Bulawayo five hours into the demonstration.
The women went back to their homes threatening that they will lock their husbands in doors and make sure they don’t terrier for duty until they have been paid their outstanding salaries.
Vumbachikwe mine is one of the biggest gold producing mines in the country and has been posting good profits over the years.