According to the company’s Managing Director Lewis Pinto, viability problems were worsened by the introduction of the controversial indigenisation programme, which has scared away investment funds for capital injection.
Though the workers have been receiving their salaries irregularly, they have managed to pay for the land in instalments since 2010. The housing situation in the city is bad. In suburbs like Senga, averages of three families share a single house.
Isaac Wandira, the Zimbabwe Shoe and Leather Workers Union local chairperson, said it was the Bata general employees who mooted the idea of jointly purchasing a farm in the city’s high density suburb of Mkoba for the project. More than 1,000 workers are set to benefit. Wandira said the project, which will be supported by the local authority on providing key services, should act as an eye-opener for employees from other struggling firms.
Post published in: News