InfocusNews 04 - 08 Oct 2021
py to know that no one will fear giving birth whenever they plan to knowing that the law is now on our side,” she said. For her, business interests had an impact on the mental state of women and newborn babies who need extra care.
Women applaud new amendments on maternity leave
W
omen have applauded the Government for approving the Labour Amendment Bill which will ensure that female employees have the right to fully paid maternity leave for a period of three months without qualifying periods and prescribed intervals. Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the Cabinet considered and approved the Labour Amendment Bill to ensure that female employees have the right to fully paid maternity leave for a period of three months by removing qualifying periods, prescribed intervals for maternity and a number of times for enjoying the right to maternity leave under one employer. “The Bill aligns the Labour facebook.com/wildtrustzim |
Amendment Act to Section 65 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe on labour rights and to the ratified International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions. The Bill, also provides for the rights to fair and safe labour practices and standards.,” she said. Jacqeline Nkomo from Gwabalanda said the scrapping of the eligibility clause will help women cope with mental challenges they face whenever they fall pregnant which were worsened by unfair labour laws. “We are happy that the Government has fully considered our plight as women because giving birth is a right but for a while it seemed that we were punished for exercising that right. I am hap-
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“I was once denied paid leave as I fell pregnant before I worked for 12 months and my employer said I could only take one month away from the office as they could replace me if i took more than 30 days. Now that the Government has considered amending that, we are happy and know that women will benefit,” said Snini Mpofu from Magwegwe. She added that employers used to abuse the amended clause to deny women paid maternity leave when they fell pregnant before stipulated time. In terms of the Labour Amendment Act Number 17 of 2002, Section 18 (1), “unless more favourable conditions have otherwise been provided for in any employment contract or in any enactment, maternity leave shall be granted in terms of this section for a period of 90 days on full pay to a female employee who has served for at least one year”. Section 18 (3) stated that a female employee shall be entitled to be
InfocusNews granted a maximum of three periods of maternity leave with respect to her total service to any one employer during which she shall be paid her full salary, provided that paid maternity leave shall be granted only once during any period of 24 months calculated from the day any previous maternity leave was granted.
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Memory Kubengwana from Plumtree said she was grateful that the Government had considered the rights of women to fair and safe labour practises and standards which had been tempered with as far as maternity leave was concerned. “We are grateful to the Govern-
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ment because now we will be able to plan our families in peace knowing that falling pregnant will not spoil our chances of employment or affect our income. This amendment is indeed a good initiative and will ensure that we enjoy our basic rights as women,” said Kubengwana
InfocusNews ZINWA spokesperson Marjorie Munyonga said the water regulatory body was aware of the concerns that residents have. “We are working to ensure that we address the challenges in Habane and our team is on the ground as we speak. This water meter concept that we hope to introduce after addressing their water challenges will bring with it, a great convenience to clients who will have control over their water consumption patterns,” she said.
Habane residents call for ZINWA to address water supply before installing prepaid water meters
H
abane residents in Umzingwane Rural District Council (URDC) have called on the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) to first address erratic water supplies before installing water meters in the residential area. One of the residents, Margaret Moyo said water meters should be introduced once ZINWA improves water supply. “ZINWA is still adamant about the water meters despite our plea that they first ensure supply. We sometimes go for weeks without water with ZINWA not communicating on the way forward. I think it’s not fair for them to prioritise making money when there is no guarantee that we will have the water,” said Moyo.
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“So far they have not installed the metres as they had said the project would begin in October. Since the start of this week, their workers have been working on installing a tank and we hope it will be our reservoir so that we do not have erratic water supplies in our homes.” Another resident Tariro Chimuka reiterated that residents are still rejecting ZINWA’s plan to install prepaid water meters. “All we need is uninterrupted supply of water to boost our confidence in ZINWA before we allow them to install prepaid meters. We are not refusing to pay for water but all we need is assurance that we will have the water which will indeed justify our payments,” said Chimuka.
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Umzingwane District Council Chief Executive Officer Ndumiso Maphosa said no meters had been installed yet but his office is looking forward to a time when residents will have access to water without any disruptions. “I am yet to get an update on what ZINWA finally resolved about Habane residents do have concerns that need to be addressed before we discuss water meters. I am hoping for an update by next week because as of now we have not heard anything from ZINWA,” he said.
“We are working to ensure that we address the challenges in Habane and our team is on the ground as we speak...”
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Community Voices
Perspectives on the recently introduced Continuous Assessment Learning Activity projects (CALA) I am an upper six student at Sobukazi High School. Our school has introduced the Continuous Assessment Learning Activity projects (CALA), CALA refers to various learning activities or assessments that require students to conduct detailed research-based activities in specific subjects where they incorporate practical activities such as data collection through interviews, questionnaires, checklists and experiments. The education curriculum requires us to carryout three CALA components per learning area, which will constitute 30% of our final exam mark. For example, learners are expected to do demonstrations in subjects like Physical Education, construct and design structures and models in technical subfacebook.com/wildtrustzim |
jects or do dramatisation for those doing Languages and Literature.
By Ntokozo Nkala Personally I believe that the concept behind this initiative is good considering the fact that this initiative intends to develop the skills of every learner, for example every learner can write a composition and answer comprehension questions in one and half hours but how many people actually write a language as much as they speak, so I believe this initiative will be adding the speech component so that learners get an opportunity to make presentations before their peers, share a poem or song. However, my worry is on the timing of implement-
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ing the CALAs. Given that the education system has been heavily affected by COVID19 and national lockdowns, a lot of catching up is required so I feel like the introduction of CALAs puts too much pressure on both the students and teachers because a number of projects per learner is alarming, if a student is doing 8 subjects for example it means with the remaining period of the year before exams the candidate must cover 24 projects and the teacher should mark all these projects for each candidate. The teacher will obviously be overwhelmed and it will compromise the whole process. Therefore, I think it would have been better if they had delayed the implementation of CALAs to next year, that way the students will have enough time to do the projects.
As an upper six student at Mzilikazi High, initially I viewed the Continuous Assessment Learning Activities (CALA), with a negative eye because I did not understand why we were supposed to do them. I viewed them as an unnecessary addition to an already stressful curriculum because as candidates we have a lot of catching up to do as we are behind with
Community Voices the syllabus and adding the CALAs puts more pressure on us.
one we have to create the plot and also research on GBV. I like this because it
By Shammah Lunga On top of that, during the process we also encounter several challenges, especially financial challenges for example we need files for filing our work and we have to submit printed copies of our work, so if there are 3 CALA components for each subject which means since I am doing 3 subjects in A Level, I have to have 9 files and that becomes too expensive for us as most of us cannot afford to be pumping out so much money. However, despite all these challenges I have grown to like the CALAs because they provide us with different skills that will greatly impact us in future, in my case during isiNdebele we made our own peanut butter from scratch and after that we cooked traditional food and added the peanut butter, so this was a great experience for me as this activity provided me with a skill that can help me in future because now, I can even make my peanut butter at home. We are also supposed to act out a drama during the Literature subject based on Gender Based Violence and on this facebook.com/wildtrustzim |
Women call for improved policies in farm and mine claim allocation Women in Bubi have called on policy makers to craft clear policies on farm and mine claim allocations, amid concerns that double allocation is creating a rift between mine claims owers and communal farmers.
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equips us with research skills and creativity.
Community Voices This emerged during the 10th Edition of the Zimbabwe Mining Indaba, which kicked off in Bulawayo on Monday. The meeting was organised by the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) in partnership with the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) A miner from Bubi District who identified herself as Mrs Ndlovu said most of their land claims had been turned into farms, with some already have built house on them saying that they have not received much help with regards to getting their land back.
By Minenhle Moyo She added that women’s lives were at risk as the Machete gangs targeted women due to their feminine nature. She said this was due to gross incompetence displayed by law enforcers who are working along with these gang members. “The problem that we have in Bubi is that there have been community members who have been given our land to settle. This has left us unable to operate because we cannot even chase these people away. “Women’s lives are also at risk due to these Machete facebook.com/wildtrustzim |
gangs. We are however, helpless because the police work with men, if we report them, the policeman goes off to tell on us and nothing is done at the end of the day”, she said. A farmer who identified himself as Costor Moyo said the unending conflicts between farmers and miners needed immediate resolution and called on policy makers to craft laws that will ensure that both industries work well without one working at the expense of the other. “You will realise that the job of a miner entails that a lot of soil is dug from the ground and left like that. This then means that the farmer is no longer able to do their job because the soil will no longer be fit for farming. I therefore, call on policy makers to look at this issue as soon as possible so that we can both operate to our full capacity”, said Moyo. The mining and the farming sectors are both regarded as productive and one of the main injectors of revenue in the country’s economy, however if not resolved these conflicts could cause a decline in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). A young miner from Gwan-
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da, Thubelihle Sibanda highlighted lack of appropriate machinery and technology as another problem that women and youths face in their line of trade. She urged the government to prioritise subsidising mining machinery in order to assist small scale miners in realising improved returns. “Lack of machinery and technology has been a constraint for us in this trade. I call upon the government to acquire and subside machinery at affordable prices so that we can also improve our trade”, she said. Although many women miners present at the meeting were in consensus that their representation in parliament did not push for the protection of women in the mining industry, a Member of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development Jasmine Toffa encouraged women to bring their issues to the parliament in order for them to be resolved amicably.
“Lack of machinery and technology has been a constraint for us...”
As you touch and feel Self-examination is the best Like baby steps, it is key to take Regular check-ups once a month or twice Cancer may take away our flesh
Like Firefighters
Everytime before you take a bath Be sure to check your breasts To ensure no unwanted
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But it can never win our hearts and souls
guests Are taking in as hosts The unusual lumps or bumps Often rough or tough
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Because like fire fighters We’ll always defend.
A poem by The Orator ( Romana Natalie Majangove)
Electoral Information Blitz reforms as by-elections without reforms pose a threat to the credibility and acceptability of electoral outcomes.”
More than 20 national assembly seats and more than 90 council seats are still vacant and have been running without substantive councillors. In March this year, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) extended the suspension of by-elections citing “the danger still posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to uphold some health provisions of Statutory Instrument 10 of 2021.”
Analysts call for proclamation of by-elections
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nalysts in Zimbabwe say the country is now in a position to hold its legislative and council by-elections and have called on the President to proclaim both national assembly and local government by-elections, following the recent decrease in new COVID-19 cases and deaths amidst the easing of restrictions. By-elections were first suspended in November 2020 as a response to the rising COVID-19 cases. In a statement, the Elections Resource Centre (ERC) said despite facebook.com/wildtrustzim |
the ZEC having developed the COVID-19 Policy on Electoral Activities with clear guidelines on how by-elections and other electoral activities would be conducted under COVID19, by-elections have remained illegally suspended. “The ERC, therefore, calls for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to undertake his mandate of proclaiming by-elections since there is no court order setting aside the elections. Conclusively, the resumption of by-elections must be preceded by the implementation of electoral
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Although the suspension was in line with COVID-19 mitigation, other countries with higher cases and deaths have managed to conduct general elections without jeopardising the health of members of the public. “It has been 11 months since by-elections were suspended under Statutory Instrument 225a of 2020. The Executive suspended the elections taking away the independence of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). By-elections are a litmus test to ZEC’s preparedness for the 2023 Harmonised elections. Responsible authorities must ensure that when by-elections are conducted, they are conducted
in a transparent, accountable and credible manner that boosts the confidence of electoral stakeholders,” said ERC programs officer Rudo Motsi.
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“Currently, COVID-19 is not the only pandemic affecting the delivery of credible elections. “The failure to adhere to constitutional principles that are foundational to credible elections is another pandemic that is threatening democratic principles.” Motsi said ERC is worried that citizens are currently unrepresented in Parliament and Local Authorities which may affect developmental projects.
Listen to Sarah Yvette Bonne as she sings a melody that encourages young women to register to vote. Join her, sing along and share with friends #hervotespeaks
A concerned resident from Nkulumane, one of the affected constituencies, Thaboluhle Siziba said her area was not up to date with devolution funds as they have no legislator.
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“We know that other constituencies are currently reviewing their allocation and furthering development projects but we do not have that privilege as we have no MP. We are not even sure if we will have by-elections this year because it’s almost year end without any report from ZEC although we know that other activities are on since our cases have been going down for the past three months in a row,” she said.
This is Cwebile Sibanda a poet from the City of Kings. She brings a strong message for you on voter registration which she delivers passionately.
Siziba said her community has issues that need the attention of a national assembly representative but without an MP, they are stuck and remain hopeless.
She says you have the power to exercise your voting rights. In her poem she emphasizes that voting is a constitutional right and it is your chance to demonstrate your power.
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Click on the image to watch Meet Patience Zhou a young woman from Bulawayo who is sharing information on why citizens need to register to vote. Voting is your right, go and register to vote and make sure you have all the required documents #hervotespeaks #myvotespeaks #registertovote
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Electoral Information Blitz
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Electoral Information Blitz
VOTERS’ ROLL LINK facebook.com/wildtrustzim |
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