MPs investigate ‘backbreaking work’ at mine

Senators from the Parliamentary Thematic Committee on Indigenisation and Empowerment on Thursday quizzed one of the companies mining granite in Mutoko over reports of the death of 66 workers.

Managing director of Natural Stone Export Company David Van Breda was asked to explain the working conditions and how the company ploughed back into the community in which it extracted granite.

The committee, chaired by Chimanimani Senator Monica Mutsvangwa, was told among a litany of other accusations that during a visit to Mutoko by the committee, the community had disclosed that they were underpaid and made to use heavy machinery, which resulted in some of the workers breaking their backs.

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