Africa-Press – Lesotho. Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) is “troubled” by the layoffs in the manufacturing and apparel industries. This is per the statement released by the corporation on Thursday last week.
“The textile and apparel manufacturing industry remains Lesotho’s largest formal private sector
employer in the country. Wages earned by workers in this industry are pertinent to raising the number of income earners in Lesotho. The Corporation is
therefore troubled by the downscaling of operations by key players which has resulted in considerable job losses. “In an endeavour to save these jobs, the Corporation has engaged the companies that have downsized
their operations through sizable layoffs. These companies have cited disruptions in the supply chain due to Covid-19 as the main driver behind downsizing.
A progressively deteriorating investment climate has also been named as a factor which affects business negatively,” reads LNDC statement. It further says that
LNDC is seized with the talks with diverse stakeholders to address the challenges impinging on the climate change. LNDC has further stated that it has revived the Inter-Ministerial Task Team (IMTT), a “high-level
problem solving” forum led by the Minister of Trade and Industry to address the investors’ complaints. “The corporation therefore wishes to assure workers and the public that it is exploring all
avenues to preserve and create new jobs for those who have been retrenched, through operationalizing expansion projects in its pipeline. Saving existing
jobs is as equally important, if not more important to LNDC than creating new ones, particularly under these strained economic conditions. “Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) in Lesotho has made a significant contribution to job creation in the country, however, looking after the welfare of existing investors to
ensure that they thrive and create additional jobs for Basotho as reflected in the Corporations mandate remains a key priority for LNDC,” the statement
further says. Meanwhile, Nien Hsing International Lesotho (Pty) Ltd has begun laying off its staff owing to “Covid-19 pandemic causing an unstable and decreasing market demands”.
The factory’s Manager Ricky Chang told Informative Newspaper that they are closing shop by September. Chang said they have retrenched the workers in batches and the last group will be without work by
the end of September. This job cuts will see about 2 500 workers outside of work. One of the workers, Thabiso Lebitso – who has received the retrenchment letter, told this
publication that these developments have not gone down well with him. As a breadwinner, Lebitso said he is faced with the challenge of providing for his family.
He also downplayed the terminal benefits which they will be receiving, saying they are not “enough”. The factory industry is one of biggest formal employer in Lesotho.
