{"id":17609,"date":"2022-07-18T07:21:25","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T07:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/minopex-labour-practice-irks-authorities"},"modified":"2022-07-18T08:02:13","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T08:02:13","slug":"minopex-labour-practice-irks-authorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/minopex-labour-practice-irks-authorities","title":{"rendered":"Minopex labour practice irks authorities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Diamond mining company Minopex has continued hiring locals as casual workers at its Let\u0161eng mine, some for over a decade, provoking the ire of labour ministry officials.
\nThe disgruntled labourers brought their plight to light this week telling Public Eye the mining giant had rehired them as independent contractors, again in clear violation of labour regulations. The workers have been demanding permanent jobs, arguing the law states they should be hired full-time after working as casuals for a while.<\/p>\n

Public Eye<\/b>
\nin November last year revealed some miners were employed on short-term contracts for prolonged periods. The body of evidence gathered by this paper then indicated the workers earned as little as M1 500 per month, a far cry from what factory workers earn.<\/p>\n

Factory workers\u2019 minimum wage was increased last year to M1,696 monthly, up from M1,238. One miner, who was first employed at the mine more than five years ago, albeit temporarily, anonymously told Public Eye this week: \u201cOur situation has not changed a bit since you last spoke to us last year.<\/p>\n

Now we are in a six-month contract which expires in about two months. We get paid a measly M12,13 per hour. \u201d The mineworker indicated this kind of employment has no security, no pension and leaves them living from hand-to-mouth from one contract assignment to the next.<\/p>\n

He said securing permanent status would change his life drastically. \u201cI will be able to build a house, buy a car, take my children to a better school and take my family to a private doctor when they are sick because I would have medical aid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It is unclear what promises Minopex made when it first engaged the workers in 2011. The company did not respond to emailed questions. When contacted yesterday, the Ministry of Labour and Employment\u2019s Principal Secretary (PS) Lerotholi Pheko said: \u201cThe workers should write me a letter presenting their concerns as soon as next week.<\/p>\n

They should submit their letter straight to my office. \u201d However, some employees were afraid to write to the PS saying this move would force them to reveal their identities which could lead to their persecution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will not be victimised by anyone. That is why I am saying their letter must come straight to my office so that it can be received my me,\u201d Pheko said.
\nThe casual labourers live in a deplorable informal settlement a few metres outside the Let\u0161eng mine compound. The hideous informal settlement, known as ka Mokhukhung or ka Motseng, began as a squatter camp for jobseekers.
\nFor interim employment, the job-seekers have turned to the informal economy, opening spaza shops and shebeens \u2013 unregulated drinking places. Owned by the London-listed Gem Diamonds and the Lesotho government, Let\u0161eng mine is the highest dollar per carat Kimberlite diamond mine in the world.
\nIt is Lesotho\u2019s most successful diamond mine. When Public Eye broke the story last November, Let\u0161eng Diamond Mine\u2019s Communications & Community Relations Officer Lebohang Chefa asked this paper to direct its inquiries to Minopex.<\/p>\n

Chefa said Minopex was best placed to address the inquires. According to a Mining News article published on June 3, 2013, Minopex has \u201csuccessfully operated Gem Diamonds\u2019 Let\u0161eng plant in Lesotho for 10 years, while also expanding into Botswana\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the article titled: Diamond Process Professionals, Minopex business development director Rafael Abela was quoted saying: \u201cMinopex has been involved operationally in every diamond plant in the diamond-rich Lesotho.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much so that companies Minopex Lesotho and Minopex Botswana were established to best support all activities to the diamond plants we work on in these two countries.
\nAbela was also quoted saying: \u201cThe result of our drive to deliver and the commitment from our operational staff has seen our diamond operations staff headcount grow significantly over the years. We currently employ over 300 people for our diamond operations alone. \u201d
\nThe Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last month tabled a report stating that it discovered that the Lesotho Labour Code of 1992 \u201cis being contravened when expatriates without rare skills are employed within the mining industry.
\n\u201cThis is because only expatriates with rare skills are eligible for work permits,\u201d the committee said.
\nIt said it learned about fraudulent practices whereby non-deserving persons were given works permits and officers in the Ministry of Labour and Employment had solicited bribes from both foreigners and locals to issue work permits.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Diamond mining company Minopex has continued hiring locals as casual workers at its Let\u0161eng mine, some for over a decade, provoking the ire of labour ministry officials. The disgruntled labourers brought their plight to light this week telling Public Eye the mining giant had rehired them as independent contractors, again in clear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":17608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8,16],"tags":[233,246,245],"class_list":["post-17609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nMinopex labour practice irks authorities - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Diamond mining company Minopex has continued hiring locals as casual workers at its Let\u0161eng mine, some for over a decade ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/minopex-labour-practice-irks-authorities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minopex labour practice irks authorities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Diamond mining company Minopex has continued hiring locals as casual workers at its Let\u0161eng mine, some for over a decade ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/minopex-labour-practice-irks-authorities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-18T07:21:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-18T08:02:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_19-62d513649ad70.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"457\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/minopex-labour-practice-irks-authorities#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/minopex-labour-practice-irks-authorities\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Minopex labour practice irks authorities\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-18T07:21:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-18T08:02:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/minopex-labour-practice-irks-authorities\"},\"wordCount\":742,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/minopex-labour-practice-irks-authorities#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_19-62d513649ad70.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/minopex-labour-practice-irks-authorities#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/minopex-labour-practice-irks-authorities\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/minopex-labour-practice-irks-authorities\",\"name\":\"Minopex labour practice irks authorities - 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