Zimbabwe News, Vol. 17, No. 1

Zimbabwe News, Vol. 17, No. 1 http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.nuzn198601 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Zimbabwe News, Vol. 17, No. 1 Alternative title Zimbabwe News Author/Creator Zimbabwe African National Union Publisher Zimbabwe African National Union (Harare, Zimbabwe) Date 1986-01-00 Resource type Magazines (Periodicals) Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1986 Source Northwestern University Libraries, L968.91005 Z711 v.14-16 Rights By kind permission of ZANU, the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front. Description Editorial. Mashoko Anobva kuMusangano weZANU (PF). Biography: Comrade Herbert Ushewokunze — Secretary for Commissariate and Culture. Achievements of the ZANU (PF) Government: A Message to Zimbabweans by the Late Cde. R.D. Manyika. The Worker in Zimbabwe By Cde. Frederick Shava - Minister of Labour. The Situation of Agricultural and Plantation Workers in Zimbabwe: Article from GAPWUZ. Workers' Movements Should Popularise New Act. ZCTU Education and Training Department. ZCTU Article to Zimbabwe News. 2nd ZANU (PF) Congress and Freedom for Women By Cde. Eddison Zvobgo- Minister of Justice. Mashonaland East Province Report from Publicity Department. Mozambique-US Relations By a Special Correspondent. The South African Worker: An explosion under Apartheid. The Social Conflict in South Africa. Format extent 28 page(s) (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.nuzn198601 http://www.aluka.org '1j '1j "a' r'j~ I K4 TI PILL8 F HE NATIN 06- L Contents Biography Comrade Herbert Ushewokunze (See page 4) Achievements of ZANU (PF) The Late Comrade Robson Manyika (See page 4) Jill Editorial Mashoko Anobva kuMusangano weZANU (PF) Biography C S Achievements of the ZANU (PF) A Government b The Worker in Zimbabwe B The Situation of Agricultural and Plantation Workers in Zimbabwe A Workers' Movements Should Popularise New Act ZCTU Education and Training Department ZCTU Article to Zimbabwe News 2nd ZANU (PF) Congress and B Freedom for Women v Mashonaland East Province R Mozambique-US Relations B The South African Worker A The Social Conflict in South Africa ........................................................................... .. .. 1 ............................. ............................ ........................ 3 omrade Herbert Ushewokunze ecretary for Commissariate and Culture.. 4 I Message to Zimbabweans y the Late Cde. R.D. Manyika ................. 4 y Cde. Frederick Shava finister of Labour......................................... 6 .rticle from GAP WUZ .................................... 8 .. .............. ..................................... 8 . ..................................1 ................................. 1 1 ........ .............. ... ............ .................... .......... 1 2 y Cde. Eddison Zvobgo inister of Justice ...................... 14 eport from Publicity Department ............... 17 y a Special Correspondent ............................ 18 n explosion under Apartheid .................. 20 .................................................... ......................... 2 2 Freedom for Women Comrade Eddison Zvobgo (See page 14) Zimbabwe News is the official News Organ of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU/PF) and is produced on the authority of the Central Committee by the Department of Information and Publicity, Jongwe Printing and Publishing Co., No 14 Austin Road, Workington, Harare. World Copyright, Central Committee (ZANU/PF). Pictures by Jongwe Archives, Herald and Ministry of Information Zimbabwe News 1 Editorial LABOUR VERSUS CAPITAL There are potentially 2,3 million workers In Zimbabwe. Of these approximately one million are in regular employment administration, and in the industrial, agricultural, commercial and mining sectors, about 700,000 are self-employed in the communal areas, and the remaining 600,000 are unemployed. In addition, schools every year turn out about 77,000 students at the Form IV level, not to speak of those who leave school at other levels. Of these, the country can presently absorb no more than 45,000 so that every year some 32,000 young men and women join the ranks of the uncmployed. Two significant sets of issues come to the fore. One relates to the conditions of those who are able to work: have these conditions improved since independence? Are our workers getting better wages than bfore? Are they better organised to figot for their rights? Are their rights recognised by law? What deficiencies continue to exist in the legal regime under which the workers work and struggle?- What organisational deficiencies continue to exist within the labour movement itself? Some of these issues are addressed in the articles written by trade unionists in the pages of.this volume. The second set of issues relates to the conditions of the unemployed, and the most important questions here are: what is being done to secure jobs for them? What kinds of opportunities exist for them, or better still, what kinds of opportunities can be created for them? Where do these opportunities exist - in agriculture? in Government? in the private sector? Finally, what are these people doing orable to do to help themselves and their families. And are there any questions related to the living conditions and the social existence of the unemployed: How does this section of our population lie? Who absorbs them? Who caters for them? What kinds of social abuse are they open to? What is being done to protect them from social abuse, or alternatively, what is being done to save them from turning into socially undesirable elements in society? The Development of the Working Class Since Independence We have come a long-way from the old colonial days of Chibaro, or forced labour, administered by the socalled Rhodesia Native Labour Bureau. The article written by the -Minister of Labour, Manpower Planning and Social Welfare, Comrade F.M.M. Shava, exposed fully the evils of the colonial situation; and highlights the major advances made since independence. In the colonial period -the Industrial Conciliation Acts, first enacted in 1934; did not recognise Africans as "employees'. The term was restricted to only white workers, whereas the black workers were covered under the notorious Masters and Servants Act. In other words, what the 1934 Act did was to protect the white workers from competition from black workers. In 1959, however, the Act was amended, and the black workers were for the first time brought under the purview of the Act. We must remember, however, that the black workers' right to be recognised was not given to them out of magnanimity by the colonial government. The workers fought for this right. It took them 25 years of sustained struggle just to get recognised, let alone win other democratic rights open to workers in modern societies. The Railway workers' strike in 1945 and the general strike of 1948 were the culmination of this long struggle, which brought the colonial government finally to their senses. In 1948 the Government was forced to bargain with the workers in the Native Labour Boards. Between 1949 and 1965 the working classes, through their unions and through the political parties, fought not only their economic battles but also brought to the fore the political struggle for democracy. Not surprisingly by the end of this period there were some union leaders who were already being influenced by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) to betray the workers' interests, and the nationalist cause. Between 1965 and 1979, fourteen years, there was brutal repression of the unions and the working class leadership in order to emasculate them and to isolate them from the mainstream political movementsithat were now waging the armed struggle for political independence. The workers and their children joined the ZANLA forces in their thousands, and fought gallantly for national independence. They realised that workers' rights and ,national independence were two sides of the same coin. The attainment of independence in April, 1980 was a major victory for the workers, which made it possible to open a new era for them, and to establish democratic rights and practices. Since Independence the rights and status the of workers hai been enhanced with the enactment of the Labour Relations Act, 1985 and their bargaining position on the factory floor improved dramatically by the Institutionalisation of the Workers' Committee. The powers

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