‘No child labour on cane plantations’

SUGARCANE farmers in the Lowveld have reaffirmed their commitment against child labour, saying the community could deal with people who tried to use children to work as labourers in cane plantations.

The farmers said they were working closely with Lowveld sugar miller Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe to make sure children were not employed in cane plantations. This follows some unreliable media reports of child labour in some Lowveld cane plantations practicised by new cane farmers.

Indigenous commercial sugarcane farmers who benefited under the land reform and Tongaat own farms that straddle over 45 000 hectares at Mkwasine, Triangle and Hippo Valley estates.

The farmers said Zimbabwe ratified the International Labour Organisation Convention banning child labour, hence the local sugar industry would never countenance the use of children as labourers.

Mkwasine Sugar Cane Farmers Association chair Retired Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Masomere said claims that children were being engaged as labourers were merely propaganda meant to blemish the sugar industry.

“Reports that there is use of children in farms by new cane farmers are preposterous to say the least,” he said. “The reports are fictional because our farmers don’t use child labour.

“We are guided by our Government that ratified the ILO Convention on child labour. We suspect this is simply propaganda meant to smear the local sugar industry.”

Zimbabwe Sugarcane Development Association spokesperson Mr Saul Chin’anga said there was no way cane farmers would employ children to work on their plantations.

“We hold regular workshops and awareness campaigns where we conscientise members against using children as labourers in their farms and there is no evidence that we are using children on the farms,” he said.

“We have even made it a point that our employees should not bring their children to their workplaces to reduce chances of them being misconstrued as farm labourers.”

Triangle Mill Group committee member and Zimbabwe Sugar Sales director Mr Darlington Chiwa said people claiming there was use of child labour in cane plantations in Chiredzi were looking for “cheap publicity”.

“We don’t know where those who are talking about child labour in the Lowveld cane fields stay because they must prove this,” said Mr Chiwa.

“They must disclose that such and such farmer is using children as labourers because we don’t have that. It is clear this is an attempt to discredit the sugar industry by armchair critics who have never been to the ground.”