By 
James Musonda, a policy analyst says he expects a serious backlash on the proposal by Finance and National Planning Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane, to fine tune the 2019 labour code.
During the 2024 budget presentation on Friday, Musokotwane told the nation that the 2019 labour code needed to be reviewed because it tends to favour employees than employers.
“I will be very surprised if unions will not resist this move, the Minister (Musokotwane)said the employment acts is a job killer because it favours employees, the statement is very worrying,” Musonda said.
He observed that it was contradictory for the Minister to provide exemption for Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) on the other hand wanting to turn workers into destitute.
Musonda noted that in the last 20 years, miners had lost job security and entitlements hence the idea of reviewing the labour code should be resisted.
Read more : Musonda decries failed post privatisation mining policies, as FQM set to restructure operations
He furthered observed that incentives to the mining companies were proving not to be reciprocal because they were not offering any hope .
“When the government talks about increasing production to three million tonnes of copper, we need to know how many jobs the three million tonnes will create,” Musonda said.
Mosonda is currently Senior Researcher in Energy Policy at the Institute for Economic Justice, Johannesburg.
In 2021, he won the Terence Ranger Prize for his work on Zambian Copperbelt miners, and he is a former trade unionist.
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