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ZCTU speaks out on the Ziscosteel shooting judgment
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
October 25, 2006

At a Press Conference held at its regional offices in Harare , the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) today welcomed the judgment handed by High Court judge , Justice Bere in the case in which Ziscosteel workers were in 2001 shot and killed by overzealous members of the Zimbabwe National Army.

Three workers were killed, twenty two injured and two subsequently died from injuries they sustained when they staged an industrial action on August 8 2001.Heavily armed members of the ZRP anti-riot squad and trigger-happy officers from ZNA and killed the workers whilst others sustained serious injuries.

While the demonstrations by ZISCO workers for salary adjustments were peaceful and were being held on the company premises, members of the anti-riot squad provoked the situation by firing tear smoke upon the workers in an effort to drive them out of the company premises. In the ensuing melee, workers scurried for cover and this is when members of the army, negligently and indiscriminately shot at the workers killing two instantly and injuring several others. The three who died on the spot were Samuel Masiyatsva, Never Daniels and Joshua Zimbwa.

The ZCTU wrote to President Mugabe calling for the setting up of a Commission of Inquiry into the shootings but nothing came out of it. The ZCTU again engaged July Moyo, the then Minister also did not act on the issue.This prompted the ZCTU to take this violation of human and trade union rights to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) where the issue was also discussed during the 2006 Geneva Conference.

ZCTU has always been worried about how government and Ziscosteel, as a company trivialized the whole shooting incident. The ZCTU therefore salutes the efforts of the Iron and Steel Workers Union of Zimbabwe (ISWUZ) and its leadership, the Legal Resources Foundation and the deceased widow for pursuing the case to its finality.

The Coalition notes with serious concern the continued and sustained attack on activists and the leadership of the labour movement in Zimbabwe. The government is once again urged to respect people’s fundamental rights to free speech , assembly and association.

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