Labour rights violations persist at Sunny Yi Feng
Michelle Chifamba
Harare—Chinese-owned Sunny Yi Feng Tiles (Pvt) Ltd that covers an area approximately 100 hectares is a leading tile manufacturer in Southern Africa.
Hugging Lake Chivero to the east and a shout away from the Norton low density suburb of Galloway Park, the Sunny Yi Feng complex along the Harare-Bulawayo highway is easily noticeable for its heavy-drone security and CCTV surveillance.
Located behind high perimeter walls, it is guarded 24 hours a day, seven days a week and occupants of unmarked off-roaders synonymous with State security monitor strangers “loitering” close to the complex.
This shows how security-conscious the Sunny Yi Feng management is.
A Chinese company, Shangxi Yang Fan Logistics, set up the multi-million dollar establishment in 2008, with Sunny Yi Feng obtaining national project status five months later.
The ceramics manufacturer has a tile generation capacity of 25, 000 square meters per day and an estimated employment creation capacity of 2, 000 that includes both locals and Chinese nationals.
Close to 70 percent of the tiles is destined for exports.
Residents of Norton have a dim view of the tiles project, which they feel is causing them more pain than benefits.
They suspect that, amid a litany of environmental and labour rights violations, the ceramics producer is receiving excessive protection from the Zimbabwean government, which has labelled China a strategic partner.
“This company was set up by the Chinese with assistance from government to make us poorer, while sending us to an early death due to pollutants being disposed into our water and the air,” said Daniel Dzinodya* a resident of Katanga, one of the densest suburbs in Norton.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has since 2021 accused the tiles company of poor working conditions for its employees.
In a press statement issued in 2021, the ZCTU stated that employees were being injured at work because of unsafe working conditions, some reportedly died due to poisonous gas leaks.
But the Sunny Yi Feng management responded with a conspiracy theory, accusing ZCTU of a campaign to tarnish the company’s image.
“Their (ZCTU) publications carry single stories from uninformed sources who, rather than being constructive, are more destructive to the image of our company,” state Sunny Yi Feng in a retaliatory statement.
A worker’s tale
Up to date, though, workers are still accusing Sunny Yi Feng of unjust labour practices.
Forty-three year old Jason Dzumunyu*, a worker at the tile manufacturing company, says it is not easy to work for the Chinese owned company.
“We work without proper personal protective equipment such as gloves and masks and are exposed to dangerous gasses that are produced during the tile making process.
“As part of your probation, you work for five months without protective clothing,” Dzumunyu said.
The workers are bitter that they are getting as little as US$43 a month and a token US$10 that comes as a weekly transport allowance.
Semi-skilled workers like Dzumunyu are supposed to earn more than US$300 in minimum monthly wages.
Their woes do not end there; the workers are subjected to mandatory and automatic deductions for perceived misdemeanour like being absent from work.
The company does not subject the “offending” workers to disciplinary hearings.
This is against provisions of the Labour Act that requires employees to be fairly punished only after conclusive disciplinary proceedings.
“Being absent from work leads to a US$5 deduction a day from your wages, despite the fact that you have reasonable excuses like illness or attending the funeral of a close relative. We work on weekends and during public holidays without any overtime rewards as the law requires,” he added.
In the event of an accident, there is no compensation, so victims foot their own medical bills, it was established.
The human cost
A workers’ rights representative within the company who requested anonymity told this publication that Sunny Yi Feng management was in the habit of trying to cover up for industrial accidents.
“Recently an employee was involved in an accident and lost three fingers. The management wanted to pay him US$5, 000 as hush money so that he would not report the case and seek compensation. He is now disabled and they (Chinese) did not want the matter to be reported. They did not want to compensate for the injuries that he sustained while on duty,” he said.
Former independent legislator representing Norton, Temba Mliswa, has in the past rapped Sunny Yi Feng for subjecting employees to sub-human living and working conditions.
The Chinese embassy, implicitly admitted to the violations at Sunny Yi Feng, urging companies from the Asian country to abide by Zimbabwean laws.
Worker Rights, Labour Practices a Human Rights Issue
Zimbabwe has a number of pieces of legislation aimed at protecting the rights of workers ensuring equitable labour practices.
Section 65 (1) of the constitution stipulates that every person has the right to fair and safe labour practices and standards and to be paid a fair and reasonable wage.
The Labour Act (Chapter 28:01) also provides for the rights of workers and stipulates that employees are free to belong to a labour union of their choice.
Elijah Mutemeri, a labour law activist, blamed the Zimbabwean government’s protection of Chinese investments for the prevalent impunity at companies from China.
“The Chinese are taking advantage of the government’s investment strategy that allows them to come into the country as (top priority) investors. That’s why the Chinese are ignoring local laws and international conventions on fair labour practices. There is no oversight of their operations and treatment of employees,” said Mutemeri.
The Sunny Yi Feng public relations department says it is operating under the National Employment Council for Ceramics.
“Sunny Yi Fend Tiles (Pvt) Ltd remains the biggest ceramic manufacturing industry in Southern Africa and will always be committed to giving the best quality services to its various stakeholders,” stated Sunny Yi Feng in a statement.
An environmental impact assessment conducted by the Chinhoyi University of Technology in 2022 exposes the negative effects of tile manufacturing on the environment.
The research reveals that ceramic tile production seriously harms the environment, including 45.90 percent human toxicity and 73. 90 percent global warming potential.
The study shows that, due to rapid urbanisation and globalisation, there has been rapid consumption of ceramic tiles in the world.
China accounts for 43.4 percent of world tile production.
Sunny Yi Feng is sourcing the raw materials for tile making from Mazowe, Chegutu, Selous and Chakari, where opencast mining is being used to extract sand and other ceramic-making inputs.
In 2020, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) temporarily shut down Sunny Yi Feng over acute ecological damage.
Richard Tsvangirai, the member of parliament for Norton, says he has received constant reports in his office concerning the water pollution of nearby Lake Chivero.
“We are engaging with the Environmental Management Agency, civil society and community members to find ways on preventing water pollution that is damaging aquatic life. Some people used to rely on selling fish from the lake, but due to pollution, fish are dying, hence affecting livelihoods,” Tsvangirai said.
However, Sunny Yi Feng says it is not responsible for the contamination of the lake.
During this investigation, water samples drawn from Lake Chivero were tested for phosphate and mercury which are some of the harmful chemicals that are reportedly being disposed into the river through tile production.
The University of Zimbabw’s biological sciences department revealed that the traces of phosphates and mercury that are in the water are not entirely from the Chinese tile manufacturing company because there are several other sources that could be contributing to the pollution.
“Phosphate composition in water comes from various sources and cannot be entirely attributed to the Chinese factory in question. Lake Chivero is a confluence where several rivers pass through and some of the toxins are deposits from fertilizer manufacturing companies. Others are human-induced through stream bank cultivation, so pollution of the lake is not entirely on the individual company in question.
“However, the factory and mining companies ought to adhere to environmental laws and regulations to protect the environment they are operating in,” said Gareth Mazhingi, a professor in the department.
EMA’s public relations manager, Amkela Sidange, seemed to give Sunny Yi Feng a clean bill.
“The agency (EMA) conducts constant and periodic checks on operations of the company as provided in the laws as a way of averting non-compliance and possible degradation and pollution of the environment,” she said.