Urgent PRESS STATEMENT
*SOUTHERN PROVINCE CRIES as MUNALI NICKEL MINE IS SHUTING DOWN BUT UPND GOVT & MINE INVESTORS BETRAYS AND ABANDONS MINE WORKERS: EFF DENOUNCES THE BETRAYAL*- Kasonde Mwenda C-EFF President
31st August 2025
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) condemns in the strongest possible terms the abandonment and betrayal of our miners by the Hakainde Hichilema-led UPND government and the foreign mining investors who profit from our resources.
A Ministry of Labour letter dated 25 August 2025 addressed to Mabiza Resources Limited — produced and signed by the Office of the Labour Commissioner, Southern Province — makes the truth impossible to ignore. The Labour Office records that workers at Mabiza have gone unpaid for months (June, July and August 2025) and that the company has admitted it “lacks the capacity to meet its obligations.” Additionally, the workers have been shocked to find out that they have no access to their pension contribution which were not being remitted by the company while the government did nothing to force compliance. Workers are now left homeless as they are being evicted from their houses.
Instead of immediately protecting those workers — enforcing the law, and ensuring payment —the Labour Office reports that it has “exercised discretion to issue only a caution at this stage.”
Make no mistake: that caution is a scandal. It is a green light for impunity. While miners go without wages and are pushed to the brink, the government issues a slap on the wrist to corporate actors who are bleeding our communities dry. This is not oversight — it is abandonment; it is choosing investors over people.
*The EFF demands immediate and unconditional action:*
1. Immediate payment of all outstanding wages owing to Mabiza employees, as directed by the Labour Office — and full, independent public accounting of payments made.
2. An urgent, independent inquiry into Mabiza Resources Limited — its finances, contracts, and capacity assertions — with publicly released findings.
3. Immediate suspension of any export or asset movements by Mabiza until workers are paid and an independent forensic audit is completed.
4. Full accountability from the Hichilema administration: the Minister of Labour, the local Labour Commissioners and the Ministry must explain why punitive measures were not imposed despite contraventions that, by the Ministry’s own admission, “warrant punitive measures.”
5. A moratorium on any new investor advantages until all mining companies operating in Zambia are shown to be in full compliance with labour, tax and social obligations.
The EFF will not stand by while Zambians are treated as expendable. We will mobilise peaceful mass action to make sure miners’ demands are heard and addressed. We will also pursue every lawful means — including litigation and parliamentary action — to force accountability.
To the miners: we see you. To the Hichilema government and to the investors: history will record who stood with the people and who stood with the dollar.
EFF will prioritize Zambian citizens interests and mineral resources ownership will be our birthright for ZAMBIANS to enjoy.
Wherever we want to go our feet will take us there.
#Ni pamakasa EFF in 2026.
Issued this day by:
President Kasonde Mwenda C
Economic Freedom Fighters — EFF
Bwana, if a mine closes at whatever location it is, it’s not the province which cries, it is the whole country. For example, if Kansanshi, Kalumbila, Lumwana or Mopani were shut today, it’s the whole country that will cry and not necessarily the people of North western and Copperbelt alone. If workers are abandoned, it could be the Unions which are not doing their work. Unions should always be proactive in these matters especially when a mine is about to shut down, they should know the fate of the workers, that is their job.
If the Investor sees that the Mine is not profitable, the best he can do is to close the mine because he can’t be running the mine at a loss just for sake of creating jobs for people. The purpose of investment is to make money and generate profits. Let the Unions come in and ensure that workers are paid their dues as opposed to leave them in the cold.