Company suspends South African accused of racism /expelled from Mozambique by Labour minister

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Company suspends South African accused of racism /expelled from Mozambique by Labour minister

8:55 CAT | 03 Mar 2016

A company has suspended one of its employees following the decision of Mozambican Labour Minister Vitoria Diogo to ban the South African worker from working in Mozambique because of his ill-treatment of co-workers and his racist attitude.

According to a statement from the South African company Capital Outsourcing Group, Johan De Waal has been suspended pending an investigation into the allegations. De Waal was the general trainer in Maputo province of the company, which recruits temporary staff for a wide range of enterprises.

On Monday, the Labour Ministry stated that De Waal’s behaviour was investigated by the General Inspectorate of Labour (IGT), which found that he humiliated Mozambican workers, and addressed them in racist terms – such as by calling them “pretos” (blacks), rather than by their names. (The Portuguese word “preto” does indeed mean black, but it is regarded as derogatory when used of human beings).

In response, the company’s managing executive Tim Smeeton said “we will cooperate with the authorities in Mozambique in our investigation and if he is found guilty we will take strong, appropriate action against him”. In a statement sent to the Media on Wednesday, Capital Outsourcing says that “an investigation into allegations that he (Johan De Waal) ill-treated and/or displayed a racist attitude towards Mozambican employees and that he made derogatory comments about government officials” is underway.

He added, “we do not condone offensive behaviour. We abhor all forms of racism, discrimination, hate speech or violence. Encouraging diversity and inclusion is part of our values, moral code and ethics. We take this matter very seriously”.

The ban on De Waal working in Mozambique was effective immediately. Capital Outsourcing Group states that “the expulsion order, which was signed on Friday [26 February] by the Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Vitoria Dias Diogo, and which declares Mr De Waal an undesirable person, took us by surprise.”

Source: AIM / Capital Outsourcing Group