Maputo — Dozens of small companies defied instructions from the Mozambican Labour Ministry by refusing to give their staff time off work so that they could vote in Wednesday's general elections.

Aware that this might happen, the General Inspectorate of Labour (IGT) sent teams out in the main cities on Wednesday checking on whether companies were disenfranchising their workers.

According to a Thursday press release from the Ministry, the IGT found 42 companies who were refusing to let their workers vote. A total of 351 workers were affected and, if the IGT had not been alert, they would have been unable to cast their ballots.

The release names and shames the companies who were caught denying workers one of their fundamental rights. It comes as no surprise that one of the companies is the London based security company Group Four Securicor (G4S), which has an appalling labour relations record throughout the world.

Other companies that refused to give their time off included construction companies, restaurants, bakers, ice cream parlours, shops and warehouses.

The Ministry says the worst problems were found in Maputo city and province, while in general employers in Gaza, Cabo Delgado, Sofala and Zambezia provinces behaved "in an exemplary fashion" creating special shifts to accommodate the election, or simply dispensing their workers for the time it took to vote.

After the IGT intervened, all 42 companies concerned ceased their activities for the day. The inspectorate has demanded that some of them, who were not doing any essential work, explain to the Ministry why they were open at all on a day that had been declared a public holiday.