Maputo, Mozambique — Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano Tuesday warned that any foreign investors "who just want to exploit Mozambican workers by taking all profits back to their own countries are not welcome here."
Addressing a May Day rally in Maputo, Chissano said those companies "who want to uplift our economy and Mozambican living standards - they are welcome. Yes, let them make their profits, but we also need our rewards. It's a contract between our country and people, and the investors."
Chissano warned workers "not to take attitudes that may scare away honest investors."
He said he had noted that the workers who "make the most noise, and issue the most threats to investors" are the ones who are best paid.
The president was apparently referring to workers at the MOZAL aluminium smelter on the outskirts of Maputo, whose workers staged a brief strike in February to protest at the salary difference between them and those of MOZAL's foreign employees.
The minimum wage at MOZAL is almost eight million meticais (over 400 US dollars) a month, while the statutory minimum industrial wage is only 568,980 meticais (29 dollars). Despite this, MOZAL workers on the march bore placards claiming that they were suffering from "modern slavery."
"We saw workers here from the factories that pay the highest wages. They're the ones who talk the loudest without sparing a thought for the unemployed, or for those companies that are in difficulties. We should be more considerate," he added.
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Chissano stressed that the Mozambican government remains committed to improving workers' conditions - which was why government ministers turned out to attend the May Day rally, even though they knew that government policies would be criticised.
"It is rare for governments to attend May Day events when they know they are going to be called names, and even insulted," he said.
"It's not every government that does this of its own free will. In the southern African region, I know of only two governments, apart from Mozambique, that do this (he did not name them)."
Chissano called on employers to respect workers' rights -particularly their social security rights.
One major scandal is the large number of companies that deduct social security from workers' wages but then do not send the contributions to the National Social Security Institute (INSS).
"It's not the bosses' money. It belongs to the workers. It's contributions for their future. By next May Day I hope to see that the number of companies channelling their workers' contributions to the INSS will have increased significantly," said Chissano.
