Why is child labour being ignored in the textile industry?

Allow me to make some personal observations of the textile industry. Our government is not doing enough to curb child labour by punishing textile factories who take advantage of the poor.

Yes, they are desperate for money - but they are underage. The Ministry of Labour does not have the capacity to deal with the problem or it’s simply unwilling to face the reality. I am not greedy; but they are underage. That is why factory owners are underpaying us. We are victims.

The reality is we have underage people working in the textile industry. They should be at school. According to the basic conditions of the Employment Act, it is illegal to employ a child under the age of 18 years. Even the Swazi Constitution does not allow this. What kind of contract will he or she sign? The interests of any person is in the contract she or he signed, at the end of the day.

I know we see things differently and therefore some might differ with me on this but this is just my observation. We should not see this in Swaziland, where our economy is so bad. You have to do something about this, Minister Mamba, before your term is over. So what are you going to do now? Do your own review. What has your ministry achieved?

We must not forget our culture; but we should not try to copy everything from other countries. I think children under the age of 18 years may be employed but cannot do dangerous work; work that is meant for an adult.

This is a basic challenge for our parents and the Swazi Government.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: