Pressure grows between African mineworkers and their Chinese bosses
- Videos purporting to show violent confrontations circulate on social media, highlighting human side of China-Africa relations
- Observers say a combination of cultural differences, management style and poor working conditions are to blame
The Central African nation has an estimated 3.4 million tonnes of cobalt, almost half the world’s known supply. But in a country where the World Bank estimates three-quarters of the population live on less than two dollars a day, the mineral rush has also come with challenges.
Thousands of “artisanal miners” have moved into the area, extracting cobalt by hand or rudimentary tools. Sometimes illegal miners intrude into mines legally assigned to local or foreign entities, leading to confrontation.
In one video, Chinese managers of a mining site in Kolwezi can be seen watching and recording as two members of the armed forces (FARDC) beat artisanal miners accused of trespassing at La Compagnie Miniere de Musonoie Global SAS, a Chinese copper mining company majority-owned by Zijin Mining Group.
According to a FARDC statement, Chinese managers recruited the soldiers to beat the miners who were suspected of sneaking into the mine site to steal minerals. The army officers have since been sentenced to terms ranging from 18 to 24 months for premeditated assault on two artisanal miners.
Three Chinese have also been sentenced to four months imprisonment for complicity and fined 1 million Congolese francs (US$500) by a court in Lualaba province.
The Chinese mining company at the centre of the controversy has denied it took part in the abuse. The company said the soldiers “whipped the intruders in a personal capacity and not on the instruction of the hierarchy of the company”.