Child labour in hazardous employment: The case of Zimbabwe

Abstract

The study examines the extent and implications of child labour in hazardous employment in contemporary Zimbabwe. It identifies the socio-economic determinants which compel children under 16 to enter employment in order to earn an income for themselves or to supplement marginal family earnings. This study, therefore, stresses the causal link between these determinants and the specific forms which child labour assumes in several sectors.1 It then examines the nature and magnitude of the hazards to their health, safety and morals and argues these should be explained in the context of the social division of labour within the conjunctural capitalist setting of Zimbabwe. The study also focuses attention on attempts to address the problem of the hazardous working conditions for child workers and marginalized children or the so-called "street children." It does so by evaluating Government policy but especially the limitations of the existing legislation with respect to child workers. The ambiguity over their rights to minimum wages, protective clothing and enforcement of contracts vis-a-vis the employer is shown to affect the bargaining leverage of child workers. The study then discusses some attempts that could go some way to ameliorate the dangerous conditions under which they work. A programme to reintegrate marginalized, and often homeless, children is assessed and shown to offer an alternative but more innovative approach to the problem of the marginalized children or "street children".The broad analytical framework of this study is premised on the International Labour Organization (ILO) programme on the abolition of child labour in hazardous employment (ILO, 1989). The objective of this programme is to draw up a report on the design and implementation of policies and programmes for the elimination of child labour in hazardous activities {Ibid.). This report, which would in turn draw upon data from country case studies, will contain information "on international labour standards, a comparative review of national legislation and regulations, examples of successful local efforts and national policies and programmes, and suggestions on ways of detecting and eliminating child labour in hazardous and unsafe activities" (Ibid.).