Konkola Copper Mines Plc has announced that an incident occurred at the Nchanga Smelter at around 6:00hours of this morning that resulted in a run out of slag material, although no injury occurred.

KCM Corporate Affairs General Manager Eugene Chungu said the incident occurred at the Cobalt Recovery Furnace of the Nchanga Smelter.

Mr Chungu said the smelter had been scheduled to undergo a planned shutdown this Friday, which has now been brought forward by 48 hours.

Smelting and Refining Unit Head, Enock Mponda said, “At around 6:00hrs our engineers noticed elevated temperatures near the tapping area prior to the event. As per our risk-based emergency protocols we ensured that all the people working in the area were evacuated, thus preventing any injuries. The slag runout was contained within the limited bunded area. Although there is a standby furnace which we could bring, online we have decided to bring forward the planned shutdown by 48 hours.”

The smelter normally undergoes a major shut down every two years and thus was scheduled for 2018 but was postponed to this year. The shutdown is planned for a duration of 39 days. During this time all operations at Konkola, Nchanga and Nampundwe Mines will continue to run normally.

Mr Chungu said KCM is committed to ramping up operations at Konkola Underground and Nchanga Underground mines, and stabilize operations across the Company.

South African Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Njabulo Nzuza says Zambians should not be afraid to conduct businesses in that country because peace has been restored, following the reported attacks on foreign nationals.

Mr Nzuza assured the Zambian Minister of Home Affairs Stephen Kampyongo that South Africa is now safe for Zambians to enter and conduct any business without being attacked.

The South African Minister said it was important for the two countries to continue collaborating and enhancing the bilateral relations that have existed since the pre and post-Independence period.

He said close collaboration between the two countries is vital and hinted that his office will ensure that before December this year, a structured engagement with Zambia will be organised in order to have a framework in place.

Mr Nzuza said South Africans have no problems dealing with their Zambian counterparts in either trade or any other area of engagement.

He has since confirmed his country’s participation at the 5th International Conference for African Ministers responsible for civil registration and vital statistics which Zambia will host later this month.

He said South Africa will send the Minister of Home Affairs to support Zambia as it hosts the conference, to take place from October 14th to 18th October, 2019.

And Zambia’s Minister of Home Affairs Stephen Kampyongo noted that there is need for Zambia and South Africa to continue building on the strong foundation initiated by the country’s founding fathers when they liberated the two nations.

Mr Kampyongo said maintaining enhanced cordial and mutual relations between the two nations is one way that can be used to build on the foundation of the forefathers.

The Minister said failure to maintain cordial and mutual relations between the two countries would be betrayal to the forefathers who fought for political emancipation for both countries.

Mr Kampyongo and his South African Counterpart held a bilateral meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on the sidelines of the 70th Session of the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commission for Refugee.

He stressed the need to enhance ties between the two countries by having bilateral engagements and putting up frameworks to regulate the interactions and trade between the two peoples.

He stressed that even as the two countries collaborate to create a conducive environment for trade across borders, there was need to be vigilant of the criminal minds who may want to take advantage of the process.

Zambia will host the 5th International Conference for African Ministers responsible for civil registration and vital statistics being organised by the African Union (AU) in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank and the Zambian government.

FDD President Edith Nawakwi says High food prices have imposed a burden on household budget.

Mrs Nawakwi says with the rise in fuel price and food costs, most Zambians now have to cut down on food to accommodate their daily travel to work.

“It seems we are working to get to work and pay bills only. There is little if any room for anything else”, she said.

Mrs Nawakwi said somehow, it’s not only the cost of living that has affected Zambians but the lack of job opportunities for the young.

“The time for talking is long past. Now is the time for action. Zambia is more than us politicians, We had leaders before us who fought hard for most of us to be here. Let us do the same, let us embrace the youths. We can only learn new things from them”, she added.

Mrs Nawakwi said some ideas are probably too old and that is why Zambia are still over dependent on hydro energy for so many years.

“Global warming is not new… ask the youths, they probably saw this coming.
Knowledge is infinite and there is no end of learning. There is so much we can learn from our young boys and girls”, Mrs Nawakwi said.

Government is contemplating on introducing the study circles at places of work, to enable employees understand the importance of their institutions.

Minister of Labour and Social Security Joyce Simukoko said it is disheartening that despite the country having good labour laws in place, very few people read the employment code.

Ms Simukoko underscored that because of the poor reading culture of the labour laws among the employees in Zambia, some employers take advantage and start abusing their workers.

She said this in Lusaka today during the launch of the national employment and labour market policy, 2018 labour force survey and future of work report for Zambia.

The Labour and Social Security Minister disclosed that her ministry will soon start engaging other stakeholders in a series of discussions surrounding unemployment, in order to come up with home grown solutions.

“Zambia has one of the best labour laws in the region but very few people have read the labour code. This is what makes some employers infringe on the rights of employees because they do not understand the labour laws,” she said.

Ms Simukoko further said the best solution to unemployment is through embracing skills development which move in tandem with the global labour trends.

And United Nations Resident Coordinator Coumba Mar Gadio hailed government for having developed well-tailored labour related documents that spur the country’s development aspirations.

Dr Gadio whose speech was delivered by International Labour Organization Director for Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, George Okutho, said the launch of the employment and labour market policy was a firm foundation to achieving vision 2030.

She cited the Seventh National Development Plan as among the national documents that are moving on a positive trajectory and will lead to the creation of one million jobs by 2021.

And Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) Chairperson Cosmas Mukuka pledged maximum support to the Ministry of Labour and Social security in the implementation of the plan.

Mr Mukuka said the path which the ministry has taken to include ZCTU in its programmes, will lead to the economic transformation of the country.