NATIONAL Foods (Pvt) Ltd’s Bulawayo branch has been taken to court for allegedly causing the death of an employee who was choked by maize when his workmate opened a wagon valve while he was inside the container.
BY SILAS NKALA
Kelvin Ncube and Ndabezinhle Dube were not asked to plead when they appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Gladmore Mushove yesterday representing National Foods and Dube Task Contractors.
They were facing charges of failing to ensure workers’ safety and causing the death of Domingo Ndlovu (24) on March 17 last year.
The matter was remanded to June 6 for trial where five witnesses would be called to testify in the case.
Allegations against National Foods are that on March 17 2014, the company failed to take all reasonable measures to ensure safety standards were observed when it assigned an inexperienced worker, Clinton Ndlovu, to operate a machine which caused Ndlovu’s death.
Dube Task Contractors is being accused of causing the death of Ndlovu after allegedly tasking him to offload maize from the wagon without putting on a safety belt and helmet resulting in him being trapped and buried underneath the maize.
According to the State, Ndlovu was inside the wagon filled with maize when his workmate opened the valve of the wagon, resulting in the now-deceased getting buried underneath the maize. Ndlovu was reportedly working with three people when the accident occurred.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
On realising that Ndlovu had been trapped inside, another workmate who was not identified in court papers allegedly tried to close the valve, but it was too late.
His body was retrieved four minutes later after the workers cut open the wagon using a grinder.
The accident was then reported to police.
The deceased’s family accused National Foods of initially trying to cover up circumstances leading to the accident.
