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Photography impactful in understanding Toronto's heartbeat
Curator Iskouhee Kirakosyan says photography important in the life and culture of Toronto
"How better to know a city than what it's photographers present to the outside world," says curator of the Toronto Photography Club, Iskouhee Kirakosyan.
At an event marking the annual Toronto Photography Festival, which takes place in multiple studios around the city over several days, Kirakosyan (right in picture above with an attendee) says the heartbeat of the city is often captured by photography to explain the space and times and the vibrancy in which many Torontonians live.
"This is one of the things Photography, especially professional photographers, can do for a city, " she said, noting photography captures the diversity and greatness and uniqueness of Toronto, where census figures show more than 57 percent of its residents were born outside of Canada.
New Chinese Steel Plant Accused of Exploiting Workers - Staf
By Sharon Mazingaizo
Workers building the $1bn steel plant for the Chinese-owned Dinson Iron & Steel Company (Disco) claim they are exploited, forced to work in inhumane conditions, and sleep crammed eight to a small room on the construction site.
The workers, backed by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), told the Sunday Times that as they build what is touted to become Africa's largest steel plant in Manhize, Mvuma, about 192km south of Harare, they are not provided with safety equipment, have no proper toilets, and are forced to lie to get a day off to see their families.
Disco, a subsidiary of China's largest stainless steel manufacturer, Tsingshan Holdings, denies the allegations and slams what it says are "the latest attempts to smear the good name of the company, and Chinese investments in Zimbabwe".
Production is expected to begin in August and the plant is expected to manufacture more than 1.2-million tonnes of steel a year.
Fearing reprisals and speaking to the Sunday Times on condition of anonymity, a 35-year-old construction worker said workers live in squalid conditions.
"Nothing good is coming out of the steel plant; we live like animals. Eight workers sleep in one tiny room. We have no basic sanitation. Sewage overflows at the plant because of blocked plumbing. We defecate in the bush because they are no working toilets at the plant.
"The sewage overflow is next to the kitchen where the food for workers is prepared. We are not allowed to cook our own food. The food we are given by the company is badly prepared -- we are given sadza with beans or sadza with cabbage. The food looks disgusting -- we eat because we are hungry," he said.
We are paid $4 a day and the money comes as half in local currency and other half in US dollars. l work for 30 days, with no off day -- l have no free time to even visit my loved ones
"We are not given any off days; you have work for 30 days. Recently, l got an off day because l lied that my relative had passed away. It's a very difficult place to work, but we work because we are desperate for money and to provide for our families. It's unfortunate that our Chinese colleagues don't see us as human beings but as animals. It's inhumane," he said.
Workers the Sunday Times spoke to said they began working for the company seven months ago.
Another worker, who is 32, said they are paid as little as $4 a day, working for 30 days straight with no weekends off. Any days they take off after that are, the workers allege, deducted from their wages.
"We are paid $4 a day and the money comes as half in local currency and half in US dollars. l work for 30 days, with no off day -- l have no free time to even visit my loved ones," said another. "I also work overtime from 5pm until 10pm but l am never paid for the overtime. We are not given payslips to see how many hours we have worked.
"If we raise concerns, we are ignored. If you keep complaining, eventually you lose your job. With the money l earn I am not able to send rent money or buy groceries for my family," the man said. "We once went on strike demanding better pay but the company called the police on us and we were forced back to work. Quitting is not an option as l am desperate for work to be able to feed for my family."
Another worker said: "It's very hard work, and we don't get adequate safety gear on the construction site.
"If you ask for a day off, your wages will be deducted and it will become even less. It's difficult for me and my colleagues but we are scared of the employer, too afraid to raise the issues because you can be fired immediately," he said.
More than 800 workers are employed at the plant, with most of them living on the site. Disco said the integrated steel plant will create 2,000 jobs by the end of 2023. Last year, at a breaking ground ceremony, President Emmerson Mnangagwa hailed the project as a "paradigm-shifting milestone" for Zimbabwe.
The workers' accounts appear to back up allegations made by the ZCTU, which wrote to minister of public service, labour & social welfare Paul Mavima last month to complain about conditions at the plant and ask for his intervention.
ZCTU said its affiliated union, the Zimbabwe Construction & Allied Trades Workers' Union (ZCATWU) tried to organise workers there but management denied them access.
"During the union engagement with workers outside the workplace, the union gathered [accounts of] serious unfair labour practices which include payment of wages that are below the stipulated rates, non-provision of protective clothing, nonpayment of required benefits as per the collective bargaining agreement, and nonpayment of pension funds, among other issues," it wrote.
We object strongly to continued attempts at smearing and undermining the good work of the investors, and this latest attempt should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves
Dinson Iron & Steel Company statement
In response to questions, Disco denied that it had ever barred workers from forming or joining unions of their choice.
"A process to form a union, branch or representative council or organisation at our site would be the prerogative of the workers themselves and the company will not interfere.
"We are incredulous that a union can claim that it is being denied access to address its membership at our company. How did it recruit those same alleged workers at the same place, or who organised them if they are allegedly not allowed to form unions? We challenge people who have made these various allegations to prove them."
"We consider this the latest attempt to smear the good name of the company, and Chinese investments in Zimbabwe at a time we are making a positive impact in the country, including assisting our communities and creating huge employment opportunities," the company said.
"At Disco alone, we will employ 2,000 people by end of 2023, and this is a huge opportunity for local people. We object strongly to continued attempts at smearing and undermining the good work of the investors, and this latest attempt should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves."
However, the company failed to respond to questions about the workers' squalid living conditions, unsafe working conditions, excessive overtime, poor pay, and workers' apparent inability to take any days off, even on weekends.
ZCATWU regional organising secretary Noel Mano told the Sunday Times it had tried and failed to engage Disco management "several times".
"In my 20 years in the construction industry, l have never seen such labour violations" he said.
China is Zimbabwe's largest foreign investor, with significant interests in the country's mining and construction sectors. However, Chinese-run companies in Zimbabwe have a chequered history.
In 2020, two workers were shot and wounded, allegedly by their Chinese boss at a mining company, after they complained about unpaid wages.
In 2021, the Chinese embassy in Harare accused ZCTU of an "organised smear campaign" against Chinese-run companies after it and ZFTU alleged that a Chinese-owned ceramic tiles manufacturer was paying poor wages, providing substandard accommodation and exposing workers to dangerous chemicals.
S. Africa draws US ire over China, Russia joint naval tests
South Africa says its non-alignment status should still never be in doubt
In a controversial move that has strained its relationships with the EU and the US, South Africa will host naval exercises off its eastern coast with Chinese and Russian ships. The exercises coincide with the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The South Africa National Defence Force (Sandf) confirmed on 19 January that South Africa will host the navies of China and Russia during a "multilateral maritime exercise" over the period 17 to 27 February.
The exercise, codenamed "Mosi" ("Smoke" in Swahili), will take place around the Durban and Richards Bay areas of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province, according to the statement.
According to Russia's Tass news agency, the Admiral Gorshkov, a ship "carrying Tsirkon hypersonic missiles" will take part in the exercises as well after taking in supplies in Russia's navy base in Tartus, Syria.
It will be only the second time that the naval forces of the three countries have held joint operations. The first took place in November 2019 in Cape Town, just before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The latest exercise ("Mosi II") has come under fire from South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, which claims that with hosting the exercises, Pretoria has "chosen sides".
"While our government has claimed to be neutral, this is just another of many incidents where the [ruling party] ANC has clearly exposed their favoritism towards Russia and has in fact done nothing but to showcase and prove [the] government's lack of neutrality in this case," according to the party's shadow minister of defence and military affairs,
Kobua Marais.
In a statement, he called the war games "nothing more than an expensive publicity stunt".
Meanwhile, David Feldman, a spokesperson for the US Embassy in South Africa, was quoted by CBS News as saying that the US is "concerned about South Africa's plan to hold joint naval exercises with Russia and the [People's Republic of China] in February, even as Moscow continues its brutal and unlawful war of aggression against Ukraine".
Pauline Bax of the International Crisis Group pointed out that the exercises coincide with the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which she remarks is "diplomatically quite awkward, and something that South Africa could have pushed to another date".
But South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, who met with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov when he visited Pretoria earlier in January, said that the drills were to be "merely an exercise with friends".
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise was quoted by South Africa's Independent Online portal as saying the exercises are "highly beneficial for the three navies", adding that "nobody protested" when the US held its own military exercises with the Sandf in July last year.
Russia 'not as isolated' as West wants
By hosting the war games, "South Africa sends a clear signal that it is not going to join the anti-Russian front", Marcin Kaczmarski, a secuity expert with the University of Glasgow, told RFI.
The exercises show that "Russia is not as isolated as the West would like", he said.
His remarks are backed up by the Democracy Index 2022 published last month by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which states that "two-thirds of the world's population live in countries that are either neutral or Russia-leaning when it comes to the war in Ukraine".
China remains its most powerful ally.
Russia's Tass news agency described a visit to Moscow by Chinese President Xi Jinping, planned in the coming months, as "the main event in the bilateral agenda for 2023". The trip is a follow-up to Putin's visit to Beijing in February last year - just before Russia invaded Ukraine - when the two countries pledged a "friendship without limits".
It is unclear to what extent their military cooperation will expand. But China may have its reservations too.
Combined power
The upcoming exercises hosted by South Africa demonstrate "the potential for Russia-China cooperation in the Indian Ocean, and how the two present a much greater threat to a continued US role and influence in the region than either would individually", according to Oriana Skylar Mastro, a fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the American Enterprise Institute.
"Both China and Russia have gradually been increasing their presence in the Indian Ocean. Russia recently announced it would establish a naval facility in Port Sudan on the Red Sea," she told RFI, pointing out that China opened its first overseas base in Djibouti in 2017.
South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa says he knows why the recent violence in South Africa is happening in his country. While he’s not saying what he knows, many on the continent are already pointing fingers at the ‘why’ question.
Days following the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma for contempt of court, many protesters form his KwaZulu Natal stronghold took to the streets then started looting shops in one of the worst mayhems experienced in th young country’s history. Zuma was ordered jailed because he refused to attend a corruption investigation of his administration. The former president left office in disgrace following allegations of corruption three years ago. But considering the current state of the country’s economy (especially in the midst of a pandemic), and with unemployment among the youth at an abysmal level, it is quite conceivable that many of the protesters are taking advantage of the political turmoil involving their kinsman to commit crimes against innocent small businesspeople.
Ghana postpones African Games to 2024
The African Games, scheduled to take place in Ghana in August, have been postponed until next year after an agreement between major stakeholders running the multi-sport competition.
Ghana's efforts to host the 13th edition have been hampered by an ongoing disagreement over marketing rights, which has delayed the completion of the required facilities.
In October 2020, President Akufo-Addo announced plans to construct an Olympic-quality stadium at Borteyman for the games.
However, those plans were shelved in June 2021, with organisers opting to refurbish the University of Ghana Stadium, with work on the venue now behind schedule.
Disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic and rising costs because of high inflation have also been reported as reasons for the delay.
Speaking at a press conference held at another host venue, the Accra Sports Stadium, chairman of the organising committee, Dr Kwaku Ofosu-Asare, said the games will still be called 'Accra 2023' as initially planned.
"The name will be the same. Tokyo 2020 was done in 2021 so we will maintain the name," he said.
On when exactly the event might take place next year, he added: "There has not been any definite day but very soon you will know if it's 2024."
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