Ingwebu Breweries is facing mounting pressure after contract farmers in Bubi district said the company has failed to fully pay for sorghum delivered last year, while some workers claim they have gone for months without salaries. Farmers under a cooperative in Siganda, Bubi, Matabeleland North, say Ingwebu still owes them thousands of United States dollars for sorghum delivered between June and July last year under a written contract farming agreement. These delays, they say, have disrupted livelihoods, stalled their farming activities and left families struggling to pay school and college fees.
“We delivered the sorghum in July and Ingwebu promised to pay us half after two weeks,” said one female farmer, who will not be named for fear of victimisation. “But two weeks became three months. We had to send a team to find out what was happening, but they came back with nothing.” According to the farmer, the cooperative eventually travelled to Mhlahlandlela Government Complex in Bulawayo to seek intervention from a Small and Medium Enterprises department, after which Ingwebu paid a portion of the money owed.
The cooperative delivered about 90 tonnes of sorghum under the agreement and payments to individual farmers depended on how much each had produced. The farmer said she delivered three tonnes and was supposed to be paid US$1 000, but has so far received only US$500. The delayed payments have had negative consequences.
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“We failed to farm this season. We could not buy seed or hire tractors. Our children struggled to go to school because there was no money,” she said.
“Ingwebu keeps saying ‘next month’, but we are no longer sure. If these efforts fail, we will go to court.”
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