Hwange Power Station employees feel the mandatory stay in company site to contain COVID-19 is violation of labour rights. Image by Ngage

BY LETHOKUHLE NKOMO | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | OCT 5, 2022

To halt the spread of COVID-19, many companies implemented different strategies including making it mandatory for employees to stay in company sites. However, employees of several companies operating in Hwange feel that the measures leaned more towards violation of labour rights than just containing COVID-19.

COVID-19 restrictions worsened elderly people's feelings of isolation and neglect by their friends and loved ones in Hwange.

BY LETHOKUHLE NKOMO | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | OCT 5, 2022

Elderly people living in care homes feel abandoned by their families and friends. COVID-19 restrictions made the situation even worse. Without support, the situation for many could lead to a total mental breakdown.

Failure to access sexual reproductive health services during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic led to many unwanted pregnancies. Image by NAWEC

BY LETHOKUHLE NKOMO | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | OCT 5, 2022

COVID-19 surfaced as a coterie of challenges for women residing in rural areas. Access to sexual reproductive health services is one of the many challenges they had to deal with in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Hwange, orphans and children living with disability fell into acute poverty as COVID-19 halted food handouts from well-wishers. Image by Unsplash

BY LETHOKUHLE NKOMO | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | OCT 5, 2022

In Hwange, COVID-19 left a trail of damage, but vulnerable children were the most affected.

In Hwange, girls of school going age fell pregnant as a result of idle minds during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Image by Graphic Online

BY LETHOKUHLE NKOMO | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | OCT 5, 2022

COVID-19 may be gone but in Hwange, the effects of the extended lockdowns are visible—young girls are now mothers, and school dropouts have spiked.

Hwange hospitals are battling with a lack of resources despite the presence of various mining and safari companies. Image by Unsplash

BY CALVIN MANIKA | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | OCT 5, 2022

Despite wrecking millions from mining, companies operating in Hwange failed to donate substantially to the COVID-19 cause. As a result, local hospitals failed to cope with the pandemic as a result of unavailability of resources.

Hwange informal traders struggle to recover post COVID-19 lockdowns. Image by The News Report

BY CALVIN MANIKA | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | OCT 4, 2022

Informal traders who, before the emergence of COVID-19, were able to raise enough cash to feed their families, are struggling to make ends meet. For a majority of them, illegal vending provides temporary relief but isn’t the ultimate solution.

Hwange's health sector remains in tatters and residents fear two available hospitals could fail to cope with deadly illnesses. Image by HCC

BY CALVIN MANIKA | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | OCT 4, 2022

In Zimbabwe, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need to revamp and build existing and new health facilities. Hwange did not benefit and its health sector remains in tatters, raising fears the small mining town could fail to cope with similar pandemics in future.

Police officers and soldiers manning a road block during the lockdown. Image by Nkosizile Ndlovu

BY CALVIN MANIKA | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | OCT 4, 2022

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the central government deployed police and soldiers to man check-points on major roads across the country. In most cases, civilians were ill-treated. The State’s proclivity to human rights violations played a significant part.