By Takudzwa Changadeya
HARARE – One of the country’s leading betting companies, Africa Gaming, and its sister company, Hammer and Tongues, have been implicated in a scandal involving employee abuse, nepotism, and exploitation.
Reports reveals that Africa Gaming, popularly known as AfricaBet, has ignored employee welfare for over two years. The company lacks a formal payroll system, resulting in employees not being paid according to their education and expertise.
Employees with favorable connections to the company’s top management reportedly receive higher incomes despite lacking qualifications or being in the same grade as other qualified employees.
Branch clerks at AfricaBet receive a meager monthly salary of ZWL 128.80 (approximately USD 9) and a USD 110 incentive payment.
Aggrieved employees who spoke to Bustop TV lamented that their current salaries do not meet their basic needs.
They also claimed that their efforts to advocate for a salary increase have been shut down by management.
“We are being treated like animals,” one employee said. “At AfricaBet, our employer is very heartless and doesn’t care about employees’ welfare and living conditions.
“The meager salaries we earn are not even enough for transportation, groceries, and rent. To make matters worse, our human resources department, led by Mr. Lloyd Machacha, is not even moved or concerned about our deplorable state.
“Machacha seems more concerned about pleasing his paymaster, Brian Makwavarara (CEO) I’m only working for AfricaBet because I have nowhere else to go for now, but the truth is, we are struggling, and our salaries are very low.”
Machacha declined to comment when reached for comment. He hung up his phone and did not respond to the questions sent to him.
Another employee, who identified herself as Shupi, lamented the absence of a workers’ committee, saying previous efforts to establish one were shut down by management.
“Employees once tried to establish a workers’ committee, but their efforts were crushed by management,” Shupi said.
“Now it has become difficult for us to present our grievances as individuals, as this puts our jobs at risk. We later realized that most management positions in our company were ceremonial positions, and our CEO, Mr. Mak (Makwavarara), runs this company like a tuck shop with an iron fist.”
Several employees have also accused Abel Moffat, the current Operations Manager, of muzzling or silencing Regional Executives (REs) who raise concerns about employees’ low salaries and poor working conditions.
Moffat was also accused of nepotism, prioritizing job seekers with personal connections to him despite their lack of qualifications.
“After receiving a company house, vehicle, and other benefits, including secret hefty payments he frequently receives from Makwavara, Abel (Moffat) abandoned the plight of workers,” one disgruntled employee said.
“He literally started pursuing his own selfish interests at the expense of aggrieved employees.”
Moffat was also accused of orchestrating the termination of an employee (name supplied) under controversial circumstances. He allegedly authorized charges against the employee for an in-house error that the company later dropped.
Another employee who was fired by AfricaBet under controversial circumstances complained about unfair treatment and alleged that there is also a Regional Executive known as Chenjerai Jowa who intimidates workers into paying for clerical mistakes.
“I was unfairly fired after I made a clerical mistake by punching in an amount higher than what a customer had paid,” the former employee said.
“I attempted to explain the situation to the management team, stating that the error occurred due to the faulty sticky keyboard, as most of our equipment is old.”
“My explanation was disregarded, and management tried to force me to pay the funds. After I resisted, they pressed charges on me, which they eventually dropped. I suffered a lot of humiliation and emotional stress as a result of the ordeal I went through at AfricaBet.”
Despite multiple attempts to reach him via messages and phone calls, Moffat offered no comment on the allegations.
