Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Zimbabwe (Ratification: 1998)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Zimbabwe (Ratification: 2019)

Article 2(2)(a) of the Convention. Services exacted in place of service as a member of a disciplined force. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes with interest that section 3 of the Labour Amendment Act No. 11 of 2023, repeals the previous section 4A(2) of the Labour Relations Act, which contained the exception to “forced labour” relating to the labour of members of disciplined forces in pursuance of their duties.

Article 2(2)(c). Prison labour exacted for the benefit of private individuals. The Committee notes that, in its report, the Government points to the purpose and role of prison labour in the rehabilitation and social reintegration of prisoners. In this regard, the Committee observes that the Prisons and Correctional Service Act was enacted in 2023, and that section 122 of the Act mandates the Correctional Service to provide rehabilitation activities designed to address the needs of inmates and contribute to their rehabilitation and successful reintegration into society. Under section 126 of the Act, the Commissioner-General may enter into a contract with any institution, person or body of persons for the employment and training of inmates who are under a sentence of imprisonment. Section 127 specifies that the Commissioner-General may authorize the payment of gratuities to inmates for the purpose of encouraging them to participate in rehabilitation activities and work offered by the Correctional Service or provide financial assistance to facilitate their reintegration into society. The gratuity must be paid according to such conditions and such rates as the Commissioner-General may determine. The Government indicates that, while prisoners may be hired to work in private institutions, this is done as part of rehabilitation programs designed to help them acquire skills. Furthermore, this work is voluntary and compensated at commercial rates comparable to those of other workers in the same industry.

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which it is ensured, both in law and practice, that persons sentenced to imprisonment who perform work for the benefit of private entities, in the framework of a contract concluded between the prison management and an outside institution or person, pursuant to section 126 of the Prisons and Correctional Service Act, 2023, do so only after giving their free, formal and informed consent and in conditions of work approximating a free labour relationship. It further requests the Government to provide information on the content of contracts concluded between the prison management and private entities.