Standard Bank accused of racism and mass layoffs with collusion of Ministry of Labour

The allegations, which include mistreatment, unjust dismissals, and failure to pay compensation, were made a month ago by a group of employees to the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD).

The CDD stated that the complaining workers had already filed a complaint with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, adding that local media did not report the allegations because the bank pays for advertising to silence criticism.

Following the complaints made to the CDD, our team began an investigation to ascertain the truth of the facts with the parties involved. TORRE.News contacted Standard Bank through the company responsible for its press office, requesting a statement on the allegations. The company responded that it would get in touch to comment on the matter.

For further clarification, TORRE.News also contacted the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, which, through its communication department, confirmed receiving the complaint from Standard Bank employees and stated that it still needed to hear the bank's version of the facts.

Three weeks later, in a persistent effort, the newsroom contacted the ministry again, but it did not respond to our messages and calls for an update on the situation.

During the investigation, we spoke with the National Union of Bank Employees (SNEB), which, through its secretary-general, Ramiro Simbi, confirmed the existence of worker complaints, including mass layoffs. The SNEB also stated that it had advised the bank to opt for other methods, as dismissal is the last disciplinary measure applicable to an employee according to the Labour Law.

When questioned about the alleged dismissals due to racism and abuse of power by expatriates, Ramiro Simbi explained that in such cases, the union recommends its members report to the Labour Inspectorate, as it is the authority responsible for regulating and inspecting such issues.

A Standard Bank employee, who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said, "We are afraid to speak out; those who do end up losing their jobs."

The employee also stated that several complaints had been made to the Labour Inspectorate, but they only receive visits from inspectors that do not result in concrete actions, leaving the complaining workers subject to dismissals.

The workers' complaints mention stalled court processes with no significant progress. During our research, it was not possible to ascertain from the SNEB the exact number of employees dismissed and taking action against Standard Bank, but TORRE.News knows that similar situations have been recurrent in the banking sector in Mozambique.

A well-positioned source in the SNEB revealed that the issue of racism in banking institutions is more complex than it appears. They added that several complaints had been made against banks, but there are no records of satisfactory results so far, a situation believed to be due to the collusion between commercial banks and the Ministry of Labour.

It is noteworthy that in 2021, two Standard Bank managers, Adimohanma Chukwuma Nwokocha (a Nigerian national CEO) and Carlos Domingos Francisco Madeira (a Mozambican national Director of Corporate and Investment Banking), were suspended by the Bank of Mozambique from holding any management position in credit institutions and financial companies in the country due to "serious prudential and foreign exchange violations."

In place of the Nigerian, Standard Bank appointed Bernardo Aparício (a Portuguese national) as CEO. An observation by TORRE.News found that a significant number of the CEOs of commercial banks accused of racism are of Portuguese nationality (a case that TORRE.News will continue to investigate).

As of the closure of this report, the company representing Standard Bank's communications has not officially commented on these accusations. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security, despite confirming the complaints three weeks ago, has not responded to our attempts to obtain an updated comment on the case.