Zimbabwe’s iconic Hyatt Regency Harare (formerly Meikles) hotel is engulfed in a racism storm as workers accuse general manager Jonas Amstad of racism and creating a hostile working environment for them.
This comes as the hotel – a centre of high society life in Harare with a great history – was earmarked to host the Southern African Development Community summit, a big deal for President Emmerson Mnangagwa, next month.
Employees have written to the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare detailing grievances against Amstad an seeking and urgent intervention.
Employees alleged Amstad makes racist remarks and slurs to staffers, demonstrating crude racism and hate.
The letter says: “We do hereby submit our deepest concerns and worries as Hyatt Regency Harare The Meikles.
“Management and Staff on the recently seconded General Manager, Jonas Amstad. It’s our belief and conviction that the owner of this Hotel Mr. Ali Albwardy is a genuine, honest investor who should be supported by all means in this enormous investment.
“We stand by His Excellence, The President of the Republic of Zimbabwe in his mantra and his speech on the launch of this new brand to Zimbabwe, the Hyatt Regency.
“Jonas Amstad has proved contrary to what we were deemed to understand prior to the opening of this Hotel through the trainings we went through, especially the
1) Hyatt Purpose
2) its values,
none of these exist in Jonas’s language and we feel betrayed and don’t think what he is doing to management and staff is what the investor wants neither His Excellence.
“Management and staff hereby declare that his character and behaviour cannot be tolerated to continue lest we suffer the consequences as Zimbabwean citizens.
“Jonas Amstad is
1) very racist
2) victimising staff
3) disregard the labour act on leave accruals for staff as enshrined in the labour act
4) openly abuses staff by slurring even in official meetings, repeatedly insulting staff using such words as, stupid, insane, naive, referring to staff as blind and useless
5) calling managers children.
6) Unfair treatment of staff and favouritism with clear racism.”
The letter adds: “As we speak a number of employees have already been rendered redundant and their contracts terminated Some service providers have their contracts lined up for cancellation and imagine these employees too will soon be jobless
“We are strongly against his racist behaviour and militant attitude towards management and staff in a hospitality setup like this.
“We don’t want the nation to think that all is well and rosy by seeing the outside yet there is grieving inside.
“We want his immediate removal from us and be seconded with a properly principled astute manager if at all its necessary, who is not racist but focuses on business, and upholds the Hyatt values.
“We are not resisting changes at all, we are professionals who understand this business, hence the reason why we are here and how this hotel attained its legacy, it was from us.
“Jonas is racist and has a very bad colonial mentality. We cannot build and support the efforts of our investors with such type of people. “SADC conference is around the corner we would like to impress our nations under a conducive work environment not under Jonas’s Stewardship NO.
“We are prepared as management and staff to sit at home during this period and Jonas do it alone.
“Our own general manager is no longer making any decision, was sidelined, our executive chef the same, housekeeping the same all this with disrespect so to speak.
“Due to the high chances of victimisation which is already going on we as management and staff are willing to be interviewed anonymously and put across our grievances, a commission of enquiry whichever way which best exonerate (protects) us from Jonas, is immediately sought for.”
Efforts to get a comment from Amstad were unsuccessful.
