“ZIMBABWEAN men in the UK have graduated into lazy benefit seekers content to stay in council houses with no zeal to develop their lives,” laments one Angela.
“Most of them have turned into a gossiping jealous pack that will do anything to bring down any hardworking Zimbabwean. Many Zimbabwean men are now spending most of their time chasing women or loafing around.
“These men have a false sense of pride which makes them picky when it comes to jobs. We are sick and tired of men in their prime who exit the work force and then choose not to renter it, preferring to sleep, read novels, re-mortgage their homes and mooch off their families, insisting they will not do jobs ‘beneath’ them.”
Sophia Murandu, a Zimbabwean nurse in Luton, also has a word or two on the issue: “Zimbabwean men have developed a repulsive habit, one of siphoning money from the ladies and scheming more ways to ‘steal’ from hardworking women.”
The situation is pathetic, with some Zimbabwean men now resorting to crime just because they are lazy to work.
According to a June 2016 report from The Foreign Labour Statistics: “The total unemployment rate for adult men increases once they become eligible for public funds.”
The statistics indicate that about 13 percent of Zimbabwean men, between 30 and 55, in the UK are not working, up from five percent in 2008.
The difference represents men who would be working today if the employment zeal had remained where it was in the 2005 when Zimbabwean migration was at its peak.
“The wisdom of Zimbabwean men in the UK escapes me; last I checked, the number of men lined up to take benefits and clamouring for council housing was alarming (sic),” said Debra Sipambi.
“Jobs are plenty but Zimbabwean men do not want to stand up and be counted. Most have formed churches and some are busy generating scandalous facebook pages and chasing after women,” moaned Pamhidzai Garande of Dunstable.
Washington Chihota of Corby said: “Zimbabwean men in the UK have become lazy and a bad example to their children.”
Regina Kumunda, a care assistant in Luton, said: “Most Zimbabwean men do not even want to buy houses in the UK. If you point out friends who have bought houses and are doing well for themselves, all these men do is lambast and accuse you of being a materialistic pig.”
However, some men beg to differ and claim that the job circuit favours women more than men.
Ngoni Midzi of London angrily retorted: “Based on ‘nonsensical’ premise, inconclusive research and hollow conclusions, the assertion by women is yet another inflammatory cheap shot at the men’s movement, drawing flimsy conclusions supported by non-existent evidence (sic).”
Abide Shumba, a businessman from Leicester, said men were being squeezed out from the work force in droves.
“Men are discriminated against, most jobs which do not need qualifications in the UK prefer women. For instance, clients in care homes prefer to be attended to by a woman rather than a man and employers readily employ women for all care giving jobs. Men will be taken only where manual work is needed,” said Shumba.
“This has led to men being marginalised and it ends up looking as if men are lazy and picky when it comes to jobs.”
Millicent from Northampton said: “The men singled out as lazy are those who once had good jobs in Zimbabwe but have failed to adjust to the new regime in the UK.”
To keep up appearances, some men in the UK are now known for bragging in new cars which they hire for the purpose of showing off. Most women have now resorted to claiming maintenance to force the ‘lazy’ men to feed their children.
Makanaka Shava, a council employee in Leeds, said: “Many Zimbabwean men are an embarrassment; all they do is buy new cars on hire purchase, show off on the latest cars and fashion. They do not even think about where they sleep. Some men are flashy out there but sleep in offices or rent a room.”
Alfred Matombo insisted that men are not lazy but that the “…few women fortunate enough to get good jobs and those overworking themselves are the ones labelling all men lazy.”
Law practitioner Justin Mbende weighed in on the debate: “Rather than simply heaping blame on the men, perhaps our energies would be better spent examining the root of the problem. These men were either trained for jobs that have become obsolete, or branded with a criminal record that slashes their chances of obtaining gainful employment.
“Technological advances, not women, have taken the place of blue collar labour, while economic shifts since the tech boom have led to heightened job insecurity among white collar workers, both male and female. Attitudes about work are shifting, with the notion of permanent employment becoming a distant memory. Maybe, instead of pointing fingers at imaginary gender-induced trends, we should pay greater attention to the social disenchantment and value shifts,” said Mbende.
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