Submitted to AMAP

• 8 September 2025
  Field statementFrom a civil society activist who spoke with the area Member of Parliament, the local traditional leadership and two affected former workers. It reports that workers signed compensation agreements without receiving copies, and that support is inadequate.
• August 2025
  Photographs and videoRecorded by AMAP’s Senior Programmes Officer in Zambia. Two former workers describing their condition, medicines and compensation. One has accepted a company-built house; the other has declined it.
• Company and authorities
  No responses yetResponses were requested by 16 October 2026. Earlier public statements are listed under Responses and updates.

Assessment so far

• EstablishedThe government found blood manganese above normal in 271 of 281 SAFAL workers tested, linked the exposure to a concentrate used in 2022, and reported 28 workers with symptoms. ZEMA seized the concentrate in 2023. Compensation payments and company-built houses followed.
• Disputed or unresolvedThe number now severely affected (28 by the government’s count, 35 by CEJ’s); whether anything other than manganese dust was involved; the adequacy of protective equipment before 2022; the terms of the compensation agreements and how they were signed; and the findings of the joint inspection.
• Outside AMAP’s roleMaking medical findings, determining legal responsibility, or deciding the compensation owed.

What would help clarify: the joint inspection report, follow-up medical surveillance results, copies of the compensation agreements, and the Workers’ Compensation Fund’s assessments.

Published records

• 5 Jun 2026 · Human Rights WatchLatest
  World Environment Day: Zambia’s mining pollution victims need justice Reports: workers at a foreign-owned manganese plant in the Kanona area of Serenje have serious, long-term health problems from manganese exposure; the company has reportedly offered housing to some, and concerns about pollution and worker protection remain unresolved. Coverage: does not name the company.
• 30 Apr 2026 · Resource Justice Network / PWYP ZambiaLatest
  Serenje’s toxic legacy: why Zambia’s mineral wealth must come with justice Reports: describes 271 workers poisoned since 2022, 28 with lasting harm, and abandoned manganese ore still exposed. In November 2025, civil society organised a visit by MPs, the Ministry of Mines and ZEMA; a parliamentary resolution was being sought. Coverage: an advocacy article; the outcome of the proposed resolution is not reported.
• 1 May 2025 · MakanDayCompensation
  Justice in Bricks: SAFAL to build homes for ailing ex-workers Reports: the Muchinga MP says 24 of 27 patients chose company-built houses, 2 chose legal action and 1 is undecided; 16 accepted K10,000 for land, and each house is estimated at K110,000–115,000. Patients are enrolled in the Social Cash Transfer programme. Coverage: the MP’s account; no SAFAL statement is included.
• 2024 · MakanDayCompensation
  Ex-Indian-owned manganese mine employees receive meagre compensation Reports: Workers’ Compensation Fund payments of K120–K670 a month began in April 2024, against former salaries of about K2,400–2,900; retests at Serenje Hospital gave much lower disability ratings than earlier tests at UTH. SAFAL’s director said the company ‘will follow the law’. Coverage: workers’ and the company’s accounts; the Fund did not respond to MakanDay.
• 30 Nov 2024 · Zambia MonitorCivil society
  CEJ tackles Southern Africa Ferro Alloys for alleged health violations, demands workers’ compensation Reports: CEJ cites 35 workers with severe health problems and more than 271 exposed, and calls for compensation, clean-up, evacuation of critically ill workers for treatment, workers’ access to their medical reports, and suspension of SAFAL until it complies. Coverage: CEJ’s figures and demands.
• 2023 · TRT AfrikaWorkers’ accounts
  Price of jobs in Zambian manganese mine: Parkinson’s-like brain damage Reports: close to 20 workers diagnosed with a Parkinson’s-like condition; former workers say SAFAL switched from manganese balls to powder, reportedly for lack of cement, and that only disposable or washable masks were issued from 2014 to 2021. The plant manager said the company needed to know whether workers had the illness before they were employed. Coverage: workers’ allegations and the company’s response.
• 17 Mar 2023 · Zambia MonitorRegulator
  ZEMA seizes manganese concentrate suspected in occupational disease Reports: ZEMA, which had stopped SAFAL using and stockpiling the concentrate in November 2022, formally seized it at the Kanona plant and ordered it returned to its source in Kabwe. Coverage: ZEMA’s action; the plant itself was not closed.
• 15 Mar 2023 · Lusaka TimesSame figures
  Manganese poisons 299 workers in Serenje Reports: reports the government’s figures of 281 workers tested and 271 with elevated blood manganese. Coverage: the figure of 299 appears only in the headline; the article’s own figures are 281 and 271.
• 12 Mar 2023 · Centre for Environment JusticeCivil society
  A summary report on manganese poisoning in Serenje District Reports: CEJ’s summary of the government findings and of its own work with affected workers. Coverage: CEJ’s report; see also its release.
• 9 Mar 2023 · National Assembly of ZambiaOfficial
  Oral answer on manganese poisoning at SAFAL (Hansard) Reports: the Minister of Labour, answering for the Minister of Health, said the government responded to an alert on 20 September 2022; a fine manganese concentrate from San He Mining Limited of Kabwe, used between March and September 2022, produced high dust during smelting; 271 of 281 employees tested (96.4%) had blood manganese above normal; 28 had symptoms and no deaths had been linked. Sourcing of the concentrate was suspended and a joint inspection team set up. Coverage: the official statement; penalties were to follow the joint committee’s work.
• 2023 · MakanDayWorkers’ accounts
  Manganese mining fuelling Parkinson-like disease Reports: close to 20 workers diagnosed, 18 confirmed by the company; the plant manager said SAFAL was paying full salaries pending hospital findings, and denied that the illness was caused by manganese exposure. Coverage: workers’ and the company’s early accounts.
• 1 Mar 2023 · Africa-PressCivil society
  Strange ‘shaking’ illness hits Serenje Reports: CEJ said 35 people at the plant were shaking continuously, suspected a chemical used to raise the ore’s grade, and called for evacuation of the worst affected for treatment. Coverage: CEJ’s early account; the chemical-additive theory has not been confirmed by any official finding.