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The Citizen reports on the mass dismissal of hundreds of outsourced workers at Eskom’s Kusile power station in Mpumalanga after protests threatened operations at the station.
According to a community group calling itself the Waya Waya Community Movement, 500 workers employed by a company contracted by Eskom to provide security personnel were fired after continuous protests over unpaid wages. Eskom has disputed the number, saying “less than 400” protested. The group claimed that wage delays were caused by Kusile which, according to them, had for the past eight months been struggling to pay the company, Hlanganani, on time. This resulted in late payments and eventually no salaries. According to Eskom, the contract has since been terminated, but the community group has demanded that the workers be absorbed by Eskom, claiming it was the utility’s fault they were fired. Eskom spokesperson Dikatso Mothae said the utility could neither confirm nor deny whether Eskom failed to pay the company on time numerous times, but he indicated that the matter between Eskom and Hlanganani was in the courts. According to Mothae, the numerous times Hlanganani security guards went on strike made it impossible for the site to operate optimally. The company and its employees had entered into a peace accord before it was apparently violated by the workers going on strike again this month.
- Read the full original of Simnikiwe Hlatshaneni’s report on this story at The Citizen
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page