{"id":1136,"date":"2020-03-14T11:14:39","date_gmt":"2020-03-14T09:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marxistworkersparty.org.za\/?p=1136"},"modified":"2020-03-14T13:59:23","modified_gmt":"2020-03-14T11:59:23","slug":"epwp-bulletin-8-did-humiliated-in-labour-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/?p=1136","title":{"rendered":"EPWP BULLETIN #8: DID Humiliated in Labour Court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Agreement in Place for Negotiations but Workers Must Remain on High\nAlert<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On 9 and 10 March EPWP workers\nprotested in Johannesburg and Pretoria outside offices of the Department of\nInfrastructure Development (DID). Outside the DID\u2019s Corner House head office in\nJohannesburg workers refused to leave until they got clear answers from\nmanagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protests were sparked when the DID sent an SMS to all EPWP workers informing them that their contracts were ending. From 31 March they would be out on the streets. This was a deliberate provocation by the DID.\u00a0 There had been several attempts by workers to communicate with the department. This included the 12-13 February march and night-vigil at Union Buildings. Everything was arrogantly ignored (see Bulletin No. 7<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After being ignored for months\nthe protests forced management to sit down with workers. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT STEP FORWARD.<\/strong> In these meetings management ADMITTED<\/strong> that they have mishandled the\nEPWP programme. They also ADMITTED<\/strong>\nthat they had created an issue of \u201cnatural justice\u201d \u2013 in other words, workers\nhave been on the programme for so long (since 2013!) they have a legitimate\nexpectation of a permanent job. CORRECT!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DID seems to have no clear\nleadership. Several different managers took part in meetings with workers at\ndifferent times. Nevertheless, management agreed to hold a formal meeting with\nEPWP workers\u2019 representative at 10h00 on Monday 16 March. At this meeting it\nwas agreed that all the EPWP workers issues will be discussed. With this\nagreement workers agreed to suspend the protest action to allow this meeting to\ntake place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers must remain on high alert\nhowever. The behaviour of the DID management since the protest was suspended puts\na massive question mark over their intentions. They continue to undermine any\ntrust in their good faith\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Summoned to Court<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours AFTER<\/strong> the protest had ENDED<\/strong>,\nthe Marxist Workers Party, along with the EPWP Workers Forum, Saftu and Nupsaw\nwere served with court papers summoning us to the Johannesburg Labour Court the\nnext day. Executive Mukwevo, EPWP Forum Provincial Co-ordinator and Executive\nCommittee member of the MWP, alongside Joseph Mabaso, EPWP Forum Chairperson,\nwere even named in the papers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who was the applicant? The DID!<\/strong> The DID was seeking an\ninterdict (a restraining order) against the EPWP workers\u2019 protest at Corner\nHouse. This is the same protest which no longer existed because we had reached\nan agreement with the DID management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unbelievably the DID was also\nseeking a cost award against the EPWP workers! In other words, the DID wanted\nthe EPWP workers to pay the bill for the DID\u2019s lawyers. These are the same EPWP\nworkers that the DID has treated like slaves for years, paid less than the\nnational minimum wage, and now dismissed with an SMS. Where was the DID expecting\nworkers to find the money? What sort of sadistic thrill were DID managers\nlooking for by demanding that the EPWP workers pay the wages of lawyers trying\nto use the courts to suppress their right to protest? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SHAME ON THE STATE ATTORNEY\u2019S OFFICE FOR TAKING THE CASE! <\/strong>Yet\nagain, the ANC is using its control of the capitalist state to oppress the\nworking class. This is one of the cruellest and most vindictive moves we have\nseen from an employer in a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Masabata Mutlaneng<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018star witness\u2019 in the court\napplication was Ms. Masabata Mutlaneng, the Deputy Director General for\nCorporate Services at the DID. She submitted a lengthy affidavit (sworn\nstatement). Was it about the issues the workers face? No. Was it about her\nresponsibilities in regards to those issues as a senior manager? No. Was it\nabout how she intends to resolve the issues? NO!<\/strong> It was all about herself and how upset she was that workers had\nprotested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us have a look at some of the things Masabata had to say in her\naffidavit:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the person in charge of the programme, I attempted to address the\ncrowds who had gathered in front of our head office. It was during this time\nthat I experienced insults from the crowd, which were directed at me and I was\nrudely manhandled. I feared for my life\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She goes on:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was held hostage and told that I would not be allowed to leave for\nhome, and that I would spend the 24-hour at the office while the beneficiaries\nwere awaiting the response from the applicant [the DID]. This made me feel\nextremely helpless and vulnerable\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did Masabata find time to\nwrite this self-pitying nonsense? Are\nchildren running the DID?<\/strong> She has time for this but could not find time in\nnearly one whole month to respond to the EPWP Forum\u2019s memorandum? Masabata\nreflects the entitled outlook of the fat cat managers around her and the\narrogant attitude of the ANC politicians who hired her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know the \u2018incident\u2019 Masabata\nis talking about. Her life was never in any danger! Afterwards, she spent the\nrest of the day in meetings with the very same people. Please be careful,\nMasabata \u2013 lying and exaggerating to a court is a very serious offense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But can Masabata be surprised\nthat workers may have wanted to insult her given the way she and the DID have\ntreated them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does she not appreciate that\n5,000 workers and their families fear for\nTHEIR <\/strong>lives because of her, the DID and the ANC-run Gauteng Province? If\nthe EPWP contracts are terminated how will workers feed themselves and their\nfamilies? How will they clothe them? How will they pay rent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Masabata receives a salary of\naround R700,000 per year (as much as 30+ EPWP workers). We are sure that she\nlives in a very nice house because she was very upset and not being \u201callowed to\nleave for home\u201d. Does she not appreciate that she, the DID and the ANC-run\nGauteng Province are taking the roof from over the heads of thousands of\nworkers whilst they live in comfort?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does Masabata not think that the\ndecision by her, the DID and the ANC-run Gauteng Province to IGNORE<\/strong> all attempts at communication\nfrom the EPWP workers made the workers feel \u201chelpless and vulnerable\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wake up Masabata! You reap what you sow! Now start behaving like an\nadult.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Our Day in Court<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To our astonishment the DID\nproceeded with its case in the Labour Court on 11 March. If the agreement\nreached with EPWP workers to end the protest was made in good faith they should\nhave withdrawn the case. That they did not do this is a major warning to\nworkers. However, the DID was soon made to regret going ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judge was NOT<\/strong> impressed with the DID\u2019s case. She\nwas unhappy that the DID\u2019s lawyers had not followed the Labour Court\u2019s rules,\nwhich they should be well aware of. They were meant to give 48-hours\u2019 notice\nand properly identify the respondents (i.e. the workers) but they did not. The\njudge complained that she was being asked to interdict faceless individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like us, the judge could not\nunderstand why the DID was seeking an interdict when an AGREEMENT<\/strong> for negotiations was now in place between the department\nand the workers and the protest had ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was over the status of\nEPWP workers where the DID nearly dug its own grave. At the very heart of this\nstruggle is the issue of whether or not EPWP workers are EMPLOYEES<\/strong> of the department. The DID denies this and calls workers\n\u2018participants\u2019, pays them \u2018stipends\u2019 instead of salaries, exempts them from\nlabour legislation etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here were the DID\u2019s lawyers\ntrying to use the Labour Court, which deals exclusively with relations BETWEEN EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES,<\/strong> to\ntake action against the EPWP workers they REFUSE\nTO RECOGNISE<\/strong> as employees. The DID looked like complete fools! The judge\nadvised them that they were in the wrong court. If the DID wanted to go ahead\nwith the case it would need to change its story about the status of the EPWP\nworkers and recognise them as their employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faced with this choice the\nhumiliated DID WITHDREW<\/strong> its case.\nWhat a blunder! They nearly sleep-walked into admitting what is obvious to\neveryone else: EPWP workers are EMPLOYEES<\/strong>\nof the DID and therefore entitled to PERMANENT\nJOBS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had a victory in the Labour\nCourt but mass mobilisation and militant action remains the key to winning permanent\njobs and R12,500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers should take courage from another of Masabata\u2019s affidavit\nconfessions. She pleaded that:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny shutdown to the Department will have catastrophic consequences to\nthe running and provision of government services in the Province. This includes\nall the Government Departments in the Province.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EPWP workers have the power\nin the workplace! We already know they are willing to use it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All eyes are now on Monday\u2019s meeting with the department. If there is no\nresolution workers will take to the streets again\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 9 and 10 March EPWP workers protested in Johannesburg and Pretoria outside offices of the Department of Infrastructure Development. In Johannesburg workers refused to leave until they got clear answers from management…<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1132,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-epwp","category-workplace-struggle"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1136"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1138,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136\/revisions\/1138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}