By Boipelo Mere
The hungry and dismissed workers of Ekapa mine marched to the Ekapa offices at York Street on Wednesday, 10 December, to hand over a memorandum, demanding reinstatement as stipulated in the layoff letter and for the company to get its house in order.
Under SAPS supervision, the dismissed workers staged a peaceful picket before handing over their memorandum. This is the group that went on strike in October, after entering the third month with little or no salaries.
They were dismissed earlier in November after the mine’s court victory.
The mine is accused of toying with the lives of vulnerable people of Kimberley by dismissing them while they were waiting for their TERS applications.
The workers are frustrated by a possible black Christmas, while Ekapa is unable to commit to a time frame of when they will get paid or whether the application will be successful.
Their frustrations were instead met with threats of disciplinary processes, and dismissals for participating in an unlawful strike.
The employees claim that they are victimised, bullied, and are expected to grovel for their hard-earned money owed to them for years.
Out of concern of losing their benefits, they want the employer to change their dismissal letters to that of retrenchment.
They stipulated in the memorandum that they were not given a notice in time for the layoff, which disadvantaged them financially.
Their demands include: pending salaries, banked funds, and their annual increases to be backdated.
Adding to their woes, the dismissed workers dread the risk of forfeiting their salaries, including the TERS benefits, which the company has applied for on their behalf, if they do not get reinstated.
Ekapa mine expected the workers to remain on layoff until it receives a response to the pending TERS application, which is not guaranteed.
The workers said they are on the verge of losing their houses and cars, which they have not been paying for three months already.
The mine is still waiting for feedback from the CCMA as the process has been delayed pending the CCMA’s request for additional information.
Ekapa Manager Howard Marsden confirmed that the employees were subjected to disciplinary action in line with the Company’s policy, which subsequently resulted in misconduct dismissals.
According to Marsden, the company has been experiencing prolonged financial challenges due to the sustained downturn in the diamond market, worsened by the imposition of the 50% Trump Tariffs on India.
He said they have engaged in consultations with unions and submitted an application to the CCMA for TERS relief, which was duly endorsed by both unions by signing an agreement to this effect.
The Manager pointed out that the company regarded the strike as unprotected, and added that various warning processes, including ultimatums to cease or face disciplinary action, were disregarded by the trade Union Numsa.
NUMSA is accused of encouraging the employees to continue with the strike.
“Public disorder and violence experienced during the unprotected strike compelled the company to apply for an urgent interdict at the High Court. The interim court order, which was made a Final Court Order with costs, was issued in favour of the Company,” said Marsden.
Numsa, however, sang a different tune and said the strike was protected as the workers had the right to express their dissatisfactions through the strike.
Numsa representative Lerato Mahatlane explained that the company did not act in the interest of the workers, nor embark on the Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act(LRA).
He said the layoff notices were supposed to be sent with the consent of the union so that the workers were already prepared, a rule which the employer did ignored.
Marsden elaborated that TERS is provided to employers and employees in distress for a period not exceeding 12 months.
“It is administered by the CCMA, which ensures compliance until the adjudication stage and once approved, the UIF is responsible for processing declarations and payment of the TERS allowance.
“It benefits employers and employees in companies facing distress and enables the retention of employment. This gives companies an opportunity to recover and then to re-absorb employees on layoff into ordinary work at the end of TERS,” he explained.
He added that companies must also present a turnaround plan to the CCMA Committee (SAC).
“This is paid to the Company to pay to the employees through its payroll system. The approval of a TERS application does not nullify a dismissal for misconduct, as this is not the purpose of TERS. In other words, an employee dismissed for misconduct does not have a right to re-employment should TERS be approved,” highlighted Marsden.
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