About 80 disgruntled staff members working for a Pinetown-based company, Yesman, downed their tools on Monday, 21 June, in an effort to get answers from their employer, Dane Logie, who they claimed mishandled their Covid-TERS funds during the months of hard lockdown.
Covid-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (Covid-19 TERS) was established to assist employees who lost income during the lockdown period. Yesman is a manufacturing business of international credibility with products utilised by the worldís leading brands. Logie confirmed that there are issues regarding Covid-TERS payments, stating that on Monday morning when he arrived at work in the clothing division in Pinetown, the staff were initially locked out by a man claiming to be from the KZN Business Forum, AmaDela Ngokubona. ìWe have still not seen any identification or formal accreditation of the representative who claimed to be from this organisation and uncertain whether it has legitimate affiliation with this group. The individual who has yet to identify himself to us, chained the gates of the operation after unsuccessfully attempting to bolt the gates at the other division just a few kilometres away. We are uncertain whether he was approached by some of our staff members or whether he approached them, in order to contend the issue of TERS payment,î said Logie.
He said the company is fully and incredibly aware what an emotive issue this currently is and has heard of fraudulent activity in this regard of TERS funds by employers on media platforms, however dismissed that the same is happening in his company. ìThis is not what has taken place here. We are also aware that this issue is both simple, and in many ways, extremely complex. We have attempted, on numerous occasions, to communicate clearly with the staff members how the TERS payment works. We have had several internal meetings with union representatives and with other staff members or groups thereof since we have an open-door policy at Yesman. When certain staff were still dissatisfied with the outcome of these discussions, we asked the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU), which they are all members of, to explain the scenario to them as well,î Logie added.
Logie said since the issue was causing some tension on the factory floor, they asked the Department of Labour to speak to the workers and provided the staff with the labour departmentís numbers. ìWhile these meetings certainly clarified the TERS issue for most of the staff, a certain group of staff were still dissatisfied. They approached a political party which we met with informally outside one of our divisions in order to attempt to explain to them again that the TERS payment is not a bonus. We have tremendous empathy for the staff who are now protesting. They are being mislead by a opportunistic charlatan that thrives in the chaos and desperation of economic recession. Their contention is that the company has stolen their money since when they enter their identity numbers online, what is recorded is not what was paid to them. This is simply untrue. They believe they are owed the money which was already been paid to them. They were paid in full, and advanced the TERS payment, which is apparent on their payslips,î Logie said. The staff members claimed to have proof that the employer mishandled the funds and have printed statements showing that they were not paid the expected amounts due to them. ìThe employer says we must apply for the Covid Relief Grants, R350, if they feel some money is owed to us. That is very disturbing for us as we have been working and making sure that production is continuing,î said one of the employees who remained anonymous.
An employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he claimed he fears victimisation, said: ìOur employer is disrespectful. He says the money he claimed from the Covid-TERS funding was to assist the company and not for us. How is that possible? The union is handling the matter in his favour and that is why we sought alternative help from Amadela Ngokubona SA Business Forum.î Logie emphasised that what the staff was expecting and hoping for is a TERS ìbonusî.
“We have explained to them that the TERS payment was never intended to be a bonus payment that is collected on top of their normal wages. Nevertheless, they are insistent and hopeful. We have also explained that even if we had claimed incorrectly, in this scenario we would be liable to pay back the receiver of revenue and not the staff members. This rhetoric, which creates a divide between employees and employers is being spewed by opportunistic groups all over industrial Durban. They are creating tension in an already-tense labour market. A small group of the staff are upset and angry as a result of this misinformation,î Logie added. He further stated that Yesman is one of 90 companies selected randomly to be audited by South African Revenue Service (SARS).
“SARS and their audit team spent four days in our boardroom evaluating our TERS claims and interviewing our staff. We gave the team all of the documentation they requested without hesitation, since we have absolutely nothing to be concerned about. We were asked to provide written documentation with an explanation, which we once again provided without hesitation. We were extensively analysed and our TERS claims were audited and passed by SARS. We feel the truth is important and that we shouldnít be lumped in with those who have fraudulently failed to pay over TERS claims to their staff. This is defamatory and utterly untrue in our case.î Logie said the situation is extremely frustrating and is affecting business since it has been going on for over three days now with workers being locked out by the Amadela Ngokubona representative and unfortunately the business has to make decisions in order to protect all of its group employees, who the representative is attempting to intimidate into joining the protest and join the farce they believe is real.
ìSo far, the staff members from the other divisions have refused to join them. What is happening here is really sad. We at Yesman are extremely proud of our working environment and our relationship with our staff. We have been advised by our clients and our employees that our working environment and conditions are the best they have ever experienced. This situation is defamatory to the good standing reputation of a 28-year-old business,” Logie added. Dela Ngokubona SA Business Forum Durban South chair, Thabani Simelani, said: “We are assisting the employees at Yesman as they are seeking answers on concerns raised with regards to their Covid-TERS funds. The employer is not taking us seriously as they believe that we do not have the authority to intervene. We have approached him, however he is giving us a run-around.î A SACTWU representative, Patrick Vundla dismissed the claims made by the staff that the union is working against them. ìThis is not true. Please contact the shop stewards,î said Vundla.
