Trade union UASA has demanded that Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan clarify issues regarding the nonpayment of employees at the State-owned Denel defence industrial group. It has done so by means of a letter to the Minister. Many Denel staff have not received their full pay and benefits since August last year, in spite of rulings by the Labour Court that Denel had to pay them.

In the letter, the union also demanded clarity about the government’s response to the recent application by two other companies for the liquidation of Denel. The companies concerned are Saab Grintek Defence and SME Infratech, and their application is set to be heard in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on October 11.

“In the event that the liquidation applications are granted and Denel is placed in final liquidation this will be the death knell for thousands of jobs followed by the devastating social-economic impact of unemployment,” highlighted UASA spokesperson Abigail Moyo. Consequently, the union was demanding to know if the State was going to oppose the liquidation application, and would Denel’s employees receive, in full, all their outstanding pay and benefits? Further, would Denel receive the same support from the Department of Public Enterprises that other financially-embattled State-owned entities, such as South African Airways, had received?  

“UASA is shocked at how poorly government and Denel have handled the situation despite the very obvious negative effect on the livelihood of workers,” she stressed. “This is not how a government or a [State-owned company] should treat fellow South Africans.”

She pointed out that Denel employees had, for a long time, shown patience, but that the company’s management had “brought nothing to the table”. Now, the group was faced by the threat of liquidation, but had still provided no information on the outstanding salaries that it owed.

“We urge Gordhan to present solutions and a way forward for Denel,” she asserted.

UASA represents nearly 73 000 workers across a range of economic sectors and can trace its ancestry back to 1894. It is a member of the Federation of Trade Unions of South Africa, whose total membership amounts to some 500 000.