The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) is taking a stand against government’s alleged failure to appoint “suitably qualified, accountable, responsible and responsive” management at some of South Africa’s vital parastatals.

A Section 77 Protest Action Notice has been lodged with the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) to compel the targeted State-owned enterprises (SoEs) to undergo an independent forensic audit of all board and procurement activities over the past five years and open unhindered access for recognised unions to internal and external audit reports of the past three financial years.

Stayaways, go-slows, complete cessation of work and organised protest action, intermittent work stoppages or the refusal to perform overtime, or work on public holidays and Sundays will be the order of the day at the targeted companies pending the appointment of an independent forensic auditor within three months, Fedusa general secretary Dennis George said in a statement on Monday.

The SoEs, which include national airliner South African Airways (SAA), power utility Eskom, military electronics company Denel and public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, employ members of major Fedusa affiliates, such as the Airlines Pilots Association South Africa and Uasa.

Majority government-owned telecommunications giant Telkom is also included in the submitted notice.

“Fedusa’s protest action will be specifically targeted at those individuals who serve on the executive management of these parastatals, on their boards and those that serve on board subcommittees such as finance, audit and procurement committees,” said George.

The progressive decline into a state of “dysfunction and maladministration”, with continuous multibillion-rand bailouts and government guarantees placing financial strain on the fiscus, was negatively impacting the terms and conditions of employment, safety in the workplace and the job security of its members, he claimed.

Fedusa also demanded accountability and internal disciplinary processes and criminal charges where audit reports are found to be qualified or point to noncompliance with procedures and protocols, as well as the appointment of union representatives as nonexecutive board members at the SoEs.

“We also want to see the establishment of an independent whistle-blowers ombudsman office at all SoEs who will be appointed by the social partners at Nedlac,” George added.

Fedusa said Nedlac had formally acknowledged receipt of the Section 77 notice and was expected to revert to the union federation early this week in terms of clarifying its protocols on the way forward.

Fedusa said the notice had been copied to the offices of President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters and the CEOs of SAA, South African Express, Denel, Eskom and Telkom.