NUMSA and SACCA have told the SAHRC that the ‘DPE trampled on the human rights and dignity of workers at SA Express

21 April 2022

The South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) made submissions to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on SA Express. The commission held hearings in Kempton park yesterday to hear from stakeholders as to what were the circumstances surrounding why workers at SA Express were not paid their salaries. SA Express is a state owned entity (SOE) and government is the shareholder. It was placed under business rescue in February 2020 which was before lockdown. Workers have not received a cent since that announcement and they have suffered unbearably as a result. They lost assets, their children were kicked out of school and they lost their homes. Currently SAX is under provisional liquidation.

We told the commission that the actions of the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) under the leadership of Pravin Gordhan the minister, have had a devastating impact on workers – some have died from stress related conditions as a result of not being paid! But what is most painful, is that most of that suffering was unnecessary and could have been avoided. DPE knew about their pain and simply did not care.

The DPE was represented, together with trade unions NUMSA and SACCA, as well as some workers from SA Express who were making representation to the commission about the situation.

Our submission was that the DPE and the minister Pravin Gordhan are directly responsible for the suffering at workers at SA Express because even though the airline was under lockdown and also under business rescue, there were avenues which DPE could have explored to cushion workers in order to prevent them from suffering, but they did not. Below are a few main points we raised with the SAHRC in highlighting this fact.

1.     The DPE has no political will to cushion workers from the suffering caused by the non-payment of salaries. One of the avenues which DPE could have explored was to allow for workers to be placed on the Training Lay of Scheme with the Transport and Education and Training Authority (TETA). This would have allowed workers to earn 75% of their salary whilst undergoing training. NUMSA and SACCA negotiated this arrangement with the TETA and with the CCMA. What was needed was cooperation from the DPE. However, they refused to explore this option. Even the Temporary Employee Relief Scheme monies which were paid by UIF were secured because unions put pressure on the UIF to pay and help workers in distress.

2.     It is suspicious that the sale of SAX has not undergone a parliamentary process. This is a state owned entity after all and yet minister Pravin Gordhan has decided on his own, without bothering to consult parliament or the South African public, that it is an asset which should be disposed of through liquidation. Who gave the minister such powers or authority? Why has SCOPA not intervened in the interests of the South African public to scrutinize this process and demand accountability

3.     The process to find a buyer for SA Express is shrouded in mystery and there is absolute refusal from the DPE to account or explain the process. We have no idea what criteria is being used to determine who the buyer should be, or how much the airline and its assets are worth. All meetings on this process have been held in secret and DPE and the minister will not explain themselves to anyone on this process. The DPE admitted to SAHRC that the valuation was not completed for SAX, but they have rejected several buyers because those buyers did not have enough money to purchase the airline. How can they reject potential buyers when they do not even know how much the airline is worth? Which buyers were rejected and why? These are all questions that DPE and the minister will not answer.

4.     There are more questions than answers on the liquidation of SAX. Workers and unions have been completely left out of the mandatory consultation process which must take place in the liquidation process. Minister Pravin Gordhan has built his reputation on fighting state capture and corruption, and yet what we are seeing before us is a state capture of a different kind, by the DPE itself, and its refusal to be held accountable to any organ of state for its actions. The PFMA section 54 speaks about absolute transparency. Who decided that DPE is exempt from PFMA and therefore exempt from disclosing in full the detail of these transactions? It seems as if the minister is a law unto himself because he will not disclose to anyone and no one is holding him to account.

5.     In the October 2020 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement when Tito Mboweni was still Finance minister, an amount of R144 million was allocated to SAX for the payment of bank guaranteed debt. No monies were allocated to workers, and yet the banks got paid. Government sacrificed workers for the benefit of the banks. This is disgraceful and it is a perfect example of governments priorities. Workers lives do not matter, only the banks interests are paramount.

Workers at Denel are going through the exact same situation as at SA Express. They have also not been paid for months, and DPE is an obstacle to them receiving their pay. At Denel at least two workers committed suicide as a result of stress. How many more people and families must suffer because of Gordhan’s gross negligence and his cold and uncaring attitude?

Under his watch we are witnessing the deliberate destruction of Denel, SA Express, Mango, SAA, and even SAA Technical. At least five SOE’s have crashed and burned under the leadership of Gordhan but seemingly that is not enough for him to be removed, or even for him to account to the public and explain his dismal record. The minister has a Midas touch, except his is poisoned. Everything he touches crumbles. There is devastation and destruction in his wake. What positive progressive achievements have been made under his tenure? We cannot identify any.

NUMSA and SACCA made a call on the SAHRC to act on its mandate and to do the work of holding minister Gordhan to account for trampling on the human rights and dignity of workers at SAX. Workers died because of the ministers’ selfish actions. He should not be allowed to get away with deliberately inflicting suffering when he has the power to prevent it. Workers were casualties of mismanagement and corruption and he had the power to alleviate their pain, but chose not to. Section 2 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) explicitly states that the object of the act is to secure ‘transparency’ and section 54 deals with the disposal of assets. Gordhan has allowed hitmen in the form of liquidators to dispose of state assets with parliament doing no oversight. We demand a public hearing into the collapse of SAX and all other SOE’s under the leadership of Gordhan.

Since 1994 there has never been a minister with such a destructive track record of job losses like Gordhan:

-  3200 jobs lost at SAA

-  1300 jobs lost at SAX

-  1800 jobs lost at SAA Technical

-  703 jobs lost at Mango

-  3137 jobs on the line at Denel

The SAHRC will be convening a new round of hearings in two weeks’ time. Hopefully minister Gordhan will be there in person to explain himself for his reprehensible, unforgivable actions.

This statement was issued on behalf of SACCA and NUMSA.

Aluta continua!

The struggle continues!

Issued by Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, National Spokesperson, NUMSA, 21 April 2022