NEHAWU SHOCKED AT ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION AND MONEY LAUNDERING AT BOSASA
Friday January 18, 2019
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] has been following the proceedings at the Commission of Enquiry into State Capture and is shocked at the ongoing allegations of corruption and money laundering that have taken place at BOSASA which now operates as African Global.
NEHAWU is organising members who are mostly Social Service Professionals in Bosasa Youth Development Centres (YDC) nationally and hearing the testimony of former Chief Operations Officer, Mr Angelo Agrizzi, revealing allegations of corruption and money laundering is seriously concerned about the plight and job security of its members as well as at the Airport Company South Africa [ACSA] which has also been heavily implicated in the testimony by Mr Agrizzi.
There are currently 10 Bosasa Youth Development Centre facilities throughout the country which provides service to children and youth in conflict with the law, a service which is the sole responsibility of the Department of Social Development but currently outsourced to BOSASA through awarding and extending mid- term contracts. Needless to say that BOSASAS holds monopoly over the provision of this particular outsourced service. The video which shows the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Gavin Watson, counting millions of rands in a vault that is alleged to be keeping “monopoly money” is but an insult to workers and our members more so because they have been earning less than what their department counterparts are earning.
The national union has been at the forefront of fighting for better working conditions of our members at BOSASA through the BOSASA YDC Bargaining Forum where improvement of wages and other substantive conditions of employment are negotiated. The union had to refer a dispute to CCMA on matters of mutual interest during the 2017/18 wage negotiations as a result of a deadlock with BOSASA management who pleaded poverty and unaffordability of our reasonable demands at the time.
A settlement agreement was reached at arbitration of the same dispute after NEHAWU fought for workers to be paid what they deserve. Currently, negotiations for 2018/19 wages and substantive matters have reached a deadlock and NEHAWU is intending to declare a dispute at CCMA as a result of the same BOSASA tactics of pleading poverty and unaffordability of our reasonable demands yet there are allegations of stashing millions in one of the vaults in their offices which needs to be investigated.
The implication of Department of Social Development in these serious allegations cannot be ignored since it has been our longstanding demand that all outsourced services to BOSASA YDC be insourced into the department of Social Development as a custodian of Child and Youth Care. We are currently sitting with 84 workers in Mafikeng, North West who are currently unemployed due to the termination of their employment in March 2018 as a result of false promises by the North West Provincial Department of Social Development who initially had undertaken to insource all services outsourced to BOSASA by September 2017 but later extended the BOSASA contracts which led to one facility being shut down leaving the 84 workers out in the cold.
The union has been demanding to know progress on the insourcing of the Mafikeng 84 as per the recommendations of the joint National Task Team on Insourcing of Bosasa YDC, to no avail. The allegations by Mr Agrizzi suggest that there was a deliberate collusion of BOSASA and departmental staff to ensure that the contracts are extended irrespective of due processes and the needs of our people.
As NEHAWU, we call upon the Minister of Social Development to urgently implement the recommendations of the National Task Team on insourcing of BOSASA YDC where Mafikeng 84 workers are concerned and immediately conduct a forensic investigation into allegations of corruption and money laundering on the awarding and extension of all BOSASA YDC contracts. The union will continue the fight for the insourcing of all outsourced services to BOSASA as per the settlement agreement post the Social Development Nationwide strike in 2017 into the department with immediate effect, failing which will result into a serious mobilisation against the Minister and the department.
ACSA
The national union is flabbergasted to note the implication of senior ACSA managers in the testimony of Mr Agrizzi at the Chief Deputy Justice Commission. In this regard, we are calling for the full investigation the allegations against Mr Jason Tshabalala, Group Executive Head of Security of six regional and three international Airports, and Mohamed Bashir, who is the second-in-charge while the two are immediately suspended to give space for the investigation. The three International Airports namely; O R Tambo International, Cape Town International and King Shaka International Airports are National Key points and under no circumstances should the security of these Airports be compromised by having dubious Senior Managers at their helm.
As a result of the allegations made against them the union is no longer having confidence in these managers hence we are demanding an immediate investigation into all security and other tenders related matters at ACSA including lifestyle audits as a matter of urgency on all ACSA senior employees to root-out these corrupt tendencies.
The national union remains steadfast in its call for the insourcing of all outsourced functions and services at ACSA. Moreover, tenders that were awarded in a corrupt manner must be halted with immediate effect. NEHAWU will intensify its call for all State Owned Entities [SOE’s] employees including those at ACSA to undergo a vetting verification process to avoid appointing corrupt individuals.
Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat, 18 January 2019
