Desperate workers say the CCMA is failing them Covid-19 and budget cuts have combined to create a nightmare for those seeking help with cases of unfair dismissal or suspension, which have risen because of the pandemic’s economic effects Magnificent Mndebele > By Magnificent Mndebele - 01 May 2021 - 10:00 Unemployed artisans advertise their skills. File image. Image: Thapelo Morebudi/Sunday Times
Covid-19 and the dire financial state of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) have left workers vulnerable to unfair dismissals and con artists who try to exploit them.
Because of health safety measures and budget cuts, the CCMA has closed walk-in facilities at its offices and workers say there are also fewer part-time commissioners available to handle their disputes. Some also complain that commissioners do not act in workers’ interests.
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How Dolly Mokgatle freed citrus estate workers from slave labour Mathatha Tsedu > By Mathatha Tsedu - 13 January 2021 - 09:26
Former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke, in his first book, My Own Liberator, writes on pages 242 and 243 about a 1989 strike by workers at Zebediela Citrus Estate outside Polokwane in Limpopo, whom he defended with two other advocates, instructed by the Black Lawyers Association’s (BLA) Legal Education Centre (LEC).
“The citrus produce was exported to Europe under the brand name Outspan. The working conditions on the citrus farms were horrendous and the wages were a pittance. The workers balloted for a strike and downed tools. Management, shocked by their impertinence and their ingratitude, fired several hundred workers summarily.