The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] in the Mpumalanga Province notes with shock and disappointment the baseless and unfounded allegations made by the Minister of Employment and Labour in a statement he released on Wednesday September 23, 2020 that there was no occupational health and safety complaints which were referred to his department by NEHAWU in the province as a result of non-compliance to workplace safety measures by various workplaces and employers.

According to our records and the information at our disposal since the beginning of Lockdown in Mach 2020, NEHAWU in the province has referred a total number of 11 cases to the Department of Employment and Labour to the Provincial Chief Inspectorate Office. It must be noted that in all these cases the department acknowledged receipt of such referrals, and only responded to two cases, for MEGA which was responded to on the 06th August 2020 and for Ermelo Hospital which was responded to on the 23rd September 2020 just few hours after the national union had released its media statement. This therefore means that there is a total number of 09 referrals which have not been responded to by the department, despite the follow-ups made by NEHAWU in the province. We are still waiting for the outcomes of the investigations conducted in these institutions as per our referral and we are prepared to provide the Minister with our report in this regard.

Therefore, the allegations made by the Minister that there were no complaints received from NEHAWU Mpumalanga are misleading and as such they are a clear indication that Minister Nxesi does not have a clue of what is happening within his department, especially in Mpumalanga province. We want to advise Minister Nxesi that in the near future he needs to do some thorough research on what is happening in his department before making such unfounded allegations, this will include consulting NEHAWU leadership to get more facts on issues.

Statement issued by NEHAWU Mpumalanga Provincial Secretariat