BARBERTON – Sappi Lomati renders an essential service and will continue to operate during the lockdown period.
Employees at the sawmill were up in arms last week over it being declared an essential service.
Last Friday morning, workers picketed outside the gates, demanding to know whether they should return for their
scheduled shifts or stay at home. This after they had been issued letters identifying the workers as providing an essential service during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Elsabé Coetzee, Sappi’s regional communications manager, said, “Sappi Southern Africa was identified as an essential service as designated by the government in accordance with Annexure B: categorisation of essential goods and services during lockdown, Regulation 11A, of the Disaster Management Act 2002: Amendment of regulations issued in terms of section 27(2), number R398 on March 25 by the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, as per Government Gazette no. 43148.
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“Accordingly, CIPC has granted the company a certificate of approval to maintain its operations, that will contribute
to keeping the nation healthy, safe and secure in these extraordinary conditions.”
The workers, led by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union’s (Amcu) educational desk representative, Peter Nxumalo, dismissed these claims.
“After having received the letters, the workers went to the police station to question their veracity and were told that
the letter was not valid,” said Nxumalo.
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The workers’ concerns boiled down to whether they would be remunerated if they chose to go into self-isolation amid mounting fears of contracting Covid-19.
Nxumalo said that the same policeman who had declared the letter invalid, changed his tune and told them that it was, in fact, a valid letter authorising the bearers to be at work during the lockdown.
After a subsequent meeting with the human-resources representatives of Sappi Lomati, it was resolved that the letter was legal. The choice to work or not was up to the workers. Those who elected to stay at home would need to complete leave forms.
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If a worker had no leave, the period would be taken as unpaid leave. Police were at the sawmill on Tuesday and
instructed workers to turn off the machinery at the plant. The Amcu representative also questioned why some workers had been called to return to work while others were not.
Coetzee explained, “Sappi has communicated to employees that those who wish to work during the Covid-19 lockdown will be welcome to do so, as the mill renders an essential service. We also communicated to employees that if they choose not to work during this time, the company will accommodate their decision.
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“The company asked all employees to report for work either on Saturday or on Monday. The purpose of this was to
determine how many employees would exercise their choice to work, and how many elected to stay at home during lockdown.
“This is necessary to determine if there are enough people to run the plant for these two shifts.”
