Angry staff close down campus

KANYAMAZANE –  Students at Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust (MRTT) hotel academy had to pack up and leave the campus after they were abandoned by the staff because they did not receive their December bonuses last year.

According to the students, the staff brought the academy to a complete halt.

“Since Monday we are not bathing and can not use the toilets since the staff members have closed water in the whole campus.

We spent the whole of Monday without food until the University of Mpumalanga’s main campus brought us food late in the evening,” an enraged student told Mpumalanga News.

They also said that the staff ordered them to get out of their residences and join the strike or go home.

When the paper went to the academy, angry members of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) were picketing at the gate where they had burnt tyres and completely closed it.

The staff told this reporter that they were tired of being ignored by management.

“We want our bonuses or everything will come to a standstill here,” they said. According to Nehawu’s acting regional secretary, Mr Scara Masilela, management held back their annual bonuses without any proper explanation.

“We took the matter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and they tried to intervene, however, the matter could not be resolved.

CCMA gave us a certificate to strike. This is a protected strike and unless the matter is resolved, we are going ahead,” Masilela added.

In response to questions posed by Mpumalanga News, the academy’s CEO
Mr Davis Moropane said that the bonuses were actually performance bonuses which were given after evaluation.

“We follow procedure and after we were queried by the Auditor General for issuing bonuses without conducting any evaluation, we couldn’t go ahead. This was communicated to them,” said Moropane.

He added that management was prepared to talk to the disgruntled workers.
“We acknowledge their right to strike but burning of stuff to deny others access is not right,” he concluded.