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The urgent court application brought by UASA against Denel in April to honour all outstanding contractual obligations and effect payment of full remuneration to UASA members in its employ for the period 1 August 2020 to date was again before the Labour Court yesterday. 

In April, the application followed after Denel continued to be in breach of UASA’s members’ employment contracts and information that Denel would receive a pay-out of R1 billion from the Denel Medical Trust Fund in May. Since the R1 billion would comprise excess funds from the Denel Medical Trust Fund and therefore belongs to the workers, UASA believes the money should be used to pay employees who have not received salaries for a long time.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Judge Andre van Niekerk ruled that UASA’s application be postponed to the matter set down on the unopposed Court Roll for 26 July 2022, irrespective of whether Denel opposed the application or not.

Denel was ordered to provide updated outstanding remuneration amounts for May and June 2022, which will be included in UASA’s claim by 14 July 2022. Should Denel wish to oppose the matter, they must file all relevant papers by 5 July 2022.

Judge Van Niekerk’s ruling required all the updated figures, including the May and June figures, to be verified so that if accepted by the Court, execution may be done without further delay. He rejected Denel’s argument that the employees must grant Denel the opportunity to restructure before making payments. The Labour Court’s ruling is intended that the process scheduled for 26 July 2022 should bring finality to the outstanding figures.

UASA will continue its court battle against Denel until all outstanding monies owed to UASA members employed by the state-owned enterprise are paid. UASA members working for Denel have survived on little to nothing for over two years now, and it is about time that the company starts acting in the best interest of its workers and pays what is due to them.

Issued by UASA Spokesperson Abigail Moyo