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Members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) from the Hlanganani region are gathered here to register their anger and disgust with the Department of Public Enterprises, for its relentless attacks against workers at Denel. Since lockdown was implemented, our members at Denel Pretoria Metal Pressings have experienced unending misery by officials in the DPE. Denel is a viable business but it is being deliberately collapsed. It urgently needs to be re-capitalized so that it can survive. In addition, it seems clear that DPE is determined to crush Denel, and to crush workers and their families as well.

The suffering of workers at Denel is well documented. We know of at least two cases of suicide which were reported in the media, as a consequence of the suffering that workers were exposed to, by this brutal department. The minister, Pravin Gordhan, seems determined to collapse this entity, just like SAA, SA Express and Eskom. Once the entity has collapsed, it will be sold to capitalist cronies of the ANC leadership, just like in the case of SAA which was sold to the Takatso consortium, in dodgy deal, shrouded in secrecy. Our glorious airline was sold for a mere R51! We are told that the days of State Capture are behind us, but it is clear that this is continuing under this Ramaphosa administration.

This is why NUMSA has always said there is no difference between the Zuma faction of the ANC and the CR-17 faction of President Cyril Ramaphosa – they are two sides of the same corrupt coin. We want to make it clear that minister Pravin Gordhan is responsible for the shocking state of SOE’s. He is an SOE wrecking ball and we must state for the record that we will continue to fight for his removal, because he is the source of the crisis at all SOE’s. 

Denel needs R5 billion in order to be viable. In 2018/9 it had an order book of between R20 billion and R30 billion. As we speak there are potentially billions worth of contracts that can be serviced, but Denel is unable to deliver on these orders because it has no operating capital. Denel PMP is the main supplier of ammunition and other products to SAPS, SANDF, METRO POLICE, SAA and SASOL amongst others. It is currently being mismanaged and this will affect the safety and security of the country. 

We have good reason to believe that Denel faces the same fate as SA Express, which was liquidated, if drastic action is not taken to save it from collapsing. That is why we are gathered here to hand over a memorandum of our demands. 

Demands

We demand that DPE must drive an agenda to re-capitalize Denel and we must have clear timelines for when the funding will be made available. 

Denel is restructuring and already it seems that there are plans to cut jobs. We reject any job cuts at Denel. We reject down varying and education in salaries and benefits. We are already facing an extremely high rate of unemployment in this country. We are advocating for the best alternative in line with the Stakeholders Social Plan. We strongly believe that the State must intervene as this is the most strategic state owned institution. There can be no retrenchment or restructuring that should affect workers while Denel DCO and Divisions still owe employees their salaries and benefits.

We demand that all outstanding salaries for the months April, May and June must be paid in full. We demand a written guarantee that going forward all salaries will be paid in full and on time from July going forward. The company has also hired additional private security ‘Mafoko’ but they claim not to have money to pay employees.

We reject the unilateral changes to terms and condition of employment of workers and we demand an apology from management for the inconvenience caused to our families due to these changes. 

We demand that all outstanding SARS contributions must be made immediately. For the last 12 months PAYE and UIF payments have not been paid. 

We demand the immediate payment of 12 months pension fund contributions. The non-payment is affecting the growth of the fund and it makes it difficult for those who want to withdraw their pension. For families of workers who have died, it is even worse because it is almost impossible for them to claim. Furthermore, deductions are still being made from the salary for the pension fund but it is not being paid over. This is FRAUD! And we demand that those who are responsible must be arrested. 

We demand that they scrap the ring-fencing model which is part of the unilateral change to terms and condition of employment. This system allows management to decide who gets to come to work and who should not come. It is system which discriminates against NUMSA members by forcing most of them to stay home or placing them on special leave. This affects the salary at the end of the month and it is a violation of the terms of their contract of employment. It also violates the terms of the MEIBC which Denel is a member of.

Employees have not received an increase for the past three (3) years. We have suffered and carried this company on our backs with no help, and no support from government the shareholder, or the organization. We deserve an increase!

The CEO of Denel PMP must be fired. He is part of the problem. He is responsible for mismanaging the entity and for exploitation. 

We demand to know what is the minister’s ‘Contingency Plan’ to save DENEL Pretoria Metal Pressings.

We reject the outsourcing the manufacturing of ammunition to India. Currently Denel manufactures most of the ammunition globally. By outsourcing this function, they are putting the lives of our citizen at risk. One should recall that the established purpose of this company was to protect, educate and employ citizens of this country and protect its borders. 

Management at Denel Corporate Office are also responsible for the situation. They were given funding by government and they have mismanaged it. They have failed to pay suppliers and they are to blame for the situation we are in. We demand the removal of the entire Exco of Denel PMP!

We are calling for an audit of all project managers to investigate why orders are not delivered on time, and why some projects are not executed.

We demand a written response to all our demands within seven working days. 

Issued by NUMSA National Spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola