Ex-Marina cleaners take employer to court
Sharon Mathala | Tuesday September 9, 2014 11:29
Prime Projects hired the workers as cleaners at the Princess Martina Hospital in 2012 at the time government decided to outsource non-essential services such as cleaning.
By midday on Friday the workers were scattered around the labour offices. They said they were told to wait for 30 minutes, as Labour officials tried in vain to reach company directors. The company director, identified as a certain Akim Setswalo apparently sent one of his managers who identified himself as Buzwane to represent him at the second and final hearing. The first hearing was on the 25 August where company representative failed to pitch prompting the official to postpone the matter to last Friday.
“ We have been here since morning, we have been told to wait for a few minutes because Setswalo told labour officers that he had not received money from Marina, the official then contacted the hospital which said he had been paid weeks ago,” said one of the dismissed employees.
She further said “ we are owed monies for notice, our leave grants, overtime as well as other month’s salaries, all we want is justice and justice is getting paid for your hardwork.”
Following the strike by the cleaners, Princess Marina terminated the company’s two-year contract on June 10. One of the disgruntled workers told Mmegi that Setswalo had been given 14 days to “pay up” or risk the case being transferred to the Industrial court. Efforts to contact Setswalo were futile at the time of going to press as his phone went on to voicemail.