Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana’s department this week moved to resolve a two-week-old falling-out between a major labour union and one of the government’s skills development agencies.
The department’s intervention comes after the Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Fawu) announced its decision a fortnight ago to withdraw seven of its members from the Sector Education and Training Authority for Secondary Agriculture (Setasa) board.
The Setasa board comprises 10 members each from organised labour and business. Fawu members claim eight of their business counterparts are corrupt and that they are currently under investigation by the Scorpions after an independent forensic probe conducted by the auditor general last year found funds were missing from the Seta.
The Scorpions’ regional director, Gerald Nel, this week could not confirm or deny the investigation.
Last week the Mail & Guardian published details of the auditor general’s report, which painted a gloomy picture of widespread misconduct, poor management controls and failure to adhere to statutory obligations.
The auditor general found, among other things, that five members of the Setasa board had business interests in companies that benefited contractually from Setasa.
Setasa’s CEO, Gerald Leith, resigned in May last year after it was found that he played a crucial role in awarding a contract worth R1,1-million to a company in which he held shares.
Another reason cited by Fawu for its withdrawal is the unilateral decision that was apparently taken by their business counterparts to appoint a Setasa board member as the Seta’s new CEO.
In an apparent move to save the Seta from sinking, the Department of Labour this week said it is engaged in discussions with Fawu and Setasa in an effort to resolve the matter.
Sam Morotoba, the senior executive manager of Setas, told the M&G ”there has been a lot of correspondence between the department, Fawu and Setasa”. He said Mdladlana is also part to the discussion.
”Of course it is not appropriate for the minister to engage himself in bargaining council issues, but this one is different.
”Our preference is to get the Seta back on track. We don’t take pleasure when they [the Setas] close,” said Morotoba.
He said the dispute between Fawu and Setasa is on a board level and therefore is not about Setasa’s performance or its existence.
”What we are trying to do is to get all parties [together] to see if we can’t resolve the issue in the interest of other, dedicated employees,” said Morotoba.
Len Hansen, chairperson of Setasa, confirmed the Seta is engaged in a discussion with the department.
However, Barry Stemmet, the regional secretary of Fawu, said the union is not aware of any intervention by the department.