The mushroom farmer’s employees in KZN face lay-offs after fire amid ongoing wage negotiations.
Njabulo Dlamini, a farmworker, dreads the future after a raging fire ripped through almost half of the Denny mushroom farm where he works in Shongweni, west of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal last Friday.
Dlamini* depends on his job to support himself, his wife, children and his mother. He recalled the moment he received the news that his workplace, owned by the JSE-listed Libstar Holdings, had been almost razed to the ground.
“I left work early and the fire broke out around 4:30pm. The news of the fire was extremely disheartening. I went into immediate panic mode, concerned with how I will provide for my dependents,” Dlamini said.
“The worry lies with how will I provide for my family, beyond being the sole breadwinner of my household, us factory workers only have these hard skills to offer, our limited job-related abilities render us disposable and with little opportunity to break out of the unemployment cycle.”
Dlamini is one of hundreds of mushroom farm employees who are now idle, waiting to hear their fate, as rumours that a handful of disgruntled workers torched the factory swirl on social media.
The post on social media suggested that the plant had been “burnt to the ground” by disgruntled union members who had declined a 7% wage offer increase that other workers had accepted.
It warned that “everyone will be retrenched … Now no one has any work. Perhaps those that burnt the plant to the ground will now support all these families. Good luck to anyone proposing any developments in the area as published in the newspaper not so long ago.”
The Denny mushroom farm is across the road from the recently launched R15-billion sustainable green development, Westown, which will bring hundreds of much needed jobs and infrastructure to the region.
That project, led by the Durban-based Fundamentum Property Group, is a mixed-use space of urban and green spaces around Westown Square, a retail high street with shopping, dining, commercial and recreational amenities such as biking, birding and hiking.
The Transport, Retail and General Workers Union (Thorn), which represents more than 120 members at the Denny factory, vehemently denied that any workers were involved or even implicated in the suspected arson that the firm and the police are now investigating.
Approached for comment this week regarding the fire and the anonymous social media post, Libstar Holdings’ Denny did not respond to the claims in the post nor provide details regarding the extent of the damage to the factory, only confirming that the factory had been closed after a fire broke at around 4.45pm on 9 September.
Denny released a statement saying: “We are currently working with the authorities to investigate the cause of the fire as well as assess the damage. We are unable to comment further at this stage as to the cause, extent or estimated cost of the damage.”
“The safety of our people remains a key priority and we are thankful that none of our 319 employees were injured. We remain focused on servicing the needs of our customers from our plants in Gauteng and the Western Cape. The facility is closed and they are busy assessing the situation, but supply continues from the other facilities,” the company added.
Denny, which has existed for more than 70 years, describes itself as the number one producer and supplier of fresh mushrooms in South Africa. It grows them on its three farms in Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, and Gauteng.
The eThekwini fire department’s divisional commander for the western region, Dennis Govender, said arson was suspected at the KwaZulu-Natal farm.
“There was a previous small fire — they attempted arson — a couple of weeks ago but we were able to extinguish it. The fire on Friday was massive. We got the call just after 5pm and given the peak hour traffic we were there within ten minutes and the buildings were well alight. We suspect arson,” Govender said.
Govender said the offices and warehouse had been severely damaged despite firefighters’ swift response.
“We managed to get it extinguished quite quickly. It took us about one and a half hours to get it under control. We saved about 60% of the warehouse,” Govender said. He said there was police and private security presence at the scene of the fire.
KwaZulu-Natal South African Police Service spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said a case of malicious damage to property had been opened at the Marianhill police station.
“The complainant alleged that on 9 September 2022 at 4.45pm, he was performing his duties as a security guard at a farm when he heard his colleagues screaming for help. Upon investigating he noticed that the fire was coming from the store room, growing room, packaging and dispatch department,” Ngcobo said.
“Circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated. A case of malicious damage to property was opened at Marianhill police station for investigation.”
Thorn spokesperson Xolani Sisilane said workers had neither been implicated nor were they being investigated by the police. He said there was no truth in the social media post. “This intimation that the fire was caused by one of our members or labour is not correct,” he said.
“We had wage negotiations and we tried to meet the employer halfway but it couldn’t happen. We filed a dispute at the CCMA [Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration] and requested an extension. The employers proposed 7% and we had to take that offer back to the workers because our mandate was 10%. The workers had asked [for] an 8.5% increase.”
He said the union had been ready to finalise picketing rules to go on strike “but everything has been overtaken by the current events”.
Sisilane said management had taken the union to inspect the damage and the union was now awaiting a formal proposal from the company about the way forward.
He said the union would likely apply to the department of labour for a “temporary lay-off process” which could include a payout for workers.
But for now, as bureaucracy takes its course, Dlamini and his colleagues don’t know where their next meal will come from.
“I am stuck in a daze, I haven’t been able to think of any solutions that can solve my current cash flow predicament. I fear that we will lose all our limited resources. […] It is hard enough trying to get by on minimum wage as is,” Dlamini said.
*Name has been changed to protect the worker’s identity.
Njabulo Dlamini, a farmworker, dreads that starvation may come knocking on his family’s door after a raging fire ripped through almost half of the Denny mushroom farm where he works in Shongweni, west of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal last Friday.
Dlamini* depends on his job to support himself, his wife, children and his mother, who look to him as the sole breadwinner. He recalled the moment he received the devastating news that his workplace, owned by the JSE-listed Libstar Holdings, had been razed to the ground.
“I left work early and the fire broke out around 4:30pm. The news of the fire was extremely disheartening. I went into immediate panic mode, concerned with how I will provide for my dependents,” Dlamini said.
“The worry lies with how will I provide for my family, beyond being the sole breadwinner of my household, us factory workers only have these hard skills to offer, our limited job-related abilities render us completely disposable and with little opportunity to break out of the unemployment cycle.”
Dlamini is one of hundreds of mushroom farm employees who are now sitting at home idle, waiting to hear their fate, as ominous rumours that a handful of disgruntled workers torched the factory swirl on social media.
The post on social media suggested that the plant had been “burnt to the ground” by disgruntled union members who had declined a 7% wage offer increase that other workers had accepted.
It warned that “everyone will be retrenched … Now no one has any work. Perhaps those that burnt the plant to the ground will now support all these families. Good luck to anyone proposing any developments in the area as published in the newspaper not so long ago.”
The Denny mushroom farm is strategically located across the road from the recently launched R15-billion new sustainable green city development, Westown, that will bring hundreds of much needed jobs and infrastructure to the rural region.
That project, led by the Durban-based Fundamentum Property Group, is a mixed-use space of urban and green spaces around Westown Square, a retail high street with shopping, dining, commercial and recreational amenities such as biking, birding and hiking.
The Transport, Retail and General Workers Union, (Thorn), which represents more than 120 members at the Denny factory, said the social media post was not true and vehemently denied that any workers were involved or even implicated in the suspected arson that the firm and the police are now investigating.
Approached for comment this week regarding the fire and the anonymous social media post, Libstar Holdings’ Denny did not respond to the claims in the post nor provide details regarding the extent of the damage to the factory, only confirming that the factory had been closed after a fire broke at around 4.45pm on 9 September.
Denny released a statement saying: “We are currently working with the authorities to investigate the cause of the fire as well as assess the damage. We are unable to comment further at this stage as to the cause, extent or estimated cost of the damage.”
“The safety of our people remains a key priority and we are thankful that none of our 319 employees were injured. We remain focused on servicing the needs of our customers from our plants in Gauteng and the Western Cape. The facility is closed and they are busy assessing the situation, but supply continues from the other facilities,” the company added.
Denny, which has existed for more than 70 years, describes itself as the number one producer and supplier of fresh mushrooms in South Africa. It grows them on its three farms in Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, and Gauteng.
The eThekwini fire department’s divisional commander for the western region, Dennis Govender, said arson was suspected at the KwaZulu-Natal farm.
“There was a previous small fire — they attempted arson — a couple of weeks ago but we were able to extinguish it. The fire on Friday was massive. We got the call just after 5pm and given the peak hour traffic we were there within ten minutes and the buildings were well alight. We suspect arson,” Govender said.
Govender said the offices and warehouse had been severely damaged despite firefighters’ swift response.
“We managed to get it extinguished quite quickly. It took us about one and a half hours to get it under control. We saved about 60% of the warehouse,” Govender said. He said there was a heavy police and private security presence at the scene of the fire.
KwaZulu-Natal South African Police Service spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said a case of malicious damage to property had been opened at the Marianhill police station.
“The complainant alleged that on 9 September 2022 at 4.45pm, he was performing his duties as a security guard at a farm when he heard his colleagues screaming for help. Upon investigating he noticed that the fire was coming from the store room, growing room, packaging and dispatch department,” Ngcobo said.
“Circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated. A case of malicious damage to property was opened at Marianhill police station for investigation.”
Thorn spokesperson Xolani Sisilane said workers had neither been implicated nor were they being investigated by the police. He said there was no truth in the social media post.
“This intimation that the fire was caused by one of our members or labour is not correct,” Sisilane said.
“We had wage negotiations and we tried to meet the employer halfway but it couldn’t happen. We filed a dispute at the CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration) during our first appearance and we requested an extension. The employers proposed 7% and we had to take that offer back to the workers because our mandate was 10%. The workers had asked to be met halfway with an 8.5% increase.”
He said the union had been ready to finalise picketing rules to go on strike “but everything has been overtaken by the current events”.
Sisilane said Denny’s management had taken union representatives to inspect the damage to the factory on Wednesday and the union was now awaiting a formal proposal letter from the company regarding the way forward.
He said the union would likely apply to the department of labour for a “temporary lay-off process” which could include a payout for workers.
But for now, as bureaucracy takes its course, Dlamini and his colleagues are worried, not knowing where their next meal will come from.
“I am stuck in a daze, I haven’t been able to think of any solutions that can solve my current cash flow predicament. I fear that we will lose all our limited resources of food and water and could face sure death. It is hard enough trying to get by on minimum wage as is,” Dlamini said.
*Name has been changed to protect his identity against discrimation in the workplace.
[/membership]