Workers report Lion Park to CCMA
TWO “fired” Lion Park workers yesterday opened a case of unfair dismissal against the East London park’s owners at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
This follows Tuesday’s stand-off between angry Ducats residents, park owners and local farmers when community members attempted to search the park for the remains of Spoto Ratazayo, 51, whom they believe was fed to the lions after his clothes were seen inside their cage.
Ratazayo went missing on April 11 while working on a farm next to the Lion Park.
The park owners, Mark and Wendy Johnson, yesterday insisted that the two men were not fired and should come back to work.
Zola Tayi and Loyiso Dayimani allegedly angered the Johnsons when, after spotting Ratazayo’s clothes in the lion cage whilst feeding them on Monday morning, they immediately reported the incident to community leaders and the police, and not to their employers.
“They were angry because we reported the incident to the police before we came to them. They were not at home and we tried to contact them numerous times without success. We had no choice but alert the police about the incident,” said Tayi.
Tayi has been working at the park for almost 20 years and lives on the premises with the owners.
Dayimani, who lives in Ducats, has been working at the park for eight years and is a close neighbour of the missing Ratazayo.
They told the Dispatch that they saw two lions pulling at the clothes.
“I could immediately identify the overall, pants and a shirt when I saw them. They were of the man who is missing. We were both shocked and we immediately went to the community leaders and police to notify them,” said Dayimani.
The pair claim the clothes were torn but had no blood. There were also no human bones in the cage.
Tayi said the couple confronted them when they saw the police in the premises.
“He [Mark] shouted at us and said what were we doing around the cage in the first place.
“He fired us and said we must leave and when we requested our money they said we should get it from the the police,” he said.
However, Wendy disputed the claims. “We told them to go home. They were not fired,” she said.
Wendy said they were expecting the pair at work yesterday. “We have been doing everything ourselves today. We expected them to come in. Zola, who is like family to us, did not even sleep here yesterday [Tuesday] and we were surprised,” she said.
The couple said they were shocked by the events and maintain that someone was trying to frame them.
“This is confusing to us as much as it is to anyone,” said Wendy.
Last night, Tayi said he received an SMS from the Johnsons saying he was not fired and should return to work but he said he was not interested as he was already going the CCMA route.
The park employs only Tayi and Dayimani and a receptionist.
The Johnsons said the business would continue to run despite the issues and allegations surrounding it. —