Eastern Cape cannot afford to lose Yekani jobs
The new decade has started on a bitter note on the jobs front. Barely two weeks into 2020, the country is besieged with sad news of pending massive job losses. Massmart, owner of retail giants Game and Makro, has started consultations to retrench 3% of its workforce as part of the new CEO’s turnaround strategy. Closer to home, Yekani Manufacturing in the ELIDZ did not open its doors after the December break, which could leave 500 skilled workers jobless. Reports indicate Standard Bank has filed for the liquidation of Yekani in a bid to recover R200m it is owed. Punted as the largest ICT company in southern Africa when it was launched in June 2018 by former industry minister Rob Davies, the firm has limped from one problem to the next in what the state calls “self-created crisis”. It boggles the mind how a company that six months ago was dreaming of spreading its wings across the continent and employing over 1,000 people is now bleeding jobs. This comes at a time when StatsSA revealed in October that the unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2019 had jumped to 29.1%.
In November Yekani was R40m in the red. Naturally blame games kick in. The company blames the provincial government’s failure to support them. The state says it can’t be blackmailed for the company’s “poor management”. The premier’s office mulled some intervention but on condition the firm goes into voluntary business rescue.
While the bickering continues, let’s spare a moment for the staff. Some claim they have not been paid since August. And now they are staring at joblessness. The multiplier effect of 500 lost jobs is horrifying. How are they to send their children to school as the first term begins?
Both Yekani and the provincial government have questions to answer. What feasibility studies were done before the much-hyped firm was set up? If Yekani supplied tablets to other provinces, how many of its products has this province bought so far? Why is it difficult for the company to answer certain questions from the media?
Whatever the case may be, we call on both the Eastern Cape government and the company to put their heads together and save those jobs. Unemployment is a ticking time bomb. We can’t afford more job losses, especially now.
Whatever the case, we call on the state and company to put their heads together and save those jobs