Axed staff face battle to make ends meet

ANDREW Kirton, 58, was a manager at the factory in Charlestown, outside Newcastle. He left about four years ago.

“I was there for 33 years. They still owe me R750 000. We had shares in the company. I’m battling to get my money.”

Cutting machines worth millions of rands are sitting idle in what remains of the business in Newcastle. “We had seven trouser lines and three jacket lines. Now, there is nothing left. They made promises they could not keep.”

Nora Zwane retired after 31 years with Sandown Clothing at the end of last year. Her final pay was R2 000, half of what she was expecting. She asked the personnel division at the company’s head office in Wynberg, Johannesburg, but never elicited a response.

The 61-year-old grandmother, who lives in Madadeni (Newcastle), KwaZulu-Natal, says she never received a

We had seven trouser lines and three jacket lines. Now, there is nothing left

payslip for the last month.

Zwane and several of her former colleagues have since been told that the payouts from the provident fund is in jeopardy. She said she went to Trubok’s offices in Wynberg last week and was told that all the paperwork had been sorted and the money was with Old Mutual.

Old Mutual has confirmed that it has liquidated the fund. “We’re told they took our money but never gave it to Old Mutual,” said Zwane.

A 30-year-old former employee, who asked not to be identified, worked for the company on and off for about 14 years. She said she was asked to take a 50% pay cut last year. Weeks after refusing, she was retrenched.

She has asked a lawyer to help her to get her provident fund money. “I used to work at the company’s Charlestown factory, but was moved to Newcastle when that factory shut down. That factory is now being rented out as a storeroom,” she said.

A Newcastle grandmother said: “I worked there for 34 years, but was retrenched in October last year. I’ve gone to Legalwise for help to get my money.”

She said she received severance pay but needed the money from the provident fund to survive.

“The UIF is finished. I have to provide for my children and my grandchildren.”— André Jurgens and Jessica Bezuidenhout Comment on this: write to tellus@sundaytimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.timeslive.co.za