Denel people are left high and dry
DIRE STRAITS: WORKERS FEEL THEY’VE BEEN FORGOTTEN
From a good life, staff members are committing suicide, going hungry and losing homes.
Denel workers are suffering without their salaries. Two have allegedly taken their own lives, while others have had to send their children to school in winter with clothes that are noticeably too small for them.
Staff at Denel Corporate still get their full salaries, the wife of one of its employees says.
Many Denel workers have lost their cars and stand to lose their homes. Some are always hungry.
A look at the Denel Group’s website shows its values are:
Performance: We embrace operational excellence;
Integrity: We are honest, truthful and ethical;
Innovation: We create sustainable investment solutions;
Caring: We care for our people, customers, communities, nations and the environment; and
Accountability: We take responsibility for all our actions.
It is hard to believe a company with these kinds of values would let its workers go without salaries, or only 20% of their pay each month.
Denel workers feel they have been forgotten by the company, government and the country, says the wife.
Some families lost all their income because both parents work for Denel.
They have lost their cars and will probably also lose their homes over the next few months if they can’t pay their home loans.
People who never thought they would go hungry have to swallow their pride and ask for food parcels, she says.
One of the employees lost her house but was lucky enough to keep her car. She has a place to sleep, but has to keep her clothes in the boot of her car. The back seat is her kitchen where she makes sandwiches before work.
Another employee allegedly hanged himself on Christmas Day because the future was so bleak.
Another was in a bad accident last year and lived in constant pain after breaking almost every bone in his body. Denel refused to board him. When his mother died, he sent his wife to Cape Town to bury her. While she was gone, he allegedly shot himself.
Some employees’ medical aid has apparently been stopped because no payments were made.