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Workers and community members have gone on strike against the KwaSizabantu Mission.
- Workers at Emseni Farming, a company owned by the leaders of the controversial KwaSizabantu Mission, have gone on strike, with the support of community members.
- The strike follows the firing of some 20 mission workers after tools were thrown away and their pay was questioned.
- One worker said he was accused of being an “informant” and told “to go home.”
Disgruntled workers at the controversial KwaSizabantu Mission, supported by dozens of community members in and around KwaMxhosa, have gone on strike against the mission over the alleged unfair dismissal of some 20 Emseni Farming workers last month.
Last month, workers at Emseni Farming, a company owned by the leaders of the KwaSizabantu mission, removed tools and questioned their wages. It is alleged that they have since been fired.
READ | KwaSizabantu Mission Workers Download Tools Demand Better Pay
“Three weeks ago, [the mission] laid off 24 workers, suspended five and gave all workers a final warning, “a community member, who wished to remain anonymous, told News24.
“They are trying to threaten them, [saying] are gossiping about the mission abroad and even tell [the] media about what happens within the mission, “he added.
“All roads are blocked here on the R74.”
The community member said they were there to support the Emseni Farming workers because of the mission’s conduct, which was believed to have betrayed the workers, following a boycott of the KwaSizabantu Mission’s products.
Workers and community members have gone on strike against the KwaSizabantu Mission. (PHOTO: Supplied)
READ ALSO | Intimidation claims when the KwaSizabantu strike is canceled, security tries to take the journalist’s phone
Emseni Farming supplies fruits and vegetables to popular retailers in South Africa. However, following News24’s exposure of allegations of abuse, cultism, and financial crime at the mission, retailers suspended their business there.
“After Shoprite and Checkers [and other retailers] returned to purchase mission products, began to chase away workers they previously protected [the mission] when they were suffering.
“But after they got what they wanted, they started driving them away,” he said.
Workers and community members on strike against the KwaSizabantu Mission.
PHOTO supplied: supplied
One of the workers who was fired a month ago, Vukile Mzuza, explained that he was fired after the mission accused him of “reporting” to the media about what was happening at the mission, a claim that he denied.
‘They said I’m an informant’
“They took my phone, they checked the numbers, and they said I’m a News24 informant. I told them I’m not an informant. They checked my phone, they went through the videos. They said I had the wrong photos and I should go home,” Mzuza said.
He added that he did not know how to ask the labor department for help.
Workers and community members have gone on strike against the KwaSizabantu Mission. (PHOTO: Supplied)
Mzuza has not spoken to News24 before.
“Now I don’t have a job. I’m staying at home,” Mzuza said.
“That job helped me do many things but now I am suffering. I don’t know what to do,” he added.
READ ALSO | KwaSizabantu Mission: ‘Working for God’ but gone through hell – former workers cry badly
Another worker, who attended the protest on Thursday but wanted to remain anonymous, said she received a final written warning after the strike last month.
“I have a 12-month warning, it’s a final warning, but most of us are already laid off,” he told News24, adding that it was simply because the workers had asked for better pay.
“We have done nothing wrong. We are just [looking] for the trust and waiting for that, “he added.
The KwaSizabantu Mission has not responded to News24’s questions.
KwaZulu-Natal police said they would respond to News24’s request for comment.
The comment will be added once received.
