We had received notification from our Employer that there will be " A possible retrenchment" in the Sales and Marketing Department and a date was set for us to attend the first consultation. This by the way started a few days before lockdown. We were given a date to attend Consultation at Head Office in Meyerton, Vereeniging (Chinese Animal Feed Company). During the first consultation we were approached by HR Manager and there Labour Representative yet we were not given this option to appoint a representative. We quickly discovered that they they were being dishonest for the following reasons.:

* HR Manager could not give us straight answers.
* Our so called line manager did not even attend Consultation.
* Reason given by HR Manager was that the Company is discontinuing bag sales and a contract partnership company is going to bring on board to handle sales and that this particular company wants our Employer to do away with sales and marketing - all this never happened to date.
* A Retrenchment / Severance package was offered which was shocking as it was less then R20 000.
* Because we did not get the answers we needed we requested to be addressed by the General Manager and our Line Manager. We were told that it is not possible as the General Manager was not available. We persisted and told HR that we will wait till he is available.
* We were eventually given a date for second consultation. This time with the General Manager and our Line Manager but the HR Manager and Labour Representative did not attend and we questioned this.
* The General Manager addressed us with a different excuse from HR Manager. The Line Manager did not have much to say.
* We asked General Manager why Company want to retrench us and his response was also that a Contract PARTNER Company approached them but he also assured us that bags sales will continue.
* We asked hi then why get rid is sales and marketing that s when he told us that his hands are tight. HE TOLD US THAT HE APPRECIATE OUR HARD WORK SINCE 2016 (WHEN COMPANY WAS ESTABLISHED IN SOUTH AFRICA) TO BUILD UP THE COMPANY AND THAT THIS CONTRACT PARTNER SUGGESTED THIS. THERE WAS NO MENTION OF COMPANY WAS IN FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. JUST LOTS OF EXCUSES WHICH DID NOT MAKE SENSE.

We started working for this new established Company since 2016. We grew this company from almost no bag sales to what it is now. All the Reps. we given provinces and in these provinces we opened in different towns Feed Depots, Dealerships and Franchisers. We done presentations at different communities and approached farmers who by the way was very difficult to convince to use our feed as they are already have been loyal to well established feed Companies in South Africa. We were used to penetrate the difficult Animal Feed Market in South Africa and when we achieved that they found no use for us. We were promised increases on basic salary based on sales increases. We were offered Commission every months based on our sales (tonnage). As our sales in provinces increase little was adjusted on our basic salaries until we started complain. I eventually got the increase adjustment on my basic salary which did not last long because two months later in 2018 they dropped our basic salaries claiming that the Company has huge debt. We were then tricked and manipulated already and was told that they will be doing away with R50 Commision per ton and pay us R100 per ton this dr not happen. Every monthly meetings we were pleading for this Commision and were told that they busy working on it. Months went on as we constantly brought up the Commision they just gnored us and eventually just shut just up. We were not paid Commision for 14 months. After the fourteen months they started paying us Commision of R40 per ton with a ridiculous adjusted basic salary. We continued working for this company as there are no I've and we are desperate to pay our accounts and put food on the table.

* With both retrencment consultations we told them that we want the Commision for 14 months that they owe us. When we bring this up they avoid this. We have proof that they also told us that they will re-emburse for petrol for traveling to Joburg for consultations but this did not happen.

* We took the case to CCMA Vereening twice but not much happened. CCMA reffered the case to Labour Department. The Commissioner at CCMA Vereeniging told us that we will receive a date from Labour Department within 14 days. This s now since last year September 2020 but nothing has happened despite Phistos being at Pretoria face to enquire.

Foreign and Local Companies does this in South Africa because no one holds them accountable. The president announced on National Television that no Company is to elligally retrench workers during lockdown. We were not even retrenched but Dismissed because we refused to sign Retrenchment letter. We could not even draw unemployment as we did not have documents to proof that we were unemployed.
By the way they traded throughout the lockdown like all there feed companies as they are part of Essential Services.

Today we are unemployed and the very Chinese that worked the head office are proud owners f the very Depots that we, abused South Africans created.

Still no date with the Labour Department.

Mervern
Email: mervernrose@gmail.com