×

We've got news for you.

Register on SowetanLIVE at no cost to receive newsletters, read exclusive articles & more.
Register now

DA to call for axing of Yengeni

Lumka Yengeni in the National Assembly after being sworn in. Pic: Terry Shean. © ST.
Lumka Yengeni in the National Assembly after being sworn in. Pic: Terry Shean. © ST.

The Democratic Alliance is calling for the Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Labour‚ Lumka Yengeni‚ to be axed after she was found guilty at the Commission for Conciliation‚ Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for allegedly violating the country’s labour laws.

The Sunday Times reported that the senior ANC MP‚ the estranged wife of ANC bigwig Tony Yengeni‚ forced her domestic worker to work 24-hour days‚ paid her below the minimum wage and refused to grant her leave.

READ MORE:Chairperson of parliament’s portfolio committee on labour taken to CCMA

The domestic worker‚ Lucia Dlephu took Yengeni to the Commission for Conciliation‚ Mediation and Arbitration after the MP fired her on February 14 this year‚ the newspaper said.

Ironically‚ Yengeni‚ who champions herself as a champion for workers’ rights‚ last year slammed employers for exploiting workers.

DA spokesman on labour matters Ian Ollis said on Sunday Yengeni’s violation of the country’s labour laws was “simply unacceptable” and that she should be removed as the Chairperson of the Labour Commitee.

“The DA will be calling on the ANC Chief Whip‚ Jackson Mthembu‚ and the Chair of Chair’s in Parliament‚ Cedric Frolick‚ to ensure that Mrs Yengeni is removed from her position and replaced with a chairperson who in fact does care about the rights of workers‚” he said.

Ollis noted that Yengeni was not the first senior ANC official who had been caught abusing workers in South Africa.

 “For example‚ Agriculture Minister Senzani Zokwana was widely reported in the media to have paid his farm workers R26 a day‚ far below the agriculture minimum wage.

 “Both Zokwana and Yengeni have been outspoken campaigners for minimum wages and better working conditions for workers. Mrs Yengeni has even referred to employers as slave traders because she was purportedly ‘unhappy’ with the wages being paid. Yet she does this very thing herself.

 “This shows a trend in the ANC to say one thing in public about workers needs and then personally abuse workers‚” Ollis asserted.

“This hypocrisy is simply unacceptable and in the interests of the scores of workers and labours in SA‚ the DA simply cannot allow her to remain as Chairperson of this Committee or any committee for that matter. As such‚ she must be removed if we are to meaningfully put the rights of workers at the apex of the Committee’s agenda and restore credibility to the committee itself‚” Ollis added.

 

Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.