Malema's 'timely' action helps workers

ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema says he is happy with the cooperation shown by owners of factories in Polokwane who released their workers to go and vote on Wednesday

Malema said yesterday he had visited several factories in Ladana on Wednesday following reports that some employers had refused to allow their workers to go and vote in Wednesday's local government elections.

He said shortly after he had cast his vote he had received phone calls from people who hinted that some shops and factories in Ladana had continued to operate as if nothing was happening.

"The callers had indicated that their employers were denying them the opportunity to go and cast their votes. I was happy with the cooperation shown by employers who had released their workers to go and vote."

He said some of the employers had argued that their employees worked in shifts and that those knocking off would go and cast their votes, while those doing afternoon shifts would have voted in the morning before they reported for work.

Melita Manaka, a worker at one of the factories in the area, said she believed she would not have voted had Malema not made the "timely" intervention.