EFF statement following the visit by the CIC Julius Malema to Pharmacy Direct
4 November 2020
Following the complaint lodged by the employees of Pharmacy Direct to the EFF Labour Desk over unpaid Temporary Employer Relief Scheme (TERS) money which was initiated through the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), the Commander-in¬Chief and President Julius Malema led an EFF Delegation which comprised of, amongst others, the Head of the EFF Labour Desk Commissar Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi to pay a special visit to the CEO of Pharmacy Direct Gavie Erasmus. Erasmus treated workers with disdain and sheer white racist arrogance when they confronted him about the non-payment of TERS.
Upon meeting with the EFF, the CEO unreservedly apologized to the workers for the attitude and conduct he displayed towards the them, which was captured on video.
The EFF and Pharmacy Direct, with the workers of Pharmacy Direct, amicably agreed that the money paid out from the TERS should be returned by Pharmacy Direct to the Department of Employment and Labour. Also, that the employees whose identity numbers were used to claim the money from TERS must be duly accredited, this agreement was arrived at in accordance with the below-stated Directive by the Minister of Employment and Labour:
In terms of the Directive by the Minister of Employment and Labour in terms of regulation 10 (8) issued by the Minister of Corporate Governance and Traditional Affairs in terms of Section 27 (2) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002) issued on the 26th of March 2020 "Subject to the amount of the benefit contemplated in clause 3.6, an employee may only receive COVID-19 benefits in terms of the directive if the total of the benefit together with any additional payment by the employer in any period is not more than the remuneration that the employee would ordinarily have received for working during that period."
In line with the above, the EFF, Pharmacy Direct and workers have put the matter in question to rest. The EFF Members of Parliament will return to do oversite on other issues raised by the workers.
We reiterate our call for all companies that have claimed the Unemployment Insurance Funds for their employees to pay workers what is due to them immediately. Otherwise, they too shall receive a warm special visit from the EFF.
We further call on all workers across the country to contact the EFF to alert us of companies that have not paid the UIF, and we will pay them a special warm visit.
Tomorrow the EFF will directly confront Gavie Erasmus, we can no longer allow white minorities to continue to arrogantly oppress black workers using the entrenched structural inequalities to undermine the genuine struggle of workers.
We reiterate our call on all companies that have claimed the Unemployment Insurance Funds for their employees to immediately pay workers what is due to them. Otherwise, they too shall receive a warm special visit from the EFF.
The EFF visit to Pharmacy Direct is part of a commitment to organise mass actions against all companies that have claimed the UIF from the State and still have not paid the workers.
Issued by the EFF, 4 November 2020
