Employees down tools at Oasis Rover Crew

KwaThema – Workers at the Oasis Rover Crew, a non-profit organisation that provides meals to the needy, downed tools last Monday, demanding that new management be elected.

As of yesterday, the strike was still ongoing.

This follows allegations of corruption, fraud and payment disputes against the centre manager, Promise Makhanya.

Workers claim some of the board members confessed to misusing funds that were allocated to the centre.

Makhanya was also implicated in the allegations.

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An employee, Dudu Mahlangu, says: “One member of the board confessed in a meeting we had with the councillor about misuse of the organisation’s funds.

“She even asked us for forgiveness, but the manager still denied the allegations.

“This doesn’t make sense, because the centre manager is the one who has authority to sign off on funds, so there’s no way she couldn’t have known about it.

“And there have been inconsistencies with regard to our wage increases, which she also refuses to account for.”

They claim in April last year they received an increase from the Department of Social Development, but for the months of May, June and July they did not receive their money.

“When we asked her about our increases she denied that we had been given an increase.

“In August, when the audit came, she included the money.

“When we asked her about it she said it came from the Department of Labour,” she claims.

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Beneficiary Nthabiseng Zondo alleges they are being fed rotten food at the centre, that they are being fed pap and smash almost every day and that the food is prepared in an untidy and dirty environment.

Lulama Gumede, the caregiver at the centre, claims they are being intimidated by management.

“Whenever we ask questions, she threatens to fire us, which is why we are demanding that she resign immediately and that new management be elected.

“There was a time when beneficiaries fell sick because of the food they had eaten,” says Gumede.

The centre manager refused to comment on the allegations brought against her by the employees.

She said she has no authority to speak to the media as the matter is still under investigation.

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