EFF members picket outside new mall for jobs for locals
The residents were also protesting against attempts to hire casual labour or permanent workers from different retail branches.
EFF members in Ward 13 staged a picket outside a new mall in Birch Acres, demanding that more local residents be employed.The picket on November 6 was attended by about 50 people.
Ronald Mashaba, chairperson of the EFF Ekurhuleni Ward 13, said the picket stemmed from frustrations experienced by Imbokodo, a group of community women tasked to oversee that unemployed members in the community were prioritised for jobs at the new mall.
The residents were also protesting against attempts to hire casual labour or permanent workers from different retail branches.
“We realised a number of shops were not cooperating, while others wanted to bring temporary staff from elsewhere, which is unacceptable. The developer promised to create jobs for our residents and not allow tenants to transfer workers from other branches,” said Mashaba.
The activists were disappointed in ward councillor Ndala Sibanyoni, who arrived at the scene but left without helping to resolve the matter.
Sibanyoni said: “I was invited by the landlord of the new mall [Jonathan] and was surprised the EFF invited the residents of Birch Acres without the ward’s community leaders.
“When I requested the protesters to allow the ANC chairperson of Ekurhuleni Ward 13 to be a part of the meeting with the landlord, they did not allow him to do so, which is why I decided not to be the part of the meeting.”
Jonathan, who asked that his surname be withheld, said 200 local people were hired during construction and 150 local permanent jobs were created.
The EFF’s demands included:
• 100 per cent local labour per shop, with audits to be conducted every six months for compliance.
• Local suppliers to participate in procurement after construction. Develop a database system.
• Bursary fund and support for back-to-school campaign.
• Women co-ops to be empowered to run businesses like a laundromat or bakery.
• Rotation of security and cleaning contractors to benefit the broader community on merit.
• Transparent employment strategy to be implemented to benefit the cluster, which will be monitored by political stakeholders and interest groups in the ward.
