The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) labour desk visited Cartrack’s Rosebank offices yesterday (June 9), as part of what was described as a fact-finding mission following allegations surrounding the death of an employee, reports Rosebank Killarney Gazette.

Lunga Nkwenkwezi, EFF sub-region B spokesperson, said the visit was motivated by allegations spreading on social media and was aimed at gathering the facts before the party took any further course of action.

“The reason why we are here today is to find out exactly, based on the social media statements that have been issued, and the allegations that we have received on social media, whether they are true, and to engage the company itself and the HR department as to what exactly occurred, to get both sides of the story, basically.”

Nkwenkwezi stated that the party wanted to engage with the company first before meeting up with the deceased employee’s family.

He added that one of the labour desk’s responsibilities is to observe labour related issues and help prevent similar incidents in the future.

The visit follows social media allegations claiming that the employee’s death may have been connected to workplace conditions and the denial of sick leave requests.

However, Cartrack has rejected those claims.

In a statement the company issued, it said it was deeply saddened by the passing of their employee, noting that the medical emergency, which occurred on Saturday (June 6) at its Rosebank offices, was sudden and unexpected.

According to the statement, the employee arrived at work on the morning of June 6 with no indication of being sick. Around 09:00 she informed her manager that she was feeling dizzy and nauseous.

The company said the manager helped her and went with her to the bathroom before leaving her there.

A few minutes later, upon the manager’s return to check up on her, there was no response and the facilities were notified to get the door opened.

Cartrack said trained on-site first responders attended to the employee while emergency medical services were called to the scene.

The company denied allegations that sick leave had been refused, stating that the employee did take sick leave earlier in the month, submitting a medical note which was accepted.

“We are saddened and shocked by the false claims circulating on social media regarding the circumstances of this tragic incident. These claims are deeply distressing, particularly at a time when our colleague’s family, friends and colleagues are grieving her loss.”

Cartrack added that an investigation has been opened with the police for further investigation.

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