After three weeks of striking by National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa) businesses like Mvelaphanda Engineering in Klarinet have been inactive and according to director, Mr Victor Defrigneiredo and CEO Robert Cowley, on two occasions their company vehicles were attacked.
The first incident occurred on Monday, July 14 when a company vehicle was stoned by alleged strikers as they cracked a window and dented the roof. However the most recent attack was much more severe.
Mr Graham Hickson was asked to fetch something at Mvelaphanda Engineering in Klarinet.
He drove there at about 16:00 on Monday, July 21. He did not see anybody around but a few minutes after he arrived a group of about 60 people allegedly approached him and demanded that he leave the area.
The victim apparently got back into his bakkie to drive away when stones started flying at him. One of the stone crashed through the side window and struck him on his head. He sped away as blood ran down his face. Fortunately two of his colleagues were also on their way when they saw him rushing out of the area.
They immediately took him to hospital for emergency treatment. He sustained a cracked skull.
A Numsa representative said that they are not aware of any such incident. “The Numsa strikers knocked off for the day at about 12:00. There have been cases where criminals have masqueraded as Numsa members.”
Numsa assured the WITBANK NEWS that they will investigate the matter and have an informed response by the end of the week.
A general statement posted on their website on July 14 outlining their ultimatum stated: “We believe that every South African should have the right to work and that they should earn a living wage and have a decent life. That this is a privilege of a limited few 20 years into our democracy is shameful. We demand that the state uses levers to deliberately and aggressively drive industrialization, sustainable development, decent employment creation, regional development and that we break the historical patterns of colonial exploitation and dependence.”
Mvelapanda Engineering warns others in the area to stay away rather than risking your life as people like Hickson were not given the right to work when he pleased.
