Labour broker The Workforce gets restraining order against EFF over death threats in Vereeniging protest
Johannesburg - DEATH threats uttered by Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters have landed him in hot water and left his socalled 'political party' with a hefty legal bill.
The 'alternative JSE-exchange' registered labour-brokerage company 'The Workforce Group" obtained an urgent court order in the Labour Court on Friday to bar members of the EFF from
its premises in Vereeniging, Gauteng and across the country. http://www.workforcestaffing.co.za/blog/?tag=labour-brokers
The court order was granted because the EFF's Sam Tshabalala had led a group of 200 people claiming to be 'ex-employees of the Workforce Group'
to demand reinstatement - and during their aggressive 'protest' at the premises death threats were issued. The company officials said they feared their employees would be killed.
Tshabalala is a former ANC member in the South African 'ruling party'’s Sedibeng region. The Workforce Group told Acting Judge Lavery Modise that when the EFF marched on the company’s site in Vereeniging its members threatened bloodshed if the ex-employees were not taken back.
Modise asked how the company knew the group were EFF members. “It could have been an individual on a frolic of his own,” he said of Tshabalala.
However the advocate responded that “Tshabalala had identified himself as a member of the EFF’s national central command team."
He added that these death threats necessitated approaching the Labour Court and said the (EFF) party’s actions "went against good society standards."
The company served its papers to the EFF’s “only known e-mail address” - which was a Gmail account. The advocate pointed out that 'the EFF was a new political party (Sept 6 2013) and had no registered physical address at the time the company instituted the court action. The EFF will also have to pay The Workforce Group’s legal costs, which the company justified by saying the EFF had an opportunity to come to court but chose not to.
The advocate noted that 'not awarding a costs order would be a message to the EFF to do whatever it wanted."
Tshabalala could not be reached for comment and despite promising to respond, EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi failed to do so.
Meanwhile in Pretoria, the sonamed "Tshwane Co-operative Movement" which expects to benefit from a R1.1billion budget by the municipality for setting up cooperatives,
has also suspended its leaders Wiseman Gudu and Lucy Seolela for joining the EFF. The two members were warned that "the EFF is not acceptable'.
The underlying plan is to 'train co-operatives in infrastructure maintenance and services, minor roadworks and repairs which are expected to cost R500million.
The chairman of the 'TCM' said 'the timing was not right and promised to explain the suspensions next week."
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za Sunday Independent
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/eff-in-trouble-over-death-threats-1.1577732
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