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He Says, She Says at ECMC

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The Acting Principal of Eastcape Midlands College, Nonkozo Chagi has released the following statement in response to an article titled “Uitenhage TVET College Embroiled in Crisis for Eight Weeks” penned by Professor Belinda Bozzolli:

The disruption referred to in the article by Professor Bozzolli, has been created by an unprotected strike undertaken by a small group of teaching, administrative and general staff (i.e. under 25% of the teaching, administrative and general staff complement based on the report of 102 employees being involved out of a total staff complement of approximately 426).  As some of these employees are educators, the impression may have been created that teaching is totally disrupted, which is not the case.  Whilst applications and the registration of students were disrupted during the period up to 14 February 2015, teaching and learning is underway at all campuses.

As far as the grievances raised by the striking staff are concerned, College Management met with NEHAWU representatives on 14 and 19 January 2015 to address their concerns and together created an agreed action plan for immediate implementation. Unfortunately, the union leadership, who agreed to the proposed action plan, never provided feedback from their constituents to College Management by either accepting or rejecting the agreed action plan.

All employees engaged in the unprotected strike were requested on several occasions to return to work before disciplinary measures were instituted and a notice of a disciplinary hearing into their alleged misconduct was issued.  On the date set aside for the hearing, the affected employees, who are all members of NEHAWU, chose not to appear or nominate representatives on their behalf at the hearing.  The presiding officer, an independent labour attorney, heard the matter and concluded that there was a prima facie case of employees participating in an unprotected strike and granted the employer’s request for summary dismissal. Consequently, 40 lecturers, and 26 administrative and support staff, which makes up 15% of the total staff complement was dismissed (i.e. 66 employees being dismissed out of a total staff complement of approximately 426).

This small group of employees, who are involved in this unprotected strike, have embarked on a campaign of intimidation and public violence such that charges have been laid with the South African Police Services in respect of intimidation of students and non-striking employees, malicious damage to property and arson. In addition, the College has secured an interdict against NEHAWU and named striking employees who are now prohibited from being within 100 metres of any College premises.

This interdict is being flouted on a daily basis and an appeal is being made to our law enforcement agencies to assist in enforcing the interdict.

The College has, in the interim, engaged additional security personnel to protect the majority of non-striking employees, students and stakeholders from intimidation, verbal and physical abuse, and damage to their personal and government property.

Despite College Management’s best efforts, striking employees have inconvenienced students by intimidation, forced removal from classrooms and the interception of busses transporting them to the campuses.

A small number of students have either voluntarily, or under intimidation, become involved in the unrest.  College Council, Management and community structures have strongly advocated that they return to their studies, particularly as their attendance is one of the criteria for the allocation of financial aid and a contributing factor to the achievement of their qualification.

The College Council, Management and staff expresses its disappointment that the education and training of our youth has been disrupted by unprotected labour action, whilst all efforts to address labour grievances through accepted channels have been ignored.

The following matters in Professor Bozzolli’s article also need to be addressed:

  • The Public Order Police Service (POPS) used a water cannon on protestors after requests to disperse were ignored and at no stage was teargas used by either POPS or the College’s security personnel.
  • The threat to render Uitenhage ungovernable by local structures is unfounded and emanates from an unattributable source aimed at intimidating non-striking employees and students.
  • The forensic investigation undertaken by Deloitte and Touche, at the request of the Department of Higher Education and Training, was halted as a result of an interdict brought by the suspended Principal and two current employees against the College to prevent the initiation of disciplinary action based on the results of the forensic investigation. Further, Deloitte and Touche and the Department is interdicted against publication of the report produced as a result of the investigation.
  • The College Council resolved on 5 February 2015 that Management should meet with NEHAWU representatives, in an independently facilitated workshop, to attempt to improve the relationship between the parties.
  • The College Council has mandated Management to continue with the legal processes currently underway.
  • The suggestion that mediation was arbitrarily cancelled is unfounded.

The Council, Management and staff wishes to assure stakeholders and communities that all necessary steps are being taken to restore normality, which includes:

A special dispensation granted by the Department of Higher Education and Training to extend the registration period to 27 February 2015 for the College’s eight campuses.  Staff volunteered and worked overtime, including weekends, to process student applications and registrations to meet this revised deadline.  The College Council and Management are grateful to all employees who supported this effort.
The College has contracted qualified temporary lecturers, in the place of dismissed lecturers and those on strike, to ensure that teaching continues and our youth receive the education and training they expect and deserve.
An academic intervention programme has been implemented to catch up on learning time lost.

Communication with students is addressed by Campus Managers regarding the current situation, as far as it affects their campuses, on a daily basis.

The College Council continues to provide direction to Management and staff, and has been fully supportive of the plans and actions implemented to date with a view to restoring a stable environment at all campuses.

The Department of Higher Education and Training is fully apprised of the situation at Eastcape Midlands College and supports all the legal processes implemented by the College to restore discipline and governance so that teaching and learning can continue in an orderly environment.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.