Cape Town – The Democratic Alliance has called for Lumka Yengeni to be removed from her position as chairperson of the Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Labour.
This after reports that she had been found guilty of breaching labour laws by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
The Sunday Times reported that Yengeni’s former domestic worker, Lucia Dlephu, had taken the MP to the CCMA.
Dlephu told the newspaper that Yengeni had not allowed her lunch breaks or leave, and that she had to be on duty 24-hours a day.
DA MP Ian Ollis said this was unacceptable.
Some of the issues raised with the CCMA included:
– Failure to supply a letter of appointment or an employment contract to the domestic worker;
– Failure to give the domestic worker a payslip;
– Not giving her employee leave, and never paying for any leave;
– Her employee was not paid double on public holidays, despite being forced to work on these days.
The DA called for her to be removed from her position and replaced “with a chairperson who in fact does care about the rights of workers”.
“This hypocrisy is simply unacceptable and in the interests of the scores of workers and labourers in SA, the DA simply cannot allow her to remain as Chairperson of this Committee or any committee for that matter,” Ollis said.
He said Yengeni, who had been outspoken about worker’s rights in the past, now had a conflict of interest and could not continue to chair the committee.
“As such, she must be removed if we are to meaningfully put the rights of workers at the apex of the Committee’s agenda and restore credibility to the committee itself.”
Source: http://www.news24.com
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