Johannesburg – South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs has dismissed claims by the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa) that SA firefighters were “ruthlessly exploited” in Canada
In a statement late on Thursday Environmental Affairs said it noted with “regret” Numsa allegations regarding the payment of SA firefighters who recently returned home after a pay dispute. The firefighters had been assisting with wildfire suppression in the Canadian province of Alberta.
“Whilst the Department of Environmental Affairs affirms the right and duty of the trade union federation to raise concerns around the perceived ill treatment of workers in line with its mandate, the statements attributed to Numsa are economic with the truth, unhelpful and potentially inflammatory,” said the department.
Earlier on Thursday Numsa spokesman Patrick Craven said the 301 SA firefighters deployed to Canada as part of a resource sharing agreement with that country’s authorities, were “ruthlessly exploited”.
The department said the firefighters were participants in an internationally-renowned natural resource management programme, Working on Fire, which is part of the Government’s Expanded Public Works’ Programmes (EPWP) and has been in existence since 2003.
“The Department of Environmental Affairs runs 12 Environmental Public Works Employment Programmes as part of the over-arching EPWP,” said the statement explaining the employment of the firefighters.
“One of the 12 is known as ‘Working on Fire’ and is aimed at inter alia, creating work opportunities and (absorbing) some of the many young South Africans, who for various reason have not acquired the necessary education and or skills, thus enabling them to gain skills and increase their capacity to advance and earn an income.”
The department said participants in all EPWP programmes were remunerated in line with guidelines for Employment and Conditions of Work for EPWP Programmes.
The programmes enhance participants’ chances of finding jobs or starting their own businesses. At least 197 of the 375 participants are now employed as managers of the same programme, and come from the ranks of fire fighters, said the department.
“A large number of former firefighters have also graduated from the programme to jobs in the public and private sector,” said the department.
The participants have found employment in areas such as conservation, game rangers, the South African Police Service, the South African Defence Force and local government.
“Some of the former firefighters have also graduated to start their own business in agriculture, retail, etc. including one such former firefighter who was able to do so after a deployment mission in Canada in 2015.”
However, Numsa claimed the firefighters and others on “such government schemes” were being “ripped off and super-exploited”.
Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa said: “Such remarks evidence a fundamental misreading of the context and circumstances that led to the dispute around the remuneration of our firefighters whilst they were deployed to Canada”.
Molewa added: “Our firefighters have now returned home. Things have normalised as they are back to their South African working conditions”.
The minister said Working for Fire (Pty) Ltd and the departmental National Resource Management Committee, chaired by DEA, will folow up with a full internal investigation to get to the bottom of the causes of the pay dispute in Canada.
The department said it was engaging with Working on Fire’s implementing agent as well as with the Canadian government to ensure that the remuneration for the firefighters was fair and equitable in comparison to that of workforce performing same job in Canada.
African News Agency