ANA reports that the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has dismissed claims by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) that SA firefighters were “ruthlessly exploited” in Canada.  

In a statement on Thursday, the DEA noted with “regret” Numsa’s 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.  The DEA said the statements attributed to Numsa were “economic with the truth, unhelpful and potentially inflammatory.”  Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa said that Numsa’s remarks that the firefighters and others on government schemes such as the Expanded Public Works’ Programmes (EPWP) were being “ripped off and super-exploited” evidenced “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”.

• Read this report in full at eNCA
• See too, Minister hits back after claims firefighters in Canada were ‘ruthlessly exploited’, at EWN

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