The Sunday Independent reports that employees at the Enterprise Foods factory in Polokwane are in limbo as they don’t know whether they will be paid or not following the listeriosis outbreak having been traced to the factory.  

According to three workers from the plant, they were receiving mixed signals from managers regarding their monthly salaries.  “We were told to halt production and deep clean all the machines.  We are now confused because we are receiving mixed messages regarding our payments.  The plant manager says we are going to get paid but the HR person is saying no work no pay,” said one employee.  Another employee said they did not know when operations would return to normal.  He appealed to the company not to punish them for things that were beyond their control and had not been caused by them.  Unions have vowed to ensure workers do not get mistreated and get what was due to them.  Ntata Sekgota of the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (Nupsaw) said that initially workers were told to go home as the plant was closed and no one was allowed inside, but management then relented and people were back at work cleaning all the machines.  Nelson Semenya of the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) echoed the message and called on the holding company Tiger Brands not to tamper with the salaries of workers placed on special leave.

• Read this report by Karabo Ngoepe in full at The Sunday Independent

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