HOTELS: STILL NO PAY FOR CASUAL WORKERS

MBABANE – Having been recalled after lying idle at home for months, about 40 emaSwati had high hopes of being able to put food on the table.

This was after they were engaged to offer cleaning services at the Royal Swazi Spa Resort in Ezulwini. The hopes were further motivated by the fact that they were to clean hotels that were to accommodate dignitaries from different countries, who had come to attend big national events. However, it has been over a month now and they have not been paid for the hard work they put in. The Royal Swazi Spa Resort, which is under Sun International, includes the Lugogo Sun and the Royal Swazi Spa hotels, a convention centre, restaurants, bars and a country club.

It is currently part of an ongoing liquidation process, having been closed in 2021. However, it was recently reopened by government to accommodate dignitaries and guests who had come to attend the 55th Double Celebrations and they included former South Africa President Jacob Zuma and delegations from different royal households from the neighbouring country. At the two hotels, most of the guests who were accommodated were the members of the different royal households.

The re-opening of the resort was, according to government at the time, due to that most accommodation facilities were already fully booked for the festive season. It meant that proper renovations and cleaning of both the rooms and premises had to be carried out. A local company, which trades under the name Contra Clean, was engaged to offer the cleaning services and this was allegedly done by Tibiyo Taka Ngwane. Tibiyo Taka Ngwane happens to be one of the major shareholders of the Sun Limited.

Services

Contra Clean, it was gathered, had for years been offering the same services to the Sun International hotels. It, therefore, recalled some of its casual workers who were sitting at home with no job to come and work. They are said to have worked for close to 20 days and were promised about E150 a day.  This means that each one of them was entitled to close to E3 000. Speaking on condition of anonymity, in fear of victimisation, some of the affected casual workers said life was tough following that they have not been paid.

“When we were engaged to clean the hotels, we found most of the rooms a mess and toilets were blocked as they had not been in use for some time. We would work in shifts, some from 7am to 3pm and the night shift from 3pm to 11pm. We worked very hard and were of the belief that once the celebrations were over, we would all be paid,” one of them said. They claimed that most of them were from the rural areas and had borrowed money for transport.

“We saw a week passing by without being paid. This surprised us. A second week passed and we tried to enquire and we were told that Tibiyo had not facilitated the payment. We were told that the person who was supposed to facilitate the payment had actually travelled to the United States of America as part of the delegation that accompanied His Majesty King Mswati III,” another said. They said what then pained them was that other workers including waiters, chefs, receptionists and those responsible for housekeeping, were allegedly paid. According to the cleaners, they found this unfair as they had actually arrived earlier than the other employees.

Encouraged

“Our boss encouraged us to do our best to ensure that the guests found the place proper. We, therefore, put in all the effort despite that the place was a total mess at the time. We would go to bed tired and it is sad that we still have not received a cent and this is the second month,” an employee said.
They detailed how life has been tough for them ever since the COVID-19 pandemic era, where they would now and again be forced to stay at home.
When asked if they had received communication from the management of Contra Clean, the workers acknowledged that one of the managers would now and again share feedback on a WhatApp group that was created for them.

“Yes the communication has been there, but it has come to a point where we cannot be patient anymore because we are now confused and not sure of what is factual and not. We have even asked if it was possible for our boss to borrow money from somewhere so that we could be paid and the response we received was that the company has debts dating back to 2018 and is not in a good financial position,” said another worker. They said they were aware that when it comes to tenders, payments usually took time to be made, but that they believe the company should have prepared itself for that. “Tibiyo is a big organisation and probably has a lot of other payments to make before addressing our case, but our management should have known that,” another one said. Meanwhile, challenges for casual workers engaged at the Sun International Management began way back in 2020.

Devastating

It was in March in the same year when it was announced that Sun International had resolved to shed casual workers and force permanent employees to take extraordinary leave as a desperate move to stay afloat, amid the devastating economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, it was said that the establishment had 194 permanent staff members with their casual utilisation made as per the business demand. During busy times, such as banquets, including the King’s Birthday, where close to 2 000 guests are catered for, there were normally 120 casual staff members utilised.

Before the shedding of casual workers, it had been revealed that the three hotels had lost close to E5 million in two days, due to the developments of the COVID-19 virus. In June, it was announced that the effects of COVID-19 had resulted in the five companies under Sun International Management Limited being placed under provisional liquidation. The companies included Swazi Spa Holdings, which was operating Swazi Spa Hotel and Casino, Lugogo Sun and Ezulwini Sun. Liquidation means that the business is not able to pay its debts. It further implies that the business will cease to operate (generally as a result of financial problems).

The other affected companies were Swaziland Spa Development Company Limited, Ezulwini Properties (Proprietary), Spa Financing Company Limited, Manzane Estates Limited, which have also been affected. The news of the liquidation came after Judge Cyril Maphanga granted an interim order placing the companies under the provisional winding up in the hands of the master of the High Court. The court appointed Lawyer Marisa Boxshall Smith as the provisional liquidator of the five companies, with all powers, direct and ancillary, to the joint winding up of the companies.

Unanswered

It has, however, been over two years and there has been no purchaser for the hotels. Instead, various entities have shown interest but ended up not taking over the ownership of the hotels. Efforts to obtain a comment from Tibiyo TakaNgwane Managing Director Absalom Themba Dlamini were not successful as his cellphone number rang unanswered for the better part of yesterday. An attempt was also made to obtain a comment from the Ministry of Home Affairs, by virtue of it being responsible for cultural events in the country including the double celebrations.

The ministry’s Communications Officer Mlandvo Dlamini said this was a matter between the company and its employees. “It would be difficult for us to interfere since this is a contract between two people. In our ministry, there are processes that are followed up until payment agreements are reached. We regret that the employees are suffering. We do hope that the issue will be resolved,” Dlamini said.

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