The prayers of employees working at Downtown Hub have finally been answered after the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) ordered the institution to pay approximately R191,724.63 in outstanding salaries.
The ruling comes after months of back and forth, through which employees had continuously expressed their frustration, after missing out on salaries from as early as February this year. Those working at the institution highlighted that this has prevented them from covering the costs of some of their essential needs.
In an interview with a news publication, Sunday World at the time, one employee said: “We haven’t received our salaries for two months. The worst part is, we don’t know when we’ll get paid. We’re working from home, using our own resources.”
Meanwhile, it was also told to them that they would be compensated at the start of the new financial year, which failed to happen. Instead, the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, later announced his decision to close the Downtown Music Hub to investigate the misuse of funds.
This has resulted in the employees escalating the problem with the CCMA.
In response to this, the respondent has since admitted their inability to pay the salaries of the employees for the months, April, May and June.
Meanwhile, Thabiso Putswe of the Hotellicca Trade Union, was more than happy with the outcome.
Speaking to the above-mentioned source, Thabiso said: “We were confident from the beginning. Our members were clearly not paid, and with the shutdown, they had no choice but to go to the CCMA. Now, we’re waiting for DTMH to pay. If they don’t, we’ll have to consider asset attachment.”
Also see:Gayton McKenzie set to investigate millions paid to Downtown Music Hub
