The National Education, Health & Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU), Health and Other Service Personnel Trade Union of South Africa (HOSPERSA), National Union of Public Service & Allied Workers (NUPSAW) and Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA) in the province of KwaZulu-Natal are highly disturbed and disappointed to observe the high level of exploitation of their members in the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs.

Since November 2011, under the stewardship of the current MEC for Agriculture and Departmental Affairs, Dr. Meshack Radebe, workers have been bullied and subjected to unfair labour practices that have destroyed their morale. The majority of the workers in the department suffer from anxiety, depression and are mostly uncertain about their future in the department.

The above mentioned unions have jointly committed to defend their members against any form of exploitation and to fearlessly represent the aspirations of their members.These trade unions therefore decided that they shall not keep quiet when the dearth of leadership and systemic defects in the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs are affecting the workers and the public in general.

Our unions have resolved to intensify our mobilization of workers and take action if the department fails to suspend the unlawful advertisements, unprocedural short listing, unfair interviews and appointment of both acting and full time positions.The patience of the workers has been tested to its limit by the level of inaction following a series of discussions and negotiations that yielded very little in terms of tangible outcomes.

The trade unions call on the Premier to intervene so as to avoid the calamitous situation, where service delivery is compromised. The Premier should consider all our recommendations, particularly the one that calls on the MEC, Dr. Radebe to stop interfering with the administration and operational functioning of the department. He must leave those entrusted with the administrative responsibility to perform their duties uninterrupted.

The MEC and his management have so far proven to be ill-equipped to resolve the current problems and seem unlikely to have the capacity to place the department on a stable and dynamic footing. The Premier's Office is called upon to intervene because it has a professional and moral obligation to create an enabling environment for workers to work towards productive and quality service to the citizens of our province.

Our unions condemn all the actions taken and spearheaded by the MEC, who has abused his powers excessively to bulldoze everyone to tow his line and acted in a manner that violates the legislative frameworks that regulates the relationship between the employer and employee.

The four unions reiterate their positions for the immediate resolution on all outstanding issues tabled in the meeting held in August 2012 for the attention of the MEC including the demands captured in the memorandum submitted by NEHAWU to the Premier on the 20th of November 2012.Amongst the myriad of issues there are the following:

Stop the unlawful transfer of workers.

Stop the unlawful appointments that are outside the departmental organogram.

We demand the absorption of contract workers.

Stop appointing people into acting positions without consideration of requirements needed for such posts.

Release the upheld salaries of workers particularly in the Communication Directorate.

Immediate suspension of all unlawful labour practices in the department

Our four unions have come together to make known their commitment to formulate a joint action plan in defence of the department's workforce from this vicious exploitation and abuse. We have given the Premier four weeks from the 25th July 2013 to attend to these matters. The failure by the premier's office to respond favourably to our demands will result in an inevitable provincial strike. We are ready hold the bull by its horns.

Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat