Due Diligence

NEHAWU says it stands by border post ‘WhatsApp Official’

The National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union has come out in defence of an official that prioritised a WhatsApp conversation, over her job.

The National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) has reacted with scorn to what it calls a “social media frenzy around a video that has gone viral on social media which shows our female member allegedly fiddling with her cell phone while on duty.”

The union says it rejects the vilification of its “member in public instead of subjecting her to an internal disciplinary process if the Department believes that she has a transgression to answer to. NEHAWU further condemns the continuous trial of our member in a court of public opinion, which has been joined by the minister on his twitter handle. His utterances are a vote of no confidence on the internal processes of his own department.”

In a tweet, the recently reappointed Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, promised an investigation and “swift action” into the matter, a statement that drew the ire of NEHAWU, which says the focus, should instead be on “horrible working conditions that our members are subjected to.”

The union says it has always “been at the forefront of highlighting the horrible conditions our members work under and this includes huge workloads and long hours because the department refuses to fill funded vacant posts especially in the ports of entry. Moreover, the department refuses to pay overtime yet they expect workers to be encouraged to put in extra effort.”

Despite the presence of a video recording of the incident, clearly showing the border post official on her cellphone, responding to WhatsApp messages while stamping passports; NEHAWU says it is nevertheless “in a process of verifying facts around this incident.”

You can watch a video of the incident below:

https://twitter.com/mgigaba/status/973796787923374081

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