About 200 Bethelsdorp Hand Weavers employees returned to work for the New Year on Monday, although with much uncertainty as to whether they would be paid at the end of the month.
The company, which was established by the Bethelsdorp Development Trust and is training people to weave baskets, bags and tapestries for domestic and export markets, ran into financial problems in October.
The employees, who are paid weekly, went without pay for about seven weeks.
This was because initial funding of about R8,5-million paid over in 2003 – meant for training, equipment and wages – had run out last year.
The project was initiated in 2003, but training only started in 2006.
Company chief executive Nick Daniels said labour costs, equipment and raw material had meanwhile gone up by 20% a year since 2003.
He said because of the month-long public sector strike last year, funding – which was supposed to have come from the labour department, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation and the Development Bank of Southern Africa – had been delayed.
The company has now applied for funding from the National Empowerment Fund. In a meeting with his employees yesterday, Daniels said he was not promising them anything.
“Everything hinges on the National Empowerment Fund. They are processing our application. They will tour the factory next week. The talks are at an advanced stage.”
On Sunday, Daniels, the employees and Independent Democrats president Patricia de Lille met at the Chatty Community Hall in Bethelsdorp, the employees firing questions at Daniels about their future with the company.
De Lille intervened in the matter last year, becoming a “mediator” between the employees and Daniels.
“The company is owned by the Bethelsdorp Community Trust – it‘s community property and somebody must explain what is happening. It‘s meant for community upliftment,” De Lille said.
The money, if secured, would be used for raw materials, wages and salaries for the 200 workers, as well as an additional 50 trainees.
The initial 200 are now equipped with Level 2 of the National Qualifications Framework skills program in hand weaving.
The employees have since been paid all their arrear wages.
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