‘Nedbank wanted us gone’
|Published
085 Michael Vilakazi and Rhoda Yedwa are former Nedbank auditors who believe their employer wanted to get rid of them because they were challenging its bad labour practices and they ended up as victims themselves. 060513. Picture: Bongiwe Mchunu 085 Michael Vilakazi and Rhoda Yedwa are former Nedbank auditors who believe their employer wanted to get rid of them because they were challenging its bad labour practices and they ended up as victims themselves. 060513. Picture: Bongiwe Mchunu
Nedbank has been accused of a “grossly” unfair labour practice and hindering transformation by two senior staff members who claim they were victimised for standing up for workers’ constitutional rights.
The bank’s internal auditors Michael Vilakazi and Rhoda Yedwa believe the bank had planned to get rid of them after they took it to the labour court over alleged derogatory and racist remarks made by a manager in the audit unit in 2006.
They said a retail division chief internal auditor retail branded all black people as lazy.
The matter was later settled out of court but the two believe that those above them embarked on a mission to get rid of them.
They said despite what had happened, they never ceased challenging the institution whenever they saw any “non-compliance with the Labour Relations Act (LRA)” as well as employment equity.
They said they constantly stated their dissatisfaction over Nedbank employing “overrepresented groups”. For this they said they were threatened with disciplinary action but said they still stood against any unfair labour practices and lodged numerous grievances.
Yedwa alleges that Nedbank had “instead of fixing the disparities, continued to fill vacancies with people from outside designated groups, thus widening the gap even further”.
He said while they continued to work and challenge issues, a dispute resolution meeting was called with them by the bank on March 15, 2011.
“Instead of finding a way of resolving our grievances the company proposed termination of our employment contracts with terms which we rejected. We tabled our demand which they also rejected,” Yedwa said.
“About a year later… we were subjected to a disciplinary hearing and charged with threatening the bank when we said we’ll report Nedbank to relevant authorities… We were found guilty and issued with final written warning letters.”
This they also challenged in the labour court.
More disputes between Nedbank and Yedwa, who has been fired, and Vilakazi continued.
Nedbank’s group executive of marketing, communications and corporate affairs, Thulani Sibeko, said: “The cases involving Ms Yedwa and Mr Vilakazi are currently before the CCMA and the labour court after all the internal processes were followed. Nedbank respects the legal process.” - The Star