MOSSEL BAY NEWS - PetroSA employees did receive their salaries for May, despite recent talk that staff might not get paid this month.

This follows a statement from Dr Ishmael Poolo, group chief executive officer of the Central Energy Fund (CEF) on 24 May, noting that CEF would assure PetroSA employees that PetroSA and CEF were working together to ensure the payment of salaries for the month of May.

Trade union Solidarity said in a statement it recognised that Poolo's address to staff, during which he allegedly intimated staff may get part or no salary come 25 May, was in flagrant disregard of the existing contract of employment.

The statement reads: “It goes without saying that this announcement was not only unexpected but caught all of us by surprise.

"In the interim, our colleagues at the FA Platform have been without electricity and water for more than a week. This in itself is a safety issue.”

This follows a submission from the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration “on the absolute refusal by PetroSA management to divulge crucial information”.

Last night, Tuesday 25 May, it was confirmed that the first phase of discussions with the CEF in the presence of the PetroSA executive had been concluded.

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