Trade union Solidarity is not optimistic about saving any of the jobs that are on the line at the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), adding it is not entirely satisfied with the retrenchment process.
Last week, Solidarity said it received a Section 189A notice from the TIA, indicating as many as 75 employees would be affected by the retrenchment process, adding the agency has informed it that it plans to improve its efficiency and profitability by way of retrenchments.
The union said it will do everything in its power to limit the planned layoffs and find other, sensible, solutions for the company's problems, adding the retrenchment process will be facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
However, Solidarity spokesperson Inge Strydom said this morning that the consultation process, which was supposed to have started on Friday, would only begin this morning, adding the union is not confident it will be able to save any of the 75 positions.
"The feeling we have from the CCMA commissioner assigned to this process is that our chances are very slim," she says, adding the union is hoping to have more feedback after today's session. "It's a very tough process and we are not hopeful that we will be able to lessen the number of employees that will be retrenched."
The embattled TIA is counting on a major restructuring process to help it return to efficiency and overcome a long history of mismanagement, and warned the restructure would see retrenchments.
Last week, the TIA's interim CEO, Dr Rivka Kfir, cautioned against attaching specific numbers to the retrenchments, emphasising "nothing has been finalised".
However, it now seems inevitable that as many as a third of the TIA's current 193 employees are set to go.
The TIA has seen much internal turmoil in the past year. Kfir was appointed to oversee the agency in May, following the dismissal of CEO Simphiwe Duma and CFO Barbara Kortjaas for misconduct and maladministration.
Meanwhile, the agency's funding has been also slashed by R130 million - to about R400 million - in the latest medium-term expenditure framework published by government. However, Kfir is adamant the smaller budget has nothing to do with the upcoming retrenchments.
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