UNISA invigilators from various parts of the country marched from Sunnyside campus to Unisa main campus today in Tshwane.
The invigilators are angry after claiming they have not been paid their salaries and UIF for the past six months.
Yvonne Radebe, chief invigilator in Tshwane and organiser, said they want to be paid because they are starving.
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“We are suffering, our accounts are owing a lot of money and our policies have lapsed.
“This is very painful and sad because Unisa is a big company and we feel exploited. No money, no work. We demand to be paid what is due to us,” she said.
Radebe said they want to be insourced.
Limpopo Unisa chief invigilator Thruddy Mokgonyana said they are owed money for UIF and 35 invigilators from Polokwane centre are left stranded.
“We need our money and payment for May and June examinations together with October and November,” she said.
Mokgonyana said the invigilators signed a three-year contract last October.
She said this has affected all of them and they are left starving and stranded.
Darryl Forster, a Unisa invigilator from Olifantsfontein in Ekurhuleni, said on the issue of Covid-19 UIF contributions, Unisa management cannot tell them where their UIF money is.
“As invigilators from South Africa we had submitted invigilators’ grievances to the management on 16 October and we expected feedback on 21 October and the management never responded to our demands.
“I feel the management is ignorant and stubborn and these are signs of corruption. There are almost 1 500 invigilators on the Unisa payroll and we believe there are ghost employees.
“Who is claiming our money because the money gets subtracted from our salaries? We are still waiting for our money and we suspect there is corruption,” he said.
Unisa invigilator Phindile Shabangu from Witbank said she has a 17-year-old daughter.
“I’m scared she will not write matric examinations as I don’t have money to pay her fees. I’m depressed, I have not been paid since the end of March,” she said.
Vuyokazi Matutu, an invigilator from Tshwane Showgrounds, said she is a single parent with five children.
“I’m struggling to raise them, buy food, pay their fees and rent. I feel like I’m undermined by Unisa.
“I don’t have another job, this is my only job for survival,” she said.
Matutu said she doesn’t qualify for the government’s R350 and the free groceries.
Rendani Nematswerani, general secretary of the Association of Workers Force, said they are supporting the invigilators.
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“We are saying Unisa must take responsibility of the challenges the invigilators are experiencing. They must be addressed urgently, their families are suffering because of the negligence of Unisa management,” he said.
President of Influential Information and Communication Union of South Africa, Desmond Moeketsi, said they are supporting the workers’ protest as well.
“All workers don’t have a union, Unisa doesn’t allow them to have a union. Some workers have asked for our intervention and we will be assisting them,” he said.
Unisa chief of legal services Advocate Modidima Mannya said the situation arises from the declaration of the state of disaster which led to lockdown in the country.
“As part of the infrastructure in the country we had to adopt mechanisms and methods to address our immediate challenges which resulted in us having an online examination instead of venue-based examinations for May and June. This led to invigilators not being used for May and June examinations.”
He said the vice chancellor has directed him and the legal team to look into all the aspects that relate to the management of this situation.
“In the course of next week we will deliver our determination of what will happen. It does appear that in certain instances things did not go right.
“They are in fact, in terms of the contract they signed, independent contractors,” he said.
