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Cape Town – The existence of two First Tech companies – one an engineering group going into liquidation and one an ICT group – has led to some confusion, which Fin24 would like to clear up.
The First Tech Group which is going into liquidation is the engineering firm also known as First Strut Group. It has been in business for more than 17 years and was started by the recently murdered Johannesburg businessman Jeff Wiggill.
The second First Tech - ICT giant First Technology Holdings (a Microsoft specialist) and all of its subsidiaries - is completely unrelated to Wiggill and the liquidation matter.
In reaction to the Fin24 article about the liquidation of the First Tech (First Strut) engineering company Arnold Sharp, group CEO of First Technology Holdings – the unrelated ICT group – issued a statement to put everyone involved with his ICT group at ease.
“It is unfortunate that they (First Strut) traded as The First Tech Group,” he said.
“I am not sure how or why the media added the word technology when referring to them, because it has no relevance whatsoever. This liquidation has nothing to do with us.”
At the same time, Fin24 has been inundated with feedback from users relating to Wiggill’s First Tech Group (First Strut), the engineering group which is going into liquidation.
“I am/was an employee at First Tech Lighting and Electrical and am extremely concerned about my pension deductions, which had not been paid over,” wrote one Fin24 user.
Another wrote that she was an employee at First Tech and lost not only her salary this month, but also a chunk of leave pay. Her pension fund deduction in June had also not been paid over to the fund.
“There is so much more to this story – large-scale fraud and corruption,” she wrote.
Former employees wrote to tell how they were kept in the dark until the last moment “when the machines were shut down and the offices closed”.
Another thinks it is unfair that staff who received weekly wages had still been paid a week before the liquidation process started “to create the impression that all was still fine at the group and to prevent them from burning down the buildings”, while salaried staff had no such luck and many “lost everything”.
What employees seem to find most confusing is how First Tech (First Strut) could have obtained financing while the group was actually in financial trouble.
“I am writing to Fin24 to try and gain justice for the thousands now sitting destitute. These people operate in a dark underground world,” one former employee wrote, regarding Wiggill’s mysterious death.
An employee who lost his job at Cosira, one of the subsidiaries of First Tech (First Strut), wrote that he thinks a false image of a well-performing company was created.
First Tech (First Strut) had bought out Cosira, a company which was contracted to provide steel for the Medupi power station and also had projects in Namibia and Mozambique. Cosira has also been provisionally liquidated after a business rescue attempt failed.
“They let everyone carry on working. We did not receive our salaries this month. There is much more to this story than meets the eye,” he wrote.
“Worst of all, the employees cannot claim their contributions from the industry, since there is no documentation to indicate the termination of their contracts.”
Another former employee estimates the debt of First Tech (First Strut) could be more than R3.6bn.
“My son was employed at First Tech and a friend of mine at a subsidiary called Flexicon Piping,” wrote a Fin24 user.
“This is so sad – 7 000 people jobless. Thousands of families are now struggling to make a living and find employment in a country with an already high unemployment figure.”
Another employee wrote that he was simply told to take his belongings home last Monday.
“As I am sitting here I don’t even know what to do. I have kids at school and loans to pay. It is so hard for someone like me, who is just starting up a family,” he wrote.
“I used to work at the two main factories in Benrose. It is despicable that mismanagement has caused the loss of between 5 000 and 7 000 jobs, of which most are semi-skilled,” wrote another former employee.
“Instead of creating jobs, they added to the ever-growing problem of unemployment.”
- Fin24
The First Tech Group which is going into liquidation is the engineering firm also known as First Strut Group. It has been in business for more than 17 years and was started by the recently murdered Johannesburg businessman Jeff Wiggill.
The second First Tech - ICT giant First Technology Holdings (a Microsoft specialist) and all of its subsidiaries - is completely unrelated to Wiggill and the liquidation matter.
In reaction to the Fin24 article about the liquidation of the First Tech (First Strut) engineering company Arnold Sharp, group CEO of First Technology Holdings – the unrelated ICT group – issued a statement to put everyone involved with his ICT group at ease.
“It is unfortunate that they (First Strut) traded as The First Tech Group,” he said.
“I am not sure how or why the media added the word technology when referring to them, because it has no relevance whatsoever. This liquidation has nothing to do with us.”
At the same time, Fin24 has been inundated with feedback from users relating to Wiggill’s First Tech Group (First Strut), the engineering group which is going into liquidation.
“I am/was an employee at First Tech Lighting and Electrical and am extremely concerned about my pension deductions, which had not been paid over,” wrote one Fin24 user.
Another wrote that she was an employee at First Tech and lost not only her salary this month, but also a chunk of leave pay. Her pension fund deduction in June had also not been paid over to the fund.
“There is so much more to this story – large-scale fraud and corruption,” she wrote.
Former employees wrote to tell how they were kept in the dark until the last moment “when the machines were shut down and the offices closed”.
Another thinks it is unfair that staff who received weekly wages had still been paid a week before the liquidation process started “to create the impression that all was still fine at the group and to prevent them from burning down the buildings”, while salaried staff had no such luck and many “lost everything”.
What employees seem to find most confusing is how First Tech (First Strut) could have obtained financing while the group was actually in financial trouble.
“I am writing to Fin24 to try and gain justice for the thousands now sitting destitute. These people operate in a dark underground world,” one former employee wrote, regarding Wiggill’s mysterious death.
An employee who lost his job at Cosira, one of the subsidiaries of First Tech (First Strut), wrote that he thinks a false image of a well-performing company was created.
First Tech (First Strut) had bought out Cosira, a company which was contracted to provide steel for the Medupi power station and also had projects in Namibia and Mozambique. Cosira has also been provisionally liquidated after a business rescue attempt failed.
“They let everyone carry on working. We did not receive our salaries this month. There is much more to this story than meets the eye,” he wrote.
“Worst of all, the employees cannot claim their contributions from the industry, since there is no documentation to indicate the termination of their contracts.”
Another former employee estimates the debt of First Tech (First Strut) could be more than R3.6bn.
“My son was employed at First Tech and a friend of mine at a subsidiary called Flexicon Piping,” wrote a Fin24 user.
“This is so sad – 7 000 people jobless. Thousands of families are now struggling to make a living and find employment in a country with an already high unemployment figure.”
Another employee wrote that he was simply told to take his belongings home last Monday.
“As I am sitting here I don’t even know what to do. I have kids at school and loans to pay. It is so hard for someone like me, who is just starting up a family,” he wrote.
“I used to work at the two main factories in Benrose. It is despicable that mismanagement has caused the loss of between 5 000 and 7 000 jobs, of which most are semi-skilled,” wrote another former employee.
“Instead of creating jobs, they added to the ever-growing problem of unemployment.”
- Fin24
