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Cape Town - E-tolls collection company ETC is set to start laying off staff and close temporary structures and services now that it has reached its ‘steady state’, the company's CEO Jamie Surkont told Fin24.
He was responding to a query after Fin24 became aware of an email informing staff that about 500 members will be retrenched from the e-tolls project.
For many workers, mostly subcontractors working on the e-tolls project, the email "came as a shock", according to a Fin24 user.
The user, who wishes to remain anonymous, said according to the email, about 500 workers will be retrenched from the e-toll project.
"Most of the workers that work for e-tolls are under callforce direct, meaning by the end of November 2014 the company will be left with a handful employees that won't be able to handle queries and complaints coming from road users who are registered for e-tolls."
The user also alleged that the management of the claims department failed to convert people to the ETC (Cape Town company TMT Services and Supplies, known as Electronic Toll Collection); "only five people will be left to handle 3 000 claims coming in and other pending complaints".
A national call centre department of Sanral will also be left with 25 people to handle calls, the user alleged.
Surkont said from the commencement of the project it was decided that operational costs would need to be effectively managed.
"As such, the contract called for the reduction in number of staff and the closure of temporary structures and services when the ‘steady state’ phase was reached.
"As operators, it is important for ETC to align with the lifecycle planning of the Gauteng e-toll project. It has therefore been necessary for ETC to perform different services during the different phases of the project.
"The project required an increase in staff during its registration phase, and now requires a reduction in staff and the closure of temporary structures and services, in its current steady state.
“The retrenchments that are taking place were planned for and are part of the natural progression of any project,” said Surkont.
The Fin24 user expressed concerns over further delays in the e-tolls project due to the retraining of new people later on. He alleged that "in the web department, all employees will be retrenched".
"The department is an engine of the company that escalates queries to relevant departments. This will mean there is going to be a delay again because of training new people on the job.
"The customer service centres located in malls have started closing their doors as most of them, like at the Carlton Centre, have closed down. This will be an inconvenience to people who want to register and do top-ups for their accounts."
On Friday the SA National Roads Agency Limited's (Sanral's) Vusi Mona said in a statement that the company is not retrenching its employees and has not issued retrenchment letters.
He was responding to a claim by Cosatu's Gauteng secretary Dumisani Dakile on Thursday that Sanral is retrenching up to 1 200 workers.
Sapa quoted Dakile as saying that the e-tolling system is facing a crisis because many workers are being retrenched by Sanral, as well as the agencies and labour brokers it uses.
"It is very mischievous of Cosatu to claim that the SA National Roads Agency Limited is retrenching 1 200 workers when we only have a staff complement of 283," Mona said in a statement.
Mona said ETC is a service provider for Sanral, and ETC is "downscaling" its operations in line with its business model. He said Sanral cannot be held accountable for the business decisions made by its service providers.
Surkont said while temporary staff members were at ETC they received training and other work-related skills that would serve them in good stead for their future careers.
"ETC also has a conversion process that has been actively running for several months, and to date this has seen over 560 temporary employees converted to ETC contracts," he added.
- Fin24
Have you or anyone you know been affected by the retrenchment? Let us know and you could be published.
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyFin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views of users published on Fin24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.
He was responding to a query after Fin24 became aware of an email informing staff that about 500 members will be retrenched from the e-tolls project.
For many workers, mostly subcontractors working on the e-tolls project, the email "came as a shock", according to a Fin24 user.
The user, who wishes to remain anonymous, said according to the email, about 500 workers will be retrenched from the e-toll project.
"Most of the workers that work for e-tolls are under callforce direct, meaning by the end of November 2014 the company will be left with a handful employees that won't be able to handle queries and complaints coming from road users who are registered for e-tolls."
The user also alleged that the management of the claims department failed to convert people to the ETC (Cape Town company TMT Services and Supplies, known as Electronic Toll Collection); "only five people will be left to handle 3 000 claims coming in and other pending complaints".
A national call centre department of Sanral will also be left with 25 people to handle calls, the user alleged.
Surkont said from the commencement of the project it was decided that operational costs would need to be effectively managed.
"As such, the contract called for the reduction in number of staff and the closure of temporary structures and services when the ‘steady state’ phase was reached.
"As operators, it is important for ETC to align with the lifecycle planning of the Gauteng e-toll project. It has therefore been necessary for ETC to perform different services during the different phases of the project.
"The project required an increase in staff during its registration phase, and now requires a reduction in staff and the closure of temporary structures and services, in its current steady state.
“The retrenchments that are taking place were planned for and are part of the natural progression of any project,” said Surkont.
The Fin24 user expressed concerns over further delays in the e-tolls project due to the retraining of new people later on. He alleged that "in the web department, all employees will be retrenched".
"The department is an engine of the company that escalates queries to relevant departments. This will mean there is going to be a delay again because of training new people on the job.
"The customer service centres located in malls have started closing their doors as most of them, like at the Carlton Centre, have closed down. This will be an inconvenience to people who want to register and do top-ups for their accounts."
On Friday the SA National Roads Agency Limited's (Sanral's) Vusi Mona said in a statement that the company is not retrenching its employees and has not issued retrenchment letters.
He was responding to a claim by Cosatu's Gauteng secretary Dumisani Dakile on Thursday that Sanral is retrenching up to 1 200 workers.
Sapa quoted Dakile as saying that the e-tolling system is facing a crisis because many workers are being retrenched by Sanral, as well as the agencies and labour brokers it uses.
"It is very mischievous of Cosatu to claim that the SA National Roads Agency Limited is retrenching 1 200 workers when we only have a staff complement of 283," Mona said in a statement.
Mona said ETC is a service provider for Sanral, and ETC is "downscaling" its operations in line with its business model. He said Sanral cannot be held accountable for the business decisions made by its service providers.
Surkont said while temporary staff members were at ETC they received training and other work-related skills that would serve them in good stead for their future careers.
"ETC also has a conversion process that has been actively running for several months, and to date this has seen over 560 temporary employees converted to ETC contracts," he added.
- Fin24
Have you or anyone you know been affected by the retrenchment? Let us know and you could be published.
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyFin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views of users published on Fin24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.
