A member of the forum, Sonwabile Ndwaba, tells OFM News how he recalls talks between the university and the current outsourced workers, with an agreement that they will be insourced by January 2021. Their concerns include that should the institution not keep their promise, these workers' contracts expire at the end of this year. Many workers fear for their future with the institution.

Ndwaba says that they have continuously pleaded with the management for their rapid response to their grievances but allege they have failed to get an answer. OFM News requested the UFS’ management to comment but have been told that they need time to look over the said questions regarding today’s picket.

“We are informed that because of Covid-19, they do not have the funds to insource. That is really problematic for us because it’s not just a principal agreement. It was a memorandum of understanding and minutes that we want to be insourced by January 2020.

OFM News previously reported in 2019 that the institution had come to an agreement with the forum when they made an offer to insource the workers by 2021.

However, the forum says it seems the institution might have made a U-turn because of the effects that the Covid-19 pandemic brought upon them.

According to Ndwaba the institution has gone as far as threatening workers with job losses.

OFM News