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Lower South Coast Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is investigating a case of an employee who was allegedly forced to skin a dead dog by his Chinese employer in Harding, Kwazulu-Natal, last week Wednesday.
The employee, Menzi September, claims that the man who owns a supermarket forced him to cut and skin the dog that he was supposedly planning to have as his meal.
September said:
The deed was allegedly punishment for September having reported the business to the department of labour for failure to comply with labour legislation.
City Press has decided to withhold the name of the employer and his business, as he could not be reached for comment before the time of publication. An image of September skinning the dog has also not been published due to its graphic nature.
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Meanwhile, the SA Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu), of which September is a member, is consulting with lawyers in contemplation of opening a criminal case against the employer.
Saccawu KwaZulu-Natal regional secretary Mathew Ndlovu told City Press:
Ndlovu added that the business owner had failed to register employees in the unemployment insurance fund and had failed to submit monthly contributions to the department. In addition to that, he is also not in compliance with the basic conditions of the Employment Act, National Minimum Wage Act, and Sectoral Determination Act, which all form minimum standards for workers and in the retail sector across the country.
“On the 27th of August, the employer forced him to cut and deskin (sic) a dead dog. They found the situation to be devastating, and traumatising, particularly because it is against September’s culture and religion and against human rights.”
Ndlovu conceded that Saccawu felt that the rights of the animal had been violated tremendously, too.
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“We have also reported to the department of economic development because we understand that him being Chinese, he came into South Africa under the pretext of foreign investment, which we do support, but we do not support working relations between our countries and other countries at the expense of our workers,” Ndlovu added.
Mike Davis, operations supervisor at the Lower South Coast SPCA, confirmed to City Press that a case was opened, and an investigation was currently under way.
Davis explained the SPCA went to the store on Friday in Harding but the door was closed because the store was not in operation due to the outstanding issues with the labour department.
