Employees Demand Shutdown of India-Based Steel Firm in South Africa

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has asked for closure of India-based Fortune Group in Nigel, South Africa, until a probe confirms that the workplace is safe for workers. The workers’ raised the demand on April 15, following a furnace explosion at the Fortune Steel plant the previous day that left seven workers injured, with one requiring critical assistance.

The union said that the explosion at the scrap smelting firm took place because the company refused to comply with basic health and safety laws. “Fortune Steel has been allowed to act with impunity because the Labor Department in Nigel has failed to protect workers against abuse. If the Labor Department had done its job the accident may have been prevented,” the organization tweeted on April 15.

The explosion took place only a day after union members marched against Fortune Steel to protest against alleged abuse of workers. They condemned the Labor Department for ignoring their complaints against the company.

“The worker who was injured in the blast is in critical condition at a Hospital in Alberton after he sustained extensive injuries to the head, chest and arms. As is usually the case, the management tried to cover up this incident,” Numsa acting national spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said.

Hlubi-Majola claimed that the company refused to call the ambulance and tried to transport the injured themselves using private vehicles, IOL reported.

NUMSA members marched against #FortuneSteel on Friday to protest against the abuse of workers. We condemn Labour DEPT for ignoring complaints against the company. .@Powerfm987 .@TimesLIVE .@IOL .@eNCA pic.twitter.com/ES9PsC4Gi0

— NUMSA (@Numsa_Media) April 16, 2018

Gaurav Bansal, one of the directors and a shareholder in the company, however, said that Fortune Steel has attempted to make sure that it complies with the labor law procedures of South Africa.

“There is no reason for the company to cover up the situation as we are not doing anything against the law over here. The company is fully registered with Rand Mutual Assurance for compensation for any injuries on site due to any accidents that happen. We have been told that the reason for taking the employees in a private vehicle was to not lose any critical time in emergency and to take all necessary steps to give the required care to the injured,” Bansal said, City Press reported.

He added that the Fortune Steel knows that the incident is not a small workplace problem and probe is being conducted to ascertain the cause. Foul play has not been ruled out as a probable cause of the incident, he added.

“We feel we need to cover all avenues, because it could be that since the company has been doing so well and there are people who are unhappy that the company has been doing well, we need to make sure that foul play is not the reason why the furnace exploded,” Bansal was quoted as saying in the report.

Hlubi-Majola, however, said that it was when the local police intervened that the workers got medical attention.

Fortune Steel started operating at Nigel in February 2017, and has also been accused of flouting various labor laws, the Dawn News reported.

The Fortune Group, which has Bhagwan Das Bansal as its chairman, is headquartered in Ludhiana, and has manufacturing units in India at Mandi Gobindgarh in Punjab, and in Chhattisgarh.