Trade union Solidarity has condemned the compensation paid to members of Telkom\u2019s executive management, saying the group wasted the equivalent of 80 technicians’ salaries on its former chief financial officer.<\/p>\n
In its latest financial report, Telkom noted that it paid former CFO Jacques Schindehutte R18.8 million for the financial year ended March.<\/p>\n
This, while Schindehutte had been suspended and not working for the company since the end of 2013 due to \u201cpersonal misconduct\u201d. Schindehutte officially resigned on 8 August 2014.<\/p>\n
Read:\u00a0How much money Telkom executives took home in 2015<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n According to Marius Croucamp, head of Solidarity\u2019s Communications Industry, the average technician employed by Telkom earns about R20,000 per month before deductions.<\/p>\n With the R18.8 million in unearned compensation paid to Schindeh\u00fctte, Telkom could have paid the salaries of about 80 technicians for a year, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the massive retrenchment process at Telkom, we are aggrieved that Telkom has squandered so much money that could have been used to keep experts in its employ.”<\/p>\n “At meetings with Telkom we will once again warn the company to get its priorities right and to have its employees\u2019 interests at heart.”<\/p>\n Solidarity has been leading the charge against Telkom’s retrenchment process, which aims to let go of 4,400 workers through early retirement and voluntary severance packages.<\/p>\n Telkom has called the union’s refusal to accept the packages for its members “unreasonable, unfair, and highly prejudicial”, and has opened the offer to unionised employees despite its objections.<\/p>\n How much money Telkom executives took home in 2015<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Telkom re-opens retrenchment packages to all workers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on Telkom<\/h3>\n