Scientology-linked rehab boots out whistle-blowers who exposed illegal labour practices

Published January 28, 2025 By admin with Comments 0

When medical liaison officer Nomalady Nekhabambe and social worker Nhlanhla Pangisa came forward with allegations of worker abuse, irregular practices and the flouting of labour laws, the whistle-blowers fully expected blowback. However, they did not anticipate increased intimidation and strong-arm tactics from Narconon Africa so quickly.

On Thursday, 23 January, the directors of Narconon South Africa – the name under which Narconon Africa Rehabilitation Centre is registered – Sandile Hlayisi and Diana Safina, swung into action.

What began as an offer of retrenchment escalated to Nekhabambe and Pangisa being suspended and kicked off the non-profit organisation’s North West premises, with no concern about how they would get home, the employees said.

This came only a day after Daily Maverick published an article detailing how the NPO engaged in illegal labour practices including late or non-payment of salaries, and making UIF and PAYE deductions from wages despite not registering employees with the Department of Labour or the SA Revenue Service.

Retrenchment attempts
Nekhabambe said, “Sandile and Diana came to my cottage at 10am with retrenchment forms and asked if I was prepared to sign. I told them I am refusing to sign because what they are doing is wrong and they are just trying to silence me.”

Nekhabambe and Pangisa provided Daily Maverick with recordings of the encounter. In the heated exchange, the directors admitted to the allegations of unlawful labour practices, conceding that it was wrong and claiming they had come to remedy the situation.

In the audio, Hlayisi is heard explaining that the rehab operates on the basis that “things” are only paid when clients arrive at the facility. He said that the rehab was not at full capacity.

Nekhabambe was offered a “severance package” of R20,000 which Hlayisi claimed covered her outstanding pay, one week’s remuneration, notice pay and leave pay.

The medical liaison officer shared a copy of her payslip with Daily Maverick, which showed that her weekly pay, before deductions, amounted to R5,000. After going four weeks without being compensated, the severance package would cover only Nekhabambe’s outstanding pay.

When asked if the organisation would return the UIF, PAYE and workers’ compensation deductions Narconon had been making since August, Nekhabambe was told that would not happen.

“You can go to the courts if you want,” Safina said.

According to Nekhabambe’s payslip, the weekly deductions are as follows:

UIF: R50;
Workers’ compensation: R37.50;
PAYE: R461;
Food: R750;
Total: R1,298.50
This comes to R5,194 a month and R25,970 for the five months the medical liaison officer had been working at the facility.

The employees included the monthly deduction for food in their grievances because Nekhabambe and Pangisa said they were not told about the deductions when they began their employment at Narconon.

According to Section 34(1) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), an employer is prohibited from making deductions from an employee’s wages without their written consent. The only instance where an employer can make deductions without consent is when it is required by law, collective agreement, court order or arbitration award.

“They said they want to pay people what they owe them but I am not owed R20,000 by Narconon. For five months they have been taking almost R6,000 and saying that they are paying SARS and Labour when they weren’t. Five months they were unlawfully taking money and now they tell me I can’t get it back. They are mad and I told them I will not take the retrenchment package because what they are doing is wrong,” Nekhabambe said.

Pangisa was given the same offer, but the package she was offered was also less than what she was owed, so she rejected it. She said she would have no problem leaving Narconon, but would do so only when the NPO agreed to pay her everything she was owed.

Thursday was not the first time Nekhabambe was given a notice of retrenchment. On 30 December 2024, after weeks of vocally expressing their dissatisfaction with not being paid, both the medical liaison officer and Pangisa were handed retrenchment notices which they refused to sign because they wanted to be compensated first.

Content retrieved from: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-27-scientology-linked-rehab-boots-out-whistle-blowers-who-exposed-illegal-labour-practices/.