FAWU FAILS GUGULETHU RESIDENTS

FOOD AND ALLIED WORKERS’ UNION (FAWU) FAILS GUGULETHU RESIDENTS 

Over seventy (70) residents living in a hostel owned by the Food & Allied Workers’ Union (“FAWU”) in Gugulethu have been without electricity since 15 April 2026. The residents’ electricity supply was disconnected, without prior notification to the residents, by the City of Cape Town (“the City”) because of FAWU’s failure to settle arrears due to the City with respect to electricity usage in the hostel. 

These residents are descendants of workers who were formerly employed by SA Milling and Blue Ribbon (“former employer”) and were consequently housed by their former employer in the hostel in the 1980s. The hostel was later donated to FAWU in the 2000s for the benefit of the workers and their descendants. 

There are no prepaid meters in the hostel, so the residents rely on FAWU to pay for the electricity supply. 

FAWU has alleged that it owes approximately R3, 000, 000 (three million rands) to the City and, despite numerous requests, has failed to provide the residents with any statement of account or explanations as to how the debt was allowed to accumulate to such levels.

In a letter, dated 17 April 2026  entitled “Letter of Commitment”, addressed to the residents by FAWU’s National Deputy General Secretary, Mr Edwin Mabo; FAWU undertook to do, among others, the following: 

• To commission an audit of the hostel to determine the “legitimate residents” of each unit. This audit process was to commence “immediately”.
• To open formal engagement channels with the City and Department of Human Settlements to discuss transfer options for the property and the installation of prepaid meters.  
• To provide information sessions and reasonable support to the residents in respect of prepaid meters, billing responsibility and the steps involved in any transfer process. 

To date, FAWU has failed to do any of the above and its leadership has also failed to avail itself to discuss the issue of the disconnected electricity supply with the residents. 

While the leadership of FAWU avoids accountability, the descendants of FAWU members suffer: they live in the dark, their rooms are poorly maintained and cold, they cannot store their chronic medication in their fridges, their children study for exams by candlelight, they have been forced to resort to makeshift cooking methods or live off bread and take-aways; they are unable to warm up the baby formula for their newborns; they are unable to charge their phones which means they cannot stay in touch with loved ones and they are also unable to apply for employment opportunities. 

FAWU has also failed to maintain these buildings and to ensure waste management, which means that this community is not only living in the dark but it is also living in squalid conditions.

“For a trade union, FAWU’s lack of care and regard for these working-class Black people is absolutely shocking, and considering its history and legacy as a trade union formed during the heart of apartheid; FAWU’s actions are also very disappointing. If we cannot count on our trade unions to care about Black life – then who can we count on? “.

said Inga Dyantyi, an attorney at Ndifuna Ukwazi Law Centre

We call on FAWU to show true working-class solidarity by being responsive and accountable.