Although you consider us to be primarily an investigation firm, I would like to assure you that D&K Management Consultants does a lot more.

One such aspect is assisting clients in managing risk; particularly from potentially dangerous strikes and protest action.

“This heads-up warning is to inform you about an overly concerning and potentially dangerous development that the EFF political party has rolled out. They have obviously seen the value in positioning themselves as a pseudo union, or workers army.”

The success of their Clicks retail sabotage campaign has no doubt sparked a fire within the EFF’s marketing department. What that whole scenario confirmed to Mr Malema and co., was that when taking on private companies and successfully shutting them down under the banner of fighting “White Minority Capital” (WMC) abuse of black South Africans, their following increases. In fact, this strategy has given employees hope that the EFF will fight their causes for them at company level. They are losing faith in their traditional unions and are being swept up in the populist rhetoric that by joining the party’s political support base, the EFF will fight your employment demands on your behalf.

The EFF has also realised that the fact that many people fear them puts them in an incredibly strong position to intimidate, influence, and place demands, supposedly to assist employees fight WMC.

From this realisation came the birth of the EFF Labour Desk. (See below)

The strategy of the EFF Labour Desk is to turn up at a company which is supposedly mistreating, or is deemed as being unsympathetic to, its workforce and force their way in – causing major disruption and evoking fear. Their “hired army” will threaten to shut the company down, destroy productivity by any means possible, and create reputational damage unless their demands are met.

Remember these demands are actually the demands of your own disgruntled staff. More and more often we are seeing the traditional unions being bypassed and instead employees are heading straight to the EFF. To make it even easier, the EFF Labour Desk website even has a simple online form which asks the employee to give the name and location of his/her company.

It is important to point out that this is a political party and NOT a trade union. This tactic that they have employed is nothing more than a “Racket”. It is akin to extortion and no business must allow their representatives onto company property or entertain their demands.

Do not fall into the trap of thinking you must listen to them. In fact, they have absolutely no power (legally) to demand anything from you. They are not a registered trade union, and hold no say over your companies’ policies, procedures, or actions.

The tactic is not dissimilar to the protection rackets employed by the Mafia in the ‘20s and ‘30s. These strategies are also now being used largely by the underworld in the Cape.

Please consider your company’s stance on this scenario and at least have an open discussion on how you will react if you suddenly find the band of red clad thugs arriving at your front gates.

Regards
Kyle Condon

About Kyle Condon: Kyle Condon – Grad of I.S (SA) is a founding member and Managing Director of D&K Management Consultants. This second-generation Private Investigation and Fraud prevention company assists businesses and individuals to handle various criminal and civil investigations. After more than 27 years in business, Kyle is regarded as one of the country’s leading minds on business crime and investigations. Kyle is a regular contributor to local newspapers and television news. He is also the Regional Director (Africa) on the Council of International Investigators (CII).

Contact Kyle Condon on saint@intrigue.co.za, follow him on Twitter @investigatorsZA or visit www.investigators.co.za.