Incosiderate working conditions at this FOURTH INDUSRIAL REVOLUTION....

On the 21/09/2019, my family and I went to purchase lunch at Zebediele Mogoto/ Moletlane KFC. Two very friendly, caring and loving women at the ordering counter attended to us. At a second glance, I asked one of my uncles’ whether was I seeing clearly that those two women were expecting the other one was highly expectant; I presume around eight months and the other six months. To our dismay and compassion, I humbly asked them whether they have chairs/stool to sit on since they are at the tills. They responded with such humility and shyness, said no, I realized that they were highly uncomfortable, and asked another person to call the floor manager. Mr Patrick came and I asked him the reasons for not allowing the women chairs considering the conditions they were in. He told me that according to KFC policy no employee is allowed to sit while on duty. I further requested to speak to his superior; a woman by Anea- general manager came, I explained the situation regarding the element of humanity; yes I did not dispute policy however the conditions of the ladies called for an urgent intervention of some sort, I mean we could vividly see that they were highly distressed but trying to adhere to policy at the expense of their lives and babies they are carrying. My other uncle who is a minister went further to explain to Ms Anea that the implications can be very detrimental in later stages of the kids, and not that he suggested that he knows better but it was coming from a very caring angle to say that policy can be adjusted to accommodate people's lives. Ms Anea was an extremely understanding person who also reiterated that she would like to change the law but she's unable. I asked for the contact details of her manager.

This morning (23/09/2019) I called Mr Phillimon Rantho; the area manager, I explained the situation and he informed me that he hasn't been to Mogoto/ Moletlane branch in four weeks due to managing other areas, and he hasn't been alerted of any crisis that required his attention, however he also indicated that fast food industry does not cater for such a request (chairs/ stools) and usually their employees are allowed to take early maternity leave should there be a need. In addition, he said that some customers might complain seeing workers sitting while working. I emphasized the botho/ubuntu/ humanity element, that said does not imply that they are either incapable or need to be discriminated against. The suggestion is simply to offer one stool where they can swap, because I also gathered that they are only allowed a thirty minutes break throughout their shifts of the day. For the purpose of a national dialogue - As Africans; have we lost that BOTHO...??? JUST TO GAIN PROFIT..??