Days after being informed they would not be getting their January salaries, staff at Denel Dynamics and PMP are in fact being paid what is owed to them.
Denel management told workers at Denel Dynamics and PMP on 19 and 20 January that the company lacks the financial resources to pay salaries for the first month of the year, due on Friday 23 January.
Denel today confirmed to DefenceWeb that January salaries have been paid for both Dynamics and PMP.
The initial announcement drew widespread criticism from trade unions, with Solidarity breaking the news, calling it “a growing group-wide crisis rather than an isolated problem within a single division.”
Derek Mans, network coordinator at Solidarity, said the situation was completely unacceptable and deeply alarming, particularly in light of the far-reaching intervention measures introduced less than a year ago to stabilise Denel’s operations.
Irvin Jim, NUMSA General Secretary, said once again worker were being forced to carry the burden of Denel’s leadership failures. “NUMSA strongly condemns Denel’s executives for allowing the company to reach this point, while workers remain the first to suffer the consequences of mismanagement and instability,” he said.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) said it was “beyond furious” that the two Denel divisions were told they would not be paid this month. “This disgraceful failure to pay workers their meagre salaries cannot be tolerated. We expect the Minister for Defence, Ms Angie Motshekga, to immediately intervene and ensure that management pays staff what they are owed in full by no later than the end of this week. This must include workers’ third-party deductions and taxes,” the union said.
“Denel was at the epicentre of the state capture project during former President Jacob Zuma’s tenure. The mass looting and theft of intellectual property reportedly done by the Gupta family amongst others is well known. Staff at Denel went through the most horrendous trauma during this period, including at one stage not being paid for up to 18 months. Many workers lost their homes, resorted to sleeping in cars and some tragically committed suicide,” said Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator.
“We had hoped that this dark chapter had closed with substantial financial relief from government and the appointment of new management. Green shoots reported in 2025 gave workers hope that Denel was on the path of returning to its rightful place as a global leader in arms manufacturing,” COSATU said.
“Denel has the potential to be turned around. It has an impressive order book from countries around the world. But it requires competent management, including a Board. It needs to be cleansed of the remnants of corruption and wasteful expenditure. Support for it from the South African National Defence Force and Police Service as well as other state security arms and the private security industry must be ramped up as local procurement is the most important path for nurturing a domestic industry.
“The Federation is beyond irritated by the lack of action and leadership from the Ministry and Department of Defence. The days of glorifying mediocrity must come to an end. If they spent less time engaging in infantile and reckless political adventurism and twerking, a turnaround plan would be in place at Denel and the defence sector.
“Denel is in deep trouble and requires firm and decisive leadership from its management, board, the Department and the Ministry. If they are not able or willing to provide it, then the Presidency must act and show them the door,” Parks concluded.
Denel declined to provide more detail on the salary situation apart from confirming January salaries had been paid to Dynamics and PMP workers.
