Mamaregane and Sawub fight Steers over chef's gardening duties

Fast-food uniforms, garden weeds, and a union rep hitting the brakes turned a random drive-by into a labor fight that is not going away quietly.

What sparked the whole thing

• Workers at a Steers outlet were spotted doing gardening while still in full uniform.
• This went down in Menlopark, Pretoria, not behind the scenes.
• A passerby saw it, stopped, and things escalated fast.

Who stepped in

• Lebusa Dave Mamaregane was the one who intervened.
• He is affiliated with the SA Workers Union ya Bashumi.
• He did not just complain, he showed up at the restaurant again the same week.

Why does he say it is a problem

• Mamaregane says job descriptions matter under the Labour Relations Act.
• Gardening, in his view, is nowhere near what these workers were hired to do.
• When asked why they were doing it, the workers said only God knows.

What workers allegedly told him

• Gardening was not a once-off thing.
• They said it happens whenever the store is quiet.
• Some of them are chefs, yet still get told to do it.

Hygiene and pay concerns

• Mamaregane says chefs should not be touching soil and weeds.
• He flagged hygiene risks tied to food handling.
• No extra pay was given; this was treated as normal duty.

Who is he pointing the finger at

• The store manager is being singled out as the main driver.
• Mamaregane says instructions to garden came directly from management.
• Cost-cutting was never raised during discussions, according to him.

What the union plans next

• Mamaregane wants the issue pushed to either the labour court or a bargaining council.
• Investigations are already happening on site.
• He hinted that more allegations surfaced, and evidence is still being gathered.

Why is he still involved

• The workers are not union members.
• Mamaregane says that it does not matter when rights are being crossed.
• He frames it as stepping in because someone has to.

What Steers said publicly

• Steers said this is not how things are supposed to work.
• The company blamed a delay in landlord maintenance after the December festive period.
• Staff were allegedly asked to remove excessive weeds temporarily.

Where the company drew the line

• Steers admitted the manager should not have asked staff to do the work.
• The practice was described as unacceptable and not standard procedure.
• The brand says it has addressed the issue internally.

Why is this not done yet

• Mamaregane says developments may pull him back to the store again.
• Possible legal action is still on the table.
• The gap between corporate statements and shop-floor reality is being tested hard.