The final curtain has fallen on Denny Mushrooms’ Shongweni plant in KwaZulu-Natal, leaving hundreds of workers without their livelihood or means to sustain themselves.

It was forced to close down after a mysterious fire engulfed it on 9 September 2022.

A retrenchment deal was reached and workers began getting their severance packages two months ago.

The blaze took place amid bitter wage negotiations between the company and unions. It was the second in just more than two weeks, raising suspicion that any of the sides could have been responsible for the fire.

The Denny Mushrooms plant in Shongweni, west of Durban, has been closed, leaving many people struggling for employment in the Shongweni area, 27 March 2023. (Photo: Phumlani Thabethe)

Short end of the stick

But the workers seem to have come out of the forced plant closure with the shortest end of the stick. The area is characterised by farms and the semi-urban township known as eDamini, where most of the employees live. The plant had been a source of employment for residents in villages around Shongweni Dam since it opened its doors in 1950.

At the time of the fire and closure, Denny Mushrooms, a subsidiary of Libstar Holdings, employed 315 full-time staff and hundreds more who were working as casuals.

The company told Daily Maverick it had decided to halt operations as the safety of its people was its key priority. Investigations into the fire were ongoing.

Gerbrandt Rust, managing executive at Denny Mushrooms, told journalists that a number of mushroom-producing farms have closed down as “load shedding and increased input costs has impacted on farmers and other producers.

Libstar Holdings told Daily Maverick while it was “grateful” that no person suffered injury as a result of the disaster, “we acknowledge and regret the lasting impact of this event on our employees and their families”.

Entire families working at Denny

The impact of the retrenchments is nowhere more severe than in Edamini (Shongweni Dam), where households had between two people and entire families working at Denny.

Lydia Ngcobo (65) said she had worked for the company for decades before retiring recently, but not before arranging work for her son and daughter-in-law. Now both are unemployed. “When we grew up here almost everyone here was guaranteed a job at Emakhoweni [the local name given to the plant], so long as you didn’t have a criminal record. With the closure, ours and many other families are going to suffer,” she said.

Many families are struggling since the closure of the Denny Mushrooms plant in Shongweni. (Photo: Phumlani Thabethe)

Read more in Daily Maverick: Hundreds face uncertain future after blaze guts mushroom company factory

Another eDamini family affected is that of Zanele Ngubane (49). Eight family members depended on her salary for their livelihood; now that is gone. She has recently received her retrenchment package.

Zanele Ngubane has been associated with the Denny Mushrooms plant for more than three decades. (Photo: Phumlani Thabethe)

Ngubane said she had been associated with Denny for more than 30 years, from when she was at school and worked at the farm on weekends and school holidays.

“I remember we used to lie about our age so that we could work there … I’ve worked there all my life,” she said sadly.

Mthokozisi Dlamini, a former worker at Denny in Shongweni west of Durban. (Photo: Phumlani Thabethe)

A retrenched worker, Mthokozisi Dlamini (27), said he had been at the company for seven years when it was forced to close down. He supported four people, including his five-year-old son, on his salary.  

“The closure of the company was so sudden. It shook us all. One moment we were employed, and the next we were out there … in the cold,” he said.

“My plan now … is to use the severance package to get a code 14 driver’s licence so that I can stand a chance of getting a job as a truck driver.”

Initially, “disgruntled workers”  were suspected of arson, with plans to go on strike demanding higher wages, among other demands.

But the Transport, Action. Retail and General Workers’ Union (also known as Thorn Union) and which was the majority union at the Shongweni plant, rejected these claims, saying there was no proof. Workers had every right for fight their rights, including higher wages and better working conditions, but it was improbable that they would go to the extent of burning down the plant, which has been the source of their livelihood.

Wonderboy Shibase, Thorn’s spokesperson, said the union was invited to take part in the inspection at the plant and saw for itself that the devastating fire had affected “most the of the farm” and there was no possibility that production could resume any time soon.

The union had no option but to accept the deal to retrench but was also vigilant to ensure that workers were fairly compensated. However, Shibase said the union had not given up hope that the plant could reopen sometime in future.

Many families are struggling since the closure of the Denny Mushrooms plant after it burnt down last year. Photo dated 27 March 2023. (Photo: Phumlani Thabethe)

End of an Era

The closure of the plant also heralds an end of an era, not only to the latest workers, but to many other people.

Musa Zulu, a Durban-based businessman, motivational speaker and an advocate for equal access and rights for the disabled, said he was heartbroken when he heard the news of the closure.

Zulu joined the Denny Mushroom Shongweni Dam plant in 1994 as junior human resources manager. “The closure of that mushroom farm sounded a death knell to continued and sustainable community development in that area, and also to a wonderful workplace that gave everything possible to bring me to where I am standing today.” DM168

Read Part Two here.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.