10 November 2026
Striking workers picketed outside Festive Chicken’s Olifantsfontein processing plant on Tuesday. They are demanding a wage increase, medical aid benefits and safer working conditions. Photos: Seth Thorne
More than 100 people gathered outside Festive Chicken’s Olifantsfontein processing plant on Tuesday, where striking workers have been picketing since 29 October. They are demanding to be paid R13,500, medical aid benefits and safer working conditions.
Workers downed tools following a wage deadlock at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
On 30 October, the Labour Court declared that workers were entitled to take part in the protected strike and barred the company from disciplining or dismissing them for it.
Festive Chicken is part of Astral Foods, one of South Africa’s largest poultry producers, which supplies chicken products to companies that include KFC, Nando’s, Spur and Hungry Lion. The Olifantsfontein plant is a critical part of the company’s poultry supply operations.
Workers told GroundUp they their take-home pay is between R5,400 and R6,500 a month for 45-hour workweeks, while agricultural workers on farms earn about R7,300 for 48-hour workweeks.
ADT private security stands outside the plant to monitor protesters.
Dikeledi Rosina Mogwenya has worked at Festive Chicken’s hatchery since October 2003. She said while her workload has nearly tripled over two decades, her salary has not. She said the number of hatchery machines operated by workers per shift has increased from 12 to 35 without a corresponding pay adjustment.
“We count the chicks; each box gets 80. One person must count 35,000 chickens per day. One machine holds 19,000 chickens. One tray holds 132 chicks, and one trolley holds 36 trays.”
“The cost of living is too high. We pay school fees, rent, transport all from that R7,000. They gave [us small] adjustments for two years … They are robbing us,” she said.
Nomasonto Ncwane, who has worked for Festive Chicken for ten years, said, “Every year in September, for our hard work, we are rewarded with free meals. But at the end of October, they tell us that the company is making a loss … Management makes millions, posts about it on social media, and hosts braais.”
“We are here as workers to demand R13,500 [a month]. We have earned it,” she said.
Simunye Workers Forum (SWF) organiser Joshua Hlungwani said workers have been reporting unsafe working conditions, prompting demands for medical aid benefits.
He said there was inadequate protection against dust, which workers say has caused respiratory problems. He said workers in cold rooms also spend long periods working in freezers without proper protective clothing or additional allowances.
Tumelo Mogale of Lawyers for Human Rights said that the organisation, in collaboration with the Casual Workers Advice Office, has helped workers challenge alleged intimidation and threats of dismissal for participating in the strike.
Astral Foods has said the company cannot afford the workers’ monthly wage demand of R13,500.
In response to GroundUp, Astral Foods confirmed that the strike impacted operations at the plant but said only about 400 of its more than 2,500 employees at the plant were striking.
The company said the strike stemmed from a refusal-to-bargain dispute with the SWF, which it does not recognise as a trade union. It said two recognised unions represented most employees and had no disputes with the company.
SWF’s Hlungwani said the organisation was not acting as a trade union but was “supporting forgotten workers”. He said the matter had been taken to the CCMA, which granted workers the right to picket.
Astral said the R13,500 wage demand was unaffordable and could threaten jobs. It rejected allegations of unhygienic working conditions as “false and misleading”, citing regular food safety audits.