SolarZero’s chief executive begged the energy company’s international owners to pay its nearly 200 employees what they were owed, just hours before it was put into liquidation, 1News can reveal.
The company was placed into surprise liquidation two weeks ago with its owner, multinational investment firm BlackRock, blaming “unsustainable losses”.
Former employee Magda Van Zyl told 1News she was “devastated” about the liquidation, adding that she “never saw this coming”.
“Right before Christmas — no leave pay, no notice. It was quite a blow. It’s quite a hard blow for all of us,” she said. “There’s now two in our household that’s now got no income.”
Another former employee, Minal Banchal, said when she first learned of the liquidation, she “thought it was a joke”.
“Nowhere in my dreams that I thought that SolarZero will be liquidated so it just came to me as a shock and a surprise at the same time.”
She called on BlackRock to “fulfil their obligations and pay us what they owe us”.
“Respect all the employees that worked for you and gave their best.”
‘It’s just not right’
A day before the liquidation, chief executive Matt Ward sent an email to BlackRock, begging them to pay the $4 million owed to its 165 employees.
“Many of the team live paycheque to paycheque,” the email leaked to 1News read.
“We cannot do this to people at this time of year. It’s just not right.”
The email said each employee was owed about $7000 in notice payments alone.
Banchal said she was owed approximately $17,900 “but it’s way more than that because we were paid commissions as well in my role”.
Van Zyl said she and her partner, another SolarZero employee, were collectively owed more than $20,000.
“That’s not a small amount of money. That would have been a brilliant Christmas — now it’s going to be one of uncertainty,” she said.
In a statement, BlackRock told 1News the investment was made by a global private equity fund it manages. It said it recognised the hardship faced by employees and other creditors but because the company was now in control of liquidators, it could not comment further.
‘It just breaks my heart’
Many of the workers are now applying to go on benefits.
“I’ve been trying to do nails just to get bread and milk money,” Van Zyl said. “My partner said they’ll go pick apples if they have to.”
Banchal added, “I do get rejection emails on a timely basis.”
“My expenses are outweighing my funds, and my savings are just getting melted.”
Banchal said she and her former co-workers were “united with each other” as they figured out what to do next.
“When they have to apply for financial hardship, they have to go to Work and Income, pause their mortgages, sell their car — it just breaks my heart.
“I feel hopeless, but it’s the case for me as well.”
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said she was extremely disappointed workers had lost their jobs and she expected BlackRock to meet all of the legal obligations it has to those affected.