In our Thursday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Wednesday, 12 October 2016.
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Lonehill woman killed in row with domestic worker TMG Digital reports that a Johannesburg North woman has succumbed to stab wounds‚ inflicted during an altercation with her domestic worker on Wednesday. The Lonehill Residents Association confirmed the death‚ saying the attack took place in a complex off Sceales Road in Lonehill. Police have apparently launched a massive manhunt for the suspect in question. Ward councillor David Foley said: “I think a point to be made is to all community members to ensure that everyone that they employ must have valid identification so if there is a crime committed the police can follow up accordingly. This may or may not relate to this case specifically but as a general rule.” Based on reports at TimesLive and The Citizen Labour department orders Paarl container courtrooms to be shut Cape Argus reports that shipping containers that staff at the Paarl Regional Court have been using as makeshift courtrooms for the past five months have been slammed as “dangerous and unsuitable”. The permanent courthouse is being renovated. Alarmed by the health and safety hazards raised by concerned personnel and the legal fraternity, the Department of Labour has now issued a prohibition notice. The notice, which affects a section of the structure, was served on court management last Monday. Should court proceedings continue in the shipping containers, which fall within the prohibited space, while the notice is still in effect, “it would be deemed an illegal action”. Read this report by Gadeeja Abbas in full at Cape Argus Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Sasol Mining employee shot dead, but no proven link to Amcu strike The Citizen reports that , a Sasol Mining employee was shot dead on 9th Street in eMzinoni on Saturday, 8 October at about 11pm. The deceased returned from a tavern and was then found by his landlord with a gunshot wound to the stomach. He was taken to Bethal Hospital, where he later died. It is alleged the 31-year-old man was threatened to stop going to work and to join the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) strike picketing. He opened a case of malicious damage to property in August after his car was torched. But police say there is no evidence linking the case to the Amcu strike and the reason for the murder is still unknown. In another incident, a rented room of a Sasol employee was torched while he was at work. Police say they are concerned over the sudden spike of crimes against Sasol employees. Read this report by Sifiso Mathebula in full at The Citizen Zwane wants to meet with mining bosses over criticisms of Zuma and OHS issues Business Report writes that Minister of Mineral Resources Mosebenzi Zwane said on Wednesday he was concerned about the attacks on the government by some stakeholders in the mining sector, particularly attacks on President Jacob Zuma. He indicated he would be convening “a high-level meeting with the sector to discuss this, as well as pertinent issues on health and safety.” According to the Minister, there have been 67 fatalities at mines since the beginning of the year, compared to 55 over the same period last year. A short report by Dineo Faku is at Business Report DiamondCorp mulls legal challenge to safety stoppage at its Lace mine BDLive reports that DiamondCorp is considering a legal challenge to a week-long safety stoppage at its Lace diamond mine in the Free State. There was a fire on a dump truck "just inside" the portal that provided access to the underground mine, the company said on Thursday, adding the blaze was extinguished without injury. However, the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) ordered a safety stoppage at the mine, which is DiamondCorp’s single asset. "The instructions issued by the DMR include a request for an ‘external ventilation audit team to inspect the mine for smoke and other gases’. Mine management is struggling to find logic in the instruction and is considering its options, including legal means of redress,” DiamondCorp said in a statement. Read this report by Allan Seccombe in full at Business Live Other labour posting(s) in this news category
Nehawu warns of Limpopo public service shut down over long-standing demands Business Report writes that the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) says it will go ahead with its plans to shut down the Limpopo public service if its long standing demands are not met. The union said on Wednesday that it was disappointed that Limpopo Premier Chipu Mathabatha, had not responded to its demands, which date back a number of years, 45 days after the union marched to his offices. The demands include resolving challenges around the training nurses, the re-employment of outsourced security services, laundries and kitchens, the finalisation of the parking bay policy, and the scrapping of what the union says are unfair housing rental fees. Read this report by Zintle Mahlati in full at Business Report. Read Nehawu’s press statement in this regard at Polity
Rift in chemical union Ceppwawu widens The Star reports that the crisis that has gripped the Chemical Energy Paper Printing Wood and Allied Workers Union (Ceppwawu) is deepening, with a call from one provincial leader for the suspension of the general secretary (GS). In a grievance application, Free State secretary Klaas Hlehlethe accuses GS Simon Mofokeng of fraud and illegally interfering in the region's affairs. The Cosatu affiliate has been rent down the middle for years, in a fight fuelled by attempts by Mofokeng and his allies to grab control of the union’s R6 billion investment fund. Mofokeng and his allies are also in trouble for forging resolutions. Mofokeng has further been accused of unlawfully instructing the Free State region to no longer convene any meetings. Hlehlethe has demanded that Mofokeng be suspended and that all union members, staff and officials who have been suspended, dismissed and expelled under the current circumstances be reinstated. Read this report by Amy Musgrave in full at The Star
Joburg vs Cape Town salary gap is widening BusinessTech reports that new data published by online job portal Adzuna shows that if you are thinking of relocating to Cape Town from Joburg your pay is likely to be substantially less. Moreover, the data shows that the salary gap between the two has widened during 2016. In broad statistics, the Western Cape lists 22,230 jobs at an average salary of 13% less than Gauteng’s 53,815 jobs. Even more pronounced was the difference of over 18% between the cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town. The average salary of all SA’s more than 130,000 positions was R375,786. Using first quarter stats published in April, Adzuna identified the best paying provinces according to the average advertised salary. North West listed the best and Free State the worst. Read this report in full at BusinessTech
Organised labour hopes for progress on national minimum wage The New Age reports that a meeting next week between stakeholders is expected to hear about progress made by the advisory panel tasked with setting an appropriate level at which to set the national minimum wage (NMW). Cosatu national spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said they expected the meeting of the Committee of Principles – representing the government, business, labour and community at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) – to break the impasse between stakeholders on the matter. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed the seven-member panel to advise on an appropriate level at which to set a NMW. Read this report by Bonolo Selebano in full at The New Age
Pupil numbers swell as teacher shortage worsens Cape Argus reports that, while the number of pupils in South Africa grew by more than 2% since 2014, the number of teachers decreased by 1.5%, a new report reveals. The School Realities 2016 report, published by the Department of Basic Education, also showed the number of schools in the country decreased by 0.6% over the same period. According to the report, there were 12.6 million pupils in the system in 2014. This increased to 12.9 million this year. The number of teachers decreased from 425,090 in 2014 to 418,611 this year, while the number of schools decreased from 25,741 to 25,574. Read this report by Ilse Fredericks in full at Cape Argus Sadtu buckles over Eastern Cape teacher deployment DispatchLive reports that the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) on Tuesday agreed to a high court order obliging it to cooperate with the Eastern Cape education department’s teacher staffing decisions for schools for the next three years. The union also agreed to the high court declaring the union’s directive in April to its members not to participate in the process of identifying excess teachers as an unlawful breach of the constitutional rights of learners to an education. The far-reaching order included an interdict prohibiting the union from interfering in any way with the department’s determination of teacher post establishments at public schools or redeployment or transfer of teachers. With Sadtu caving on almost every issue, the department may now finally set about transferring about 4,200 teachers from schools where they are not needed to schools suffering desperate teacher shortages. Read this report by Adrienne Carlisle in full at DispatchLive
There’s no reason to liquidate Gems, says Council for Medical Schemes Netwerk24 reports that the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) on Wednesday presented its annual report to the parliamentary portfolio committee on health. It sought to address concerns around the Government Employees Medical Scheme (Gems), which is the largest ‘closed’ medical scheme in the country. Tebogo Maziya, head of financial oversight, gave feedback about Gems specifically because of recent reports that the scheme’s solvency ratio had dropped sharply. She indicated that a number of factors had had an influence on Gems’ performance and confirmed that the scheme was taking steps to address the problems, which should improve matters. Prof. Yosuf Veriava, CMS chairman, indicated that there was no necessity to liquidate Gems. (Loosely translated from Afrikaans) Read this report by Nellie Brand-Jonker in full in Afrikaans at Netwerk24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Gauteng Health Department suspends 18 employees for misconduct ANA reports that at least 18 employees have been suspended for misconduct at the workplace by the Gauteng Department of Health since July. “Six of them were charged for participating in an illegal strike, the remaining twelve were charged with falsification of records, disregarding safety rules, gross negligence fraud and corruption,” the department indicated on Wednesday. Positions of the suspended staff ranged from a laundry worker to director. Criminal charges were laid against three of the suspended employees. Read this report in full at IOL News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
DA files papers to have Motsoeneng booted from SABC for good News24 reports that the Democratic Alliance (DA) has filed papers in the Western Cape High Court to have former SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s appointment as group executive of corporate affairs declared invalid. In its application, the party seeks to prevent Motsoeneng from serving in any senior position at the SABC, unless the Public Protector’s findings about his conduct and character are reviewed and set aside. DA federal executive chair James Selfe said: "We are asking the court to make a determination that Mr Motsoeneng is not a fit and proper person to hold any position at the SABC." Read this report by Paul Herman in full at News24. See too, DA poised to ask court to remove Motsoeneng from the SABC, at IOL News. And also, DA aims to boot out Hlaudi, at The Citizen
See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet on Wednesday, 12 October 2016 at SA Labour News
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