In our Tuesday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Monday, 14 November 2016.
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Two critically injured in scaffolding collapse at Sandton construction site TMG Digital reports that two people are in a critical condition after having been trapped on Tuesday in a structural collapse on a construction site on the corner of West and Rivonia streets in Sandton. According to ER24, paramedics and the fire services arrived on the scene to find that the two men had fallen through some scaffolding. Both men were found to be in a critical condition, having sustained numerous injuries. After receiving numerous advanced life support interventions, the patients were transported to a nearby private hospital for urgent treatment. The cause of the collapse is not yet known, but local authorities were on scene for further investigations. This short report by Katharine Child is at TimesLive Attacker had been harassing Sowetan principal since he was fired last year The Star reports that Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi believes the principal of Paul Mosaka Primary School in Pimville, Soweto, wouldn't have been stabbed if her attacker’s threats had been taken seriously. Lesufi, who was due to visit the school on Tuesday, said on Monday that he would investigate why nothing was done about the perpetrator. It was well known that the man had been harassing the principal since the department fired him last year for falsifying his qualifications. “Had this matter been attended to, this wouldn't have happened,” Lesufi said. The former teacher stabbed the principal on Monday morning in front of pupils, teachers and residents. Lesufi said he was disgusted about the attempted murder and was aware that teachers, principals and pupils were sitting ducks for criminals. Read this report by Botho Molosankwe in full at The Star Killer security guard not our employee, says UJ ANA reports that the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Monday clarified that the security guard who allegedly murdered BSc student Kelvin Baloyi was not their employee. In a statement, the university said it was working with the police to investigate the incident that led to the death of Baloyi. He was shot in the face last Saturday allegedly by private security while attending a year end party at off-campus student accommodation. On Friday, a number of students marched to UJ to submit a memorandum outlining their concerns about private security and police on campus. The University said that in recent months it had received criticism regarding the conduct of private security on its campuses and management condemned any unlawful conduct of security services. It added that it was its duty to ensure additional security measures “enable us to fulfil our responsibilities to secure life, protect property and ensure minimum interruption to the core business and the completion of the academic programme.” Read this report by Lindi Masinga in full at IOL News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Court decision clarifies power of safety inspectors, says Chamber of Mines Reuters reports that the Chamber of Mines of SA (COM) said on Tuesday that a Labour Court decision overturning a government-imposed safety stoppage at an AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) mine placed limits on the power of state inspectors. The mining industry has long complained that government inspectors have been imposing arbitrary work stoppages over safety, costing billions of rand in lost output and putting mines and jobs on the line. The ruling concerned a so-called Section 54 safety stoppage at AGA’s Kopanang mine last month. The judge found that the blanket stoppage of the entire mine because of infractions in one section was disproportionate. The COM said in a statement: “We believe that the Labour Court has, in this case, clarified the limits on the powers of the inspectorate.” Read this report in full at Business Report. Read the Chamber’s press statement at COM online. Read too, Judge rebukes state on mine-safety stoppages, at BusinessLive. And also, Labour Court criticises inspectorate for irrational mine safety enforcement, at Mining Weekly
Solidarity-ETM Labour Market Index improves, but no cause for celebration Engineering News reports that the Solidarity-ETM Labour Market Index (LMI) improved to 42.5 index points in the third quarter, up from the downwardly revised 41.9 in the second quarter. But the trade union cautioned against premature talk of “green shoots” of recovery in the SA economy, saying the slight rise in the LMI was of little significance, given that the index still remained well below the neutral 50-point mark and below even the depressed levels of 2015. The overall LMI still paints a bleak picture for labour. Meanwhile, the Employee Confidence Index (ECI), a subcomponent of the LMI, improved from 40.8 in the second quarter to 43.1 in the third quarter. “Only 11% of the participants in Solidarity’s quarterly survey of members reported they felt more secure in their jobs compared to three months before. Nearly two-thirds of respondents reported no change in job security, whereas the remainder of respondents, 25%, reported they felt less secure,” Solidarity Research Institute economics researcher Gerhard van Onselen indicated. Read this report in full at Engineering News. Read Solidarity’s press statement and download the full LMI report at Solidarity online Other internet posting(s) in this news category
New deadline for Lesotho Special Permit applications Caxton News Service reports that the South African Department of Home Affairs has offered Lesotho nationals living and working in SA an extended grace period until 31 December 2016 to apply for a Lesotho Special Permit (LSP). The department has also gone the extra mile to make the application process more convenient and easier and applicants now only need to visit the application centre once and not twice, as was the case previously. There will be no further extensions given, and the department has indicated that, following the grace period, Basotho living in South Africa illegally will be deported. Read this report by Larry Bentley in full at The Citizen
Treasury scraps proposed R20m cap on employer’s employment tax incentive claims BusinessLive reports that the Treasury has accepted the plea by business to scrap the proposed R20m cap on annual claims per employer under the employment tax incentive (ETI), which aims to promote youth employment. The Treasury has proposed to extend the life of the incentive for two years after it expires at year’s end, but with a cap on claims. Business Unity SA (Busa) and other large employers argued during parliamentary hearings on the ETI that the cap would limit the effectiveness of the programme, which had been successful in enhancing youth employment. Treasury director Christopher Axelson said on Tuesday that a "compelling" case had been made that the proposed cap would come at the cost of higher levels of employment. He added that, should cost containment of the programme be required, the imposition of a cap would be reviewed. Read this report by Linda Ensor in full at BusinessLive
‘The worse the performance, the more CEO salaries go up’ at transport parastatals BusinessLive reports that CEOs of the 11 parastatals in the Department of Transport have seen their combined salaries staying as high as R27m, despite the fact that the financial standing of most of those entities has worsened. Amongst the 11 entities are the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) and the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral). The CEOs enjoyed hundreds of thousands of rand in performance bonuses and other benefits. Yet, the department received a qualified audit from the auditor-general, who mentioned leadership deficiencies, uncertainty caused by litigation and procurement weakness in most of these entities. Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Manny de Freitas commented that increases to CEO salaries were "almost proportional" in that "worse the entity does the more the salary goes up". He is to submit a question to the minister to get more details on how the entities determined salaries. Read this report by Khulekani Magub in full at BusinessLive
Dads and moms in line for 10 days 'parental leave' if proposed bill goes through TMG Digital reports that proposed changes to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act could see the introduction of “parental leave”, which would allow a male or female parent 10 days’ leave on the birth or adoption of a child. Currently‚ new fathers are not specifically provided with leave following the birth of their child. If a new father wishes to take leave after the birth of his child‚ he has to apply for ‘family responsibility leave’ as provided for in section 27 of the BCEA. The private members Labour Laws Amendment Bill also proposes the insertion of “adoption leave” and “commissioning parental leave”. An employer will not be liable to pay the employee during any such leave period. The employee will only receive benefits from the UIF. Read this report in full at Sunday Times
Blame game between education department and unions over damming SACE report The Star reports that a blame game has erupted between the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and teacher unions following the release of a damning report that has revealed a raft of irregularities involving teachers. The report by the SA Council of Educators (SACE), released on Monday, showed amongst other things that at least 20 teachers have been plying their trade using fraudulently acquired qualifications. A massive campaign to find other rogue teachers is under way. Thirty-three others were struck off the roll indefinitely for offences including sexual relationship and impregnation of pupils, rape, selling drugs to schoolchildren, indecent assault and severe assault of pupils. Teacher unions blamed the DBE, saying that it had been very lax in verifying new teachers’ qualifications. DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga dismissed the unions’ accusations, insisting that it wasn’t their task to accredit teachers. Read this report by Tebogo Monama and Ntando Makhubu in full at The Star. Read too, Limpopo teacher of almost 20 years in hot water over 'fake' degree, at TimesLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Accreditation problems could lead to nursing shortage, says Denosa Talk Radio 702 reports that in a radio interview on Monday, Deputy President of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa), Modise Letsatsi, said some nursing colleges failed to teach correct courses prescribed by the Nursing Council. Letsatsi was responding to a report in The Times that the Nursing Council was failing to give accreditation to colleges providing nursing training. He indicated that it was not clear what was preventing the Nursing Council from issuing accreditation, but said some of the existing nursing colleges did not teach students the correct prescribed curriculum. Letsatsi reported that government has committed to reopen some of the nursing colleges that have been closed to address the problem of shortages. Listen to the interview at 702
Solidarity and Bemawu want Hlaudi to pay legal bills of SABC 8 journalists BusinessLive reports that the two trade unions which represented SABC journalists fired for criticising editorial decisions at the public broadcaster want former chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng to personally pay for the legal costs of their Labour Court application. Solidarity and the Broadcasting, Electronic Media and Allied Workers’ Union (Bemawu) served Motsoeneng with papers on Monday regarding the cost order awarded by the Labour Court in Johannesburg in July. The journalists, known as the SABC Eight, were fired earlier this year for challenging a blanket ban on broadcasting footage of violent protests. They challenged their employer in the Labour Court and were reinstated, all except Vuyo Mvoko, who is a freelancer. The head of Solidarity’s centre for fair labour practices, Anton van der Bijl, said Motsoeneng had to "carry the can" for the decision to dismiss the journalists. Read this report by Genevieve Quintal and Bekezela Phakathi in full at BusinessLive. Read Solidarity’s press statement at Solidarity online Other internet posting(s) in this news category
See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet on Monday, 14 November 2016 at SA Labour News
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