In our Monday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Friday, 2 December 2016.
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Where are cops when trains are set alight, asks transport union ANA reports that the United National Transport Union (Untu) says that police must explain why criminals destroying transport infrastructure are not being arrested for malicious damage to property and brought before the courts. On Thursday night, disgruntled commuters set alight four train coaches at the Thornton railway station between Cape Town and Bellville. “This comes after Metrorail in Cape Town has been struggling the whole week to deliver its services after it had to suspend all train services in the region to permit urgent repair work on its trains after vandals did extensive damage to it,” Untu general secretary Steve Harris said in a statement. He added that the situation was a national crisis that was escalating with every passing day. Read this report in full at IOL News. Read UNTU’s press statement at Untu online. See too, Carriages gutted as train goes up in flames in Cape Town, at News24. And also, Arson suspected in Cape Town train blaze in Thornton, at Cape Argus Numsa demands safety investigation at ArcelorMittal SA Business Report writes that workers at ArcelorMittal SA in Vanderbijlpark are demanding that the company should take the health and safety of its workers seriously. This follows an accident in October in which a worker lost three fingers and another accident when a worker fell from a roof and was fatally injured. The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) said on Friday it was demanding that three managers responsible for health and safety at the plant be suspended. The union also demanded that the Department of Labour appoint qualified inspectors to carry out a thorough investigation into health and safety standards within the company. The union said it was convinced that the company did not take health and safety seriously and was more concerned with maintaining and increasing production. Read this report by Siphelele Dludla in full at Business Report. See too, Safety standards at ArcelorMittal concern Numsa, at The Citizen Nineteen rescued carrier crew members on way to Cape Town after ship floods News24 reports that nineteen crew members rescued from a Greek bulk carrier, which flooded following a fire at sea, are to arrive in Cape Town harbour on Monday. A fire broke out in the engine room of the Antaios while it was in the mid-Atlantic, some 860 nautical miles west of Cape Town, over the weekend. The carrier was sailing from Argentina to Saudi Arabia. The SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) said: "The fire caused some damage which led to flooding in the engine room. When the flooding became uncontrollable, the captain decided to make a distress call and order the crew to abandon ship. All 19 crew members were plucked to safety on board the giant 330m ore carrier and are currently on the way to be dropped off in Cape Town, from where they will be repatriated." Read this report by Kaveel Singh in full at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Relative allegedly broke into mine manager's house before killing him Netwerk24 reports that the man arrested for the murder of Bertie Cilliers, manager at the Tumela platinum mine in Amandelbult, on a smallholding near Thabazimbi is a relative who allegedly broke into his house several times over the past few months. Cilliers, 54, who was shot at least eight times during the attack last week, had laid complaints of housebreaking against the 25-year-old man. The man is under police guard in a Rustenburg hospital after he shot himself in the head while trying to flee from police. He has not yet appeared in court. Cilliers had lived on the smallholding on his own since his wife died in 2009. The man apparently broke into Cilliers' house several times during the past few months. Read this report by Marietie Louw-Carstens in full at News24 Other labour posting(s) in this news category
Other general internet posting(s) on mining
Board of inquiry finds Phiyega ‘unfit for office’ City Press reports that it has leant that the board of inquiry into suspended National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega’s fitness to hold office has found that she is not fit to hold office and should be dismissed. The inquiry, headed by Judge Cornelis Claassen, apparently also found that Phiyega lied to the Marikana Commission of Inquiry, headed by retired Judge Ian Farlam. Phiyega is challenging the findings of the Farlam commission. The board of inquiry concluded on 3 June and the report was finalised on 13. November. The findings have not yet been communicated to President Jacob Zuma. City Press has also learnt that Phiyega only became aware of the findings “informally” – and she is already planning to have the report reviewed in court. Read this report by Abram Mashego in full at City Press Riah Phiyega finally on the ropes over Marikana, but what about the others? Greg Nicolson writes that opposition parties on Sunday welcomed reports that the Claassen board of inquiry into suspended police commissioner Riah Phiyega’s fitness to hold office had found she should be fired. The net, however, should be cast wider, they said. The Congress of the People (COPE) said: “We don’t believe it’s fair to her that she must shoulder all the blame for what happened at Marikana where 34 miners were massacred. All of us know that the massacre at Marikana was too big to lay at the door of one person.” It added that former police minister Nathi Mthethwa and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa must not only be declared unfit to hold their positions, but must be charged for the massacre at Marikana. The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Sunday it would write to the chairperson of the portfolio committee on police to urge that that the finalised report from the inquiry be tabled before Parliament. Read this report in full at Daily Maverick. See too, Phiyega can’t be Marikana scapegoat, says Cope, at News24. And also, DA wants MPs to see report declaring Phiyega unfit, at IOL News. As well at Phiyega mum for now on ‘unfit’ report, at News24 Poverty led to Marikana tragedy, says North West premier Mahumapelo ANA reports that North West premier Supra Mahumapelo said on Sunday that poverty was the root cause of the Marikana tragedy four years ago. He said at the launch of the provincial reconciliation, healing, and renewal initiative at Wonderkop: “Poverty forced people to work in the mines, some come from Zimbabwe, Lesotho, the Eastern Cape and other provinces, and neighbouring countries to work in Rustenburg mines.” Thirty-four Lonmin mineworkers were shot dead nearby on 16 August 2012 after police fired shots at them. Mahumapelo said that as part of the initiative, all churches and mining companies would be required to sign a pledge. He stated: “We want to bring unity and reconciliation within the province. It is very important to heal the past wounds... The trade unions – the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) – will [also] be engaged to reconcile.” Read this report in full at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Illegal strike costs 200 Mpumalanga municipal workers their jobs News24 reports that the Msukaligwa Local Municipality (Ermelo) in Mpumalanga has terminated the contracts of over 200 employees for taking part in an illegal strike. The employees downed tools over a task grade dispute, protective clothing allowances and office space, which left parts of Ermelo dysfunctional for days. On 27 October, the municipality applied for an interim court order from the Labour Court informing employees not to participate in an illegal and unlawful strike. But on 23 November, the employees continued with the strike they had started. According to the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu), talks with the employer were ongoing and, if successful, "workers are expected to resume work on Monday, December 5". Read this report by Miranda Mabaso in full at News24
I’m not Zuma’s puppet, says Cosatu’s S’dumo Dlamini Sunday Independent reports that trade union federation Cosatu - led by its president, S’dumo Dlamini - will engage the ANC following the governing party’s heated meeting that debated calls for President Jacob Zuma to step down. Dlamini said on Saturday the federation stood by its pronouncement that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa should succeed Zuma as president of the party and country. The Cosatu president also hit out at his opponents who have previously labelled him as a Zuma puppet, saying: “I’m not Zuma’s puppet. I respect him as my president therefore the allegations cease to exist… Cosatu takes collective decisions. Therefore anybody who attempts to subject us to factionalism will not succeed.” Read this report by Mpho Dube in full at Sunday Independent Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Racial quotas in appointment of insolvency practitioners ruled unconstitutional BusinessLive reports that the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has ruled racial quotas for the appointment of insolvency practitioners are unconstitutional and irrational. The ruling was brought before the court by the Justice Minister and the Master of the Supreme Court. Trade union Solidarity and others were the respondents. At issue was a policy determining the appointment of insolvency practitioners published in the Government Gazette in February 2014. According to the policy, 40% of appointments would go to African, coloured, Indian and Chinese women, 30% to African, coloured, Indian and Chinese men; 20% to white women; and 10% to white men. In 2015, the High Court in Cape Town ruled in favour of Solidarity and declared the policy unconstitutional and invalid. According to Solidarity CE Dirk Hermann, the ruling was of "key directional importance for SA as far as transformation and equality are concerned". Read this report in full at BusinessLive. Read Solidarity’s press statement at Solidarity online Other internet posting(s) in this news category
National minimum wage proposal in line with similar economies An international comparison with 31 other developing countries by Business Day shows the proposed national minimum wage (NMW) announced in November places SA in the same range as many other emerging economies. This is if their wages are compared in terms of purchasing power. The proposal put forward by a Nedlac task team has been hotly debated, with unions arguing that the R20 hourly rate is too low and some businesses saying it is too high and will destroy jobs. The R20 hourly wage would give workers between R3,500 and R3,900 a month, depending on how many hours they worked. It would give South Africans a similar spending power to people living in Chile and Estonia. It would stretch further than the salaries of workers in Mexico, Russia and Brazil, but not as far as those in Turkey, Poland and Latvia. Read this report by Tamar Kahn in full at BusinessLive
Cash-strapped PetroSA awards million in bonuses despite missed targets Sunday Times reports that cash-strapped state oil company PetroSA has paid senior executives millions in bonuses despite a string of disastrous projects that resulted in a R14.5-billion loss. Eleven bosses received payouts totalling R17.3-million even after the board said they did not deserve them. The executives benefited from a legal opinion that said "affordability would not qualify as a justifiable reason" not to pay the bonuses. Furious mid-level employees last week accused their bosses of running a "self-enrichment scheme" and demanded repayment of the money. They said the bonuses were being paid while the company was laying off hundreds of staff to cut costs. The payments were made even while other staff members were told two weeks ago that for a second successive year there was no money for performance bonuses. Read this report in full at Sunday Times. See too, DA says PetroSA bonus must be paid back, at Business Report Other internet posting(s) in this news category Illegally appointed North West municipal chief nets R80,000 salary, at City Press
See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet on Saturday, 3 December and Sunday, 4 December 2016 at SA Labour News
See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet on Friday, 2 December 2016 at SA Labour News
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