In our Friday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Thursday, 16 March 2017.
|
Numsa gearing up for ‘mother of all strikes’ against power station closures ANA reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has called for a national shutdown to protest against moves by Eskom to close several coal-fired power stations. In a statement on Friday, Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said his union could not sit back and watch the destruction of jobs and added that Numsa was “gearing up for the mother of all strikes” in its bid to fight against at least 30,000 job losses, not just in Eskom, but in related sectors as well. Last week the power utility announced that it would be shutting down several power stations in Mpumalanga because it had an oversupply of electricity. The closure of these plants is also to make way for Independent Power Producers (IPPs), which the government has committed itself to. “In light of the national crisis of job losses in the energy sector, we will mobilise in all sectors, to implement a national shutdown of all services. We will bring this economy to its knees,” Jim said. “Numsa has apparently approached the National Union of Mineworkers on how to combine forces in this matter. Read this report in full at The Citizen. Read Numsa’s press statement at Polity NUM up in arms over proposed closures of five Eskom power stations Mining Weekly reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Thursday delivered memoranda at the Arnot, Komati and Duvha power stations, setting out its grievances over Eskom’s decommissioning plan. The state-owned power utility intends to close five power stations over five years, threatening 6,000 direct power station jobs and thousands of mining and transport jobs. The decision was taken in light of Eskom’s commitments to independent power producers (IPPs). The coal-fired power stations in Eskom’s crosshairs are Camden, Grootvlei, Kriel, Hendrina and Komati. “We are vehemently opposed to the Eskom board’s decision to close down the five power stations,” NUM said in a statement, noting that its members would be demonstrating at the power stations. Meanwhile, the NUM’s PWV region, in Gauteng, called for the resignation of Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown and the Eskom board, led by Ben Ngubane. Noting that it was mindful of the need to deal with climate change, the NUM said “IPPs cannot be implemented at the expense of massive job losses”. Read this report in full at Mining Weekly. Read the NUM’s press statement in this regard at Cosatu Today. Read the NUM PWV Region’s press statement at Cosatu Today Eskom moves to ease job loss fears over closure of coal-fired stations EWN reports that Eskom has given employees the assurance that it will do everything possible not to shed jobs as it plans to close down five coal-fired stations in Mpumalanga. The state-owned power utility will be phasing out the Grootvlei, Kriel, Camden, Hendrina and Komatipoort power stations over the next five years to accommodate renewable independent power producers. On Thursday, workers affiliated to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) handed over a memorandum to Eskom, asking the employer to withdraw its decision with immediate effect. Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said: “We will do everything possible to avoid job losses. If it comes to that we might actually move them around within our power stations.” The union has given Eskom a week to respond to its concerns over possible job cuts. A short report by Mia Lindeque is at EWN
Manhunt launched after Limpopo security guard murdered at factory Caxton News Service reports that police have launched a massive manhunt after a security guard was found murdered on Wednesday night at Morokolotsi Atchaar factory along the R36 road in Limpopo. Three armed suspects are believed to have attempted to rob the factory, but their attempt was foiled. According to a police spokesperson, security officers responded to an alarm and on their arrival, they heard gunshots inside the factory. Three suspects came out running from the premises, firing shots and the security officers fired back. They fled the scene. The suspects had apparently attempted to grind open a safe in an attempt to rob the money, but they were unsuccessful. When police arrived, they found a 60-year-old security guard at the factory had been killed. The suspects are still unknown and no arrests have been made. Read this report by Nkhensani Nkhwashu in full at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Take community engagement ‘extremely’ seriously, ARM’s Motsepe urges Mining Weekly reports that on Thursday African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) executive chairperson Patrice Motsepe urged the SA mining industry to take community engagement extremely seriously to prevent SA’s global competitiveness from being negatively impacted. Answering questions after a results presentation, the ARM founder spoke of the importance of the mining industry building community trust and goodwill through creating employment, education and upskilling, including at senior level employment. Proper training, he said, would ensure that recruitment was strictly merit based, with communities being made fully aware of the losses suffered if mines were forced to close through a lack of profitability. Motsepe was speaking a day after he attended a mass meeting at the company’s troubled Modikwa platinum mine, where R734-million had to be written off in the six months to December. He said that what he witnessed at Modikwa emphasised the critical importance of partnering with employees and communities that lived next to mines. Companies that failed to do so in "this highly politicised environment in South Africa", would end up having problems. Read this report in full at Mining Weekly. See too, Motsepe will shut mines rather than bow to misled communities, at Miningmx Other labour posting(s) in this news category
Other general internet posting(s) on mining
Western Cape drought may lead to 17,000 job cuts Cape Argus reports that the Western Cape standing committee on economic opportunities, agriculture and tourism has been told that thousands of jobs would have to be shed in the agriculture industry in the province if the devastating water crisis continued. Despite interventions by all three spheres of government, the looming job losses would be a further blow to the drought-stricken sector that had been under a worsening dry spell for the past two years. The potential decrease in employment opportunities, which could affect as many as 17,000 jobs, came as farmers were asked to cut their water usage by at least 30% in order to increase quantities available for residential use. Western Cape head of agriculture Joyene Isaacs confirmed the figure during a committee meeting this week. MEC for agriculture Alan Winde steered away from numbers, but acknowledged the 30% water restriction “could lead to less seasonal job opportunities in the region”. Farmers in the West Coast and Central Karoo districts have been hardest hit. Read this report by Siyabonga Sesant in full at Cape Argus Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Numsa striking at RAF over poor wages and ‘shambolic management’ BusinessLive reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) said on Thursday that its members at the Road Accident Fund (RAF) were striking for higher wages and to protest the agency’s "shambolic management". The RAF claimed on Thursday that less than 150 employees were picketing and that it could not accede to demands from Numsa that it should adopt "unverified, nebulous, proposed salary scales" and that despite severe financial pressures, it was continuing to remunerate employees fairly. Numsa, which claims to represent 1,500 of the RAF’s 2,863 staff, will also protest at the Department of Transport on Friday. According to the union, its lowest paid members received R5,000 after deductions. The RAF responded by saying it engaged in benchmarking exercises and the average salary among Numsa’s 1,000 aligned employees was R350,000 a year. Read this report by Karl Gernetzky in full at BusinessLive. See too, RAF 'in shambles', say striking Numsa workers, at Fin24. And also, Numsa workers go on strike at Road Accident Fund, at eNCA. Read Numsa’s press statement in this regard at Numsa online Nehawu strikers shut down Department of Social Development’s Joburg offices eNCA reports that members of the National Education Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) declared a total shutdown of the Department of Social Development offices in Johannesburg on Friday morning, burning tyres in the process. Nehawu members at the department have embarked on a nationwide strike demanding improved working conditions for child and youth care workers. The union says its demands were first tabled to the employer in August 2015 and again in February this year when members staged a nationwide protest to resubmit the demands. The union has accused the department of releasing an insulting propaganda statement after failing to table a counter offer to its proposals, which the department had for a month. This report goes on to list the union’s demands. Read this report in full at eNCA Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Big private sector, foreign direct investment will be boost for SA jobs Fin24 reports that Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe advised on Thursday of government’s projection that South Africa would receive private sector investment of R956m in the near future. Addressing the media following a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, he said 1,053 jobs were expected to be established. In addition, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) attracted R4bn in private sector investment which will have the potential to save and create more than 3,600 jobs in the last quarter of 2017. According to Radebe, SA remains a “preferred investment destination” through foreign direct investment (FDI). Government expects potential FDI to the value of R4.5bn – particularly in the energy and chemicals sector. “This will bring the total potential FDI to R34.9bn,” Radebe indicated. Read this report by Liesl Peyper in full at Fin24
Stats SA reports 577,000 children involved in child labour in SA in 2015 TMG Digital reports that Statistics SA has revealed that of the 11.2 million South African children aged between seven and 17‚ a shocking 577,000 were involved in child labour activities in 2015. Yet, this was down from the 779,000 children involved in these activities in 2010 according to the Survey of Activities of Young People issued by Stats SA on Thursday. The report defined child labour as an involvement in a number of indicators‚ which included doing work prohibited by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act‚ such as working for a wage‚ salary or any payment in kind. The indicators also included children working for more hours per week at home at tasks such as fetching water and firewood‚ and school-related work unrelated to study. Another indicator was where a child was doing work that interfered with schooling and where a child was absent from school because of work-related activities. A further indicator was a child doing hazardous work such as working with explosives and carrying heavy loads. Read this report by Ernest Mabuza in full at TimesLive
Nothing wrong with Letsoalo’s 350% pay increase at Prasa, says Minister TimesLive reports that according to Transport Minister Dipuo Peters, there was nothing wrong with axed Prasa boss Collins Letsoalo's 350% salary hike because he should not be paid less than those who reported to him. The minister came out firmly in defence of Letsoalo in an affidavit filed in the Pretoria High Court on Thursday, indicating that some employees reporting to him were earning more than R4-million a year. But Peters' support for the huge pay hike appears to contradict Letsoalo’s secondment letter, which she signed. Letsoalo, who is CFO of the Transport Department, was seconded to Prasa following the departure of former CEO Lucky Montana. Peters was replying to arguments by former board members, who have taken her to court over their unceremonious removal last week. In a report attached to his founding affidavit, former board chairman Popo Molefe argued that Letsoalo's salary hike was in breach of the agency's remuneration policy as well as of the strictures governing the secondment of public service employees. Read this report by Sipho Mabena and Thanduxolo Jika in full at TimesLive. See too, Peters defends Prasa’s axed chief Letsoalo, at Business Report
With jobs in firing line over SABC incompetence, unions are fuming IOL News reports that the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is facing the wrath of the unions after it said on Thursday it would have to retrench staff because of a cash crunch. The public broadcaster conceded it was in financial trouble, that many projects were on hold and that jobs cuts were imminent. The announcement has left unions fuming. The Broadcasting, Electronic, Media and Allied Workers’ Union (Bemawu) said it would not allow the SABC to target workers for its poor management. Bemawu president Hannes du Buisson said the SABC had brought the current situation upon itself and that management had dug its own grave and therefore should not start targeting staff members by retrenching them. “If they talk about retrenchments they must stand in the firing line themselves,” he stated. The SABC lost R551 million in the 2014 financial year. This was followed by a loss of R395m in 2015, and R411m last year. Read this report by Siyabonga Mkhwanazi in full at IOL News
|
Get South African labour news reports at SA Labour News