This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
In our Monday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Friday, 21 April 2017.
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Vavi elected general secretary of new federation Saftu IOL News reports that the newly launched labour federation, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), has chosen its leadership at its founding congress. Former Cosatu boss Zwelinzima Vavi was elected as general secretary. Saftu’s three-day congress started on Friday and ends on Sunday. Those elected include; Numsa’s Mac Chabalala as President, Nomvume Ralarala as first deputy President and Motswari Letshogo as treasurer. The leadership was nominated unopposed. Delegates also agreed on the name, constitution, logo and colours of the organisation. An issue debated was inter-union poaching of members. It was agreed that unions should organise within the sectors that they were registered under at the Department of Labour. The federation plans to go on an extensive recruitment campaign across the country with the aim of recruiting the 72% of workers who are non-unionized. Read this report by Zintle Mahlati in full at IOL News. See too, Jay Naidoo tells Saftu to go back to the basics of organising power, at EWN. And also, Vavi's new union federation is worker focused rather than political, at Cape Talk. As well as, New federation Saftu promises to put workers first, at SABC News A high mountain lies ahead for Vavi’s federation, says Solidarity’s Gideon du Plessis Gideon du Plessis, general secretary of trade union Solidarity, writes about the difficulties faced by Zwelinzima Vavi, former general secretary of Cosatu, and metalworkers union Numsa in bringing about the establishment of the new SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu). He also writes about the considerable challenges that now face the new body, which held its inaugural congress over the past weekend. Apart from Numsa, the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) is the only significant former Cosatu affiliate that has become part of Saftu. Speculation is that Numsa footed the bill for Fawu’s arrear Cosatu dues in exchange for joining Saftu. But Du Plessis notes that Fawu is pro-ANC and he says it will be interesting to see for how long its loyalty to the new body lasts. The big fish remains Amcu with its 190,000 members, but despite numerous attempts by Vavi and Numsa, it hasn’t yet been landed. Regarding Nedlac membership, Du Plessis says that the other three federations, namely Cosatu, Fedusa and Nactu, are already maneuvering to keep Saftu out, but ultimately that will fail. (Loosely translated from Afrikaans) Read this informative article in full in Afrikaans at Netwerk24. See too, Labour’s ‘new dawn’ with new federation, at City Press New labour federation retains Saftu as its name despite objection ANA reports that delegates at the founding congress of a new trade union federation on Saturday resolved to retain the name South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu). This was despite objections against the name from rival federation the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa). The second day of the congress was set aside for the finalisation of the organisation’s name, logo, colours, and its constitution. “We will win [in court] against Fedusa… the two names do not even sound the same. Viva Saftu!” said a delegate. Steering committee chairman Raymond Mnguni led the day’s proceedings and officially adopted the Saftu name as the preferred name by delegates. Fedusa has objected to the Saftu name and requested that a different name be adopted. According to Fedusa, the Saftu name closely resembled theirs. Mnguni told delegates on Friday that the federation was ready to fight for the Saftu name in court and win against Fedusa. Read this report in full at The Citizen. See too, 'We'll see Fedusa in court', says Saftu over name dispute, at Business Report Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Gauteng EMS paramedics ambushed, shot at in Cullinan on Saturday ANA reports that two people died when Gauteng emergency medical services (EMS) paramedics came under fire while they were attending to a patient in Cullinan on Saturday evening. Paramedics were returning to an EMS base at about 6.30pm when they came across what looked like a dead body lying on the side of the road next to the entrance of Refiloe township in Cullinan. The Gauteng health department reported further: "While they were trying to attend to the patient two vehicles appeared and randomly started shooting at the direction of the paramedics. The paramedics had to escape the scene, abandoning the patient and the ambulance. Two people were declared dead on the scene." Read this report in full at IOL News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Zero tolerance for ‘zama zamas’ as Sibanye declares war on illegal mining Reuters writes that illegal gold mining has plagued SA’s mining companies for decades, robbing the industry and state coffers of billions of rand through small-time pilfering as well as networks run by organised crime. Now, with unmined output dwindling and proving more difficult to extract, Sibanye Gold has had enough and says that it will clear all illegal miners from its shafts by the end of January 2018. Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman’s campaign slogan is ‘Zero Zama’, after the Zulu for illegal miners, "zama zamas" or "taking a chance". Sibanye is the first company to set itself a deadline to stop the practice and has set aside R200m to make it happen. The challenge is immense, however. Sibanye may win most of the battles but it will lose the war in a country beset by joblessness, poverty, crime and porous borders, experts say. Sibanye’s strategy is multipronged: a tip-off and reward system to encourage employees to report suspicious activity; tactical security units that can go underground to make arrests; and access checks such as biometrics. Read this informative report by Ed Stoddard in full at BusinessLive Black Mountain Mining launches seven-year ESOP scheme ANA writes that Black Mountain Mining on Friday announced the establishment of a seven-year employee share ownership (ESOP) plan, the terms of which have been reached through consultation with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). Black Mountain is an underground operation in Northern Cape with a permanent workforce of 1,600 (800 direct and 800 contractors) that mines zinc, lead, silver and copper deposit. The ESOP plan will be overseen by a trust, known as the Voorspoed Trust, comprising three union-appointed trustees, one Black Mountain representative trustee and an independent trustee. Six percent of Black Mountain shares were issued to the trust on 1 April, half of which were acquired by the trust through a contribution from the company and at no cost to employees. The other half were funded through a notional loan provided by the company. An annual guaranteed dividend payment of R3,500 net of tax would be made to the beneficiaries of the trust for the duration of the plan. NUM branch chairperson at Black Mountain, Darryl Crew, described the plan as “a positive step”. Read this report in full at The Citizen Other general internet posting(s) on mining
SAA cabin crew due to strike on Wednesday over meal allowance increase The Citizen reports that the failure by SA Airways (SAA) to pay cabin crew an increase of R507 ($39) on their meal allowance could result in major interruptions for the airline’s domestic and international flights on Wednesday. Cabin crew presently get R1,703 ($131) as a meal allowance and the SA Cabin Crew Association (Sacca), which has 1,700 members, on Friday served the airline with a notice of protected strike action. Sacca president, Zazi Nsibanyoni-Mugambi, claimed the employer had not paid its members an international meal allowance increment since 2011. The dispute was referred to the CCMA, but it remained unresolved. Sacca deputy president Christopher Shabangu said: “They (pilots) cannot fly the aeroplanes without us. There will be major disturbances if the issues are not resolved before Wednesday.” SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said SAA had met labour union representatives in an effort to find a resolution and that another meeting was scheduled for Monday in the hope of averting the strike. “We still remain optimistic that SAA and Sacca will find solutions to these matters,” said Tlali. Read this report by Vicky Abraham in full at The Citizen
Any bid to unseat Cosatu boss “absurd”, says NUM’s Sipunzi IOL News reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has become the first big affiliate of Cosatu to come out in support of the federation’s embattled president, Sdumo Dlamini, saying if there were moves to oust him they were “absurd” and “illogical”. NUM general secretary David Sipunzi defended Dlamini’s attendance of President Jacob Zuma’s recent birthday bash despite Cosatu’s recent call for Zuma to step down. He commented: “Cosatu doesn’t have a decision that says any of its leadership cannot attend the birthday of President Zuma. The only decision by Cosatu is that president Zuma should step down. We don’t have such a thought as a union nor have we debated why he was there.” His comments came after Cosatu affiliates Nehawu and Saccawu expressed unhappiness over Dlamini’s attendance at Zuma’s party. Finance union Sasbo also came out in Dlamini’s support. While there were apparently moves to pass a motion of no confidence in Dlamini at the federation’s central executive committee next month, there there appears to be insufficient appetite to remove Dlamini. Affiliates Sadtu and Popcru avoiding speaking about Dlamini’s conduct at the birthday bash. Read this report by Noni Mokati in full at IOL News. Read too, Cosatu boss’s head reported to be on chopping block for supporting Zuma, at The Citizen. And also, Will Cosatu's Dlamini come to regret attending Zuma's birthday bash? at SowetanLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
AfriForum seeks access to work permits of Cuban engineers employed by DWS Engineering News reports that civil rights organisation AfriForum has brought an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act seeking access to the work permits of 31 Cuban engineers employed by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS). Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has reportedly extended the engineers’ contracts to June 2018, despite rumours that the department is bankrupt. Expenditure in respect of the salaries and travelling of the engineers has apparently also been considerably increased. AfriForum’s Chris Boshoff indicated: “AfriForum is going to compare the experience and qualifications of the Cuban engineers to that of South African engineers who could rather have been employed to do the same quality of work at an affordable, market-related remuneration package. South Africans are struggling to find work, while foreigners are appointed at such a high cost.” Read this report in full at Engineering News. Read AfriForum’s press statement in this regard at AfriForum online Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Minister rejects Eskom’s R30m 'golden handshake' for Brian Molefe ANA reports that Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has declined Eskom’s proposal to pay its former CEO Brian Molefe a R30 million pension pay-out and strongly criticised the board for leaving her in the dark about the matter. “II have considered the Eskom board’s reasoning in formulating the proposed pension payout and cannot support it," Brown said on Sunday. She went on to state that she found the argument presented by the power utility’s board “lacking in legal rationale and it cannot be substantiated as a performance reward because Mr Molefe has already been granted a performance bonus for his contribution to the turnaround of Eskom.” She has instructed the board to urgently engage Molefe and report back to her with an appropriate pension proposal within seven days. Read this report in full at IOL News. See too, Brown declines Eskom's proposal to pay Molefe R30m, at BusinessLive Praise for Brown for rejecting Eskom’s R30m Molefe pay-out ANA reports that opposition parties on Sunday praised Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown for rejecting Eskom’s proposal to pay its former CEO Brian Molefe a R30 million golden handshake pension pay-out. Democratic Alliance (DA) spokeswoman Natasha Mazzone said they welcomed Brown's rejection of the exorbitant and unjustified pay-out to the "disgraced" Molefe. The DA called on the Eskom board to revert to Minister Brown with a new proposal for Molefe's golden handshake to be R0.00. Congress of the People (Cope) spokesman Dennis Bloem also applauded Brown for heeding calls to intervene in this "scandalous R30m so-called pension payout from Eskom" and added that it was “unthinkable that a person who only worked for 18 months walks away with R30m after resigning.” Earlier on Sunday, Brown said she had declined Eskom’s payout proposal and strongly criticised the board for leaving her in the dark about the matter. She instructed the board to urgently engage Molefe and report back to her with an appropriate pension proposal within seven days. Read this report in full at IOL News. Read too, Decision on Molefe pension payout sets precedent, says OUTA, at News24 Eskom scrambling to find R634m to bridge the 'apartheid wage gap' TMG Digital/TimesLIVE reports that Eskom is scrambling to find R634m to bridge the "apartheid wage gap" in which more than 50% of its employees‚ mostly black‚ are still paid less than their white counterparts. Internal documents indicate that the state-owned power utility is projecting to spend R397m in this financial year alone to bridge the basic salaries of more than 17‚000 employees — 51% of its workforce. The documents also show that the projected cost would almost double to R634m if the fringe benefits of the affected employees are also adjusted to the level enjoyed by their white colleagues. A gender and equality analysis carried out by a consultancy also showed that "inequalities exist in terms of gender and race" at the parastal. But trade unions at Eskom have accused the company’s board and management of failing to prioritise the interests of their ordinary workers, while being quick to line the pockets of ‘fat cat’ executives. Elsie Pule‚ Eskom’s group executive for HR‚ confirmed that consultancy firm Deloitte and Touche had been assigned to do the costing of the wage bridge, but said a definitive amount has not yet been calculated. Read this report by Thabo Mokone in full at BusinessLive Standard Bank’s joint CEOs bagged R89m in 2016 Moneyweb reports that Standard Bank’s group chief executives, Ben Kruger and Sim Tshabalala, received total remuneration of nearly R45 million each in 2016, an increase of 3% on the year prior. in 2015, combined compensation jumped by 43%, with Kruger’s total increasing by 61% and Tshabalala’s by 28% to (near) parity. At that time, the bank said remuneration had been “normalised”. Peter Sullivan, chairman of the Remuneration Committee (Remco), wrote in the Integrated Report published on Friday that “the chief executives (CEs) met or exceeded most expectations in the areas where they have direct responsibility and accountability”. However, Liberty’s 61% drop in earnings had a “significant” impact on the group’s results. Taking the Liberty effect into account, the Remco agreed on a 4% increase in total short-term incentive, in line with the growth in headline earnings. Actual cash earned in the year (including benefits and allowances) totaled just over R19 million for each CEO. In total, remuneration for five executive directors and prescribed officers was R209.3 million in 2016. Read this report by Hilton Tarrant in full at Moneyweb. See too, Standard Bank executives get paid R209m in 2016, at Business Report
Teacher unions slam plan to ‘outsource’ setting of exam questions Mail & Guardian reports that teachers and teacher unions have slammed a Department of Basic Education (DBE) plan to outsource the setting of exam questions at a cost of millions of rands. Setting questions for tests and exams, including the matric exams, has always been a core responsibility of teachers and, with the exception of those setting matric papers, they are not paid extra for this duty. The DBE has put out a tender inviting bidders with the capability to develop “a world-class repository of questions” to apply for the contract. A successful bidder will have to provide 500 questions for subjects in certain grades that will be stored in an item bank. These will be used to draw up question papers for, among others, end-of-year exams. Some education experts have welcomed the move, but Mugwena Maluleke of the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) remarked: “Outsourcing says that you don’t have confidence in the system you are running as a minister or a director general. Second, it says you don’t have confidence in the people who are sitting with the child for seven hours a day.” Basil Manuel of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA (Naptosa) commented: “You will be deprofessionalising the profession because you are taking away one of their primary responsibilities.” Read this report by Prega Govender in full at Mail & Guardian Other internet posting(s) in this news category
EFF’s bank account frozen after failure to pay out wrongfully dismissed employee SowetanLive reports that the Labour Court in Johannesburg has ordered the freezing of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party's bank account after it failed to pay a former employee who was dismissed two years ago but who won a case against his dismissal. Adv. Fenya Maabane, the party's former researcher in the Limpopo legislature, was dismissed from work in 2015 on allegations of absenteeism and failure to attend to official duties. He challenged the decision through the CCMA, which found his dismissal to have been unfair "both procedurally and substantively". The CCMA ordered that Maabane be paid a salary equivalent to seven months’ pay, amounting to more than R400,000. The party was given until February 2016 to settle the amount, but failed to do so. Unsuccessful attempts at seizure of assets followed, eventually resulting in the EFF's account, held at the First National Bank branch in Braamfontein, being attached on 21 February 2017. After the attachment, the EFF applied to the CCMA for rescission of an earlier judgment against it, but this was dismissed as being out of time. Apparently the party is still using its bank account and has filed for condonation of its late application to the CCMA. Read this report by Frank Maponya in full at SowetanLive
OR Tambo airport suspends 35 info desk staff for illegal referral commissions EWN reports that OR Tambo International Airport has suspended 35 of the 56 information desk staff employed by the airport, pending disciplinary procedures. This followed an investigation over several weeks into allegations of illegal commissions paid by certain hospitality providers to secure referrals. Replacements have already been recruited. Spokesperson Leigh Gunkel-Keuler said: “It’s extremely disappointing when issues of this nature are brought to the airport’s attention. However, when such activities take place, we are compelled to act as we do take a hard line when our employees deliver either poor service or engage in corrupt activity.” A short report by Koketšo Motau is at EWN. See too, Werkers by OR Tambo geskors ná ondersoek, at Netwerk24 (limit on access) Ntlemeza: I’m going to work on Monday to claim my Hawks job back City Press reports that dismissed Hawks boss Mthandazo Ntlemeza has vowed to report for duty on Monday to claim back the job Police Minister Fikile Mbalula has ejected him from. And he says he will go to court should anyone stand in his way. Earlier in the week, Ntlemeza’s lawyers wrote to the Office of the State Attorney reiterating their client’s position that he would resume his duties on Monday. The letter was a response to a letter from the State Attorney, acting for Mbalula, in which the minister’s decision for firing Ntlemeza was emphasised and Ntlemeza was told to stay away. Ntlemeza’s lawyers argued that he had the legal right to remain in office pending an appeal of the judgment setting aside their client’s appointment as unlawful. Ntlemeza’s last hope is for the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to grant him leave to appeal a judgment that set his appointment aside. If wins, he could use this to reverse Mbalula’s decision to fire him. Read this report by Poloko Tau in full at City Press First of the disciplinary hearings of the Nkandla 'fall guys' kicks off on Monday TimesLive reports that the saga of the refurbishing of President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla home with taxpayers' money enters a new chapter on Monday as disciplinary hearings against 10 Department of Public Works (DPW) officials begin in Durban. The Pietermaritzburg High Court has ruled that the disciplinary hearings should be open to the media. The DPW officials have been described as the "scapegoats" and "fall guys" in the allocation of blame for the R246-million of public money spent on the Nkandla upgrading. Zuma was censured by the Constitutional Court and ordered to pay back R7.8-million. Sibusiso Chonco, deputy director for utilisations and contracts in the Durban office of the DPW, is the first person to face action. His hearing is set for Monday and Tuesday, while the hearings of other officials will be next month. One official of the original 12 pleaded guilty last year and was suspended without pay for three months. A second official died in a car crash. The officials are broadly charged with having not followed procurement processes in the appointment of contractors in the upgrading of the Nkandla homestead. They are being defended by the Public Servants Association (PSA). Read this report by Matthew Savides in full at TimesLive Nkandla accused ordered to attend disciplinary hearing‚ despite depression TimesLive writes that Sibusiso Chonco will have to leave his sick bed and present himself before a disciplinary hearing‚ where he is accused of wrongdoing in the awarding of the R246-million contract for upgrades to President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead. Chonco is the first of 10 public works officials to face the hearing. They are broadly accused of flouting tender processes that saw controversial architect Minenhle Makhanya awarded the contract for the upgrades. He was set to appear on Monday and Tuesday. But in a dramatic twist‚ his legal representative Adrian Moodley presented a medical certificate showing that Chonco was depressed‚ unable to concentrate and on heavy medication. He had been booked off work from 29 March to 29 April. However after an hour-long debate, hearing chairman Adv Thulani Khuzwayo adjourned the hearing until Tuesday and was insistent that Chonco should present himself. "I'm adjourning it for him to be here tomorrow. If you have to go to his house to fetch him‚ so be it,” Khuzwayo told Moodley. Read this report by Nathi Olifant And Matthew Savides in full at TimesLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet on Saturday, 22 April and Sunday, 23 April 2017 at SA Labour News
See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet on Friday, 21 April 2017 at SA Labour News
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