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, 5 May 2017.
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Solidarity to lodge ‘early warning’ complaint against racism with UN ANA reports that trade union Solidarity will be submitting an "early warning complaint" to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in Geneva, Switzerland, the union said on Sunday. The complaint will focus on the potential consequences of racial slurs and hate speech that targeted minorities, Solidarity CEO Dirk Hermann indicated. "There is a particular focus on the inadequacy of government and institutions such as the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in this regard. Solidarity’s complaint is lodged in terms of the committee’s early warning and urgent action procedure," he indicated. In its collective complaint, Solidarity will be requesting the CERD to launch a formal inquiry into the matter by requesting information from organisations such as the SAHRC as well as from government, and to send a delegation to SA to investigate the situation on the ground. Solidarity would also request the UN’s Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) to send a delegation to SA to investigate its complaint. The complaint has resulted from a Solidarity research report and conference that investigated and analysed the phenomenon of selective racism. Read this report in full at IOL News. Read Solidarity’s press statement in this regard at Solidarity online. See too, VN gevra om rasseuitsprake in SA te ondersoek, at Maroela Media. And also, Solidariteit gaan by VN kla oor 'dubbele standaarde', at Netwerk24 (limit on access) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Danger pay for Parliament’s ‘white shirt’ bouncers City Press reports that Parliament will be starting to pay its white shirt bouncers a danger allowance of R400 a month when the legislature is in session because of the dangers at work. Officially referred to as “chamber support officers”, the bouncers were hired to remove disruptive MPs. “It is common knowledge that they often suffer injuries as a result of physical assault, which in the past has resulted in hospitalisation and the need for professional counselling,” said parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo. But, the danger pay arguably changes the bouncers’ terms and conditions of employment, which is amid pending labour action by ordinary parliamentary protection officers over the preferential treatment given to these bouncers. The new officers were hired at a better annual pay of up to R150,000 more than the existing team of parliamentary protection service officials. “The allowance does not change employees’ conditions of service; they remain the same. Compensation for risky and harmful duties in a workplace is an obligation every employer has under the law over its employees,” said Mothapo. Read this report by Andisiwe Makinana in full at City Press EFF condemns danger pay for Parliament’s bouncers TMG Digital reports that the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have condemned national assembly speaker Baleka Mbete’s decision to pay a danger allowance to the "bouncers" in parliament. Security officials‚ also known as the "white shirts"‚ will be paid an additional R400 due to their dangerous working conditions. The EFF’s red berets were physically dragged out of Parliament by security officials after disrupting President Jacob Zuma’s state of the nation address earlier this year. EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi on Sunday accused Mbete of using taxpayers’ money to pay her "professional hooligans" to curb free speech in parliament and claimed that the security officials‚ by removing MPs from parliament‚ were violating the constitution. "By paying people to come and remove MPs for things that they say [because it is] ‘dangerous work’ creates legitimate basis for fear‚ and thus‚ speech can no longer be considered to be free in Parliament‚" he stated. Read this report in full at BusinessLive. See too, EFF rejects danger pay for Parliamentary bouncers, at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
AngloGold Ashanti passes safety milestone in March quarter ANA reports that AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) announced on Monday it had achieved its first ever fatality-free March quarter. This meant it had delivered two consecutive fatality-free quarters for the second time in its history. This was inclusive of the gold producer’s ultra-deep South African mines, which had reached a new milestone of 247 days without a fatality. AngloGold Ashanti operates 17 gold mines in nine countries. "Given the challenging conditions of ultra-deep mining operations, the entire team, in co-operation with a broad group of stakeholders, must be commended for delivering this critical objective in line with AngloGold Ashanti's commitment to safe production," the company said in a statement. A short report by Siobhan Cassidy is at Business Report. Read AGA’s press statement at Sharenet Other labour/community posting(s) in this news category
Other general internet posting(s) on mining
Ramaphosa apologises for inappropriate language used during Marikana crisis News24 reports that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has apologised for the manner in which the Marikana massacre unfolded, saying he was sorry for the inappropriate language he used at the time. Speaking at Rhodes University on Sunday, Ramaphosa told students that he had intervened in the Lonmin mine strike in Marikana to prevent further deaths. On the eve of the Marikana shooting, Ramaphosa allegedly wrote in an email discussion between Lonmin management and government officials that events around the strike "are plainly dastardly criminal acts and must be characterised as such". Ramaphosa was responding in a question and answer session to a student and said: "You say you want to appeal to my conscience. My conscience is that I participated in trying to stop further deaths from happening." He said at the time he stepped into the situation, ten workers had been killed and his intervention was to "say there is a disaster looming, more workers had been killed and are going to be killed". Read this report by Lizeka Tandwa in full at News24. See too, Ramaphosa apologises for his ‘inappropriate language’ during Marikana strike, at EWN Ramaphosa’s Marikana apology not enough, says Marikana Support Campaign EWN reports that the Marikana Support Campaign said that, while it welcomed Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa's latest comments about his role in the 2012 massacre, this was not enough. Ramaphosa told academics at Rhodes University on Sunday that he tried to stop further deaths from happening during the strike and he also apologised for the language he used during that period. In 2012, Ramaphosa, who was a Lonmin shareholder at the time, wrote an e-mail to board members, calling for concomitant action after a number of people had been killed during the violent protest. The support campaign's Rehad Desai said: “I think the strong language used by Cyril Ramaphosa was not only in defence of his shareholding but also the defence of the National Union of Mineworkers." Ramaphosa said he had had no intentions of killing 34 mineworkers in Marikana. Read this report by Gia Nicolaides in full at EWN. See too, Azapo rejects Ramaphosa's Marikana apology, at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Chicken industry stakeholders come together to make pledge over dumping Sunday Tribune reports that Scott Pitman, MD of Rainbow Chicken, claimed on Saturday that mistrust between government and the private sector has led to massive job losses in the chicken industry. He was speaking at the signing of a pledge between FairPlay, the SA Poultry Association, the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) and RCL Foods in Durban. Pitman said it was painful bidding farewell to 1,350 workers retrenched at the company’s Hammarsdale farm due to “chicken dumping" from the European countries and Brazil. He went on to indicate that the private sector and government have started to improve relations. Pitman claimed that “chicken dumping” had cost the country 5,000 jobs but that if dumping of leg quarters could be done away with, “we can create more than 30,000 jobs.” Trade and Industries Minister Rob Davies was expected at the event, but did not arrive. Fawu general secretary Katishi Masemola said about 30,000 jobs were at stake. He indicated that Fawu supported the idea by eThekwini municipality of buying the farms concerned, but warned that the process should be transparent and called for retrenched workers to be prioritised for jobs. Read this report by Nkululeko Nene in full at Sunday Tribune
Satawu boss reportedly deported to Zimbabwe, but union adamant he’s still in SA City Press writes that it has learnt that on Thursday immigration officials arrested SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) general secretary Zenzo Mahlangu and deported him to Zimbabwe. This was after a Department of Home Affairs (DHA) investigation into his nationality revealed he was living in South Africa without the necessary permits. DHA spokesperson David Hlabane confirmed that Mahlangu had been deported on the same day he had been arrested (4 May) and that “he chose not to exercise his right to challenge the deportation, but opted to purchase his own flight ticket and depart immediately instead of being deported through Lindela.” An investigation of a tip-off apparently revealed that Mahlangu was in possession of a SA identity document acquired through misrepresentation. Despite Hlabane’s confirmation, Satawu’s spokesperson remained adamant on Friday that Mahlangu was still in the country and had not been arrested or deported. Mahlangu broke ranks with labour federation Cosatu recently, announcing that Satawu would not endorse Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa as the next ANC leader. Read this report by Read this report by Msindisi Fengu and Sipho Masondo in full at City Press
Free State premier faces employee revolt over ‘purge’ of May Day protestors Sunday Independent reports that Free State Premier Ace Magashule faces a revolt for his alleged plan to “purge” government employees who participated in the May Day protests in Bloemfontein where President Jacob Zuma was booed and heckled. And it has emerged that he has taken his alleged witch-hunt a step further by targeting employees who participated in the recent protests at the Union Buildings held to demand Zuma’s resignation. The premier is said to have last week summoned all heads of department in the province to his boardroom, where he allegedly instructed them to start preparing dismissal letters for the dissenters. On Friday, it was reported that a senior official was suspended for his alleged participation and statements at a protest against Zuma. Now, several employees in the provincial government are said to be mobilising against the alleged plan to purge them, which they say is draconian and motivated by factional politics. A WhatsApp chat group has been created to amplify their defiance. They have threatened to go to court to fight what they see as unfair dismissals and discrimination. Read this report by Lebogang Seale and Baldwin Ndaba in full at Sunday Independent Fedusa ‘welcomes’ court ruling on cabinet reshuffle ANA reports that the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) on Friday said it welcomed the North Gauteng High Court ruling ordering President Jacob Zuma to explain the reasons for his recent Cabinet reshuffle in which he fired Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his Deputy Mcebisi Jonas. Fedusa general-secretary Dennis George said: “The firing of Gordhan and Jonas, both vocal critics of the Guptas (controversial businessmen with links to Zuma), have simply intensified the notion that the process of total capture of the South African has now been set firmly in motion. The timing of the announcement of the reshuffle, in the middle of the night, also serves to highlight the real motives and intent by the President Zuma.” George added: “With the latest debacle, it will take us at least 10 years to recover from junk status and return to investment grade as a country”. Read this report in full at The Citizen. Read Fedusa’s press statement at Polity Jay Naidoo bemoans Cosatu's fate eNCA reports that harsh words from former trade unionist and minister Jay Naidoo at the launch of his new book in Durban were that the ANC-Cosatu alliance was dead, but it had already discredited the work of unions in SA. A former Cosatu general secretary and a minister under Nelson Mandela, Naidoo relived some of those memories at the launch of his book, Organising Tomorrow Today. He bemoaned the fate of the once-strong trade union federation and blamed this on the alliance with the ANC. Naidoo said: “We should have pulled out in 1996. It's too late now, that alliance is dead from 1996 and it's been in the ICU in a coma, it's time to pull the plug on it now." Naidoo also said the federation should never have expelled the National Union of Metal Workers of SA (Numsa). He furthermore took aim at Cosatu affiliate Sadtu for failing the education system. Read this report in full at eNCA Other internet posting(s) in this news category
PetroSA to axe 15% of staff to stave off business rescue City Press reports that PetroSA this month began a process of laying off 15% of its employees in a bid to keep the struggling state oil company from going into business rescue. Unions have raised objections because the company wants to get rid of engineers and other experts. PetroSA is facing mounting pressure after its record loss of R14.6 billion in 2015 as a result of the Ikhwezi gas project, while it is expecting a loss of R2.2 billion in the year to March 2017. A confidential audit report obtained by City Press’ sister newspaper, Rapport, shows that PetroSA now wants to cut its staff of 1,763 by as much as 15% to save 14% (R128.2 million) on its personnel costs. Separately, a recent confidential memorandum to management warned that there were fears of a potential “safety incident” because safety procedures were not up to standard, permanent positions were not being filled and because of the vulnerability and low morale of personnel. In the latest safety incident, two workers died in February while working on a vessel at the Mossel Bay refinery. Read this report by Johan Eybers in full at City Press. Read too, PetroSA shrugs off loss, looks to turnaround, at BusinessLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet on Saturday, 6 May and Sunday, 7 May 2017 at SA Labour News
See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet on Friday, 5 May 2017 at SA Labour News
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Get South African labour news reports at SA Labour News