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 afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Thursday, 19 July 2018.
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NUM claims lack of water underground led to deaths at copper mine Sowetan reports that according to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the fire that killed six people at a copper mine in Limpopo could have been avoided. NUM regional secretary Phillip Mankge said on Wednesday that there had been no water underground at the Palabora Mining Company’s operation to put the fire out because the mine was undergoing maintenance. He claimed a fire suppression system fitted to the conveyor belt, which should have automatically kicked in if a fire broke out, did not work. He came to this conclusion after inspecting the scene. “We established that all the pipes were burnt as a result of not having a fire suppression system. It means they couldn’t deal with the fire underground,” Mankge stated. He accused the mine of being greedy by running operations when it was dangerous to do so. An (unnamed) employee of the mine said the shutdown to replace a worn-out conveyor belt started on Monday last week. He said underground work started on Saturday after the new belt had been fitted. “When the fire began, the workers ran into the refuge bay, which is supposed to be the safest place in case of emergency, but they died inside it because there was no water to stop the fire,” he added. An Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) organiser also confirmed they had detected many abnormalities underground. A company spokesperson asked all stakeholders not to pre-empt the outcome of the investigation being undertaken. The outcome of the official should be released “within a month from now”. Read this report by Frank Maponya and Isaac Mahlangu in full on page 6 of Sowetan of 19 July 2018. See too, Palabora releases photos of miners who died in Sunday’s tragic accident, at The Citizen Solidarity, NUM reject gold producers’ initial wage offers ANA reports that Solidarity has become the second workers’ union to reject the latest three-year wage offer tabled by gold producers, joining the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which slammed the wage offer as a “pittance” and “insulting” to workers. The Minerals Council SA (MCSA – formerly called the Chamber of Mines), said the mining industry was facing major challenges despite the gold sector remaining a significant contributor to the local economy. Solidarity’s Gideon du Plessis said the MCSA gave a detailed response with regard to their demands, but trade unions collectively rejected the council’s opening offers and were disappointed that most of their demands were rejected. “The council even rejected demands which do not have any financial implications such as Solidarity’s demand pertaining to worker presentation at company boards, a principle which is in line with the draft mining charter,” Du Plessis pointed out. Gold producers AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold, Sibanye-Stillwater and Village Main Reef tabled their three-year wage proposals ranging from 5.5% and 6.5% for Category 4 underground employees, and between 3% and 4.5% for miners, artisans and officials. Read this report in full at The Citizen. Read the MCSA’s press release outlining the offers at Gold Wage Negotiations. Read Solidarity’s press release at Solidarity News Less than 20% of SA’s gold mines profitable, says Minerals Council prior to wage talks BL Premium writes that the state of SA’s gold mining industry is worse than first thought, with fewer than 20% of gold mines making money at prevailing prices of about R520,000/kg. Data from the Minerals Council SA (MCSA – formerly called the Chamber of Mines), released as wage talks in the sector kicked off, showed that 80% of SA’s gold mines are unprofitable. Large job cuts are forecast in coming years, following decades of steeply falling employment. As Gideon du Plessis, general secretary of Solidarity, pointed out, the MCSA had as usual opened wage talks by painting a gloomy picture of the industry to motivate for the lowest possible wage increase. But analysts have warned that costs are simply too high for SA’s ageing deep-level, labour-intensive mines. The country’s gold output could halve within five years from the 140 tonnes it generated in 2017, Nedbank gold analyst Leon Esterhuizen predicted. According to his calculations, just six out of SA’s 26 gold mines were making money, with only four of those six “comfortable". Esterhuizen went on to state: "I think this industry is done. Some people will say that’s nonsense and a weak rand will save us. Not even a weaker rand will save us.” He added: "The drop in productivity is a function of the companies cutting back volumes faster than people, which is an indication you will see significant numbers of people retrenched in the next couple of years." Read more of this BL Premium report by Allan Seccombe at SA Labour News. Read too, Gold producers offer single-digit pay hikes to unions, at EWN
Post Office strike over with a 6.5% backdated wage increase Timeslive reports that the strike at the SA Post Office (Sapo), which started on 3 July, is over. Sapo and its three unions, namely the Communication Workers Union (CWU)‚ the Democratic Postal Workers Union (Depacu) and the SA Postal Workers Union (Sapwu), reached an agreement on salary increases on Wednesday. All Sapo employees will get a 6.5% salary increase‚ backdated to 1 April. The working hours for permanent part-time employees have been increased from 21.5 hours to 27.5 hours per week and five hundred of these positions have been earmarked to be phased in as permanent full-time employees in due course‚ following an appropriate process. Accumulated mail is expected to take roughly 20 work days to be processed. Read the original of this report by Nico Gous at Timeslive. See too, Sapo, unions strike deal to end wage strike, at EWN
Unions given deadline to respond to Eskom’s wage offer options EWN reports that labour unions have been given just over a week to respond to Eskom's latest wage offer, which the power utility insists is fair and competitive. Following weeks of wage negotiations, Eskom has tabled a three-year revised settlement offer of between 7% and 7.5%, depending on which option the unions agree upon. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity and the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) have two options for the consideration of their members. The first is that they would receive a salary increase of 7% this year and for each of the next two years and that the housing allowance would be adjusted annually by the consumer price index. The second option is for a 7.5% hike this year and 7% for each of the next two years, but there would be no adjustments in respect of the housing allowance. The unions have indicated that they would be taking the offer to their members and would report back to Eskom next Friday. Read the original of this report by Gia Nicolaides at EWN Further Sassa strike action 'not excluded' by PSA following salary negotiation delays Fin24 reports that the Public Servants Association (PSA) has called the SA Social Security Agency's (Sassa’s) attempts to delay salary negotiations irresponsible and has warned that further strike action could not be excluded. "We are consulting with our lawyers on what to do next," Leon Gilbert, assistant general manager for collective bargaining at the PSA, said. He stated that the PSA wanted to finalise negotiations in an amicable way, but that it would require Sassa to come to the table. "The negotiations started last week. They asked for a postponement until today (Monday) and they came to the table with an unsatisfactory response," he added, saying that the social security agency had asked for another postponement until Tuesday. Earlier this month, the Labour Court ordered that Sassa's bid to halt a strike by its employees be struck off the roll with costs. Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said the agency had responded to the demands of the PSA and indicated its point of view according to the instruction of the Labour Court. "Sassa is serious about the resolution of the matter," he said, adding that the agency was of the view it was complying with the court order. Read this report by Jan Bornman in full at Fin24
Civil construction sector in SA is in ‘survival mode’ this year Business Report writes that according to David Metelerkamp, senior economist at Industry Insight, the civil construction sector was in recession and needed to go into “survival mode”. Metelerkamp said on Wednesday that the overall construction sector had slumped consistently over the past two to three years and had shown consistent negative growth of between 1.1% and 1.4% in terms of gross domestic product. There had also been a 26.6% decrease in the nominal total value of civil tenders awarded over the past year, compared to the previous year, and an about 80% increase in postponements of civil projects. “It’s going to be tough this year. This year is probably going to be the worst year for the civil sector, and we expect it to improve next year and the following year. This year is just survival mode,” Metelerkamp stated. He added that the building sector was looking better than the civil sector. But he questioned whether there were possibly too many listed construction companies in SA, adding that SA had nine listed construction companies compared to only three in China, two in Brazil, five in Turkey and four in Australia. Read this report by Roy Cokayne in full at Business Report Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Future of attracting and retaining staff lies in happiness police, chatbots and burnout monitors BusinessLive reports that happiness police, real-time chatbots for employees and burnout monitors are just some of the applications that have been developed to ensure that staff are healthy and fulfilled. Delegates at the Future of HR summit held in Johannesburg on Wednesday were told of how companies have been forced to rethink strategies for hiring, along with retention practices. Shifts in the way human resources (HR) practitioners reimagine the world of work have been brought about rapid changes emanating from artificial intelligence and robotics. Digital transformation and innovation in talent acquisition had become a mandatory requirement for successful businesses, according to specialists in the sector. Companies such as Deloitte, SAP and Accenture showcased some of the new technologies they have acquired to detect when employees are pushing themselves too hard, are fatigued or unhappy, or when staff are in need of further learning and training. SAP SA senior sales executive Wendy Maduna observed that employers have had to reassess their offerings in order to retain staff. Read this report by Theto Mahlakoana in full at BusinessLive
Human Rights Commission mulls wide-ranging inquiry into Gauteng’s ailing hospitals BusinessLive reports that the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is considering launching a full-scale inquiry into the state of hospitals in Gauteng. The commission visited Jubilee District Hospital in Hammanskraal on Tuesday to investigate complaints about long queues‚ a shortage of medication‚ staff with bad attitudes‚ poor infrastructure‚ low morale and a general shortage of staff. Jubilee District Hospital celebrated 60 years of existence in 2016 and is now struggling with an influx of patients as the area it serves has expanded over the years. SAHRC provincial manager, Buang Jones, said some patients said they have to spend the whole day at the hospital without getting assisted. He‚ however‚ commended staff at the hospital for trying their best under difficult conditions. The vacancy rate for doctors at the facility apparently stood at 40%. Jones said the commission would send formal correspondence to the hospital‚ which required a response. Depending on the response‚ the commission would decide "whether there is a need to conduct a provincial inquiry into the entire health system in Gauteng because we see recurring challenges." Read this report by Penwell Dlamini in full at BusinessLive NHI will be bigger than Eskom and SAA combined – so why aren’t people more worried about it? BusinessTech reports that according to Solidarity, the ideal scenario of giving all citizens decent access to health care – which the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill wants to put forward – will not materialise. In reality, it will have the exact opposite effect. In June, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi presented the NHI Bill and the Medical Schemes Amendment Bill, thereby intending to pave the way for more access to medical healthcare. But according to Solidarity Research Institute (SRI) researcher Morné Malan, the public seems not to be sufficiently concerned about the drastic impact implementation of this system will have. Noting that all pilot projects undertaken so far have failed dismally, Malan said the NHI “amounts to nothing less than a de facto nationalisation of South Africa’s health care system.” Moreover, it will become the largest state enterprise in SA’s history and bigger than Eskom and SAA put together. Judged by the current state of affairs at both Eskom and the SAA, Malan says the NHI move bodes ill for the future of health care. Read this report in full at BusinessTech. Read Solidarity’s press statement in this regard at Solidarity News
ANC issues letter of summary dismissal on Luthuli House staffer allegedly involved in cash heist The Citizen reports that the ANC moved fast to axe an employee at its headquarters, Luthuli House in Johannesburg, after news broke on Wednesday of his arrest during a cash-in transit heist blitz on 6 and 7 July. “The allegations that led to Errol Velile Present’s arrest and the charges against him are of such a serious nature that the party had to exercise rules provided for in the ANC personnel manual, terminating his service with immediate effect,” ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe indicated. Present has worked for the ANC for more than 10 years. Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba on Wednesday said he had been informed of four arrests of people allegedly involved in a cash-in-transit heist in Dobsonville. “The raid was conducted by the [Johannesburg Metro Police Department’s] K9 Narcotics Unit and the SA Police Service. Four hijacked vehicles were recovered, two of which were used in the robbery,” Mashaba said. He added that millions of rands had been stolen and only a small amount of that recovered. Anticrime activist Yusuf Abramjee commented: “I think the mayor needs to be complimented for making this fact public. Also, I see the ANC has issued Present with a summary dismissal, which also needs to be welcomed.” Read more of this The Citizen report by Amanda Watson at SA Labour News. Read too, ANC fires Luthuli House employee after appearing in court for ‘heinous crimes’, at BusinessLive. Read the ANC’s press statement in this regard at ANC News ANC spokesman explains why CIT heist employee was fired while Manana still remains an MP The Citizen reports that questions have been raised about whether the ANC has employed double standards when dealing with transgressions committed by the party’s members or employees. This after the governing party issued a statement on Wednesday saying it had fired a staffer at its headquarters on allegations of being involved in a cash-in-transit (CIT) heist. By contrast, Mduduzi Manana, who has had numerous run-ins with the law and even been found guilty of assault, remains a member of the party. Manana’s former domestic worker opened an assault case against the ANC MP in May, but she later dropped the charges. The Luthuli House staffer, named Errol Velile Present, was served with a letter of summary dismissal from the ANC’s employ on Wednesday following his arrest and court appearance on allegations of involvement in a a CIT heist. ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said the two matters were different, with Present’s case being one of an employer-employee relationship informed by the organisation’s personnel policies, while Manana was an elected member of the organisation. Mabe said that members, when accused of misconduct, were afforded the opportunity in accordance with the rule 25 of the party’s constitution to make written representations regarding the possible termination or suspension of membership. Present would be afforded that right as well. Read this report by Makhosandile Zulu in full at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Lifestyle probe of key parastatal officials will dig back to 2009 BusinessLive reports that declarations of financial interest made by key parastatal officials from 2009 will form the basis of their lifestyle audits, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Wednesday. Gordhan, who was reappointed as minister in February, has vowed to clean up state-owned entities and restore their viability. The government has been tightening the screws on corruption and has mandated the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe allegations of malfeasance, fraud and corruption in various parastatals including Eskom and Transnet. Lifestyle audits will also form part of the investigations. Gordhan said the lifestyle audits were set to be completed by the end of March 2019. Eskom had already commenced work on the audits, he indicated. Read this report by Bekezela Phakathi in full at BusinessLive
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