In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Monday, 30 July 2018.
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Prof Bongani Mayosi’s death highlights prevalence of mental health issues among doctors The Citizen reports that the reported suicide of Dr Bongani Mayosi has prompted the SA Medical Association (Sama) to set up a support structure to address the underlying problems of a heavy workload and long hours that lead to doctors suffering from stress and depression. Paying tribute to the 51-year-old University of Cape Town (UCT) dean of health sciences and cardiology professor who reportedly committed suicide on Friday, Sama chairperson Mzukisi Grootboom said the health fraternity was shocked to hear that Dr Mayosi had suffered from chronic depression in the two years before his death. “Colleagues face serious difficulties in the workplace and, as they are treating patients, they often forget about their health, which is the reason Sama has set up a structure to deal with doctors’ mental health problems. It is sad that we in the medical profession cannot look after our own,” said Grootboom. He went on to indicate that mental health problems “have become prevalent in the profession and it is important to establish the root causes”. Sama wants to find out what kind of support Mayosi got from UCT. Read this report by Brian Sokutu in full at The Citizen. Read too, Why so many of SA's doctors are killing themselves, at Times Select (paywall access) #FeesMustFall protests could have contributed to suicide of UCT health sciences dean Cape Argus reports that #FeesMustFall protests could have contributed to the death of University of Cape Town (UCT) health dean and world-class cardiology researcher Professor Bongani Mayosi, 51, who committed suicide on Friday. Addressing the media on Sunday, UCT vice-chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng said Mayosi’s office was occupied for two weeks in 2016 by protesting students demanding free education and transformation. “He went on three months’ leave and early this year collapsed because of a psychological attack. Protests in 2016/17 weren’t kind to him as a dean. Students were angry at him, called him a coconut - out of anger. He experienced pressure from staff, students and black students,” Phakeng indicated. Mayosi, who was suffering from depression, tendered his resignation in November. Phakeng also said UCT had seen a rise in mental health issues, not only among students but among staff, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the protests. #FeesMustFall activist Chumani Maxwele said he respected Phakeng’s opinion, but believed “the university killed Mayosi and seven other black students who committed suicide last year. … The biggest silent killer is the work environment for black academics at the institution, not him being called a coconut.” Read this report by Zodidi Dano in full at Cape Argus Environmental Affairs Minister pays tribute to KNP ranger killed in shoot-out with rhino poachers ANA reports that Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said on Saturday that the murder of a Kruger National Park (KNP) game ranger by alleged rhino poachers showed the severity of the threat rangers faced on a daily basis. She was joined by SA National Parks (SANParks) CEO Fundisile Mketeni and other SANParks officials and the local community in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, to pay homage to field ranger Respect Mathebula, who was killed in a shoot-out with poachers on 19 July. Molewa said the working environment of field rangers in SA had changed since rhino poaching started to increase 10 years ago. “The murder of one of our rangers is an act of aggression by unscrupulous individuals and gangs. His death at the hands of alleged rhino poachers is an indication of the severity of the threat our rangers are faced with on a daily basis,” Molewa said. Mathebula was the first ranger to be killed by poachers in the Kruger National Park in more than 50 years. Read this report in full at The Citizen. See too, More than 200 rangers killed in six years, says International Ranger Federation, at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Sibanye’s safety record fatality-free for five years — until February Mail & Guardian reports that according to Sibanye-Stillwater’s head of investor relations, James Wellsted, in the five years leading up to 2018, the producer had “industry leading safety rates”, with its SA mines achieving 3.4-million fatality free shifts in late 2017. There were also no fatalities for four months until early February this year. Commenting on the 21 fatalities this year, Wellsted said they were “a significant departure from our historic safety performance since the company formed in 2013”. The fatalities at the Driefontein operations on 3 May were caused by a 2.1 magnitude earthquake, and five miners died from heat exhaustion at the Kloof Ikamva operation on 11 June. “There is no indication that any of the operational controls had failed, and we are confident in the quality and efficacy of our seismic monitoring systems. We still need to fully determine the mechanism of failure so we can prevent events like this from occurring again,” Wellsted indicated. Charmane Russell, spokesperson for the Minerals Council (previously called the Chamber of Mines), said they were very concerned about the spate of accidents in the industry and in the “regression of hard-won safety improvements over the last two decades”. But the Council had confidence in Sibanye’s investigations into the mining accidents. Besides Sibanye’s internal investigations, it has held two safety summits and has formed an independent task team to tackle the causes of the fatalities, Read this report by Gemma Ritchie in full at Mail & Guardian. Read too, Sibanye deaths cloud Lonmin deal, at Mail & Guardian
Gautrain accuses striking workers of blocking buses at depot EWN reports that Gautrain has accused its striking workers of preventing buses from exiting the depot, causing delays to services in Centurion, Sandton and Park Station. Workers affiliated to the United National Transport Union (Untu) went on strike on Monday morning after wage negotiations with Gautrain operator Bombela deadlocked on Saturday. The transport union is demanding a 10% salary hike, as well as a number of other improvements in conditions, as well as access to Bombela's financial statements. Bombela is offering an 8.5% wage hike. Untu's Steve Harris indicated: “We’re still available to be called should they be prepared to put a new offer that’s reasonable and that we can take to our constituency and the constituency will decide how long that they’re prepared to last out on this strike action.” This short report by Kgomotso Modise is at EWN. Read too, Gautrain passengers warned of delays as strike begins, at eNCA. And also, Gautrain wage protests hit Midrand depot, at eNCA Transport union Untu denies reports of intimidation of non-striking Gautrain bus drivers EWN reports that the United National Transport Union (Untu) has denied allegations that its striking members were intimidating non-striking Gautrain bus drivers and preventing them from leaving the depots. Gautrain management said it had to call police on Monday after buses were stranded, causing up to an hour delay during peak morning traffic. More than 250 workers are on strike demanding, among other things, a 10% salary increase, while Gautrain operator Bombela is offering 8.5%. Untu's Sonja Carstens said: “According to us, the bus management themselves decided not to let the buses leave the bus depot. We’re striking in front of the depot at the moment; the reason being we have to be 100 meters from Gautrain depot itself.” Meanwhile, Gautrain's Kesagee Nayager said they would not tolerate intimidation of their drivers “or any other criminal act that results in damage to our office or that will prevent workers from working.” A short report by Mia Lindeque is at EWN It’s a 'train smash' for commuters as Gautrain strike set to continue Fin24 reports that the United National Transport Union (Untu) vowed on Monday that Gautrain strike action would continue until the workers' demands were taken seriously. The union embarked on a strike on Monday morning, demanding a 10% wage increase and other incentives from the Bombela Operating Company (BOC), which runs the Gautrain. Untu general secretary Steve Harris said: “To the majority of these members, this strike has become much more than just a fight about annual wages. They want to know what their employer is hiding from them by refusing the union to have confidential access to its financial statements." Harris went on to say that striking members, comprised of train drivers, security, customer service and conductors at Gautrain, have asked for a transport allowance of R800, a housing allowance of R1,600, a basic salary increase of 10%, and incentive bonuses of R20,000 for all employees. Another key issue was that while managers shared in the profits of the company, workers on the ground did not. Gautrain spokesperson Kesagee Nayager indicated that Bombela remained open to negotiations with the union. The company has offered an 8.5% increase in salaries and benefits and an increase in the minimum wage for operational staff to R8,500 per month. "It’s basically a train smash for me," a Pretoria based university student observed. Read this report by Alex Mitchley & Tehillah Niselow in full at Fin24
Drawn-out Eskom wage negotiations snag on bonuses deal breaker BusinessLive reports that the drawn-out Eskom wage negotiations are set to continue this week after trade unions refused to budge on their demand for bonuses. Two months after the talks started, parties are no closer to a wage agreement, with organised labour telling the Eskom management on Friday that there would be no deal without bonus payments. The struggling power utility announced two weeks ago that it would not be paying bonuses due to its financial difficulties, just as unions seemed amenable to the rest of Eskom’s latest proposed wage increase package. The utility has two wage increase options on the table that workers have yet to respond to due to the differences over bonuses. Workers are demanding 12% of their annual income as a one-off bonus. National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu said the issue remained a "deal breaker" and there would be no deal without it. The union pointed out that the company’s performance scorecard indicated that workers had met their targets and it was in line with their contractual agreements with Eskom that they should be paid bonuses as a result. Read this report by Theto Mahlakoana in full at BusinessLive Eskom workers down tools on Monday at some power stations Reuters reports that Khulu Phasiwe, spokesperson for Eskom, said that workers at some of the power utility’s power stations downed tools on Monday morning after an impasse over wages, but supply had not been disrupted. A spate of controlled blackouts was triggered last month following worker-led protests after the cash-strapped utility, which provides virtually all of South Africa’s power, said it could not afford pay increases. This short report is at EWN. Read too, Eskom reports coal truck hijacked, employees intimidated at some power stations, at EWN
Cosatu says Samwu leaders are ‘unco-operative, unaccountable’ The Star reports that according to Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali, leaders of the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) were running away from members and not accounting for the use of its money. He said the leadership of Samwu, the country’s biggest municipal union, were refusing to co-operate with the federation. “We tried to set up a task team outside of the Cosatu national office-bearers and included leaders from other affiliates to deal with this issue, but the national office-bearers of Samwu are refusing to co-operate. We can only consult them, but we have no legal power to intervene,” Ntshalintshali said. With the union heading for a split, Ntshalintshali observed that there were no substantive or ideological differences within the union, except the fight over the use of its resources and issues of accountability. Last week, Cosatu’s Gauteng secretary Dumisani Dakile reported to the provincial elective conference that a split was imminent in the union if there was no immediate solution. He noted that the federation in the province had also not been spared from the internal conflicts within Samwu, as some of Cosatu’s leaders were from the union. Currently, none of Samwu’s leaders and members are eligible to contest for positions in Cosatu because the union has failed to pay its subscription fees for years. The Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union (Ceppwawu) was also flagged for being unstable due to internal battles. Ceppwawu has also not been in good standing in Cosatu for the past two years. Read this report by Siviwe Feketha in full at The Star
New regulations may stop unwanted marketing calls, but many are set to lose their jobs BusinessTech reports that according to the Direct Marketing Association of SA (DMASA), the current draft regulations relating to the Protection of Personal Information Act (PoPI) could significantly harm jobs in direct marketing. CEO David Dickens highlighted the important role that direct marketing played in the economy and said that recent research conducted across the DMASA membership showed that it contributed substantially to both the economy and fiscus, providing numerous jobs. “Members of DMASA – and there are many, many non-members (as well) – employ between 45,000 and 92,000 people, of whom 26% are under 25 years old. Moreover, 50% of their employees are employed in call centres,” he indicated. Dickens added that the majority of these young people and/or call centre staff were likely to hold only a matric, and so were economically vulnerable. He pointed to two specific regulations which would likely cause the most damage. The first would permit companies to only communicate with individuals who have previously opted into receiving such communications. Secondly, the draft regulation proposed the use of an extremely detailed form, which would have the effect of greatly reducing the chances that it would be filled out at all. Read this report in full at BusinessTech
Great difficulty for junior doctors to access registration portal for community service jobs The Citizen reports that the Department of Health’s (DOH’s) application portal for doctors hoping to apply for community service positions next year is such a mess that hundreds of doctors are currently still unable to register and verify their details. This is despite the deadline for applications being only a few days off. The Citizen saw one doctor’s call logs proving that she had made over 70 calls to the helpline over several days. This inability to register and access the available positions means these doctors could be rendered unemployed come January, and will only be able to apply for placement again in the June intake of community service doctors. Doctors are unable to go into private practice or specialise in SA without completing this community service. Doctors complain of having to go through a tedious and frustratingly slow process of approval when applying to the DOH to do the mandatory community service, an experience that leads to some emigrating to practise in other countries. Many are demanding that the Junior Doctors Association of SA (Judasa) request an extension on the application deadline. Read this report by Brian Sokutu and Earl Coetzee in full at The Citizen. Read too, Disturbing letter highlights frustrations of SA’s doctors, at The Citizen
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