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
Wednesday, 29 August 2018.
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Pikitup woes spread‚ as services cut to more parts of Johannesburg due to intimidation SowetanLive reports that threats of intimidation have sent Pikitup’s troubles rippling outwards‚ as the trash-collecting agency announced that more parts of Johannesburg would not have its garbage collected. Disgruntled former workers intimidated employees at the Orange Farm and Midrand depots on Tuesday and blocked the gates. This came after others demanded to be insourced at the Central Camp and Zondi depots on Monday. Initially‚ services to several areas were cut on Monday‚ but on Tuesday additional areas were said to be affected. Pikitup spokesperson Muzi Mkhwanazi said on Tuesday it was forced to suspend waste collection services due to the prevailing volatile and unsafe situation outside some of its depots. He stated: “Disgruntled jobseekers continued today (Tuesday) to forcefully demand jobs from Pikitup and further continued to threaten the lives of its employees.” This report identifies the affected depots and the suburbs they serve. Read this report by Nico Gous in full at SowetanLive. Read too, Operations remain suspended at four Joburg Pikitup depots after violence, at EWN KZN traffic cop killed in hit-and-run accident on Sunday The Witness reports that Road Traffic Inspectorate Officer Thokozani Gcinani Cele, who was stationed at Midway in Estcourt, was killed on duty in a hit-and-run accident on Sunday. The traffic officer from Steadville died instantly and the driver of the truck fled the scene. According to a statement from the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Department, Cele and his colleagues were on duty operating a speed trap when the accident happened. During the operation, a truck failed to stop and knocked him over. A case of hit-and-run was opened at the Ladysmith police station. No arrests have been made yet. In a statement, KZN MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Mxolisi Kaunda described the incident as a huge blow to the traffic fraternity and a setback to the department’s commitment to save lives on the road. He called upon the police to exercise extreme caution as they executed their duties to protect their lives and those of KZN people. Read this report by Nokuthula Khanyile in full at News24
Case to force Lonmin’s compliance with social and labour plan set down for 26 October Business Report writes that the case to force platinum producer Lonmin to honour its social and labour plan commitments is set for a hearing at the High Court in Mafikeng on 26 October, the Mining Forum of SA said on Tuesday. The forum has initiated legal action against the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), Lonmin and other parties to enforce the company's compliance with its social plans towards local economic development, housing, procurement, community skills development and human resources development programmes. This came after a DMR inspection last year found that Lonmin had neglected its social responsibilities. The forum took issue with Lonmin being allowed to continue its operations and decided to take the legal route against the DMR and other parties. The failure by the government to hold Lonmin accountable was a serious compromise and also an insult to the people of South Africa, and in particular the people of Marikana, the forum's president Blessings Ramoba said on Tuesday. This short report by Banele Ginindza is at Business Report Postings on Mining Charter
Stellenbosch guest lodge denies that eviction of farmworkers occurred Cape Times reports that Simondium Guest Lodge has denied that evictions took place at its premises, even though one of the farmworkers is now sleeping outside the structure he had been occupying for years. A man, who did not identify himself but said he was responding on behalf of lodge owner Elsabe Rabe, vehemently denied any evictions, saying no notices were given to any farmworkers on Friday as reported. “No evictions took place on Friday. No notices were given to anyone on the premises. This is not a farm, but a commercial property. As a result, we have never employed farmworkers,” an email response read. Women On Farms Project co-director Carmen Louw said Rabe’s denial that evictions took place “is a lie”. Louw went on to state: “There is a farm evictions crisis which the government is simply not taking seriously. Every day, across the country, farm dwellers are being evicted - sometimes legally, but often illegally. Farm dwellers are calling for an urgent moratorium on farm evictions. (Then) deputy president Ramaphosa gave such an undertaking to farm dwellers in 2014. Now that you are president, deliver on your promise.” Read this report by Chevon Booysen in full at Cape Times
Labour unrest leads to driving licence delays in Joburg Sandton Chronicle reports that the City of Johannesburg has been informed of a labour dispute at the Driving Licensing Card Account (DLCA) department that has been ongoing since 20 July. According to the MMC for public safety, Councillor Michael Sun, the dispute remained unresolved. “This may have affected applications for driving licences, leading to delays in the issuing of credit card type driving licences,” he indicated. Sun explained that the DLCA was a national government department responsible for the printing of all driving licence cards for both provincial and municipal licensing centres. The City of Johannesburg in turn rendered licensing services as an agent of the Gauteng provincial government at the various licensing centres that it operated. Sun went on to say: “In order to resolve the problem on a temporary basis, City of Johannesburg licensing centres will be issuing temporary licences to new, as well as renewing, driving licence applicants.” These would be valid for six months and could be renewed in the event that the issues at the DLCA remained unresolved at the time of their expiry. All other services available at the City’s licensing centres remain unaffected. Read this report in full at The Citizen. See too, Bedfordview licensing department closed after running out of printer cartridges, at The Citizen
Newzroom Afrika to prioritise job applicants from 350 former ANN7 staffers BusinessLive reports that MultiChoice’s new black-owned TV channel says it plans to "prioritise" job applicants from the Gupta-linked station it is replacing and that it plans to launch in early 2019. MultiChoice said on Tuesday it had signed a broadcasting deal with Newzroom Afrika, a start-up jointly owned by "successful television production entrepreneurs" Thokozani Nkosi of Eclipse TV and Thabile Ngwato of Rapid Innovation. The company is to produce a 24-hour news channel on DStv, filling the spot left vacant after MultiChoice pulled the plug on Afro Worldview, the channel formerly known as ANN7, which Mzwanele Manyi bought in 2017 from the Gupta family in a transaction financed by them. Manyi indicated on Tuesday that about 350 Afro Worldview staff were now without jobs after the channel stopped broadcasting. Ngwato, who stepped down as a news anchor and producer at the SABC this month, said Afro Worldview employees "will certainly be prioritised when it comes to our recruitment process". Nkosi was "still finalising" the launch date, but wanted to go live in early 2019. Read this report by Nick Hedley in full at BusinessLive. Read too, Newzroom Afrika to replace ex-Gupta TV channel, at Moneyweb. And also, Future of Afro Worldview employees now uncertain, at EWN Joburg OUTsurance pointsmen back after massive public outcry at termination of contract The Citizen reports that City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba has announced that 186 OUTsurance pointsmen will be reinstated, after their contract came to an end earlier this month. He indicated this on Tuesday on David O’Sullivan’s KAYA FM show on. This came after a massive public outcry followed the announcement earlier in August that the pointsmen contract had come to an end. Mashaba explained that the contract would be extended for a further six months, and would thereafter be taken out on a tender. The City terminated the Traffic Freeflow (TTF) and OUTsurance project for provision of pointsmen services in the Johannesburg area after 13 years of operation. According to the MMC for Public Safety, Michael Sun, the decision came after the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) upgraded its function and appointed an additional 180 traffic wardens, who were to be deployed in various traffic hot spots to ensure that traffic continued to be managed efficiently. In a statement released by OUTsurance at the time of the contract termination announcement, the company said they, “were deeply disappointed”. Read this report in full at The Citizen ‘Slow bleed’ of top managers at SARS while leadership unaware of problems Timeslive reports that according to a senior National Treasury official, there was a “slow bleed” of senior managers at the SA Revenue Service (Sars) while its top leadership remained unaware of the issues that plagued the institution. Treasury deputy director general Ismail Momoniat‚ along with his boss‚ Dondo Mogajane‚ testified before Judge Robert Nugent’s inquiry into tax administration and governance issues at the revenue collector on Wednesday. Momoniat said that under now-suspended SARS commissioner Tom Moyane’s new operating model‚ there was a sense that its executive committee was a “body unaware of the issues”. “We began to see then a high turnover of senior managers … it began slowly‚ a slow bleed. Let’s take the loss of staff from key units like the LBC (Large Business Centre) and customs. You got a sense that the leadership at SARS‚ the commissioner and some of the exco managers‚ were really unaware of the extent that some of these changes actually made on the ground‚” Momoniat said. He went on to observe: “Exco members may have whispered to us about how bad things are‚ but nobody was willing to come out openly and tell just how things were falling apart.” Read this report by Amil Umraw in full at Timeslive
Production of soapy Uzalo on hold after salaries not paid due to SABC’s money woes ANA reports that the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) on Tuesday declined to state how much it owed the producers of hit TV show Uzalo. This was after production house Stained Glass Pictures earlier indicated that the SABC's biggest daily telenovela had been put on hold after crew and the staff were not paid their August salaries. Last week, the SABC board told Parliament that it was in dire financial trouble and was unable to meet certain commitments. In a statement, Stained Glass Pictures said that the crew and the staff decided to suspend their services after they were not paid their salaries on 25 August. Early this month, a meeting was held with all affected staff to explain the situation and give them options of either continuing to work until month end or taking immediate leave until payments could be made. Executive producer of Stained Glass Pictures, Pepsi Pokane, said the overwhelming majority of the crew elected to keep working until the end of August. Pokane went on to indicate: “As a company, we carried the costs of production for as long as we were able to, while waiting for the outstanding payments to be settled by the public broadcaster. Since we were unable to make payments on payday, the 25th of August, the staff have exercised their right to withhold services until they receive their August salaries. We respect that decision and appreciate the work that they have put into the show this month despite the uncertainty." Pokane added: “We are in constant contact with the broadcaster and are confident that this will be all be resolved in the next week.” Read this report by Thembelihle Mkhonza in full at IOL News
Dawn to lay off over 700 employees to reduce costs BusinessLive reports that Distribution and Warehousing Network (Dawn) is to retrench more than 700 of its employees as part of a cost-cutting strategy aimed at saving the ailing business from collapse. Dawn, which makes and distributes hardware, sanitaryware, plumbing, kitchen, engineering and civil products, said on Tuesday economic conditions had deteriorated over the past five months such that a turnaround plan it had published in July 2018 was no longer adequate. The company said its large-scale cost reduction plan would position it for recovery "in line with its turnaround plan". In addition to the retrenchments, Dawn will reduce expenditure on support services and infrastructure, resulting in a “small, but appropriate head office structure." The company indicated that it would implement structural changes to refocus each subsidiary on its core competencies, and to "leverage synergies" between the group’s subsidiaries, particularly its three largest subsidiaries, Wholesale Housing Supplies, Incledon and DPI Plastics. Read this report by Alistair Anderson in full at BusinessLIve Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Sadtu blames ‘edupreneurs’ for misuse of funds SowetanLive reports that the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) claims there are people who misuse education funds at the expense of teachers. Speaking at the second Education Indaba in Pretoria on Tuesday, Sadtu general secretary Mugwena Maluleke said there were edupreneurs who wanted to derive profits from lack of training and resourcing. “These edupreneurs are working together with politicians who see teachers as tools to be overloaded," claimed Maluleke. He went on to lament: "In South Africa everyone blames the teachers for the poor performance of learners; the World Economic Forum blames basic education for the high rate of unemployment and the International Monetary Fund blames the teachers for the poor performance in mathematics and literature. When the world has become so brutal, how do we expect the teaching profession to create people with good heads and hearts, because the combination of the two is always formidable.” Basic education director-general Mathanzima Mweli said South Africa's school system was becoming unequal. Read this report by Yoliswa Sobuwa in full at SowetanLive
Educators with racist tendencies have no place in the classroom, says Naptosa ANA reports that the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of SA (Naptosa) has weighed in on allegations of racism at Westville Girls’ High School in Durban, saying that educators with racist tendencies have no place in the classroom. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the union’s provincial CEO for KwaZulu-Natal, Thirona Moodley, said that racist educators “had the power to influence young minds and undo the strides our democracy has made”. The statement followed the outburst of teacher Danielle de Bruyn, who resigned on Monday after it was found that she used the derogatory “K” word while “debating” with pupils last week. According to reports, De Bruyn used the American novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” to highlight farm murders and land expropriation in South Africa and the land grabs that took place in Zimbabwe in the early 2000s. Moodley said it was unfortunate that educators, who were supposed to be “agents of democracy and the custodians of our children rights”, resorted to racism when delivering the curriculum. Although the educator in question has subsequently resigned, she might still be investigated by the SA Council for Educators (Sace). In a “general letter” sent to parents by Westville Girls High on Tuesday, principal Catherine Raw said she was “sad and troubled” by the incident. Read this report in full at IOL News. Read too, KZN English teacher accused of K-word rant, at Timeslive Senior Limpopo cop given marching orders over the 'k-word' SowetanLive reports that a senior Limpopo policeman has been fired "with immediate effect" for allegedly calling a junior colleague by the k-word. Brigadier Eddie Enslin, who was the station commander at the Mankweng police station near Polokwane, was given the marching orders on Monday. This followed an incident which happened on 17 February at the station. Nelson Maisela of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) explained: "During an argument over office space, Enslin had allegedly called Sergeant Moses Molepo [by] the k-word. Several witnesses alluded to this during the hearing. It is alleged Molepo, who was told to occupy a certain office by his commander, was allegedly ordered by Enslin to vacate the office, resulting in an argument between the two." Enslin allegedly hurled racial insults at Molepo, who is also a shop steward, and a physical scuffle apparently also broke out. Molepo opened a criminal case against Enslin and also turned to the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for help. Head of the SAHRC in Limpopo, Victor Mavhidula, commented: "We are happy at the outcome of the case against Enslin and we believe that it will send a clear message that racism has no place in our society." Enslin said on Tuesday: "I'm still weighing my options over my dismissal and have no comment to make." Read this report by Frank Maponya in full at SowetanLive
Grant Thornton Johannesburg chief back at work after sex allegations dismissed Business Report writes that Grant Thornton Johannesburg chief executive Paul Badrick is back at work after he was cleared of the sexual harassment allegations laid against him. Serena Ho, chairperson of the governing board at Grant Thornton Johannesburg, said on Tuesday: Sexual harassment allegations levelled against Mr Badrick have been dismissed in an independent investigation by attorneys Norton Rose Fulbright and he has returned to work. The independent legal review found only one complainant… she (the complainant) left the employ of the firm towards the end of last year.” She also indicated that the company had structured policies and procedures for dealing with sexual harassment complaints. The allegations against Badrick came to light during an investigation by Grant Thornton International. The alleged harassment was said to have taken place in 2015 and Badrick stepped aside in June after the allegations were made. In another case, in March Nerisha Singh, a former director at the firm, recounted her trauma after her employment was terminated when she laid a complaint of sexual harassment against a senior executive, Vernon Naidoo. The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) on Tuesday said that Singh had since settled the matter amicably. Grant Thornton confirmed that “the complaint has been withdrawn. The matter has been settled amicably.” Read this report by Kabelo Khumalo in full at Business Report
Risk of permanent disability/death overestimated, but temporary illness/injury underestimated Moneyweb reports that many South Africans overestimate their risk of permanent disability, critical illness or death, but underestimate their risk of temporary illness or injury, a survey has found. This suggests that people might have an incorrect mix of risk cover. They might be paying for life cover even though they don’t need it, or might be under-insured for events that were most likely to affect them, according to FMI’s #RealityCheck Consumer Survey. Brad Toerien, CEO of FMI, said people generally needed more disability cover than life cover. If they become disabled, they will still need to provide for themselves as well as their families, but if they die there will be one less mouth to feed. Yet, the amount of life cover sold is more than twice as much as disability cover. The consequence was that people did not have the cover they needed, or had life cover before they needed it, Toerien indicated. In his view, the survey suggested that people did not understand their risks. The survey found that the inability to earn an income for three months would be devastating to most South Africans. Over a third of respondents expected “catastrophic results” if they could not earn an income for longer than three months, like losing their house. Read this report by Ingé Lamprecht in full at Moneyweb
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