Today's Labour News

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY

Defence lawyer argues that car guard killed during parking row 'did not die from assault'

TimesLive reports that the man accused of killing car guard Vusi Mgiqwa has admitted to assaulting him and walking away as he thought "the matter was resolved".  Lukas van der Merwe on Tuesday detailed his version of what happened on 26 October, the night he assaulted Mgiqwa, who had been a car guard in Springs.  His lawyer Pieter Wilkins in an application for bail, argued that Mgiqwa was not killed by the assault.  "The most probable cause of death was not the assault but when the deceased fell backwards and knocked his head," he said.  Mgiqwa, 25, fell on his head after the assault and later died in hospital.  Van der Merwe claimed that Mgiqwa swore at him and his family and stated further:  “I confirm that I assaulted the deceased by punching him in the face.  As soon as the deceased fell down, I ordered my family to go to the car as I thought that the issue had been resolved.  I also got into the vehicle and left the scene." According to an eyewitness, Van der Merwe punched Mgiqwa unprovoked.  Van der Merwe runs his own business as a mechanic and told the court he intended pleading not guilty to murder.  The case was postponed to 28 November.

Read the full original report by Penwell Dlamini at TimesLive

Brick thrown by mentally challenged pupil at teacher

The Star reports that the safety of teachers at schools has once again been brought to the fore after the emergence of a video of a pupil attacking a teacher, hurling a brick at him and kicking him.  In the video filmed at the Albertina Sisulu Special School in Soweto on 7 November, a visibly scared teacher can be seen running from an enraged pupil.  The pupil grabs a brick and hurls it at the teacher.  In ducking, the teacher falls and while he's on the ground, the pupil rushes up and kicks him.  The teacher manages to get up and starts running.  One of the female teachers asks the pupil:  "What is your problem" and he responds: "I have been patient with him for a long time, today he will s**t himself."  Finally, three men grab the pupil and lead him away from the teacher.  The educator sustained minor injuries and medical intervention was arranged.  The latest incident comes two months after a pupil from a secondary school in North West stabbed his 24-year-old maths teacher in full view of other pupils.   A few months earlier, a pupil was caught on video pelting her teacher with an exercise book.  Commenting on the latest incident, Gauteng education spokesperson Steve Mabona noted that the school was for severely mentally challenged learners.  He said due to the nature of the pupil’s behavioural disability he cannot be suspended.  A diversion programme was being facilitated for the learner to address his behavioural challenges.

Read the full original of this report by Botho Molosankwe at The Star. Read too, 'I have been patient with him for a long time', as pupil throws brick at teacher, at TimesLive

MINING LABOUR

Lonmin shares crash on fears Amcu will scupper crucial Sibanye takeover deal

BusinessLive reports that Lonmin’s share price fell 8.85% to R7 on Wednesday morning on fears its largest union will block its proposed acquisition by Sibanye-Stillwater.  On Tuesday, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) asked the Competition Tribunal to make it a condition that the merged company should not be allowed to cut more than 10,000 jobs.  Lonmin has proposed 12,459 job cuts at mines that will run out of commercial deposits in the next three years.  The platinum producer has already cut about 2,000 jobs to weather a rout in prices.  The magnitude of the planned cuts “warrant that the transaction be prohibited”, Amcu said in submissions to the tribunal.  The union also argued that the outlook for platinum group metals had improved and a weaker rand meant Lonmin could operate profitably.  If the merger did not take place, Lonmin would require $450m-$500m to remain in operation, CFO Barrie van der Merwe said at the tribunal hearing on Monday.  The company was not in a position to return to the market to raise more capital, he said.  The Competition Commission has recommended the acquisition.  The tribunal is expected to give its final ruling on the matter once public submissions have been concluded.

Read the full original report by Felix Njini at BusinessLive. Read too, Sibanye's 'Mr Fixit' to give clarity on job cuts moratorium, at Business Report

CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION

Cosatu believes Competition Amendment Bill will attract investment by breaking up economic concentration

BusinessLive reports that trade union federation Cosatu has argued that the contentious Competition Amendment Bill will actually attract investment, contrary to what some opposition parties and local businesses have suggested.  Among other things, the bill is intended to provide for an extension of the mandate of the competition authorities and the executive to tackle high levels of economic concentration.  It is also meant to tackle the limited transformation in the economy and the abuse of market power by dominant firms.  “Much of the attacks by local business interests on the bill claim that it will deter investment.  Yet, in reality, foreign investors and institutions, including the World Bank, complain about the collusive practices and concentration in the economy and identify these as the real reasons for the lack of investment,” Cosatu stated in its submission on Tuesday to the National Council of Province’s (NCOP’s) select committee on business and economic development.  Cosatu called on the government to act more decisively in dealing with collusion and concentration as they hampered development and contributed to inequality.  It said the bill would undo the concentration in the economy by the “old, white boys club, who are keeping emerging black players out”.  “Economic exclusion and concentration contribute to the record-breaking levels of inequality in SA,” the federation argued.

Read the full original report by Bekezela Phakathi at BusinessLive

LABOUR MARKET / JOBS

Survey shows jobs – not land – are the nation’s biggest worry

The Citizen writes that despite the national furore over the land debate, most South Africans of voting age prioritise jobs and security over land ownership issues as their most urgent concerns.  This was indicated in a survey of 1,800 adults conducted in August and September by data analytics firm Afribarometer.  Communications director at Afribarometer, Sibusiso Nkomo, said that according to their research the top three in the list of priorities were employment, crime and security and then housing.  Land as a priority was only thirteenth.  Nkomo suggested that political parties, which have been at the centre of heated debates over land and property rights, were out of touch with the wants and needs of their voters.  He opined that this might have to do with the immediate needs of many South Africans who were unemployed or worried about job security because of poverty and, for similar reasons, were more worried about having a place to live.  This divide between the privileged and the poor presented itself in other parts of the survey.  Those who had full-time employment were more likely to agree with the willing buyer, willing seller policy than the unemployed.

Read the full original of the report by Simnikiwe Hlatshaneni at The Citizen

REMUNERATION / SALARY ADMINISTRATION

‘Pittance’ pay for interpreters stalls Spanish dentist's trial for Hout Bay murders

News24 reports that the trial of Spanish dentist Mario-César Deus Yela, who is accused of murdering his twin children at a Hout Bay holiday complex in April 2017, failed to get out of the blocks on Monday after Spanish interpreters expressed an unwillingness to work for a "pittance".  Deus Yela's attorney, William Booth, told the Western Cape High Court that his client had a good grasp of English, but it was not good enough to enable him to follow the court proceedings.  "It is not a problem with the actual interpreters, it is the issue of the pittance that is paid," said Booth.  Judge Mushtak Parker set an interim date of 4 February for Booth and prosecutor Louise Fiester-Sampson to tell him whether the issue had been resolved.  He told Booth:  "I don't expect you to sort out the payment, but I expect you to be a pain in the neck and nag.  Do something proactive about it.  It is no use just blaming the purse.  The bottom line is your client ain't going to get a fair trial if the interpretation isn't sorted out."  Deus Yela will remain in custody until the new trial date of 29 April 2019.  

Read the full original report by Jenni Evans at News24

Payroll Association wants Sars to fix up statement of account mistakes relating to employee deductions

Business Report writes that the SA Payroll Association (Sapa) has laid down a marker for the SA Revenue Services (Sars) over what is called an ongoing account errors affecting some of the country's biggest companies.  The organisation said on Monday that it would be meeting with Sars acting head Mark Kingon later this month to highlight the issues received from its members and request resolution from Sars.  But should solutions not be found, Sapa would be approaching the Tax Ombud for resolution.  Sapa charged that when large organisations submitted their EMP201 returns to Sars it was indicated how much has been deducted from their employees’ pay for tax purposes by way of PAYE, UIF and Skills Development Levy.  Sapa’s issue was that Sars then compiled all this information into journals, but there were no particular reasons for these journals and no one in Sars could explain what purposes they served.  But, these journals often resulted in accounting errors, and subsequently an underpayment was erroneously reflected on a particular company's statement of account.  Sapa said it would ask Kingon to set up a committed team or point of contact at Sars to deal with any statement of account issues that might arise.

Read the full original report by Kabelo Khumalo at Business Report

Workers at West Rand District Municipality call on Makhura to address non-payment of wages

EWN reports that employees of the West Rand District Municipality gathered at the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Johannesburg on Wednesday, calling on the office of the Gauteng premier to deal with their grievances.  They claimed not to have been paid for the past three months.  Last month, workers held councillors hostage demanding their salaries be paid.  According to the workers, this was the third month they have not been paid.  The Democratic Municipal and Allied Workers Union of SA (Demawusa) said they don’t believe that the municipality has no funds to pay workers.  The municipality invested R77 million in the embattled VBS Mutual Bank.  Spokesperson Ayanda Yawua said:  “To our surprise when the municipality does not have money but it invested with VBS an amount of R77 million so, we are just wondering why the municipality invested but claim that they don’t have money.”  Yawua admitted that it was not a legal march, but said many of those protesting were breadwinners who could not continue to work for free.

Read the full original of this report by Katleho Sekhotho at EWN. See too, West Rand workers still not paid in full, at eNCA

NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE

Cosatu losing patience with Ramaphosa over delay in signing of national minimum wage bill

Sowetan reports that Cosatu has accused President Cyril Ramaphosa of dragging his feet on signing the long-awaited national minimum wage bill into law.  The accusation comes after the bill was adopted by parliament’s select committee on economic development in August.  The labour federation said in a statement on Tuesday:  “The Congress of South African Trade Unions is calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to stop dithering and sign the long awaited and long delayed National Minimum Wage (NMW) into law.  Workers have been very patient in waiting for the long promised NMW.  Our members are rapidly losing patience because parliament passed and sent the NMW and related labour bills to the Presidency on 30 August.  It is unacceptable that to date the Presidency has not announced when they will be signed and when they will come into effect.”  The Act, when signed, will require workers to be paid no less than R20 per hour.  A NMW commission will also be established and will annually review the wage rate.  Cosatu complained that Ramaphosa’s continued delay in signing the bill would result in the depreciation of the rate as set, which was agreed to in February 2017.  

Read the full original of this report by Neo Goba on page 4 of Sowetan of 14 November 2018.   Read Cosatu’s press statement at Politicsweb

STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES (SOEs)

All we need is R3bn from government to avoid collapse in March, SABC tells Scopa

Fin24 reports that SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board chair Bongumusa Makhathini told Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) that all the state broadcaster needed was a R3bn government guarantee to avoid looming collapse in March.  The board briefed Scopa on Wednesday morning, following a meeting on Tuesday when board member Mathatha Tsedu told the portfolio committee on finance that the SABC's ability to pay full salaries would be in doubt as early as February next year.  Makhathini told Scopa on Wednesday that because of its R1.3bn debt, the broadcaster was battling to meet its monthly obligations.  He said about 70% of SABC's revenue went to wages, whereas this should be some 50%.  Makhathini indicated that the SABC had approached government for a guarantee over a year ago but, instead got a letter of approval to go to the banks and borrow.  But, the SABC’s audit outcomes did not make it an attractive prospect for banks.  Makhathini stated if the SABC were to be granted a guarantee, it would use the funds accessed thereby to finance the repayment of debt, the procurement of content and maintenance of infrastructure.

Read the full original report by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24. Read too, SABC needs R3bn, just so it can pay salaries, at TimesLive

Union slams SABC for saying staff want free biscuits

Business Report writes that the Broadcasting, Electronic, Media and Allied Workers’ Union (Bemawu) on Wednesday slammed as "disrespectful and insensitive" suggestions by the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) that workers were "up in arms" over no longer getting free biscuits.  The SABC board appeared before the parliament’s communications portfolio committee on Tuesday, pleading its case to retrench 981 employees and 1,200 freelancers.  The board said it would cut provision of refreshments and not provide catering for meetings as part of efforts to recover the R3-billion it needs to stay afloat.  This riled Bemawu, which said the public broadcaster had portrayed workers as ungrateful and insensitive to its financial difficulties.  "To allege staff members, in the face of retrenchments, are up in arms because they no longer get biscuits at work, suggests SABC staff does not appreciate and realize their own dire situation and the financial crisis the SABC finds itself in – a situation solely caused by previous boards who failed to exercise its fiduciary/oversight duties," Bemawu said.  The union demanded that the SABC board publicly apologise to all employees and set the record straight to parliament.

Read the full original report by Siphelele Dludla at Business Report. Read too, Cut executives’ pay before retrenching staff, say MPs, on page 13 of The Star of 14 November 2018

DISMISSALS / SUSPENSIONS

Moyane seeks to interdict Ramaphosa from filling his post at Sars

Fin24 reports that axed SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane is filing an urgent application with the North Gauteng High Court for relief following his dismissal by President Cyril Ramaphosa.  The notice of motion was filed on Monday, 13 November 2018.  Moyane wants the court to temporarily set aside Ramaphosa's decision and to interdict him from implementing any other recommendations from the Nugent Commission of Inquiry’s interim report.  He also wants Ramaphosa to be barred from advertising or filling his former post.  Moyane further wants the disciplinary inquiry instituted by Ramaphosa and chaired by Advocate Azhar Bham to remain in place, and is seeking costs, including punitive and personal costs.  The respondents - including Ramaphosa, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, retired judge Robert Nugent, Bham, Professor Michael Katz, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, Vuyo Kahla and Advocate Mabongi Masilo - had until noon on Monday to file their answering affidavit.

Read the short original report at Fin24. Read too, Fired Tom Moyane files urgent court application, at Business Report

KZN hospital intern suspended for child rape post on social media

Daily News reports that children's’ rights groups have called for the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Health Department to deal decisively with a trainee employee who allegedly posted on his Facebook page his desire to rape two children from his neighbourhood.  The trainee, at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital, has since been barred from the facility, and the hospital’s management is investigating the social media post.  It is not clear how long the man had worked at the hospital, and attempts to get comment from him were unsuccessful.  The man posted on Facebook that his neighbour’s daughter had grown up - she is seven years old - and he had a desire to rape her.  He posted a similar message about another neighbour’s 10-year-old child.  Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo confirmed that the trainee had been removed from the facility pending an investigation.  Childline KZN’s Adeshini Naicker said she was “appalled” to hear of the matter and applauded the decision of the KZN health department to immediately suspend the employee.  Bobbi Bear, an NGO advocating for the rights of sexually-abused children, was also outraged and called for the Health Department and justice system to take the “hardest stance” against this kind of behaviour.

Read the full original of this report by Chris Ndaliso at Daily News. Read too, Prince Mshiyeni hospital suspends intern over rape post, at SABC News

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

• Previously suspended North West health HOD back at work, at The Citizen

COMMUTING / TRANSPORT TO WORK

Cable theft leaves 60,000 Metrorail commuters stranded in Soweto on Wednesday morning

ANA reports that train services in the Naledi corridor in Soweto were disrupted on Wednesday morning after overhead catenary wires were stolen.  The cables were stolen between Dube and Ikhwezi train stations.  Goodman Matampi of Gauteng Metrorail said in a statement that trains could not move to and from Johannesburg until technicians had replace the stolen cables.  “This disruption will negatively affect more than 60 000 train commuters’ travelling experience in Naledi, New Canada and Karzene West corridor which are our key operational areas in Soweto,” he indicated, adding that of great concern was the growing trend by criminals targeting both lines to make sure the railway system was paralyzed for peak period operations.  Matampi said Metrorail would arrange for buses to ferry loyal monthly and weekly ticket holders between New Canada and Naledi stations.  However, Metrorail warned there could be delays.

Read the short original report by Siphelele Dludla at IOL News