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
Monday, 18 February 2019.
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Some 4,500 people to lose their jobs as banks turn their backs on African Global, formerly known as Bosasa City Press reports that about 4,500 people have become the latest casualties of SA’s state capture tale after their controversial employer was forced to go into liquidation. African Global – the company formerly known as Bosasa, and which has been at the centre of state capture allegations over the past few weeks – announced its voluntary liquidation on Monday morning. In a statement, the board of directors confirmed that they had received a formal notification of their bank’s decision to distance itself from the group and close all the entity’s bank accounts. African Global has been unable to open a trading account with another bank – locally or internationally. “The extensive reputational damage in the past few months, occasioned by negative media reports, has resulted in financial institutions determination that the African Global Group poses a reputational risk for them as clients. Tragically, the group will be unable to trade without a bank account,” the statement reads. The company was advised to enter into business rescue or voluntary liquidation. Following testimony at the Zondo commission into state capture, numerous bigwigs from Bosasa were arrested and appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit on 1 February. These included former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi, whose explosive testimony implicated numerous state officials involving millions of rands in bribes. Read the original of the report on this story in full at City Press. Read too, Bosasa to close after banks pull out, at BusinessLive
Two of the five suspects implicated in cold-blooded murder of two Hillbrow security guards arrested TimesLIVE reports that police have arrested two men in connection with the murder of two security guards who were shot dead in plain view of bystanders and motorists while sitting in their car in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, a week ago. "The management of police in Gauteng has welcomed the arrest of two suspects believed to be behind the murder of two security guards in Hillbrow a week ago,” said police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo. He reported that a group of about five suspects had accosted the two security guards who were inside a vehicle. The victims, aged 45 and 50, were fatally shot and a firearm taken from them. Police recovered the firearm with a magazine and rounds after arresting the first suspect. Police are still searching for the other three suspects who are still at large. The arrested suspects are expected to appear in court soon. Read the original of Nonkululeko Njilo’s report on the above in full at TimesLIVE. Read a press statement from the SA Police Service on the arrests at SAPS News Cape Town public pool closed after lifeguards stoned and one of them injured TimesLIVE reports that residents of Manenberg, Cape Town, are currently unable to use their municipal swimming pool as a result of an attack on lifeguards at the weekend. The staff were stoned, resulting in one lifeguard being injured. It’s unclear at this stage what prompted the incident. "This is extremely disappointing. A few weeks ago, we also closed the pool after a staff member was attacked by a group of youths who tried to break through the fence," councillor Zahid Badroodien indicated. While the situation was expected to be reassessed on Monday, she said the lives of workers would not be put at risk. The incident followed an attack on firefighters in the city last week. Executive director for safety and security Richard Bosman said fire damage was caused to the side entrance of the Gugulethu fire station as a result of a petrol bomb and that two window panes in one of the sectional doors were smashed. The station was closed as a result of the incident, but reopened on Saturday. "We are not sure about the motive for the attack, but it is not the first time that this has happened in Gugulethu," said Bosman. Read the original of Nonkululeko Njilo’s report on this story in full at TimesLIVE
Gold Fields boss has hope for South Deep, but believes gold sector job cuts will continue Business Times reports that according to Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland, consolidation cannot save SA's gold sector and job cuts are likely to continue. Holland, who long held the view that consolidation was good for deriving synergies in the local gold sector, observed: "There might be some local gold assets that can be moved around, but I think consolidation in the South African industry has largely happened." Regarding the future of gold mining, Holland commented: "If you look at the deep-level, conventional, labour-intensive mines, you'll find that they're getting deeper, the grades are declining, the costs keep going up, the trade unions keep getting increases that are beyond inflation when productivity doesn't match it. Eskom now wants to get a lot more money, so I think the writing is on the wall. It's not looking good." But, Holland remains steadfast in his belief that South Deep, the only mechanised gold mine in the country, can still turn in a profit. South Deep has had major restructuring in the past year, reducing its workforce from about 4,000 to 2,460. This restructuring was met with strong opposition from labour and the National Union of Mineworkers went on a 45-day strike at the end of 2018. The strike cost Gold Fields about R360m in lost revenue, according to its own calculations. Read more of the Sunday Times Business Times report by Mudiwa Gavaza appeared at SA Labour News. Read too, Gold Fields’ international mines offset dismal South Deep, at BusinessLive. And also, Gold Fields determined to turn around its troubled South Deep, at Business Report Police say efforts to reach trapped illegal miners at Gloria mine now retrieval rather than rescue TimesLIVE reports that Mike Elliot, business rescue representative for the Gupta-owned Gloria mine, remains optimistic that there could still be survivors following a blast there and observed that “there is always hope”. But, police on Monday said efforts to reach the trapped miners were no longer regarded as a rescue operation but as a retrieval mission as they had little hope of finding any more survivors. The mine outside Middelburg, Mpumalanga, was rocked by an underground gas explosion on 6 February. A group of people had earlier entered it illegally, allegedly to strip copper cables underground. Rescue efforts have been stalled by several factors, including high levels of methane gas which threatened to cause another explosion. So far, 12 people have been confirmed dead, while it is unclear how many miners remain trapped. The mine, which has been non-operational for several months, forms part of the Optimum Coal assets bought by the Gupta family in 2016. The assets were put into business rescue early in 2018. Read the original of Naledi Shange’s report on this story in full at TimesLIVE. See too, Toxic gas again hampers rescue operations at Gloria coal mine, at EWN Fellow unions call out Amcu on strike tactics at Sibanye Mail & Guardian writes that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) is at loggerheads with other trade unions about its protracted wage strike at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold mines. In July last year, Amcu, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity and the United Association of SA (Uasa) began annual wage negotiations, resulting in all the unions except Amcu accepting a R700-a-month increase in the first and second years of a three-year deal and R825 in the third year for the lowest categories of employees. But Amcu is adamantly insisting on a R1,000 wage hike. It has been striking since November and has been accused of violence and intimidation, which it denies. Sibanye indicated that, since the strike began, seven people have died. Its position is that the NUM, Uasa and Solidarity together make up the majority, thereby allowing it to extend the wage deal to Amcu. “Amcu has the right to go on strike, but our concern is that they are doing that [while] intimidating our members,” said NUM spokesperson Luphert Chilwane. Central to the dispute between Amcu and Sibanye are efforts to verify union membership numbers, which will determine the extent of Amcu’s muscle at the gold mine. Uasa’s Nico van Rooyen said membership of the three unions had increased to 68% since November, and Amcu “does not have the basis they believed they had”. This was “a clear indication that employees [have] voted in favour of the traditional unions”, he said. Solidarity’s Riaan Visser said they believed that the three unions made up a majority. Read the original of Tshegofatso Mathe’s report in the above regard in full at Mail & Guardian Uasa vows to fight job cuts at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold mines 'tooth and nail' ANA reports that the United Association of SA (Uasa) has vowed job cuts at mining company Sibanye-Stillwater "tooth and nail". The trade union’s spokesman Stanford Mazhindu said in a statement on Sunday: "A substantial number of Uasa members employed at mining company Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations have received section 189 notices. Uasa is part of the section 189 process at Sibanye-Stillwater and will have to find a way to sugar coat the bitter pill of possible retrenchment for our workers. We will resist the job cuts tooth and nail." Mazhindu went on to indicate: "As poor economic growth figures further inhibit employment creation it is the workers’ heads on the butcher’s block. Uasa will interrogate Sibanye-Stillwater’s rationale for the intended retrenchments and will make presentations to the company in this regard. We intend to influence the company’s selection criteria according to which employees are to be declared redundant and will creatively explore ways and means to minimise redundancies, like the placement of affected employees elsewhere in the company." Read the original of the report on this story in full at Independent News Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
Other general posting(s) relating to mining
Unemployment, income disparity among the biggest risks for SA, risk management institute finds ANA reports that the Institute of Risk Management SA (IRMSA) has identified structurally high unemployment, growing income disparity and inequality, failure of governance in the public sector, fraud and corruption to be among some of the biggest risks for the country in 2019. Other national risks include inadequate or substandard education and skills development, energy price shocks, labour unrest and strike action, national policy uncertainty and cyber attacks. The institute’s latest risk report contains commentary and guidance from some 85 experts who not only gauged the risks individually but also offered practical treatments at each level. The report is the outcome of surveys carried out with some 1,028 contributors from a variety of business and risk related roles. The informative and instructive report was "an invitation to business, government, the public and risk professionals to work together to solve these challenges and build a better society for the future,” IRMSA chief risk advisor Christopher Palm said. Read the short original of this report at Independent News Sugar tax leaves a bitter taste for industry with 350,000 jobs at stake Sunday Tribune reports that the SA sugar industry is in crisis according to the South African Canegrowers Association. But the government has a different perspective and would only confirm that it was aware of challenges the sector faced. Graeme Stainbank, chairman of the association, said 350,000 jobs were at stake if issues facing the R14 billion industry were not addressed. These factors included unsteady rainfall, plunging world sugar prices, weak protection against cheap imports and a dip in demand following the implementation of the sugar tax. Stainbank has asked government to grant the industry tariff protection to shield it from cheap imports from countries like Brazil where the industry was subsidised. He said tightened restrictions to stop sugar from neighbouring countries entering the local market without duty fees would also help the industry. He called on government to take immediate action to prevent an imminent collapse. “It is a matter of profound public interest that is having a serious impact on land reform, small-scale and commercial farmers,” Stainbank said in a statement. Sidwell Medupe, a spokesperson for the Department of Trade and Industry said they were exploring opportunities for the sugarcane industry to generate alternative income streams such as ethanol for fuel as well as generating electricity. Read the original of Annie Dorasamy’s report on this matter in full at Sunday Tribune. Read too, SA's sugar industry in decline for the past 19 years, at Business Report
Cosatu seeks enlightenment from Ramaphosa at meeting on Monday on Eskom unbundling plan EWN reports that the leadership of Cosatu was due to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday morning to discuss the trade union federation's objections to government’s plans to unbundle Eskom into three separate companies. They were hoping in particular to get clarity on the impact the split up would have on jobs. During his State of the Nation Address (Sona), Ramaphosa announced that the utility would be split into three entities responsible for generation, transmission and distribution, respectively. Last week, Cosatu staged nationwide marches against the move, arguing that it would lead to the privatisation of Eskom and job cuts. But, Ramaphosa denied this last week in his reply to the Sona debate. Cosatu's Bheki Ntshalintshali said that unions needed more details in order to understand Ramaphosa's plan, viz. "We are in the dark to understand the purpose and how this is going to help Eskom, how this is going to help South Africa and ensure that the lights stay on. I hope that the president will be able to explain himself in terms of how they've reached this point." The original of a short report by Mia Lindeque on this story is at EWN Experts cast doubt on sabotage threats against Eskom on part of unions Independent News reports that according to the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), there were no likely industrial actions that would force them to involve the police and intelligence officers to protect Eskom facilities. DPE spokesperson, Adrian Lackay was reacting to a Sunday newspaper report which stated that the law enforcement agencies’ primary duty was to “detect any malicious attacks” on Eskom, possibly by trade unions. He said that as far as the DPE was aware, “no requests have been made to the police or military to protect power stations, as no industrial actions have been instituted, nor have public protests been called for at this stage.” According to Lackay, the only reference to the ministries of police and state security was their inclusion on the Inter-Ministerial Task Team on Eskom announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week. A leading expert in the energy sector, Ted Blom, also cast doubt on labour unions violently attacking Eskom facilities in their bid to stop its unbundling. “The government is worried. The situation is volatile. It is good they doubled up security,” Blom said, but he added that labour unions were unlikely to engage in sabotage. National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim denied that his union planned to sabotage Eskom. Read the original of Baldwin Ndaba’s report on this story in full at Independent News. See too, Police, spooks and engineers roped in to save Eskom as sabotage fears mount, at TimesLIVE Other related internet posting(s) in this news category
We need to end violence in schools, says Sadtu Cape Argus reports that Enver Surty, Deputy Minister of Basic Education, was due on Monday to address hundreds of SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) members about concerns over violence in schools and placement of learners. The mass meeting was expected to be attended by teachers from across the Western Cape. The call for the meeting followed ongoing violence nationally and a failure by the department to deal with overcrowding in government schools, especially in the Western Cape. According to the union, the government had dismally failed to address those two major issues, which has created animosity between parents, teachers and pupils. Several incidents on school premises among pupils and between teachers and pupils have been reported recently. In one disturbing incident this year, a 16-year-old pupil at the Mpheko Primary School in Peddie in the Eastern Cape was stabbed to death by a fellow pupil. In another incident last year, two Lenasia Secondary School pupils were suspended after a video of one of them assaulting a teacher went viral on social media. On Sunday, Sadtu regional secretary Jonovan Rustin indicated that the union was concerned about the ongoing violence and the overcrowding in township schools. Read the original of Mpumi Kiva’s report on this story in full at Cape Argus
Public protector gets over R300,000 docked from errant dad’s pension fund for child maintenance arrears TimesLIVE reports that a father in the Western Cape, who dodged paying child maintenance for years, has had more than R300,000 docked from his pension fund. On Thursday, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s office said the father had ignored court orders that he should support his child so more than a quarter of a million had now been taken from his pension fund to cover years of outstanding child support payments and future maintenance costs. Mkhwebane’s office said it had decided to step in after the mother complained that the Government Pension Administration Agency (GPAA) had failed to comply with maintenance court orders to pay the amount from the father’s pension fund held at the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). In June 2018, the mother of the child sought assistance from the Public Protector’s office. Mkhwebane’s office said it contacted the GPAA, but struggled for months to get assistance. “Five months down the line, GPAA paid the mother all that was due to her,” the office indicated. Read the original of Naledi Shange’s report on this story in full at TimesLIVE
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