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, 4 March 2019.
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Mining industry making progress in tackling crippling TB epidemic, HIV Fin24 reports that SA’s mining industry recorded a 3% decrease in the total number of occupational diseases reported nationally for 2017 compared with the previous year. "We are sure that one reason for the improvement is the effectiveness of the Masoyise iTB campaign, where government, organised labour and the industry are working closely to increase screening and testing for tuberculosis and HIV not only among employees but also in the communities where they live," the Minerals Council SA (MCSA) said. Mine workers are at a higher risk of contracting TB due to prolonged exposure to silica dust, poor living conditions, and high HIV prevalence in mining communities. The main goal of the Masoyise iTB campaign is to achieve a TB incidence rate in mining that is equal to or better than the country’s incidence rate. Significant progress was being made towards meeting that goal, the MCSA noted. In 2016, TB incidence in the SA mining industry was 900 cases per 100,000 of the workforce, down from 1,200 cases per 100,000 in 2013. But, that was still higher than SA’s general TB incidence rate which was 781 cases per 100,000 people in 2016. The industry has set itself the target of being at or below the South African TB incidence by 2024. Read the full original of the report on the above at Fin24 Mantashe shrugs off Amcu demand to arrest mining bosses after fatalities Business Report writes that, with fewer employees having died across the country’s mines last year than the year before, Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has shrugged off calls for the government to arrest mine bosses for fatalities The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) on Friday reported that fatalities had fallen 10% in 2018 to 81, from 90 in 2017 and 73 in 2016. So far this year there have been five fatalities compared with 14 during the same period in 2018. Mantashe said mine fatalities should never be handled with emotions. “If we do that, we will set the industry alight. What is important is that when there are fatalities we must deal with them,” he said, adding that the fatalities had to be analysed and understood. Mantashe went on to point out: “Criminal charges are necessary, but it cannot be a formula for dealing with mine accidents. My own view is that where a manager is negligent, that manager must be charged. It cannot be that every time there is a death there is an arrest. There will be nobody left to run the industry.” Earlier on Friday, Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), called on Mantashe to work with the union in amending the Mine Health and Safety Act. He said: “Every mine that kills a worker - their chief executive must be put behind bars. They must be prosecuted.” Read the full original of Dineo Faku’s report on the above at Business Report. Read too, Mantashe soft on nailing Lily Mine safety failure, on page 3 of City Press Business of 3 March 2019 Black Management Forum applauds De Beers MD appointment ANA reports that the Black Management Forum (BMF) said on Thursday it was pleased with the appointment of Nompumelelo Zikalala as managing director for diamond producer De Beers’s group-managed operations. The lobby group observed that Zikalala’s extensive background and experience in mining and within De Beers positioned her as the best choice for the role. BMF president Andile Nomlala said: “It is very encouraging to see a deliberate move from De Beers to not only promote and advance black talent but also noting the support that will be provided to her by a head of operations. It is our hope that De Beers will continue to make concerted and deliberate efforts in ensuring that they advance transformation where it matters and mostly at the executive level.” The organisation, which lobbies for transformation within SA-based companies to include more black people in senior management positions, said it was further encouraged by the Anglo American subsidiary’s efforts to transform its business while consolidating its operations. “By so doing they are demonstrating their seriousness about succession planning and respect for black talent and leadership,” Nomlala said. Read the original of a short report on the above at The Citizen
Cosatu decides not to withdraw backing for ANC in May general election City Press reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa has been given a reprieve by labour federation Cosatu, which has decided not to change its national congress resolution and will continue backing the ANC in the general election on 8 May. The explosive proposal not to support the ANC was raised by some Cosatu affiliate leaders during the federation’s central executive committee (CEC) meeting last week. David Sipunzi, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, had hinted that the union could decide not to vote for the ANC in the election. Cosatu is at loggerheads with Ramaphosa over his government plans to fix Eskom. But seemingly the suggestion to withdraw support for the ANC in the upcoming polls failed to gain momentum during the CEC meeting. However, it is understood that some Cosatu affiliate leaders told the meeting that the federation, with its 1.6 million members, should engage the SA Communist Party (SACP) to start preparing to contest future elections. Cosatu has a standing resolution to support and help build the SACP. At its national congress last year, Cosatu resolved that all its unions should make resources available to campaign for the ANC. Read the full original of Ngwako Modjadji’s report on the above at City Press
ANC welcomes deal expected to save thousands of jobs at Edcon ANA reports that the African National Congress (ANC) on Monday expressed its relief that thousands of direct and indirect jobs had been saved after financially troubled retail group Edcon reached a deal with creditors. Edcon has secured R2.7 billion in new cash and rent deductions as part of a recapitalisation plan. The ANC in Western Cape concurred with the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) that the agreement had averted a “job massacre” in the clothing industry. Provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs said: “We in the Western Cape know from bitter experience how devastating job losses in the clothing industry can be. Our once thriving clothing industry is gone, and with it the jobs of thousands of workers who worked in Woodstock, Salt River, and Observatory.” Edcon, the largest non-food retailer in SA, which owns Edgars, Jet, and CNA, has been struggling for the last few years in the face of cheap foreign imports and a move by consumers to e-commerce. Read a short report on this story at The Citizen SA's chicken sector could create 30,000 new jobs, if government banned imports Sunday Tribune writes that more than 30,000 much-needed jobs could be created if the government blocked chicken imports. That is according to the SA Poultry Association (Sapa), which believes the scrapping of imports would end the crisis in the local chicken industry. The impact of imports on the industry was best illustrated in 2017, when RCL, the company that owns Rainbow Chicken, sold 15 of its 25 farms in Hammarsdale, KwaZulu-Natal, and retrenched 1,350 workers. Other heavyweights in the industry, Country Bird and Mike’s Chickens, dismissed 1,500 and 1,000 workers respectively. Izaak Breitenbach of Sapa’s broiler organisation said statistics showed chicken imports reached a record high last year. “Every ton of imports represents South African jobs lost or not created. We have worked out that we could create 30,000 jobs by replacing imports, which were worth R6 billion last year,” Breitenbach indicated. Sapa said it could not understand why the government had allowed the wholesale “dumping” of imported chicken in the country, when SA ranked among the top producers of chicken in terms of cost and quality. Marthinus Stander, chairperson of Country Bird, one of the top three chicken producers in the country, said the proliferation of imports was a “crying shame and a missed opportunity”. Read the full original of Mervyn Naidoo’s report on this story at Sunday Tribune Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Dismissals, resignations as Mugg & Bean cleans up its act after investigations The Citizen reports that a Mugg & Bean franchise has fired three staff members, believed to be immigrants, for failing to provide documents for their employment. This came after the franchiser completed its investigations into two restaurants accused in a report in The Citizen of illicit labour practices. A further two employees at the same restaurant apparently quit as a result of the company’s intervention there. The restaurant chain is embarking on a countrywide labour audit after complaints from at least six of their restaurants in Johannesburg suggested that staff members were being forced to pay a breakage fee of up to R25 a day despite their only income being a 3% commission and tips. Without a basic salary, this meant that most of these waitrons did not earn a minimum wage. According to Mugg & Bean’s Jeanne Geldenhuys, one of the restaurants they investigated has since “worked with the department of labour to ensure compliance, while the other restaurant ended up firing three of its staff”. At one restaurant, 12 team members on a commission base salary were found to not be fully compliant with the current minimum wage requirements. Team members have now been re-issued employment contracts ensuring that they earned the minimum wage. Last week, trade union federation Cosatu’s Matthew Parks said the organisation would rally its affiliate Saccawu to march to one of the restaurants. The federation was also taking legal action against Mugg & Bean to force compliance with labour legislation. Read the full original of Simnikiwe Hlatshaneni’s report on the abiove at The Citizen Restaurants Association warns of job cuts in wake of national minimum wage The Citizen reports that the Restaurants Association of SA (Rasa) has warned that implementation of the national minimum wage (NMW) would lead to job cuts and a net loss for the industry if mitigating measures were not put in place. CEO Wendy Alberts said the industry was in negotiations among its constituents and government over how best to mitigate the predicted impact of the NMW, the legislation in respect of which came into effect in January this year. According to Alberts, financial pressure on the industry was already high because of increasing running costs. She observed: “We are having to start cutting down staff, which will cause a lot more unemployment. At the moment, we are discussing with the industry on how best to manage it going forward. Are we going to poo tips, so everyone gets an equal share? Are we going to start charging a 10% service fee on the bill? “There are many different factors that we are considering and there is a lot of negotiation in restaurant groups and franchise groups to find an understanding between the restaurants and staff.” According to statistics published by South African Market Insights, SA’s food and beverage sector has been on a steady decline since 2008. Read the full original of Simnikiwe Hlatshaneni’s report on the above at The Citizen
Virtual reality emerging as a tool for mainstream skills-development Engineering News reports that virtual reality (VR) has hitherto been primarily associated with the gaming industry, but as rates of digital penetration rise and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) increases the demand for new skill sets, the technology is also becoming a mainstream business and skills-development tool. Passive learning and memorisation have featured prominently in the past, but according to management consultancy Accenture, the modern workforce is increasingly attuned to a more active approach whereby employees learn through practical experiences with the aid of tools such as VR. As an experiential learning method, VR has the potential to increase learning quality and improve memory retention by up to 75%. The technology provides a fully immersive three-dimensional experience, during which employees gain hands-on experience in a safe and controlled virtual environment that closely replicates the real-world environment in which they will work. This has proven particularly useful in the SA mining industry, which continues to face safety challenges. Data science and technology implementation firm Business Science Corporation (BSC) points out that there is increasing movement towards using VR in employee training and education, with the mining, telecommunications, financial services and retail industries leading the pack in terms of adoption and implementation. Read the full original of this report at Engineering News
Hawks swoop in on owners, security guards at unregistered Sandton security company News24 reports that a collaborative swoop by the Hawks led to the arrest of 16 people who allegedly rendered security services without the required registration. Two of the company's managers were among those nabbed on Wednesday in the swoop by the Hawks' technical operations management section, the police's K9 Unit and Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) officials. The remaining 14 were guards. The swoop was carried out at the company's premises in Buccleuch in Johannesburg. According to the Hawks, two shotguns, three hand guns and an assortment of ammunition were seized for further investigation. Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha said they had worked closely with the PSiRA to make the arrests and that the security company had been "under surveillance". The 16 people appeared in the Randburg Magistrate's Court on Friday. Read the full original of Kamva Somdyala’s report on this story at News24
ANC reiterates commitment to adopt own in-house sexual harassment policy News24 reports that the ANC says it may not have an in-house sexual harassment policy just yet, but it has ensured that the public is protected from unwanted sexual advances at work through the Labour Relations Act. This was the view of Nocawe Mafu, a member of the party's social transformation committee, at a media briefing on Sunday. With the ruling party's two spokespersons, Pule Mabe and Zizi Kodwa, having "voluntarily" stepped down from their duties recently amid sexual harassment accusations, the committee was forced to deal with a question on sexual harassment in what was supposed to be a manifesto briefing on social transformation. A claim of rape had been levelled against Kodwa, who is also head of the ANC's presidency office, and Mabe's former personal assistant accused him of sexual harassment. "We acknowledge (as the ANC) that the sexual harassment policy is not there but remember the sexual harassment policy in the Labour Relations Act is the work of the ANC. The only thing you can fault us on is that the ANC on its own does not have that policy; we accept and we're working on it," Mafu said. Mafu added that “we're talking about it, interacting with other stakeholders so that when it comes out it comes out tight and reflective." Read the full original of Poloko Tau’s report on the above at News24 Gauteng MEC welcomes dismissal of Bryanston High coach found guilty of sex harassment News24 reports that Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has welcomed the dismissal of a Bryanston High School sports coach, who was found guilty during disciplinary proceedings of sexually harassing pupils, and financial mismanagement. In a statement on Friday, the school governing body (SGB) said a disciplinary panel found the coach guilty of all the charges he faced. The alleged incidents of sexual assault were said to have taken place throughout 2017 and 2018, during netball matches and on school outings. The coach, aged 33, who was appointed by the SGB, had been suspended in January pending the finalisation of his case. "We welcome this sanction and urge educators to refrain from all types of misconduct as they should lead by example to ensure that learners mirror their conduct in creating a safe schooling environment, conducive for effective teaching and learning," said Lesufi. His department added that it had a zero-tolerance stance when it came to allegations of sexual assault and never hesitated to act where allegations were proven true. The coach is expected to appear in court on 12 March on criminal charges. Read the full original of Sesona Ngqakamba’s report on this story at News24
CWU concerned that labour has no shortlisted candidate for interviews to fill eight SABC board vacancies BusinessLive reports that the Communications Workers Union (CWU) has expressed concern about the shortlisting process for the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), indicating it was shocked to learn there was no labour candidate among the 24 names on the shortlist. The union represents more than 44,000 workers in the communications industry. Last week, parliament’s portfolio committee on communications drew up the shortlist of candidates who will be interviewed to fill eight vacancies on the troubled broadcaster’s board. Interviews are scheduled to begin on Tuesday. Aubrey Tshabalala, general secretary of CWU, said at the weekend the union would write to the chair of the parliamentary portfolio committee to register its displeasure at the shortlisting process. “To include labour is not a favour but part of the Broadcasting Act requirements and the advert. We are therefore not pleased that labour has no representative. It is important that, in these trying times, the board of the SABC comprises expertise from all sectors of our society,” said Tshabalala. He went to state: “The undermining of labour cannot be accepted, especially now that there are threats of dismissing workers in massive numbers.” The ANC, meanwhile, welcomed the shortlist and urged the public to participate in the process. Read the full original of Bekezela Phakathi’s report on the above at BusinessLive Deloitte finds that Bosasa did not fund SABC 8 media freedom campaign TimesLIVE reports that a forensic inquiry by Deloitte has found no evidence that any payment was made by Bosasa to the SABC 8 campaign in 2016. The inquiry came after an e-mail emerged in January in which a senior Bosasa official apparently instructed his colleagues to donate R100,000 to the crowdfunding effort to help the group of journalists. Following that, the group of former and current SABC journalists denied any involvement with the state capture-linked company. "We do not know who the donors were in the crowdfunding initiative, some identified themselves and some remained anonymous," the SABC 8 group said in a statement. The SA National Editors' Forum then requested Deloitte to perform a forensic review into the allegations. Sanef had supported the campaign. "Based on the information obtained and corroborated from a variety of sources and procedures, Deloitte found no evidence that any payment was made by Bosasa or entity or persons related to Bosasa to the SABC 8 campaign in 2016," Sanef said in a statement on Monday. Sanef chairperson Mahlatse Mahlase said she was satisfied that the Deloitte report put to rest the question as to whether Bosasa contributed to the SABC 8 crowdfunding campaign. Read the full original of this report at TimesLive. Read Sanef’s press statement on this matter at Sanef News
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