Today's Labour News

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY

More cops die in car accidents than are killed by criminals because they won’t wear seat belts

Saturday Star reports that more police officers die in motor vehicle accidents than are killed by criminals, and one of the reasons for this was a culture of cops refusing to wear safety belts when they were in cars.  “I was a reservist for seven years or so and I spent many months following police for research, and only once in my life did I see a policeman use a safety belt,” Institute of Security Studies researcher Andrew Faull indicated.  He explained that the reason why policemen preferred not to use safety belts was because they believed it slowed them down when they had to react quickly and leap from a vehicle to apprehend a suspect.  Between 2012 and 2015, 117 officers died in on-duty car accidents and 93 were murdered while in uniform.  In the same period, 313 officers died in off-duty crashes, while 183 were murdered while off duty.  According to Faull, driving habits picked up on duty were transferred to off-duty driving.  The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) said they had found that policemen of a certain age group were more likely to be killed in a motor vehicle accident.  “From our research, it is in the 30s and 40s age groups where you find most accidents,” said Popcru spokesperson Richard Mamabolo.  He added that his union was putting pressure on the police to ensure that members went through advanced driving courses.  According to police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo, the wearing of a seat belt was imperative.

Read the full original of Shaun Smillie’s report on this story at Saturday Star

MINING LABOUR

Amcu to challenge labour court ruling quashing secondary strike

Business Report writes that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) will be challenging the decision by the Labour Court to quash its proposed secondary strike aimed at shutting down the mining industry.  Amcu said on Friday it was shocked by the ‘misguided’ judgment.  It claimed the court did not truly consider the compelling arguments made by the union regarding the purpose of a secondary strike.  “Amcu views this judgment as a serious infringement on the right of workers to engage in secondary strike action,” the union indicated, adding that the judgment created a perilous precedent that would seriously prejudice the working class.  The Labour Court on Friday ruled in favour of a number of mining companies, indicating that Amcu’s plan to lead a secondary strike across the platinum, coal and gold sectors would be illegal.  Amcu had planned to lead a sympathy strike in solidarity with 10,000 of its members who downed tools four months ago at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations in demand of higher wages.  The strike has been marked by violence, with nine people having been killed in violent clashes and 62 homes torched.  Police Minister Bheki Cele and Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe visited Carletonville last week in an effort to get to the root cause of the violence.

Read the full original of Dineo Faku’s report on the above at Business Report. Read too, Amcu to appeal Labour Court ruling on Lonmin strike, at Fin24

Families of deceased Lily Mine trio call on Mantashe to prosecute

City Press reports that the families of the three mine workers who died when a support pillar at a mine in Mpumalanga collapsed in 2016, trapping them underground, have issued a plea to Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe to ensure that those responsible for the accident are prosecuted.  The families of Yvonne Mnisi, Solomon Nyirenda and Pretty Nkambule wrote to Mantashe on Thursday, asking him to “start an investigation and prosecution” action against the management of Vantage Goldfields SA.  The dead bodies of Mnisi, Nyirenda and Nkambule are still trapped in the Lily Mine in Louisville, outside Barberton, and have not be brought to the surface because of a lack of funds and unsafe ground conditions.  This has been a source of anguish for the families.  They have further alleged that Vantage Goldfields SA’s CEO, Mike McChesney, told them during a meeting on 4 March that “he is not responsible for what happened to our children”.  “[Our] position is that the responsible person must be prosecuted with immediate effect,” the letter reads.  The Department of Mineral Resources finished its inquiry into the Lily Mine disaster in March last year.  But no charges have been laid, nor have any prosecutions taken place, despite evidence of negligence against the mine’s management.

Read the full original of Sizwe sama Yende’s detailed report on the above at City Press

INDUSTRIAL ACTION / STRIKES

Contractors will down tools in sympathy strike, Numsa warns ArcelorMittal

Business Report writes that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has threatened to lead contractors at ArcelorMittal SA (Amsa) in a sympathy strike should the company not accede to its demands to permanently place contractors.  Members of Numsa, Amsa’s largest union, downed tools last week demanding the permanent placement of the employees of Real Tree and Monyetla Services, who together comprise some 1,000 employees.  Numsa’s Sedibeng regional secretary Mokete Makoko said on Friday that the union intended to issue the company with a secondary strike notice and all the company’s 20 contractors would go on strike should the steel maker not accede to the demands.  “There are a number of contractors at Amsa, including cleaning and security companies, that will support a secondary strike.  We want them (Amsa) to accede to our demands or hold a meeting with us,” Makoko stated.  But, the company said Real Tree was not a labour broker but a service provider and that Numsa had not followed the provisions of the recognition agreement before bringing this demand to the company.  An Amsa spokesperson also said on Friday that it was granted an interdict last week prohibiting Numsa and its members from blocking entrances to the various operations; preventing employees from entering or leaving company premises; and threatening or intimidating any employees who had chosen to go to work during the strike.

Read the full original of Dineo Faku’s report on the strike at Business Report

Police say operations not affected following threats of strike action by officers

News24 reports that according to the SA Police Service (SAPS), it was business as usual at police stations across the country on Monday.  Responding to questions about threatened strike action by police officers, national police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said:  "There is nothing out of the ordinary happening at police stations across the country."  Union members had last week warned that they planned to embark on strike action on Monday over long-overdue promotions, but on Thursday police minister Bheki Cele assured South Africans that no officers would go on strike.  But, rumours started circulating on Sunday that the strike action would go ahead.  Naidoo commented:  "We started monitoring the situation yesterday [Sunday].  But if anything out of the ordinary does happen, we will take decisive action."  SA Policing Union (SAPU) general secretary Tumelo Mogodiseng indicated:  "We told our members that they should not embark on a strike, particularly an illegal strike.  We are still consulting with members, but we have made it clear that a strike is a no-no."

Read the original of Kamva Somdyala’s report on the above at News24

LABOUR MARKET / JOB LOSSES

Jobs bloodbath looms as smaller contractors fear Group Five’s collapse

Sunday Tribune reports that a jobs bloodbath is looming with two big corporations, one in the construction sector and the other in banking, poised to shed thousands of workers.  Construction giant Group Five was placed under business rescue last week, while Standard Bank announced it would close 91 branches and retrench about 1,200 workers.  Sub-contractors in Durban who have worked with Group Five fear they will not get paid for work done around the province and that their businesses were now at risk.  One Durban businessman said Group Five owed him R1.5million and other sub-contractors are apparently owed amounts ranging from R1m to R5m.  Robert Ndlela of the Federation for Radical Economic Transformation (Fret) said Group Five’s financial challenges had led to the delay of major construction projects.  “Our members are sub-contractors on many projects, but they are not working at the moment,” he lamented.  Group Five said it was important to note the process was not a liquidation, but business rescue.  At Standard Bank, employees are counting their days following the announcement of the closure of 91 branches across the country.  Standard Bank spokesperson Ross Linstrom was unable to disclose which branches would be affected as they were still consulting staff.  He added that some employees could be incorporated into other areas of the business.

Read the full original report on the above by Siphelele Buthelezi, Kwanda Njoli & Lungani Zungu at Sunday Tribune

PERKS / WORKPLACE CODES

New ministerial handbook to cut perks

The Citizen reports that the new ministerial handbook has been 10 years coming, but it will finally be implemented following the May elections.  It is believed, however, that the handbook is undergoing a few minor last-minute adjustments to bring it into line with the desire of President Cyril Ramaphosa to cut cabinet from 73 ministers to approximately 40.  In future, ministers will no longer be allowed to fly first class or take their spouses on unlimited trips with them.  Additionally, National Treasury will be responsible for buying cars for ministers in conjunction with the police, who will determine what cars the ministers need rather than the ministers themselves.  It has been revealed in parliament that between 2014 and 2017, government spent R42 million on luxury cars for ministers and deputy ministers.  “The type of vehicle must be determined by the minister of police.  I don’t think he is going to say you can buy Porsche cars or … an S-class Mercedes,” Public Service and Administration Minister Ayanda Dlodlo commented.  According to the Democratic Alliance (DA), the current ministers and deputy ministers earn R163.5 million and will earn over R510.5 million over the medium-term.  The party also alleges that, while the current ministerial handbook recommends that ministers’ and deputy ministers’ private offices be limited to 10 and six staff, respectively, these numbers are often grossly exceeded.

Read the full original of the report on the above at The Citizen

MEDICAL SCHEMES

Medical schemes regulator backs Samwumed curator over union-appointed trustees despite Samwu’s bigger problems

BusinessLive reports that the medical schemes regulator is backing the curator of Samwumed as he prepares to put the scheme back in the control of elected trustees by the end of August.  This is despite the situation that a number of the scheme’s trustees will be appointed by the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu), which is facing even bigger problems than those that led to the scheme being put under curatorship in the first place.  Joe Seloane, curator of Samwumed, and Sipho Kabane, registrar of medical schemes, said last week the scheme was financially and operationally sound and would be ready for trustee elections by the end of August.  But, Samwu is reportedly facing an application made by the labour registrar to the Labour Court asking that the union be put under administration for failure to comply with financial accounting laws.  Mfana Maswanganyi, a senior investigator at the council, said the council was monitoring developments at the union and if the union was put under administration, its curator would appoint the scheme’s union-member trustees.  Seloane said with member approval he would apply for an amendment to the scheme’s rules to reduce the 19-member board of trustees to 12, made up of five union-appointed trustees, five member-elected trustees, one independent trustee and one pensioner representative.

Read the full original of Laura du Preez’s report in the above regard at BusinessLive

WORKPLACE CRIME / CORRUPTION

North West paramedic in court for transporting cocaine worth R650.000 in ambulance

ANA reports that a 29-year-old female paramedic, arrested after cocaine was found in an ambulance she was driving, was due to appear in the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday.  A police spokesperson said investigators received information about a paramedic in possession of drugs.  The suspect was stopped along the R510 driving an ambulance towards Rustenburg on Friday.  ”Members of the Rustenburg cluster intercepted a marked emergency response vehicle driven by the suspect near Shingwezi entrance.  The vehicle was searched and three zip lock bags containing rock cocaine with [an] estimated street value of R650,000 was found in her possession.  The suspect was arrested and charged,” the police spokesperson indicated.

The original of this short report is at The Citizen

Chairperson of Central Energy Fund fired amid bribery charges

BusinessLive reports that the chairperson of the Central Energy Fund, government’s energy holding company, was suddenly dismissed on Friday after allegations emerged that he solicited a bribe from a global oil trader Vitol.  The controversy around Luvo Makasi came as a forensic investigation into the illegal sale of SA’s strategic fuel stocks in December 2015 was at last reaching finality and as the Hawks launched a criminal investigation into the sale.  The stocks, which remain in tanks at Saldanha, are the subject of a court application before the Western Cape High Court.  The Central Energy Fund wants the transaction declared illegal and set aside.  Makasi has been accused of approaching Vitol with an offer to drop the litigation in return for a large payment.  In a statement on Sunday, energy minister Jeff Radebe’s office said that “serious allegations were discussed with Mr Makasi on March 8 and put to him in writing on the same day.  He responded on March 11.  Having considered Mr Makasi’s written response the minister on March 15 wrote to Mr Makasi removing him from the Central Energy Fund board.”  Makasi, who claimed he had resigned on Friday prior to being fired, said on Sunday he stood by his submission to Radebe denying the allegations.  He said he hoped the matter would be “investigated to its logical conclusion”.

Read the full original of Carol Paton’s report on the dismissal at BusinessLive

COMMUTING / TRANSPORT TO WORK

Ramaphosa, commuters stuck on train for more than three hours

Independent News reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to demand answers from senior officials of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) following his more than three-hour metro trip from Mabopane to Pretoria on Monday morning.  He was on a campaign trip for his political party, which involved party leaders boarding metro rail trains from various train stations in surrounding suburbs and heading to Pretoria for a mini rally to lobby train commuters to vote for the ANC.  Initially, Ramaphosa was due to board the train at Mabopane Station at about 6:30 am but had to wait for an hour.  He eventually boarded 07:30 - only to personally experience the frustration thousands of the commuters suffered on a daily basis, including late arrivals.  While ANC members were waiting outside Bosman Station for Ramaphosa, various commuters complained about the late arrival of trains.  Others said they risked their lives to ensure that they boarded trains from various townships such as Mamelodi and surrounding area, to arrive on time in Pretoria.  After his more than three-hour trip, Ramaphosa said he was grateful that he had seen the troubles that people experienced in the trains and promised that the ANC was going   to act regarding the poor transport system very soon.

Read the full original of Baldwin Ndaba’s report on this story at Independent News. See too, Heads must roll, says Ramaphosa, as train arrives hours late, at EWN

No sign of Public Protector's report on Metrorail failures in Western Cape

Cape Argus reports that almost seven months after the Public Protector (PP) confirmed that she was investigating the causes behind the myriad failures of Metrorail in the Western Cape, there are still no findings.  PP spokesperson Oupa Segalwe said that while the investigations were continuing, there was nothing to report on so far.  On 29 August last year, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane received a letter from the provincial standing committee on transport and public works requesting an urgent investigation into Metrorail, but the chairperson of the committee, Nceba Hinana, lamented that they were still waiting for the report.  United Commuters Voice spokesperson Joao Jardim said:  “Mkhwebane is either useless or uninformed.  She has no gut to finish the investigation.  All we need is to be provided with concrete feedback.”  But while Mkhwebane’s investigations into Metrorail are continuing, the specialised Rail Enforcement Unit (REU), which was launched in October last year to combat attacks on the rail commuter service's infrastructure, is making arrests almost every week.  Transport and Public Works MEC Donald Grant said the REU’s stop-and-searches conducted at various hotspots had wielded positive results, as well as the recovery of property and various weapons used to commit crimes.

Read the full original of Sisonke Mlamla’s report on the above at Cape Argus

OTHER NEWS HEADLINES AND PRESS STATEMENTS

• SANDF personnel deployed to help in flood-ravaged Malawi and Mozambique, at Engineering News