TOP READ

Reformist Cyril Ramaphosa faces his 'Thatcher moment'

Bloomberg writes that in 1987, Cyril Ramaphosa led SA’s biggest-ever mining strike, with some 300,000 miners — from a union Ramaphosa himself had founded — walking off the job to protest pay and working conditions.  The strike by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) demonstrated the power that organised black labour could exercise and the economic damage it could inflict on the country.  Three decades later, Ramaphosa, now the reformist president of SA, is seeing the issue from the other side.  One of the chief obstacles to his agenda is SA’s powerful unions, which are deeply embedded in the government and economy.  To reignite growth in a stagnating economy and lower one of the world’s highest unemployment rates, he may need to take on the movement he helped create.  Some analysts call it his “Thatcher moment,” a reference to the then-British prime minister’s defeat of that country’s powerful labor unions, which set the UK economy on a decades-long growth path.  “He wants to move the power to the middle, he wants to reduce the power of unions in a party that is in an alliance with the unions,” observed academic Prof Nic Cheeseman.  To complicate matters, Ramaphosa faces a divided and competitive labor movement.  In 2014, Numsa took its 340,000 members out of labour federation Cosatu.  Meanwhile, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union has rapidly risen to challenge the NUM.  But something will have to be done.  Eskom is struggling to keep the lights on, the country’s sole remaining investment-grade credit rating is at risk, unemployment hovers at 27% and growth in 2018 was a paltry 0.8%.

Read this well informed article by Antony Sguazzin in full at Moneyweb

MINING LABOUR

Amid protracted strike, Amcu loses bid to interdict retrenchments at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold mines

BusinessLive reports that in its ongoing war with Sibanye-Stillwater, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has lost another legal battle, this time an attempt to stop retrenchments at the gold mines where the union’s members are engaged in a protracted strike.  In the latest setback for Amcu in the wage strike which commenced on 21 November, the union’s efforts to stop a retrenchment process at two of the three gold mines where about 14,000 of its members have downed tools were rejected by labour court judge Andre van Niekerk on Monday.  Sibanye issued a retrenchment notice in February, notifying the four unions at its Beatrix and Driefontein mines of the need to retrench up to 5,873 people after those mines ran up enormous cumulative losses.  Amcu then approached the labour court to halt the consultation and retrenchment process, arguing that the purpose of the retrenchments was to break the strike and reduce Amcu’s presence in the workplace.  “No proper factual foundation has been laid to sustain the conclusion, even on a prima facie basis, that the proposed retrenchment is a reprisal for the strike,” the judge said.  Separately on Friday, there was a scathing judgment from labour court judge Connie Prinsloo in her decision that a secondary strike by Amcu in gold, platinum and other mines would be unprotected.  Amcu said it would appeal against the secondary strike judgment, which in its view violated its constitutional rights.  

Read the full original of Allan Seccombe’s report on this story at BusinessLive. Read too, Labour Court dismisses Amcu interdict against Sibanye restructuring, at Mining Weekly

Mantashe gunning for leaders of illegal mining syndicates

News24 reports that Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has a plan to take down Illegal mining operations and criminal syndicates, which annually steal the equivalent of the total 2018 output of SA’s legal gold mining operations.  At the Mining Indaba held earlier this year, Mantashe said "in the gold sector alone, it is estimated that over R70bn per annum in revenue is lost through the smuggling of this commodity and similar negative impacts are also evident in other sectors, such as chrome, coal and diamonds".  Responding to a parliamentary question about government's plans to address illegal mining, Mantashe indicated that his department had "established stakeholder forums in the respective provinces which implement measures to ultimately eradicate the illegal mining activities".  He added that the government had established a "multi-enforcement agency National Coordination Strategic and Management Team (NCSMT) to coordinate the government's efforts to fight illegal mining and trafficking of precious materials".  This would include "bringing about [the] successful prosecution of illegal mining syndicate leaders".  Mantashe’s department, in collaboration with stakeholders, has adopted a "three-pronged approach" on combating illegal mining, involving "promotion of legitimate mining, rehabilitation of mines and sealing of open shafts as well [as] supporting policing and law enforcement where necessary".

Read the full original of Ethan Van Diemen’s report on the above at News24

INDUSTRIAL ACTION / STRIKES

‘No strike,’ but hundreds of cops stayed away from work on Monday

The Citizen reports that Minister of Police Bheki Cele has vowed to check why scores of police officers did not report for duty on Monday amid rumours that the police, who are essential services civil servants, were going on strike.  He said at least 400 officers in the Western Cape and up to 120 in KwaZulu-Natal did not report for duty on Monday.  “I am told that they have sick notes.  If doctors do things that are untoward we are not scared to deal with them,” he said.  The minister called on those who did not go to work for any other reason to return as the police management was working on finding a solution to their concerns.  Cele also met on Monday with more than 1,200 station commanders in Centurion in an effort to find a solution to end the impasse.  It emerged during the meeting that officers were unhappy about progress with promotions after the minister last year pledged to address the backlog of over 69,000 promotions, which had seemingly been reduced to 45,000.  Cele said it was agreed to review the promotion process to accommodate the worst affected, engage the officers involved within a week and get expert advice on how to go about the process of tackling the backlog.  The minister said the experts were expected to complete their report within three months, but warned those officers who stayed away from work that they would be called on to explain.

Read the full original of Sipho Mabena’s report in the above regard at The Citizen

No hindrance to policing despite 'unprecedented' absenteeism, Western Cape police management claims

News24 reports that police in the Western Cape were on Monday able to render services without hindrance despite unprecedented levels of absenteeism, provincial management claimed.  Nevertheless, those who "stayed away" were urged to return to work to "prevent this continued action from impacting on service delivery in future", a spokesperson said.  Police Minister Bheki Cele confirmed that at least 400 police officers were absent on Monday in the Western Cape and a further 120 in KwaZulu-Natal.  Western Cape community safety MEC Alan Winde said his office was working on confirming reports that at Claremont police station, only one staff member came to work, while over 70% of officers reportedly failed to turn up at Philippi, Nyanga and Khayelitsha police stations.  Union members last week threatened to protest over long-overdue promotions.  Cele on Monday called on those participating to return to their posts as strikes involving essential services members were not legal.  National police spokesperson Vishnu Naidoo said while an unusual amount of officers called in sick on Monday, it could not yet be confirmed that that had been part of a mass stay-away as each individual application had to be considered on its own merits.  Commanders have been advised to visit their ill members, and management would "look into it" if proof was found of sick leave being used as a tool to vent grievances.

Read the full original report by Tammy Petersen on this story at News24

Cele asks doctors to stop giving shirking cops sick notes

Pretoria News reports that Police Minister Bheki Cele on Monday appealed to doctors not to give fraudulent sick notes to disgruntled SA Police Service (SAPS) members.  He was speaking to the media following a gathering of more than 1,500 police station heads and commanders from around the country.  The aim of the meeting had been to raise issues in a bid to avert a looming national police strike.  Cele said the concerns raised by the station commanders revolved around the preferential treatment in respect of specialist units.  “The biggest bone of contention was that some junior officers who were attached to special units jumped from being constables to warrant officers.  That’s a big jump, because you now find very junior guys having higher ranks than people who were there before them,” Cele indicated.  He added that despite assurances of promotions being processed, he was informed that members felt the process was taking too long.  It had thus been agreed to review the process with stakeholders and the people affected the most.  Once the review was completed, Cele said they would then be able to accurately give officers proper time frames, cost and feasibility.  In the interim, management would be conducting road shows across the country to explain how the promotions were going to proceed.

Read the full original of Goitsemang Tlhabye’s report on the above at Pretoria News

Encouraging police officers to strike is reckless, says Public Service Association

ANA reports that the Public Service Association (PSA) on Tuesday said it was "alarmed by the irresponsible support" for police officers to embark on an "illegal strike".  It warned that it was "reckless" of any trade union to back such action that was at odds with the Labour Relations Act.  The police service is defined as an essential service under the Act.  Murmurs of a possible strike had swirled around since last week and on Monday hundreds of police officers failed to report for duty.  Chief among the complaints of disgruntled officers was the exclusion of senior officers from promotions.  PSA general manager Ivan Fredericks said:  "It is reckless of any trade union to put thousands of police officers’ careers on the line, by encouraging them to embark on an illegal strike, on conditions of service contained in the agreements, that the very same union had negotiated in the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council (SSSBC), which is the relevant bargaining structure.”  The PSA is currently not a party to the SSSBC, although it apparently represents a substantial number of uniformed personnel.  Fredericks went on to point out that “the ideal avenue on the quarrel would still be to declare a dispute about the non-implementation of the signed agreements or approach the courts in these circumstances."  

Read the full original of the ANA report on the above at Independent News

Gauteng Transport claims to have cleared backlog of driving licence renewals caused by labour action

The Star reports that last week Gauteng MEC for Transport Ismail Vadi indicated that a large backlog relating to the late production of driver licence cards due to labour action had been successfully cleared.  This came after the Gauteng Transport Department announced it had cleared 85% of the backlog.  However, several motorists who applied for their renewals as far back as August claimed the department had no records of their applications, so Gauteng motorists have been advised to check if their applications for the renewal of their driving licences have been captured on the department’s IT system.  The department admitted that a prolonged strike last year, as well as technical glitches from an IT systems upgrade, had resulted in the province having a backlog of 522,900 licences.  “I am satisfied that good progress is being made in resolving the backlog in licence production, as 437,899 licence cards have been processed to date and are being distributed to testing centres,” said Vadi.

Read a short report by Anna Cox on the above at The Star

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING / WAGE NEGOTIATIONS

Workers in automotive components sector must have a stake, says Numsa ahead of wage talks

ANA reports that according to the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), workers in the automotive components sector are disgruntled over the failure of employers to offer “equal work for equal pay” and recognise them as key stakeholders.  Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim told a panel discussion at the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers of SA industry show in Durban that workers did not want to be “merely consulted” in the drafting and implementing of new plans to guide the automotive industry.  He told delegates:  “Workers in the component sector are very angry.  Workers in this industry must have a stake in the ownership of all automotive companies.”  His comments come ahead of sector wage talks and amid heightened political expectations ahead of the May general elections.  The Automotive Production and Development Programme ends next year and a new SA Automotive Masterplan will come into effect, aiming to increase the local content of SA-built cars to 60% by value from the current 37.4%.  Jim welcomed the masterplan as a “major step forward”, but questioned why past policy frameworks that included “in excess of R300 billion of incentives” had not “transformed the auto industry and created jobs”.  He claimed subsidies had mainly benefited the country’s big automakers and he urged the government to intervene.

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

HIGHER EDUCATION / QUALIFICATIONS

NGO community workers get boost with new professional qualification

News24 reports that a new professional NGO qualification will give community workers the skill-set to make an impact on social problems at local level.  Joan Daries, programme manager at Community Chest, explained as follows about the new qualification:  “It is comprehensive, multi-sectoral, and multi-disciplinary.  It draws from disciplines such as economics, sociology, agriculture and community psychology.  Community members trained in this way are able to lead sustainable solutions to community challenges through a broad range of strategies and tactics to achieve the common good."  The programme is run in partnership with the Cornerstone Institute and is registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training.  While it will be offered at SA universities, funding will come from Community Chest with the support of the National Lotteries Commission.  Course participants will complete the qualification over two years, part-time, and Community Chest has provided scholarships of R32,000 each for an initial group of 30 students.  Daries commented further:  "My vision for the future is that 10 years from now, community work will be a recognised educational profession, where people are compensated properly in terms of the time and the effort and the energy they spend in the field, with proper policies in place to formalise this sector."

Read the full original report by Duncan Alfreds on this qualification at News24

COMMUTING / TRANSPORT TO WORK

As Soweto taxi shutdown starts to hurt businesses, Vadi ponders whether to reopen ranks

SowetanLive wriites that while Gauteng transport MEC Ismail Vadi makes up his mind on whether closed taxi routes should operate or not, commuters and businesses are feeling the pinch of not having public transport in Soweto.  Along Mahalefele Road in Soweto, which runs in Orlando West, Dube and Phefeni, there was no sight of a taxis on Monday, the fourth day of the closure of ranks and routes belonging to the Witwatersrand African Taxi Owners Association (Wata) and the Nancefield Dube West Taxi Association (Nanduwe).  Last week, Vadi announced a three-month closure of taxi ranks and routes belonging to Wata and Nanduwe due to violence between the two associations.  Wata and Nanduwe have already signed an agreement committing themselves into ending the violence.  Their agreement is currently before the MEC who has to decide whether or not it is convincing enough to reopen the affected taxi operations.  Vadi's spokesperson Melitah Madiba said the MEC had "noted" the agreement and had also received further representations from the associations which he was considering.

Read the full original report by Penwell Dlamini on the above at SowetanLive

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

• ANC promises new trains as Ramaphosa gets first-hand experience of a three-hour train delay, at News24

OTHER REPORTS

JMPD deploys more officers as load shedding downs traffic lights

ANA reports that the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) said on Tuesday it had deployed more officers to manage traffic in the central business district after rotational power cuts by state-owned Eskom left many lights out.  JMPD spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said:  “There are 145 critical points which have been identified on roads which carry the most traffic and 10 JMPD officers have been taken from each of the eight regions to focus on directing traffic.”  He urged motorists to treat intersections with traffic lights out and no JMPD officers present as four-way stops.

The original of this short report is at The Citizen