In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Tuesday, 23 April 2019.
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Two SANDF helicopter crash pilots recovering well Pretoria News reports that the two SA National Defence Force (SANDF) pilots injured on Thursday in a helicopter crash near the R101, close to the Zwartkop Golf Estate, are making a speedy recovery. SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini said there was no cause for concern as the pilots were in stable condition. “We just need to allow them the space and time to fully recover,” he stated, adding that Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula had visited the pilots and had offered her moral support. Refuting suggestions that one of our members had passed on, Dlamini indicated: “Furthermore, we would like to state that at all times when our pilots are assigned to any task, they undergo a pre-flight medical check-up before flying any aircraft, as a strict requirement for all pilots.” The helicopter was supposed to be flying the national flag during the official opening of the Rand Easter Show when it crashed. The cause of the crash had not yet been established by Monday. Read the full original of Sakhile Ndlazi’s report on this story at Pretoria News Correctional services workers’ union has had enough of attacks on warders SowetanLive reports that the SA Correctional Services Workers Union (Sacoswu) has called on government to do more in order to stop attacks on prison warders across the country. The call came after two correctional services workers were stabbed by inmates at the Goodwood prison in Cape Town on Friday. They survived the attack. Sacoswu general secretary Belinda Rathebe said the attacks were prevalent at various correctional services centres. "Enough is enough, this has to stop. It is high time that the department be litigated for these negligent incidents from its side. The department gave offenders more rights than our own officials. The trend will show that offenders target the weekend knowing exactly that centres are short-staffed," said Rathebe. She added that there had been an attack on employees at the St Albans prison in Port Elizabeth on Sunday, but the department said no such incident had been reported. Department spokesperson Logan Maistry commented: "The safety of our staff is of paramount importance, and [we] take any attack on our officials in a very serious light. In this regard, the department is currently implementing various measures, including increasing the yearly intake at our training colleges, re-employing former employees of the department as well as deployment of the Emergency Support Team (EST), to assist in beefing [up] the number of officials on the ground." Read the full original of Penwell Dlamini’s report in the above regard at SowetanLive
Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold strike is over, but thousands face retrenchment The Sunday Independent writes that Sibanye-Stillwater’s SA gold operations, battered by a five-month strike by Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) members, might have to lay off nearly 7,000 workers in a restructuring. Sibanye senior vice-president for investor relations, James Wellsted, said last week that a three-month process for the start of negotiations with trade unions about the proposed restructuring of the gold operations had begun. Potentially, 5,800 employees and 800 contract workers might be laid off. Wellsted indicated that the restructuring was necessitated by factors that had affected the mining industry’s cost structures, including high electricity tariff increases, blackouts, strike action and above-inflation wage increases. The five-month strike by Amcu at Sibanye’s SA gold operations, which left nine people dead, ended last Wednesday. Amcu ultimately agreed to the same deal as three other unions, as well as a R4,000 cash or voucher payment and an optional R5, 000 soft loan to employees, to be repaid over a year. The union also agreed to developing a plan to ensure a safe start and ramp-up of production post-strike. Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa commented that the agreement had set up a good platform for negotiations on the restructuring and the prevention of job losses. Read more of Edward West’s The Sunday Independent report of 21 April 2019 at SA Labour News No plan for a ‘just transition’ as coal jobs go extinct in SA Mail & Guardian writes that about 60,000 jobs could be lost in the coal sector if SA takes its goal of cutting down on carbon emissions seriously. This would amount to three-quarters of existing coal jobs, as concentrated in Mpumalanga. But, government and unions don’t have a plan for the workers who would affected by this change in the energy system even though they have known for at least a decade that the industry would close down eventually. Coal and coal-fired Eskom power plants still drive SA’s economy, but replacing those plants has been the source of intense lobbying and debate. A growing global movement is saying a plan has to be made. Dubbed a “just transition”, the movement aims to help workers in coal and other fossil fuel industries find new work in a world where renewables power energy demand. But, the Energy Research Centre at the University of Cape Town and the Stockholm Environment Institute have warned that the discussion about Eskom and coal mine closures has largely been a technical one. It has not looked at what happens about job losses. It has not put numbers to this problem. As the Energy Centre’s research said: “Any decline in production could lead to significant social and economic upheaval if such impacts are not understood and managed carefully.” People interviewed at all levels of government have warned that local authorities were unaware of the upcoming challenges associated with moving away from coal and were ill-prepared to face them. Other countries are starting to work out what to do with workers who are no longer able to work in coal jobs. SA is starting to talk about the problem, but the discussion is happening while jobs are already being lost. Read the full original of the detailed report by Sipho Kings on the above at Mail & Guardian Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
Other general posting(s) relating to mining
Comair’s talks with Numsa on Saturday deadlocked again ANA reports that airline Comair indicated over the weekend that its operations were set to continue after talks with the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) again deadlocked on Saturday. “Comair again met with Numsa today (Saturday) but could not reach agreement with the union,” Comair said in a statement. The Labour Court last week interdicted a planned strike by about 300 ground staff that had been scheduled to commence last Thursday afternoon across all airports. But, it reserved judgment in the case which related to wage discrepancies. Failure to reach an agreement means that the parties will now have to wait for the Labour Court to grant a final judgment on Comair’s application for an interdict against a potential strike. Read the original of the report on the above at Business Report
Community healthcare workers barricade Joburg roads, demanding permanent employment Sunday Independent reports that about 500 community healthcare workers who are contractual employees of the Gauteng Department of Health (DoH) blocked Johannesburg city streets, demanding that the health MEC should address them and accept a memorandum of their demands. Sibusiso Nkasa, Joburg regional chairperson of the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (Nupsaw), which was leading the strike action, said: “We are resolute. As you can see all roads are closed. All gates have been barricaded, none can go in and no one can walk out.” Roads barricaded during the rowdy but largely peaceful protest were around the square block of Ntemi Piliso, Commissioner, Kort streets and Albertina Sisulu Road in the inner city. Indicating that workers wanted to be permanently employed by the Gauteng DoH, Nkasa added that Nupsaw had been in discussions with the department and had reached a resolution last year at the bargaining council to elevate community primary healthcare workers from contractual to permanent status. He accused the department of reneging on the agreement and not responding to their communication concerning their demands. He advised that the workers’ demands included a R3,500 a month stipend with “permanent status”; elevation to level-5 remuneration rate, which meant R12,000 a month; for the department to share its employee database details with Nupsaw; and for implementation of the June 2018 resolution reached with the department and finalisation of all matters by the end of June. Read the full original of Sipho Mabaso’s report on the protest at Sunday Independent STAFFING / VACANCIES / RECRUITMENT
Sowetan reports that the first open heart surgery to be performed in Limpopo in 23 years signifies that a drive by the provincial health department to hire more specialists is paying off. On Monday, the head of clinical services at Mankweng Hospital, Dr Seshoka Muila, said the surgery, which was performed on a 42-year-old female patient and led by Professor Lucas Mohlala, was a breakthrough for the province. The patient was reported to be doing well after the surgery and was due to be discharged soon. “This means that we are going to reduce transfers to Gauteng hospitals and patients will start to get intervention as early as possible,” Muila stated. He indicated that on average the hospital had to transfer 60 adult and paediatric patients a month to have surgery performed at Gauteng facilities. He also advised that the improved situation would position the hospital as a place of learning for medical students who were studying at the University of Limpopo’s School of Medicine. Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba commented that the surgery was an indication that public health in the province was improving. She announced in January that the department would hire 28 specialists in an effort to reduce surgical backlogs. At the time there were 2,500 patients who needed surgery. Read the full original of Zoë Mahopo’s report in the above regard on page 5 of Sowetan of 23 April 2019
New protection rules for group risk policies may just leave employees confused, expert cautions Fin24 reports that amended policyholder protection rules for the group insurance industry came into effect in October last year, in the interests of keeping policyholders better informed. But, Michele Jennings, CEO of Sanlam Group Risk, pointed out that this required so much information to be provided to individual members that they would likely just be confused or overwhelmed. "We all fully subscribe to the idea that individual members of a group risk policy need to know more about what they are covered for by their employer," Jennings stated, citing a recent case where a company was liquidated and the members of the employer's group risk policy did not know or realise that their membership to the policy had been terminated. The rules now make provision for the policyholder to convey the required information or communication to the individual members. "We have seen mixed responses from employers and brokers. We deal with a lot of small employers who do not necessarily have the capacity to do all that is required," Jennings noted. In her view, many employers might not realise the mass of information involved. At the same time, the ultimate responsibility to monitor compliance with the rules, was with the insurer. "At this stage the insurer is absorbing the extra costs involved - for Sanlam Group Risk this will probably mean an extra R10m in costs per year," Jennings indicated, adding that it would be very difficult for insurers to earn extra money for doing all of this for employers. Read the full original of Carin Smith’s report on the above at Fin24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Employers turning to private primary healthcare plans in lieu of long-awaited NHI BusinessLive reports that some employers are not waiting for the elusive National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme to improve the health of their workers, absenteeism levels and productivity. Nor are they waiting for the health department and medical scheme regulator the Council for Medical Schemes to hammer out a set of benefits for a low-cost medical scheme option. Instead, about 400,000-450,000 employees have been signed up for primary healthcare plans that at least give them access to GPs, medicine, basic blood tests and X-rays in the private sector so they can avoid the time-consuming and inefficient clinics and state hospitals for these services. But that is said to be a small dent in a potential market of about 8.3-million households. Primary health-care plans typically start at about R240 a month per person, increasing with the number of services covered and insured amounts added for hospital stays or ambulance services after accidents. Newer products developed under occupational health-care legislation, however, are cutting this cost to about R125 a month. The biggest appetite for this cover was among those earning R14,000 - R20,000 a month, Martin Neethling, head of Sanlam Health insurance and distribution, advised. Like compulsory insurance plans, occupational health care was made available to all employees, but Neethling indicated that there were strict rules about what benefits could be offered. Read the full original of this informative report by Laura du Preez on the above at BusinessLive
Drastic deterioration in state of passenger rail infrastructure over past 12 months BL Premium reports that statistics compiled by the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) show that the state of passenger rail infrastructure has deteriorated drastically over the past 12 months. This has happened despite a new board, new management and a turnaround strategy put in place at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) by transport minister Blade Nzimande. Prasa has also yet to table an acceptable Annual Safety Improvement Plan to the RSR, which was ordered by court in October. Two versions of the plan have been rejected. Between January 2018 and February 2019, monthly manual authorisations grew by 400% and occurred on more than 1.2-million occasions. Manual authorisation, which involves a verbal conversation between the driver and the train control officer, introduces the possibility of human error and is responsible for most of the train accidents in SA. The most common reasons for manual authorisation were faulty tracks (30.3%) and faulty signals (23.7%), both a consequence of poor maintenance. Cable theft and vandalism was the third-most common cause of manual authorisation at 22.2%. The United National Transport Union (Untu), which is the majority union at Prasa, says its mother body Fedusa is applying for a Section 77 notice under the Labour Relations Act that will allow it to hold a protected strike over the train safety crisis. It has tabled the RSR’s statistics on manual authorisation to Nedlac as part of its application. Read the full original of Carol Paton’s report in the above regard at BusinessLive (paywall access only) Sinister force at work to reverse ANC government’s gains, Nzimande claims after Cape Town train arson News24 reports that transport minister Blade Nzimande has blamed the recent burning of two Metrorail trains at Cape Town Station on a relentless force determined to reverse gains that the ANC government has made. Twelve Metrorail carriages were destroyed at the station on Sunday in a suspected arson attack. On Monday, Nzimande issued a statement condemning the burning of the two trains and calling on law enforcement agencies to urgently investigate and arrest perpetrators of this "unfortunate, senseless and well-orchestrated destruction of property through acts of criminality and sabotage of Metrorail." He went on to state: "It is now undeniable that there is a sinister force at work trying to destroy our rail system. It is also clear that this force is relentless and determined to reverse the ANC government gains and efforts being made to modernise Metrorail service, particularly in the Cape Town metro corridor." Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato said on Monday that the city's rail management must account for their inability to protect trains. “How is it that criminals can so brazenly burn our trains time and again and get away with it?" he asked. Read the full original of Alex Mitchley’s report on the above at News24. Read too, Blade Nzimande blames 'sinister force' for attacks on SA's rail system, at Independent News CCTV footage used to nab suspect linked to Cape Town train blaze on Sunday News24 reports that a suspect has been arrested in connection with the fire that damaged 12 train carriages at Cape Town station on Sunday. "Surveillance footage was used to identify the suspect," said Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut, who added that the 30-year-old resident of Khayelitsha was detained by police after he had been apprehended by Prasa officials. The suspect will appear in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court once he has been charged. Traut added that the possibility of more arrests had not been ruled out. The cost of rolling stock repairs in respect of the train carriages destroyed in the blaze has been estimated at R33m. Approximately 300 metres of centenary and contact wires, which are critical to automate train control, were also damaged. Read the original of Sesona Ngqakamba’s report on this story at News24
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