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
Tuesday, 4 June 2019.
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Government and industry stakeholders vow to curb torching of trucks in KZN News24 reports that several spheres of the government and trucking stakeholders have vowed to curb the ongoing violence in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) that has affected the industry in recent weeks. High-level meetings between truck owners, drivers and Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula, Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi, Minister of Home Affairs Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and Minister of Police Bheki Cele were held in Durban on Monday. The intervention came after at least 20 trucks per week were torched in the last three weeks and 91 people were arrested by police. The attacks are not new in the province, with assailants alleging that foreign nationals are given jobs as drivers ahead of locals. Outlining interventions put in place, Premier Sihle Zikalala, who was also part of the high-level delegation on Monday, said that immediate changes were being implemented. Rapid response would be the order of the day. Zikalala also said that illegal employment of persons who had no permits must stop. He went on to indicate that they would implement a programme to develop the skills of drivers, saying: "They must undergo training and must be supported by the government. We will also establish a database of employed and unemployed drivers. This way, employers have a pool if they need to employ drivers." Read the full original of Kaveel Singh’s report on this story at News24. Read too, Over 15 trucks petrol-bombed on volatile N3 over the weekend, at The Mercury. And also N2 closed on Tuesday after truck driver and assistant shot on Durban highway, at TimesLIVE IFP calls for deployment of army to deal with torching of trucks in KZN ANA reports that the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on Tuesday called for the urgent deployment of the army to high-risk spots on the N3 highway in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) following the petrol bombing of several trucks. Three trucks were set alight on Monday, on the N2 near the Umgeni Interchange, in Pietermaritzburg and on the N3 highway Mooi River Toll Plaza. According to Positive Freight Solutions, which represents nearly 3,000 truck owners, more than 60 trucks have been torched in the past three weeks. The attacks are believed to be related to the high number of foreigners being employed as opposed to local unemployed drivers, which the local trucking industry has been raising for a number of months. Steven Moodley, IFP spokesperson on transport in KZN, said it was time that government regarded the torching of trucks as a crisis and intervened by deploying the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) to effectively deal with those responsible. The IFP reiterated its call for stringent verification of truck drivers, especially foreign nationals, and urged employers to work towards speedily resolving the grievances of truck drivers whose main complaint was the employment of foreign nationals in the trucking industry. Several ministers, owner representatives, and labour leaders met in Durban on Monday to address the escalation in attacks on trucks and drivers in the province. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News
Two men get heavy sentences for attempting to assassinate Amcu members News24 reports that two men from the Eastern Cape were sentenced on Monday by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria for their involvement in the attempted assassination of two Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) members in Marikana, North West. The two men, Samkelo Mkhutshwa (38) and Simphiwe Silwane (36) from Lusikisiki, were each sentenced to 25 years in jail for attempting to kill Amcu branch chairperson Malibongwe Mdazo and union member Msindiseni Kwenene, 15 years each for the possession of illegal firearms and five years for being in possession of ammunition. Silwane was also sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Mveliso Biyela. Mdazo was shot at on 22 July 2017 while sitting in his vehicle after a match at the soccer stadium in Mooinooi. He managed to escape. Kwenene was shot at in September 2017 while on his way to work. He managed to survive three attempts on his life that day. Biyela died after being shot while walking home from the Wonderkop hostel on 22 September 2017. While handing down the sentences, Judge Bert Bam stated that Mkhutshwa and Silwane were hired assassins who were driven by greed. The two men showed no emotions in court as they were sentenced. Read the full original of Ntwaagae Seleka’s on the above story at News24. Read too, Life in jail for assassins, on page 6 of The Star of 4 June 2019
Transport union Untu signs 7.3% wage increase for Prasa employees ANA reports that the United National Transport Union (Untu) announced on Tuesday that it had signed a 7.3% wage agreement with the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) and had secured a guarantee that no employee would be retrenched in the next financial year. Untu is the majority union at the rail agency. The agreement will be backdated to 1 April and is applicable until 31 March next year. It will be implemented across the board for all Prasa employees, including those who either belong to another union or are not affiliated to any. A clause stipulates that if any other union gets a better deal from Prasa, that should also apply in respect of Untu members. Untu also indicated that it was mobilising support for a strike and other protest action planned for next month by Fedusa, to which it is affiliated, to "force government to take action to ensure that all South Africans receive a safe and reliable passenger rail service and that all employees of Prasa work in a safe and decent working environment". Read the full original of the report on the agreement at Engineering News. Read Untu’s press statement at SA Labour News
Labour registrar gets tough on non-compliant unions Mail & Guardian writes that for decades the office of the labour registrar, who is tasked with ensuring that trade unions comply with the law, has been largely overlooked, but that is changing. Lehlohonolo Molefe, who was appointed labour registrar last year after a lengthy dispute between his predecessor and the previous labour minister Mildred Oliphant, indicated last week that more than 100 unions had been sent letters by his office since his appointment in May last year. The letters are warning shots, indicating noncompliance with the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and instructing unions to address this. The registrar can place organisations — including trade unions, employers’ organisations and bargaining councils — under administration and deregister them if they fail to comply with their constitutions and the parts of the LRA that govern them. If a trade union is deregistered, it loses organisational rights and the right to represent its members. Molefe’s actions in recent months have been the subject of public scrutiny, as he has taken steps against a number of high-profile trade unions, including Samwu, Amcu, Numsa and Fawu. He has had to field accusations of being politically motivated in targeting unions not affiliated with trade union federation Cosatu. Recent amendments to the LRA, which came into effect in January, provide for the independence of the registrar’s office. Molefe commented that the fact that he has had to send about 110 letters to trade unions warning them of their alleged noncompliance was a bad sign for the state of SA’s unions. Read the full original of Sarah Smit’s report in the above regard at Mail & Guardian
New North West MEC Sello Lehari promises not to purge staff in his department ANA reports that newly-appointed North West Community Safety and Transport Management MEC Sello Lehari has promised not to get rid of anyone as he takes over his new department. “I am not here to target people. We have accepted that we are under Section 100 (1) administration and will corporate with the intervention team to shorten their stay here. But there should be consultations between the administration team and the head of the department on everything,” Lehari said at the ‘meet and greet’ session with the departmental management committee. Lehari, who previously led the education and sport development portfolio, said he would meet urgently with the North West police commissioner to request her to intervene on drugs and weapons in schools. He indicated: “We will focus our resources on crime and all hotspots. The department’s work and performance must be profiled and marketed. Our meetings must be short. Consultation is key. Weekly meetings between MEC and HoD office is crucial to ensure smooth and effective implementation by departmental programmes.” The original of this report is at The Citizen
SAA Pilots Association want new CEO to have 'unrivalled' understanding of aviation Fin24 reports that the Grant Back, chair of the SAA Pilots Association (SAAPA), said in a statement on Monday that the "dysfunctional" SA Airways (SAA) needed a new CEO with a strong track record in the aviation sector and an unrivalled understanding of the industry. He was reacting to the sudden resignation of Group CEO Vuyani Jarana on the weekend. Back commented as follows: “Mr Jarana did his best to turn SAA around under incredibly difficult circumstances. We were supportive of his integrity, commitment and vision to right-size SAA and make it fit for purpose. We are deeply troubled at reports that the CEO’s turn-around plan was sabotaged internally and externally. In the end, the CEO was hobbled by inflexible and restrictive government policy as well as the board and shareholder taking active roles in executive decision making.” He added that the situation had been exacerbated by the SAA executive structure. According to Back, Jarana’s resignation was a blow to the airline, but was also an opportunity for the shareholder. SAAPA said it was seeking a meeting with Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan to offer "constructive proposals" on the way forward. Read the full original of Carin Smith’s report in the above regard at Fin24. Read SAAPA’s press statement at Politicsweb ‘Racial politics’ by Gordhan ‘not to blame’ for exodus of black bosses at SOEs, says analyst The Citizen writes that according to political analyst Daniel Silke, it was unfair to point fingers at Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan for the resignations of executives at state-owned enterprises (SOEs). He asserted that they had nothing to do with race but were all about job pressures. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has accused Gordhan of being behind the alleged purging of black executives in SOEs. The party said it was concerned about the resignations and the firing of black executives since Gordhan became minister of public enterprises. “Instead of providing support that will lead to stability in state-owned enterprises, Gordhan is presiding over massive purges of black and, particularly African, executives,” said Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, EFF spokesperson. Since Gordhan’s arrival as the minister, Siyabonga Gama has gone from Transnet, Phakamani Hadebe from Eskom and Vuyani Jarana from SAA. But Silke said the resignations reflected the “very big state of rot” that existed in the SOEs. “The extreme difficulty for anybody, regardless of race, is the struggle to find the turnaround strategy. These CEOs are under immense pressures within and outside of the SOEs – from the minister of public enterprises and their boards. These are pressure-point jobs. You have to be made of steel to withstand pressure from all these points,” Silke said. Read the full original of Eric Naki’s report in the above regard at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
BBC calls for Tongaat Hulett executive bonus scandal to be investigated SowetanLive reports that the Black Business Council (BBC) has called for law enforcement agencies to look into the alleged inflation of profits by the management of Tongaat Hulett in order to gain big bonuses. On Monday, it was reported that the sugar producer's previous management was being investigated after it allegedly paid itself bonuses based on inflated profits. Tongaat Hulett announced last week that it needed to reinstate its financial statements for the year to the end of March 2018 after it identified that its financial statements were not a true reflection of the company's performance. Analysts have warned that the company's former CEO Peter Staude and former CFO Murray Munro, who both resigned last year, would have to repay bonuses they received on inflated profits. An independent forensic investigation has been instituted to determine whether this happened deliberately. BBC president Sandile Zungu commented: "It is still to be established as to at whose door should we lay the blame. Clearly, the CEO and his CFO cannot escape the blame. As BBC we have always known that corruption is quite rampant even in the private sector. Steinhoff example was the most dramatic of this. The law must take its course. It must show that crime does not pay whether it happens in the private sector or the public sector." A Hawks spokesperson said the Tongaat Hulett matter must be reported to the police for it to be investigated. Read the full original of Penwell Dlamini’s report on the above at SowetanLive
Choppies CEO denies wrongdoing and will challenge suspension in court BusinessLive reports that suspended Choppies Enterprises CEO Ramachandran Ottapathu has denied any wrongdoing and says he will challenge his suspension in court. Ottaputhu was suspended from 22 May amid a forensic investigation into past transactions involving the troubled retail group, and an investigation into its accounting practices. On Monday, Choppies said it would tell the market “in due course” why it suspended Ottaputhu, after he lashed out at the company and apparently called on shareholders to attend an unauthorised meeting. The group said its decision to suspend him “was as a result of an aggregation of activities and conduct”. Ottapathu said in response that Choppies had failed to provide facts about the charges against him and that it was a case of “simple character assassination which does not give me a chance to defend myself.” Ottapathu indicated that he would challenge his suspension in court “at the soonest opportunity”. Meanwhile, Choppies said that a document "purporting to be a draft notice" of an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders had apparently been sent out by Ottaputhu on an unauthorised basis. Read the full original of Nick Hedley’s report on this story at BusinessLive. Read too, Choppies’ says it will tell all in time as clash with suspended CEO heats up, at BusinessLive PwC acts quickly to axe top staffer after abusive racial rant at Cape Town airport The Star reports that audit firm PwC has moved swiftly to fire its executive who racially abused a black family at Cape Town International Airport. Alistair Hofert, who was cognitive and intelligent automation lead and associate director at PwC, parted ways with the multinational on Monday following a disciplinary inquiry. While PwC did not name Hofert, his identity was exposed on social media at the weekend. Bulelani Ngcauzele, who took to Twitter to expose Hofert harassing her family, put pressure on PwC to act against him. She tweeted: “@PwC this racist is part of your staff. Is this really what you stand for in post-apartheid South Africa? In 2019? A black family minding their own business in a public space was attacked by one of your own!” In videos that Ngcauzele posted, a visibly drunk Hofert was heard ranting about “you people”. PwC announced at the weekend that it had initiated an investigation into the incident and apologised to the family. On Monday, it labelled Hofert’s actions racist and revealed he had left immediately. Cape Town police are investigating a case of crimen injuria. Read the full original of Bongani Nkosi’s report on this story and view a video clip at The Star
Man accused of April’s Cape Town train arson sent for mental observation News24 reports that the man accused of setting trains on fire at the Cape Town station in April would hopefully begin his 30 days' mental observation from Tuesday, the Cape Town Magistrate's Court heard on Monday. Thobela Xoseni's Legal Aid lawyer told the court that he had been informed that a bed was available for his client at the Valkenberg psychiatric hospital. The psychiatric panel will need to determine whether Xoseni is able to understand proceedings, so as to present a proper defence, or unable to do so due to a mental defect or illness. Should the panel observe any mental defect or illness, it will need to express an opinion whether the accused can be held criminally responsible for the offence. The arson attack on 21 April destroyed 12 coaches, two motor coaches and nine plain trailers. Meantime, several fires have been reported at the Cape Town station over the last month. Read the full original of Kamva Somdyala’s report on this story at News24. Read too, Cape Town 'train arsonist' to spend 30 days in psychiatric hospital, at TimesLIVE
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