In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Tuesday, 6 August 2019.
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Fallen Johannesburg firefighters to have their names inscribed on new fire engines TimesLIVE reports that in order to honour firefighters who died during a deadly CBD blaze in 2018, the City of Johannesburg said their names would be inscribed onto 40 new fire engines. The city's MMC for safety, Michael Sun, made the announcement on Monday after visiting an assembly plant in Olifantsfontein, which is one of the five plants where the 40 new fire engines will be built. The under-construction vehicles are expected to be completed within three months. "In honour of those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of others, these vehicles will be named after fallen firefighters, with their name inscribed onto the new engines," said Sun. He also remarked that the project was about more than just the assembly of fire engines, but the building of vital equipment that would save residents’ lives and properties. "It is important that we always remember those that have given their lives for the protection of others - especially as we are finally able to replace the fleet of aged fire engines in Johannesburg," Sun added. Read the full original of the above report by Nonkululeko Njilo at TimesLIVE Paramedics attacked and another ambulance crew forced by mob to transport dead man to hospital SowetanLive reports that two paramedics were attacked and beaten by a mob while their colleagues were forced to tamper with a murder scene by transporting a dead man to hospital. The incident happened in Ramokonopi Section in Katlehong in Ekurhuleni on Saturday where the ambulance crew responded to a stabbing call from a tavern. According to Ekurhuleni Emergency Services (EMS) spokesperson William Ntladi, two paramedics who responded to the call were assaulted while attending to an injured man. Ntladi said the mob, believed to be friends of the injured man, stabbed to death Mbongeni Seyise, 39, in a revenge attack. They then apparently ordered another ambulance crew to contaminate Seyise's murder scene, insisting that the paramedics transport his body to Thelle Mogoerane regional hospital in Vosloorus. "Our crew was beaten and assaulted by the mob when a second man was being attacked allegedly in revenge for the injured man," Ntladi related. Apparently, the fight started earlier in a tavern and escalated. Read the full original of the above report by Promise Marupeng at SowetanLive. Read too Patient 'finished off' in full view of paramedics in Johannesburg, at TimesLIVE Other internet posting(s) in this news category
DA to probe City of Tshwane, unions pay deal reached to end strike Pretoria News reports that the federal council of the Democratic Alliance (DA) has undertaken to investigate last week’s deal between the City of Tshwane and labour unions to pay workers an ex gratia once-off payout. Federal chairperson James Selfe expressed unhappiness about the rationale behind the agreement that will see the City paying a total of R380m to the workers, who will receive between R7,000 and R15,000, depending on their level. On Monday, Selfe indicated: I just want to understand for the sake of ourselves and the leadership of the party what actually transpired and what the implications of the deal will be.” He expressed concerns about the deal, saying he was worried about its legal standing. The deal was reached following last week’s unlawful strike by workers who demanded an 18% salary increase, saying that the same rate had been given to senior managers. Part of the agreement that led to the ending of the strike was that the 18% granted to the 64 top managers would be terminated. The parties also agreed that within the next two months a dedicated task team would conduct a benchmarking exercise on the pay scales of other metro municipalities in order to develop a pay scale for the city’s employees. Read the full original of the above story by Rapula Moatshe at Pretoria News All services fully restored following strike, claims City of Tshwane EWN reports that according to the City of Tshwane, all its services have been fully restored following last week’s four-day strike over salary increases. Municipal workers brought the CBD to a standstill over pay disparities. They were demanding a pay hike of 18%, which is what had been afforded to managers. In terms of the agreement ending the strike, the city committed to no longer paying its senior officials the pay increase until it had gone through a benchmarking exercise. Moreover, ex gratia payments to lower-earning employees were agreed upon. The mayor’s spokesperson Omogolo Taunyane said they hoped to resume talks with the unions soon. “All services returned to normal and that includes the bus services that were interrupted and the trucks that were blocking some of the roads have returned to their depots,” she advised. Read the full original of the above report by Thando Kubheka at EWN
No end in sight in continuing automotive sector wage talks BusinessLive reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the Automobile Manufacturers Employers Organisation (Ameo) are set to resume wage talks in Pretoria next week after similar talks in Port Elizabeth last week failed to yield fruit. Numsa represents the bulk of the workers in the sector and, among other things, is demanding a 20% wage increase across the board. It is also seeking morning, afternoon and night allowances of 10%, 20% and 30%, respectively; an annual bonus increase from 8.33% to 12%; six months’ paid maternity leave, 10 days’ paid paternity leave; and a transport allowance of R5,000 a month. The union furthermore wants clerks, welders, spray painters and metal-finish workers to be paid a 20% allowance. Ameo has tabled a 4.5% wage increase in line with consumer inflation. Numsa’s auto and tyre co-ordinator Vusumzi Mkhungo said last week’s talks did little to help the parties find each other. The upcoming meeting was expected to shed a “clearer picture of where we are going”, said Mkhungo. He added: “There are no areas where we have reached consensus on as yet.” An Ameo spokesperson confirmed that the wage talks were continuing. Read the full original of the above report by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive
DME’s Mpumalanga office reopens, but Mantashe mum on corruption probe ANA reports that the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DME) has reopened its Mpumalanga regional office almost a year after its closure following allegations of corruption and backlogs in the issuing of licenses. The DME advised on Monday that the Mpumalanga regional office's Samrad (SA Mineral Resources Administration System) application system had been reopened. But the department was mum on the outcome of the corruption probe and did not say if action had been taken against any official at the office. Since the office was closed, all administrative processes such as applications for renewals have been handled manually from the head office in Pretoria. On 31 August 2018, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe closed down the office "until further notice" and launched a probe following feedback on the challenges relating mainly to backlogs in the issuing of licenses and allegations of corruption at offices in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West. Allegations of double-granting of licenses, improper application of Section 54 of the Mine Health and Safety Act and backlogs in the issuing of licenses had been made against the department's officials. Read the full original of Siphelele Dludla’s report in the above regard at Independent News Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
Busa’s Sipho Pityana ‘underwhelmed’ by choice for Eskom's chief restructuring officer Fin24 reports that Business Unity SA’s (Busa’s) President Sipho Pityana is "underwhelmed" by government's choice in appointing Freeman Nomvalo to lead the turnaround at Eskom. In a newsletter to the members of the business lobby organisation, Pityana shared views on the latest developments at the debt-ridden power utility. He expressed concern that Nomvalo did not have a track record in "restructuring". Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan announced last week at Eskom's results briefing that SA Institute of Chartered Accountants CEO Freeman Nomvalo had been seconded to serve as Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) at the state entity. The CRO will oversee Eskom's unbundling, and will work with Eskom's board and management to carry out the recommendations of the Presidential Task Team, appointed in 2018. In the newsletter, Pityana also expressed unhappiness with the way government has handled the crisis at Eskom, and particularly with what it branded a "lack of urgency" in the search for a new CEO. The position was advertised near the end of July. “This lack of urgency is disturbing," Pityana wrote. Read the full original of the above report by Lameez Omarjee at Fin24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Survey shows that several sectors in SA economy experiencing critical skill shortages ANA reports that several sectors in the South African economy are experiencing critical skill shortages, with information and technology, engineering, finance and health the most affected, a recent critical skills survey by Xpatweb showed. It indicated that the country was currently in desperate need of information and communications technology (ICT) specialists, engineers, artisans, senior financial executives, health sector workers, executive managers, specialists & academics, mining executives, risk managers and foreign language speakers. "IT specialists and engineers remain top of the list of skills that are most difficult to find. Occupations in high demand in terms of the health sector, artisans, finance and ICT specialist have all increased this year," the survey report indicated. Xpatweb said IT specialists were becoming highly sought-after in the wake of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), with a report published by the World Economic Forum showing that 35% of skills considered important in today’s workforce would have changed over the next five years. Xpatweb noted that SA had had a shortfall of about 40,000 qualified artisans in 2017, forcing it to import skilled artisans from various countries to complete time sensitive projects. The latest survey results showed that this still remained an issue, with 14.15% of the respondents indicating that it was difficult to find skilled artisans. This represented an increase of 45% from last year." Read the full original of the above report at Business Report
Pay hike of R700,000 for Durban city manager blocked Daily News reports that an attempt by the ANC to increase eThekwini city manager Sipho Nzuza’s salary by about R700,000 has been stymied by opposition parties. They walked out of an in-committee meeting after the full council on Wednesday, breaking the quorum and thereby blocking adoption of the confidential report which had sought to apply for salary package waivers from the national co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) department. According to the report, the committee recommended that acting mayor Fawzia Peer be mandated to apply to the Cogta minister for waivers to place Nzuza at the maximum limits of the total remuneration package of R3,934,423. Nzuza’s current salary is R3,296,589. The salaries of Beryl Mphakathi (deputy city manager: human settlements, engineering and eThekwini transport authority); Phillip Sithole (deputy city manager: economic development and planning); and Musa Mbhele (chief operations officer) were set to increase to R2,601,272. It is not known how much they earn currently. A source said the opposition parties walked out of the in-committee meeting when the item was raised. “It was chaotic and the parties would have nothing to do with the salary increments. This is strange because ANC councillors have been calling for Nzuza to go following the suspension of (mayor) Zandile Gumede. Suddenly they want to give him a salary increase of almost R700,000. This is madness,” commented the source. Read the full original of the above report by Chris Ndaliso at Daily News
Banking union Sasbo plans largest strike since 1920 over job cuts Bloomberg reports that financial union Sasbo is threatening to disrupt the banking industry by leading its 73,000 members on a strike next month, in what would be its largest industrial action in almost a century. The planned two-day walkout will target banks that have consulted staff over job cuts in recent months and other institutions that employ members of the union, according to general secretary Joe Kokela. He indicated on Monday that Sasbo wanted banks to consider options other than retrenchments and begin a program to re-skill employees whose positions were at risk. "If the banks say no, the struggle continues and we will make sure we shut down the system until they come to their senses. We can even make sure replenishment of ATMs are kept to a minimum so that the country runs short of money," Kokela indicated. Lenders are cutting jobs as they seek ways to lower costs and contend with slow economic growth and fresh competition in the industry from branchless, digital entrants such as TymeBank and insurer Discovery. Absa Group, Standard Bank Group and Nedbank Group have all consulted with Sasbo in recent months over cuts. Sasbo has not yet informed any of the country's lenders of its plans. Read the full original of Roxanne Henderson’s report on the above story at Fin24
Special review not granted for fraudster Portia Sizani who appointed ‘ghost teachers’ to Grade R posts ANA reports that an application by the defence to have convicted fraudster Portia Sizani’s case taken on special review was dismissed in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday. Earlier in March, Sizani, wife of SA’s ambassador to Germany and former ANC chief whip Stone Sizani, was found guilty of 15 counts of fraud and nine counts of money laundering. She defrauded the Eastern Cape education department out of more than R1.2 million by processing several fraudulent applications for Grade R teaching posts. Sizani was the Early Childhood Development (ECD) district co-ordinator at the time when she appointed “ghost teachers” and pocketed their pay during 2009 and 2010. In July, defence advocate Johan Wessels brought the application for special review citing that the defence had been forced to close its case when it was not ready to do so. However, the magistrate said in his judgment that the court had had to declare the defence’s case closed because it had refused to do so. Sizani started working for the department as a teacher in East London in 1991 and slowly worked her way up the ranks. Her husband was the former education MEC and resigned from that position in 2002. Read the full original of the above report by Raahil Sain at Independent News Thirteen Gauteng SAPS officers convicted of crimes out of 124 awaiting trial The Citizen reports that the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday it was shocked to learn that only 13 Gauteng police officers had been convicted for committing crimes out of 137 who had been arrested. Of those arrested, 124 were still awaiting trial. DA Gauteng MPL John Moodey pointed out that those figures were only for cases reported over the last three financial years. In a written reply to Moodey’s questions in the Gauteng legislature, MEC for community safety, Faith Mazibuko, indicated that 53 police officers were arrested and six convicted in the 2016/17 financial year, 40 police officers were arrested and five convicted in 2017/18 financial year and 44 police officers were arrested and two convicted in the 2018/19 financial year. The crimes committed by the convicted officers ranged from theft, attempted murder and armed robbery to corruption, reckless and negligent driving, corruption and murder. Out of 13 convictions, four were for reckless and negligent driving and three for murder and attempted murder. The DA called on Mazibuko to liaise with the national minister of police to monitor and track the dockets of the 124 police officers awaiting trial to ensure that they were investigated and prosecuted effectively. Read the full original of the above report at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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