Today's Labour News

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY

Not safe for cops to be armed when they are off-duty

The Citizen reports that according to Gun Free SA, law enforcement officers carrying their guns while off duty were at risk of being exposed to theft, suicides and family homicides.  The organisation’s Adele Kirsten said that research, nationally and globally, has shown that it was not safe for cops to have their service pistols on them outside of work.  Kirsten pointed out that SA was faced with a problem of police killings, with most of the officers being attacked while off-duty.  Attacks on officers result in their firearms being taken away by criminals, and in some cases they are used to kill them.  Kirsten said that preventing the scourge of attacks on law enforcement officers would require an audit to establish which cops needed to be armed, even when they were not on duty.  While the SA Policing Union (SAPU) believed it was necessary for officers to carry their guns for safety reasons, even when they are off-duty, according to Kirsten, a policy needed to be adopted to control the movement of the firearms.  According to SAPU secretary Tumelo Mogodiseng, police officers have a duty to act on crimes that they might come across while they were off duty.  The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) pointed out that while the issue of off-duty officers carrying firearms was complex, the weapons were issued to them as tools of trade for policing.  The union also noted that because there were safes provided for the officers, they were not expected to take their guns to places such as those of entertainment.

Read the full original of the above report at The Citizen

KZN security guard arrested after accidentally shooting himself

ANA reports that police in Tongaat, north of Durban, have arrested a security guard at a minibus taxi rank in the CBD after he apparently accidentally shot himself in the leg.  KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police were alerted to a shooting incident at the taxi rank, and when they arrived they found a security guard who guarded the taxi rank with a gunshot wound to the leg.  Colonel Thembeka Mbele said:  "It is alleged that he accidentally shot himself with a rifle.  He was taken to hospital for medical attention under police guard.  He will be charged for discharging a firearm in public and negligent handling of firearm.  The rifle with 28 rounds of ammunition was seized for further investigation.  The suspect will appear in the Verulam Magistrate's Court soon."

The original of the above report is at Independent News

Women train drivers under attack from commuters

Mail & Guardian reports on a female train driver who is proud of the job she does getting Johannesburg’s commuters to work and back home again.  But when she first started driving trains for the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) she wasn’t prepared for the threats she would receive from commuters fed up with the ailing rail system.  Amid Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula’s efforts to fix SA’s trains, the driver and her colleagues are calling for the safety of women train drivers to be put on the agenda of the minister’s recently launched “war room”.  According to the driver, Prasa’s 293 women drivers are left exposed when trains break down.  She said that not a week went by during which train drivers did not have to contend with the challenges that accompanied driving faulty trains.  She further explained that when trains broke down, drivers “cannot just stand there” because they were expected to conduct first-line maintenance.  But that often required drivers to leave the relative safety of the driver’s cab.  Recently, Mbalula announced that the work of the ministerial war room on Prasa had begun.  According to a statement from his department, the war room has three focus areas, namely “service recovery, safety management and accelerated implementation of the modernisation programme”.  A Prasa spokesperson indicated that they deployed security personnel to escort train drivers on corridors that have been identified as hot spots.  The department has also deployed security personnel at all turnaround points for the escort of train crews as they change coaches.

Read the full original of the above report by Sarah Smit at Mail & Guardian

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING / WAGE NEGOTIATIONS

Labour Minister to participate in metals, engineering wage negotiation panel discussion

Engineering News reports that Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi will participate in a panel discussion on the 2020 metals and engineering (M&E) wage negotiations during the Metals and Engineering Indaba (Meindaba), which will be held in Sandton next month.  National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim, Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) operations director Lucio Trentini, Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis and Department of Employment and Labour chief director Thembikosi Mkalipi will also participate in the panel discussion.  The previous M&E wage negotiations, which took place in 2017, yielded positive results in the form of a three-year deal and no strike action.  Trentini noted in a statement issued on Monday that employers hoped for a similar outcome in the 2020 negotiations, but realised negotiations did not take place in a vacuum.  “A number of key sectors are currently involved in respective sector negotiations; outcomes in these sectors will set the scene for what we can expect in 2020,” he pointed out.

Read the full original of the above report at Engineering News

PROTESTS / MARCHES / CAMPAIGNS

Zambia warns truck drivers not to travel to SA on 2 September amid threats of violence during work stoppage

ANA reports that Zambia's High Commission in Pretoria on Monday issued a travel advisory warning to its citizens in the trucking business to avoid travelling to SA on 2 September.  The commission's Naomi Nyawali said reports had been received of some Zambian truck drivers being threatened with violence ahead of a planned nationwide work stoppage by their disgruntled South African counterparts, who were fighting for better conditions of services from their employers.  Notices doing the rounds on Twitter and WhatsApp from unidentified individuals purporting to represent South African truck drivers have apparently been calling for a nationwide work stoppage among SA drivers from 2 September.  The notices also warn that "no foreign truck drivers will be allowed to drive across South Africa".  "It is with this background that [Zambia's High Commission] would like to advise all Zambian truck drivers who are scheduled to travel to South Africa on the mentioned date not to do so until security is guaranteed," Nyawali cautioned.

Read the full original of the above report by Jonisayi Maromo at Independent News

UNION NEWS

Angie Motshekga inadvertently caught in the middle of furore at teachers’ union

The Citizen reports that sparks are expected to fly at the Suid Afrikaanse Onderwysers Unie’s (SAOU) annual principals’ conference, with concerned members asking Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to reconsider her decision to attend the event.  The group of principals have vowed to use the trade union’s Principals Symposium to sharply demand answers on allegations of financial irregularities involving more than R500m currently being probed by the Hawks.  The union is hosting the four-day seminar at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, from 1 to 4 September, with the minister expected to deliver a keynote address on the third day.  In a letter dated 22 August from the group’s lawyers, the concerned members notified Motshekga about the criminal investigation against the union’s top brass currently underway.  “We are instructed that the investigation is focused on the financial management of the SAOU as well as several historical transactions. […] The Department of Labour is currently undertaking an investigation into several allegations of financial mismanagement made by various members of the SAOU,” the lawyers state.  The letter goes on to indicate:  “Given the seriousness of the allegations, and the advanced stage of the investigations […] it is our respectful request that the decision to attend and speak at the Symposium be reconsidered.”  Louw Erasmus, the union’s lawyer and spokesperson, responded that the aims of the “disgruntled members” were to disrupt the proceedings and cause an embarrassment for the SAOU and the minister.

Read the full original of the above report by Sipho Mabena at The Citizen

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT / TRAINING

Nursing students 'threaten' college staff over failure to issue certificates

The Star reports that staff members at a Johannesburg nursing college live in fear, following delays to the issuing of certificates to former students.  According to Mpilo Royal College chief executive Mduduzi Moyo, former students have been threatening to harm workers at the college for delaying handing out certificates for at least two years.  But, Moyo pointed out that it was not the fault of the college that the certificates had been delayed.  He indicated that the Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority (HWSeta) was the institution to blame.  “It is the HWSeta’s fault that students have not received their certificates.  On our side we have done everything that needed to be done.  We have trained students, but issuing certificates on completion, that’s HWSeta’s job.  They have been delaying to issue the certificates since 2017,” said Moyo.  The delays have resulted in former students not being able to have their names registered with nursing authorities.  Moyo said HWSeta’s regional and head office were aware of the situation, but were doing nothing about it.  HWSeta learner achievement manager Hlamalani Ngcobo indicated that they were not aware of the threats, but said that the certificates should be issued within the next two weeks.

Read the full original of the above report by Yethu Dlamini at The Star

Training of nurses in 2020 in jeopardy due to regulatory red tape

BL Premium reports that the training of nurses in 2020 is in jeopardy because of extensive delays at key regulatory authorities, which must provide fresh accreditation to all training institutions following a change in the curriculum and training requirements.  According to the Council for Higher Education (CHE), the government’s plans to switch to new qualifications require that the training institutions be re-accredited by the SA Nursing Council (SANC), which has largely not been done.  The SANC, in turn, says the department of higher education must also shoulder some of the blame, as it has yet to declare public nursing colleges institutions of higher education.  Failure to implement the new qualifications will choke the production line of new nurses, because institutions are barred from continuing with the old qualifications after the end of 2019 and are not necessarily in a position to take advantage of a government concession that will allow them one last intake on the old qualifications in the fourth quarter of the year.  It means the country is facing a potential shortage of nursing skills, which will be particularly acute in specialist areas such as psychiatry, theatre and critical care.  None of SA’s nine provincial colleges, which educate almost three-quarters of the country’s nurses, have the requisite approvals in place to begin enrolling students for the new qualifications in January.  Nor do any of the universities and technikons, and all but a handful of private nursing colleges.

Read the full original of the above report by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive (paywall access only)

MEDICAL SCHEMES / NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE

Alleged ‘looting’ by board of trustees at Polmed leaves members fuming

The Star reports that millions of rand in alleged “unlawful looting” of the police’s medical scheme Polmed have drawn the ire of scores of police officers, who have slammed the level of coverage received.  Allegations have been made that Polmed, which covers 680,000 members and beneficiaries, has “unlawfully” awarded roughly R15.7m to its board of trustees (BOT) over three years in contravention of its own rules.  It has also been alleged that former national police commissioner General Riah Phiyega was “illegally” elected on to the BOT in contravention of Rule 18.9.9, which states:  “Any person removed from an office of trust on account of misconduct should not serve on it."  According to rule 18.24, Polmed remuneration should be determined by the scheme's annual general meeting (AGM).  By Polmed's own admission, the scheme has not held an AGM since 2015, so questions have been raised as to who approved the BOT payments.  Moreover, internal Polmed documents show that the scheme's principal officer Neo Khauoe and the BOT's risk committee were aware that the alleged unlawful payments could drag the medical aid into a legal quagmire.  Polmed allegedly made illegal BOT payments of R4.93m in 2016, R5.98m in 2017 and R4.80m in 2018, totalling R15.71m, while the annual report shows that the scheme lost over R140m in 2018 from the previous year because of “the increasing claims ratio”.

Read the full original of the above report by Khaya Koko at The Star

New book by forensic investigator details rampant medical aid fraud

The Star reports that in their pursuit of maximum profits at any cost, medical aid companies have allegedly swept under the carpet piles of fraud cases implicating doctors, hospital groups and rehabilitation centres, their own board members, managers and forensic investigators.  The schemes also apparently turned a blind eye to fraud perpetrated by members who colluded with doctors to cash in on the funds because their sole interest was to keep and grow membership.  An insider in medical schemes fraud investigations has detailed these startling claims in a new book.  'I am a criminal when it suits me', the book by Sam Maphalane, a senior forensic investigator in the industry, details how the apparent maladministration of probes by schemes allowed fraud to flourish.  The losers were the members whose premiums escalated every year.  “The latest amount from publicly available data is about R22-billion lost in 2017,” Maphalane claimed.  The Board of Healthcare Funders of SA confirmed this figure, saying schemes lost between R22bn and R29bn every year through fraud, waste and abuse.  The fraud happens in various ways, ranging from overcharging by doctors and private hospitals to members and doctors colluding to bill schemes fraudulently.

Read the full original of the above report by Bongani Nkosi at The Star

Competition Commission probes BP Medical Aid Society and Momentum health merger

BusinessLive reports that the Competition Commission has launched an investigation into the merger between a small medical scheme for employees of oil company BP Southern Africa (BPSA) and SA’s third-biggest scheme Momentum Health.  This comes after a complaint from BP pensioners alleging the deal will scale back their benefits.  At the heart of the complaint is an allegation that the transaction will end the subsidies they receive from BP, which they say were given to them in perpetuity.  Employment, including employee benefits such as medical aid subsidies, is considered a matter of public interest by the Competition Commission, and it has previously imposed merger conditions that sought to protect such benefits.  The Competition Commission’s Tamara Paremoer said that if the investigation found significant changes to employee benefits had not been disclosed during the merger assessment, it might change the commission’s finding.  Medical aid mergers require approval from the Competition Commission and the medical schemes regulator, the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS).  The Competition Commission approved the merger of BPMAS and Momentum on 13 June without conditions, but the transaction was turned down by the CMS on 30 July.

Read the full original of the above report by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

How the NHI will work over time, at BusinessLive

MISCONDUCT / DISCIPLINARY ACTION

Review of disciplinary action against Tygerberg doctors over theft of broken chairs welcomed

News24 reports that the disciplinary measures against three doctors, accused of stealing two broken chairs from Tygerberg Hospital, is set to undergo a review.  The doctors, studying anesthesiology at the hospital, reportedly removed the broken chairs to have the furniture refurbished for use in the staff room.  According to the doctors, verbal permission had been given for them to remove the chairs from the hospital property.  Following a disciplinary process, one doctor was dismissed, another suspended and the third sanctioned with unpaid leave for a month and a final written warning.  On Friday, a verbal commitment was given by Health MEC Nomafrech Mbombo that there would be a review of the disciplinary process.  MPP Wendy Philander indicated that the chairs had since been returned to the hospital and called the disciplinary action “unfair”.  She noted that the consequences for the doctors would have troubling effects on their careers as well as the service load at Tygerberg Hospital.  In the meantime, a petition against the sanctions has garnered over 13,500 signatures.  The petition states the doctors have been “victimised and treated unjustly” and calls for their immediate reinstatement.  The SA Society of Anaesthesiologists has also spoken out against the sanctions, saying the healthcare system could ill afford the loss of three doctors.

Read the full original of the above report by Nicole McCain at News24

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

Sans Souci slap: charge against teacher withdrawn, at News24