In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Thursday, 5 September 2019.
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Two Cape Town law enforcement officers shot dead on Wednesday for their firearms TimesLIVE reports that two Cape Town law enforcement officers died on Wednesday after being shot for their firearms. The officers, aged 54 and 49, were doing protection duty for municipal contractors in Philippi when suspects approached their marked vehicle and fired at them through the windows before stealing their guns. Police spokesperson Lt-Col Andre Traut said that provincial detectives supported by integrated forces attached to Operation Lockdown had later recovered the stolen weapons. Four men aged 19 to 33 and a female suspect, 23, were arrested an informal settlement in Nyanga for being in possession of four firearms, two of which were identified as the ones stolen from the slain officers. Meanwhile the search for the killers of the officers was in full swing, said Traut. A law enforcement source commented: "I don’t know what the government is going to do to protect us. You are nothing without your gun, but they even come for you when you have your gun, they’ll come straight past that gun.” Read the full original of the above report by Dan Meyer and Aron Hyman at TimesLIVE Ex-Bank of Lisbon workers claim new premises also defective and shakes The Star reports that a year ago on Thursday, a fire broke out at the Bank of Lisbon building in the Joburg CBD, killing three firefighters who were struggling to douse the flames. Now, government employees who were relocated say they work in fear that the new building they occupy is also unsafe. The fire at Lisbon, which housed the departments of human settlements, health and co-operative governance and traditional affairs, happened as a result of the building not meeting occupational health and safety standards. Human settlement workers who now report at 11 Diagonal Street complain about the shaky building and claim that management is ignoring their pleas. The Star has seen video footage of the building vibrating while employees go about their work. One of the employees said she was one of the first groups to be moved into the building last May before the deadly fire and she immediately got sick. A 36-page building condition assessment into the safety of the building conducted by the Department of Infrastructure Development in February found that 11 Diagonal Street has serious structural defects. Some of the issues highlighted in the report include exposed wiring, rotting walls, damaged and suspended ceiling boards and no ablution facilities for disabled employees. Gauteng Human Settlements, Urban Planning and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Lebogang Maile on Wednesday said that when he took over office he was assured the building was safe. Read the full original of the above report in The Star by Tebogo Monama and Lehlohonolo Mashigo at Security.co.za Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Minerals Council calls for government intervention as xenophobic violence in Gauteng continues Mining Weekly reports that the Minerals Council SA (previously known as the Chamber of Mines) on Wednesday said it was “deeply concerned and saddened” at the violence that had erupted in and around Gauteng over the course of the last few days. In particular, the council said the mining industry was “disturbed” at the xenophobic character of the violence. It explained that, since the inception of the country’s mining industry, SA had “owed much of its development and growth to the contributions of non-South African citizens” to its mining operations. In more recent decades, investments in the mining industries of numerous sub-Saharan African countries had become part of the lifeblood of many council members. “These reasons, as well as a recognition of the impact of the instability on the country’s economy and for concern at the human costs inflicted on those targeted in this violence, are the basis of the mining industry’s distress,” the council noted. It called on government to maximise efforts to halt the violence. However, the council said SA also needed to “recognise that joblessness and poverty, though no justification for it, are likely to some extent at the root of some of the violence”. Thus the government’s immediate “law and order” response must be supported by urgent economic reform that puts the country back on a reasonable growth path. Read the full original of the above report at Mining Weekly. Read too, Ramaphosa says South Africa must quell attacks on foreigners, at Engineering News NUM lashes out at Ramaphosa, Mantashe and ANC for snubbing its special congress Independent News reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has lashed out at President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe and the ANC for snubbing its two-day special national conference in Durban. Starting from Wednesday, the union’s more than 670 delegates from around the country met at the Durban ICC to amend its constitution. KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC Ravi Pillay, in his capacity as the acting premier, was the only speaker who was not a member of NUM to address the delegates and international guests. Mantashe was invited in his capacity as the minister of mineral resources. The union's general secretary David Sipunzi said Ramaphosa had tendered his apology because of other engagements, but had not sent a replacement speaker. Sipunzi lamented that Mantashe’s office had not even sent a response to say whether or not he would honour the invitation. “There seems to be other issues that are more important than addressing us when there are no elections coming. But when there are elections they will trip over each other demanding to address us,” commented Sipunzi. Read the full original of the above report by Bongani Hans at Independent News Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
SOE tenders for multi-billion rand projects give construction sector hope Moneyweb reports that SA’s troubled construction industry has been given a glimmer of hope, with state-owned enterprises (SOEs) Transnet, Eskom, the Airports Company of SA (Acsa) and the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) advertising multiple multi-billion rand construction projects. Louwtjie Nel, chair of listed construction and engineering group WBHO, confirmed this on Tuesday and said: “The re-emergence of large scale public infrastructure projects could result in an improvement in the local construction environment over the medium term.” However, Nel added that the capacity of the industry as a whole had been severely reduced with the spate of corporate failures and exits from the construction market, resulting in minimal training within the sector and a significant emigration of skills. Nel noted that progress had been made by government in restoring good governance within SOEs and that future opportunities existed for well-run mid-tier and emerging construction businesses to grow and fill the gap. But Nel said unrest and disruptions from communities, business forums and taxi associations were a concern and had become commonplace and increasingly violent, threatening the safety of the group’s people and impacting productivity. Read the full original of the above report by Roy Cokayne at Moneyweb Other internet posting(s) in this news category
SAA in search of new chief restructuring officer after turnaround expert Peter Davies steps down BusinessLive reports that the British airline turnaround expert Peter Davies is to step down as the chief restructuring officer (CRO) of SAA. Davies, who was appointed less than two years ago, will remain an adviser to the board and a new full-time CRO will be sought. Davies, who was formerly head of Air Malta and Brussels Airlines, had been based in the UK during his tenure. SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said on Wednesday that the airline had advertised the position of the CRO to enable a successor to assume the responsibilities held by Davies. Lenders had required that a CRO be put in place at the airline. It is now also a condition of the Treasury that a CRO be appointed in state-owned enterprises that receive government bailouts. The position of CEO was also advertised last weekend. Former CEO Vuyani Jarana resigned in June and left immediately. The chair of SAA, JB Magwaza, resigned in July. SAA is holding out for a R3.5bn bailout from the Treasury once the Special Appropriation Bill has been processed and signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa. In addition to the bailout, SAA requires another R4bn to cover its working capital for 2019/2020 and must either roll over or repay R9.2bn of debt at the end of this month. But lenders remain cautious. Read the full original of the above report by Carol Paton at BusinessLive Two former ‘SABC 8’ journalists and another to give evidence at state capture inquiry on Thursday News24 reports that the state capture commission of inquiry was scheduled to hear testimony on Thursday from three former SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) employees, including two who were part of the infamous ‘SABC 8’. The name was given to a group of eight journalists in 2016 when they spoke out against what they called "censorship" under the leadership of then chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng. The three scheduled to testify before commission chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, were Krivani Pillay, Thandeka Gqubule-Mbeki and Mwaba Phiri. The commission heard evidence this week from key former and current top management staffers at the SABC. CEO Madoda Mxakwe told the commission that the public broadcaster had been subjected to a systematic collapse of governance and financial processes for many years. He also said he believed the only reason the SABC had been able to stay afloat was because of the dedication of its staff. Read the full original of the above report by Kamva Somdyala at News24. Read too, Former SABC CEO tells state capture inquiry she was pushed out of SABC, at Independent News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
McKinsey reckons SA could add 1.2m jobs by 2030 through digitisation and automation advancements Bloomberg reports that digitisation and automation advancements could add 1.2 million jobs in South Africa by 2030, McKinsey & Co said in a report Thursday. Technology-related gains could triple South Africa’s productivity growth, more than double growth in per-capita income and add more than a percentage point to the real gross-domestic-product growth rate over the next decade, the report indicated. Still, McKinsey cautioned that “concerted action will be needed from businesses, government, labour organisations and educational institutions” to realise the gains. Read the original of the above report by Antony Sguazzin at Moneyweb
Government Employees Pension Fund denies any responsibility for PIC’s failures BL Premium reports that the board of trustees of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) says it has not failed in its responsibility to look after the interests of its 1.7-million members and pensioners. This is despite numerous revelations of impropriety emanating from the commission of inquiry into the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). The GEPF entrusts the state-owned asset manager to directly and indirectly manage its entire R1.8-trillion fund, which accounts for about 88% of the funds the PIC manages. A number of serious allegations of wrongdoing have been levelled against senior executives at the PIC since the inquiry began hearings in January. But, the GEPF maintains that its relationship with the PIC is at “arm’s length” in commercial terms, and despite it being the asset manager’s largest client, has not appeared to censure the PIC in any way. Questions were posed after the conclusions of hearings at the commission and in the wake of an investigation into the controversial R120m fee paid by Steinhoff to businessman Jayendra Naidoo. The fee was arguably owed to the GEPF for its role in providing funds for Naidoo’s consortium to buy shares in the furniture retailer in September 2016. “The PIC invests on behalf of the GEPF. It is for the PIC to recover any fees that are recoverable in the course of the investments that it makes,” the board stated. The issue has brought focus to the question of exactly who is at risk when the GEPF fails to earn fees or obtain sufficient investment returns as a result of impropriety or negligence at the PIC. Read the full original of the above article by Warren Thompson at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
Old Mutual must see fight with axed CEO Peter Moyo through to the end and not do a quiet deal BL Premium comments that Old Mutual has no choice but to see the battle with former CEO Peter Moyo play out to the very last. There might be a temptation to settle things quietly, behind closed doors, and hope the whole thing blows over and is forgotten by year-end. Certainly some shareholders, weary of the insurance giant making headlines for all the wrong reasons, would like to see that happen. However this option is complicated by the fact that any payment to Moyo would have to be made public due to disclosure requirements. Rightly or wrongly, the about 20% slump in the share price, since the dramatic announcement in May that Moyo had been suspended, has been attributed entirely to the ungainly public spat. Old Mutual doesn’t seem to have played a very strategic game. Equally, there have been blunders on Moyo’s side. Whether the Old Mutual share price weakness is permanent will depend entirely on how this story ends rather than how it’s played. The group’s history the last two decades has been about inappropriate generosity being heaped on poorly performing senior executives, while shareholders and policyholders have been left with slim, if any, pickings. The Moyo saga should not represent a continuation of this unacceptable tradition. Read the full original of the above commentary at BusinessLive (paywall access only). Read too, Forget finances, Old Mutual is set to pay dearly in the reputation stakes, at BusinessLive. And also, Peter Moyo haunts Old Mutual, at Financial Mail (paywall access only) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Polokwane cop arrested for writing his own sick notes since 2013 TimesLIVE reports that a suspicious-looking sick note has unmasked a police warrant officer and his wife for running a bogus doctor's certificate and prescription scam going back to 2013. The Limpopo policeman, who was busted on Wednesday, had allegedly issued more than 20 sick certificates to himself. His wife managed to evade arrest, and is believed to be on the run. "This arrest is the result of acts of fraud dating from 2013 until this year, after a suspicious-looking medical certificate, purportedly issued by a certain medical doctor, was submitted with a leave form in Seshego," explained a police spokesperson. The couple from Polokwane also allegedly sold sick notes for R200. The wife of the 53-year-old officer, attached to protection and security services, had apparently previously worked for a doctor in the area. When she was fired, she allegedly stole documents bearing the doctor's letterhead. The officer is expected to appear soon in the Seshego magistrate's court on charges of fraud. Read the full original of the above report by Nonkululeko Njilo at TimesLIVE
Teacher from Amy'Leigh’s school reportedly among three people arrested for her kidnapping News24 reports that one of the three people arrested for the kidnapping of six-year-old Grade R pupil Amy'Leigh de Jager is a teacher at her school, Laerskool Kollegepark, in Vanderbijlpark. This was confirmed by Amy'Leigh's father, Wynand de Jager, as well as a second trusted source close to the investigation. De Jager said on Thursday: "I can confirm that one of the suspects is indeed [a teacher at the school]. She is known to me and my family. I wish to make it clear that my family had no hand in this." According to a police spokesperson, one man and two women, aged 27 to 50, were arrested just before midnight on Wednesday. A Gauteng education spokesperson could not confirm whether or not a teacher at the school had been arrested. Four men snatched Amy'Leigh from her mother's car at the school and drove off. Her kidnappers dropped her off on Tuesday afternoon on a street in Vanderbijlpark. Read the full original of the above report by Riaan Grobler and Sharlene Rood at News24
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