TOP STORY - RETRENCHMENTS

Only two weeks into 2020 and already almost 6,000 jobs are on the line

Columnist Mamokgethi Molopyane writes that barely a month into 2020, retrenchments, the trimming of workforces and restructuring talks are dominating the news.  In recent years, the mining industry has been the sector undertaking such actions, but last week’s announcements came from companies in the telecoms and retail sectors.  While Sibanye-Stillwater revealed that it had given voluntary packages to 1,142 employees as part of its restructuring process, Telkom announced plans to cut 3,000 jobs and Massmart said that it might close 34 stores, which would affect at least 1,400 employees.  That is a possible 6,000 jobs gone, just two weeks into 2020.  Moreover, restructuring activity will not be limited to the private sector.  State-owned entities (SOEs) such as Eskom, SAA and the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) will likely be forced to do likewise to ensure their survival.  Unfortunately, with a growth rate of 0.9%, the economy offers no solution to either job losses or the creation of employment opportunities.  Molopyane argues that the bottom line is that “South Africa being in this mess is of its own doing.”  While there have been external factors beyond its control, the severe joblessness and other social problems have emerged from SA’s own doing.  The regulatory framework, politicians’ lack of understanding of the effects of the global economy on the country, and its inability to produce coherent policies that can react to these changes – are said by Molopyane to be self-inflicted.  Given that 2020 has started as the year of the culling of jobs, it is likely that the current 29.1% unemployment rate will break into the 30s.  Moreover, considering the projected growth and the often-cited regulatory constraints, the year will continue to see a retreat in investment and very little job creation.

Read the column by Mamokgethi Molopyane in full at Moneyweb

CWU angered by Telkom’s proposed job cuts

Reuters reports that the Communication Workers Union (CWU) is angered by Telkom’s plan to cut up to 3,000 workers and on Sunday called for an urgent meeting with the ruling ANC and the minister of communication.  Telkom, in which the government holds a stake of about 39%, told unions on Wednesday that it could cut up to,3 000 of more than 15,000 staff due to declining performance in fixed voice and fixed data services.  The telecoms firm is also grappling with organisational and operational inefficiencies linked to fixed voice and data services, which require more staff to install, maintain and market.  CWU said it found the presentation by the company “ridiculous and undermining not only to workers but the country at large,” adding that in 2016 the company presented almost the same reasons to cut over 2,000 jobs and further outsourced thousands more jobs.  CWU warned Telkom not to continue with its plan to retrench workers, “but engage on a meaningful dialogue in an attempt to avoid any jobs bloodbath or face mass action.”  On Thursday, Solidarity wrote to Telkom requesting a moratorium on forced retrenchments during which a retraining programme be implemented “so workers can be equipped with new skills to help Telkom grow in the fast-changing information environment.”  The Federation of Unions of SA on Friday called on the government as the majority shareholder in Telkom to dismiss the entire board with immediate effect for “gross leadership failure over the last five years and a lack of strategic direction and planning.”

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nqobile Dludla at Moneyweb

Sibanye-Stillwater cuts fewer jobs than expected at its Marikana operations

BL Premium reports that Sibanye-Stillwater has cut its Marikana workforce by 4,775 jobs, fewer than it flagged when it started the restructuring process late in 2019.  Sibanye bought the financially distressed Lonmin in June 2019 and in September said it would cut up to 5,270 jobs at those assets.  On Thursday, Sibanye, now the world’s largest source of six platinum group metals (PGMs), said it had reduced the workforce at the assets, collectively renamed Marikana, by 4,775.  “We are pleased with the outcome of the consultations with stakeholders, which despite the necessary closure of some end of life shafts, resulted in the preservation of a number of jobs.  This will result in a more sustainable business, which will secure employment for the majority of the Marikana workforce for a much longer period,” Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman said.  Sibanye employs more than 80,000 people at its PGM and gold mines in SA, with the PGM mines employing 45,000 people after the job cuts.  Of the job reductions unveiled on Thursday, 1,142 positions were cut by forced retrenchments and the termination of 1,709 contractor positions.  A further 1,612 people opted for voluntary severance packages, with the balance coming from retirement and natural attrition.  Sibanye managed to temporarily avoid cutting 329 jobs by extending reclamation work at Shaft 1B to the end of 2020.  It transferred 166 employees to other positions within the company.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Allan Seccombe at BusinessLive (paywall access only)

SOEs IN CRISIS

Mboweni says endless demands of SOEs and public sector wage bill are biggest threats to fiscal sustainability

BL Premium reports that finance minister Tito Mboweni said on Thursday that the "never-ending demands" of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the public sector wage bill and corruption and general mismanagement were the major threats to SA’s fiscal sustainability.  He was speaking ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland.  SOEs that were able to demonstrate a sustainable revenue stream that could fund a business would require support, he said, but those that could not, should "ask themselves about their existence”.  The growing public sector wage bill, though "difficult to talk about", was another "huge threat to our fiscus", Mboweni said.  "And this has to be approached responsibly in trying to find a solution, before the February budget," he added.  Mboweni also railed against corruption, waste and mismanagement at the national, provincial and local government levels, which was destroying bulk infrastructure and was costly for the state to replace.  However, he stated that there was “a determination on the part of SA authorities to implement serious structural reforms".  These included a determined effort to put SOEs on the correct path.  Mboweni also emphasised the independence of the SA Reserve Bank and gave reassurances that this would be communicated to global investors.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lynley Donnelly at BusinessLive (paywall access only)

Government still looking for R2bn to save SAA, but flights remain operational

Moneyweb reports that government has yet to find the remaining R2 billion needed for the South African Airways (SAA) business rescue plan, but has reaffirmed its commitment to seeing the business process to its successful conclusion.  “Following a meeting with the practitioners at the weekend, the Department of Public Enterprises is engaging with the National Treasury to raise funds for the airline in line with the [post-commencement funding] undertaking,” the Public Enterprises Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.  When SAA took the route of voluntary business rescue in December, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said R4 billion would be needed for the operation, with half of the amount to be raised from lenders and the other half to be raised in a “fiscally neutral manner”.  Louise Brugman, spokesperson for business rescue practitioner Les Matuson, was able to confirm that flights would remain operational.  However, she could not provide information on whether the government had been able to find the remaining R2 billion needed for SAA’s business rescue plans.  While it emerged last week that the airline had on 10 January placed nine of its aircraft, 15 engines and other parts for up sale, it denied claims that this was in order to raise the R2 billion.  Instead, the airline said the sale was to accommodate four new aircraft added to its fleet.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tebogo Tshwane at Moneyweb

Sale of SAA aircraft ‘demonstration of rampant looting’, say Numsa and Sacca

EWN reports that the National Union for Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) have raised suspicion over the sale of aircraft at South African Airways (SAA).  The financially strapped airline put up a tender notice on its website last week about selling nine aircraft and 15 spare engines.  SAA said the sale was to accommodate the new airbus planes it recently added to its fleet and had nothing to do with being placed under business rescue.  But, the unions claimed that the SAA board and management were selling assets so that nothing was left and the national carrier was a shell by the time that business rescue was implemented.  Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said:  “The sale of the aircraft is another demonstration of the rampant looting and corruption which has brought SAA to this point of collapse; and it is for this reason that we are also demanding the immediate suspension of the entire SAA senior executive leadership, pending an independent investigation into the sale of the sale aircraft.”

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sifiso Zulu & Ray White at EWN. Read too, DA rejects plans by cash-strapped SAA to sell off some aircraft, at EWN

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

• SA Express says it has not received a business rescue application, and will oppose it if it does, at Fin24
• SAA’s Martin Kingston resigns, at BusinessLive

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY

Amcu laments deadly start to 2020 for mineworkers

News24 reports that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) said it was saddened by a "tragic start to 2020" as three mine workers died while on duty last week.  According to the union, a locomotive driver was fatally injured in a mud rush at Harmony Gold.  Amcu reported that “the worker went to inspect the box chute, which conveys ore into locomotive carriers, and for some reason yet unknown the box opened and overwhelmed him with collected ore, killing him.  The Amcu comrade was from Lesotho and he leaves behind a wife and four children."  A few days later, another mine worker was found dead underground after his shift at the Phakisa mine near Odendaalsrus in the Free State.  A rock drill operator died that same week at Sibanye-Stillwater’s Bambanani Shaft near Rustenburg in a fall-of-ground incident, according to Amcu.  "The union has been consistently calling for amendments to the Mine Health and Safety Act.  But, yet again we see another breadwinner killed," Amcu said.  It particularly lamented the number of workers killed at Harmony Gold, which it said had suffered ten fatalities in 2019.  

Read the original of the above report by Azarrah Karrim at News24

Sixth alleged cop killer 'who forced officer into police van with his dead colleague' arrested

News24 reports that a sixth suspect wanted for the murder of a constable in Coffee Bay in the Eastern Cape, appeared in the Mqanduli Magistrate's Court on Friday.  Constable Lonwabo Soga was shot dead on 3 December.  He and his colleague Constable Siyabonga Nani had reportedly been attending to a complaint in Coffee Bay when they were approached by six men in a double-cab bakkie who were ostensibly in need of police assistance.  Soga, in the driver's seat, was approached by two of the men while another two went to Nani's side of the vehicle.  One of the suspects standing at the passenger's side drew his firearm and shot at Soga, who died instantly.  The suspects then ordered Nani, who was not armed, to move Soga’s body to the back of the vehicle and to get inside.  The gang drove the police van to a nearby shop where a security guard opened the gate, reasoning that it was an official vehicle.  They demanded R3 000, liquor and tobacco and then fled the crime scene in the shop owner's vehicle, which was later abandoned.  The police van was left at the crime scene with the policemen locked in the back.  All six suspects are expected back in the dock on 22 January.  They face charges of murder, attempted murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tammy Petersen at News24

LABOUR MARKET / IMMIGRATION

Bill to reserve jobs for South Africans and to establish integrity commission on IFP's 2020 parliamentary agenda

News24 reports that passing a private member's bill that will preserve jobs for South Africans and establishing an integrity commission as a Chapter 9 institution are two of the IFP's goals for the 2020 parliamentary year.  The party's parliamentary caucus, which held a two-day session in Cape Town last week to prepare for the year ahead, briefed the media on its plans on Friday.  IFP chief whip Narend Singh said that the biggest threat to SA was joblessness and to that end, the IFP would introduce a private member's bill that would place a quota on the number of foreign nationals who could be employed in SA, reserving the largest portion for South Africans.  Asked if this was not xenophobic, nationalistic and populist, IFP MP Liezl van der Merwe said it was not a xenophobic bill and it would “actually solve xenophobia" as many people have complained that foreign nationals were taking their jobs.  She claimed it was in line with international best practice, adding that similar measures were in place in Nigeria, Ghana and Angola.  IFP MP and national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa commented:  "It's not nationalistic, it's not xenophobic, it's patriotic."  While the IFP supports universal health care, it said it had concerns about some of the mechanisms the National Health Insurance Bill provided for, and it would try and persuade Health Minister Zweli Mkhize to give thought to some of its proposals.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jan Gerber at News24

RECRUITMENT / APPOINTMENTS

Transnet declines to comment on conflicting reports about CEO appointment

BusinessLive reports that Transnet has declined to comment on the appointment of a new group CEO after conflicting reports at the weekend that Portia Derby, former wife of one-time Transnet CEO Brian Molefe, was in line for the top job.  The Sunday Times reported that the Transnet board, chaired by Popo Molefe, has endorsed the appointment of Derby.  However, City Press reported that the board’s preferred candidate was Patrick Dlamini, current CEO of the Development Bank of Southern Africa.  Derby’s name was allegedly thrown in the ring after the initial interviews and at the insistence of public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan.  Six months after the interviews were conducted, a permanent CEO has yet to be appointed.  Derby was formerly married to Brian Molefe, who was also once the CEO of Eskom and who stands accused of awarding hundreds of millions worth of contracts to favour Gupta-linked companies during his tenure at both state-owned enterprises.  But, Derby’s association with Molefe was taken into account before she was recommended for the job.  The two apparently fell out over Molefe’s association with the Gupta family.  Transnet said it had received a number of media queries on the announcement of the new CEO and other outstanding executive appointments but it would not comment on the appointment “as the process is to be finalised with the shareholder minister”.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lisa Steyn at BusinessLive. Read too, Conflict between board and Gordhan delays appointment of Transnet CEO, at City Press

NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE / LIVING WAGE

Domestic workers fight for national minimum wage through ‘One Wage Campaign’

GroundUp writes that Pinky Mashilane, founder of United Domestic Workers of SA, points out that domestic workers buy in the same shops and pay the same transport costs, “so we must be treated like all workers and get the same minimum wage."  Mashilane, who has worked as a domestic worker for over 30 years, is currently involved in the One Wage Campaign — a coalition of unions and civil society organisations fighting for all workers to receive an equal minimum wage.  The campaign was launched in August 2019, eight months after the National Minimum Wage Act was implemented.  The Act has been criticised by One Wage Campaign for setting the minimum wage lower than R20 for some workers.  Domestic workers are entitled to R15 an hour, while farmworkers are entitled to R18 an hour and Expanded Public Works Programme workers are entitled to only R11 an hour.  According to Mashilane, the domestic worker wage is "not a living wage", but some domestic workers earn even less.  "And now they want to exclude us from the minimum wage."  In November 2019, the campaign submitted a legal and economic argument to the National Minimum Wage Commission, which oversees the minimum wage, arguing that all workers must be recognised as equal under the law and ultimately, the minimum wage must be raised to a living wage.  Chief Director of Labour at the Employment and Labour Department, Thembinkosi Mkalipi, said the commission had two years to complete its work on equalising the minimum wage, so the final report would be at the end of 2020.  "The Act does not guarantee that minimum wages will be equalised.  This will depend on the results of the research on whether there have been job losses as a result of the introduction of the minimum wage or not," Mkalipi indicated.

Read the full original of the GroundUp report in the above regard by Zoë Postman at News24

SEXUAL MISCONDUCT / HARASSMENT / ABUSE

Defence department briefed about Military Ombud’s mandate to investigate sexual abuse cases in SANDF

News24 reports that the Department of Defence and Military Veterans' ministerial task team has briefed the department about its mandate to investigate cases of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and sexual offences within the SA National Defence Force (SANDF).  The meeting, which was led by Military Ombud retired Lieutenant General Vusumuzi Masondo and chairperson Thoko Mpumlwana, was held in order for the task team to understand the South African Military Ombud Office's mandate and also touched on the issue of co-operation between it and the task team.  The task team was launched in December by Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to investigate sexual offences in the SANDF.  The Military Ombud was created in 2012 to investigate complaints lodged against SANDF members.  Members of the public have also been advised to approach the Ombud with their complaints.  Masondo said the meeting between the Ombud and the task team was imperative as they were tasked with protecting the basic human rights of those who served within the SANDF.  "Our office will continue to play a meaningful role in making sure that the fundamental rights of those who serve in the force are protected," he indicated.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ntwaagae Seleka at News24

COMMUTING / TRANSPORT

Prasa closes Booysens and Knights stations in Gauteng indefinitely after mass vandalism

GroundUp reports that the Passenger Railway Agency of SA (Prasa) has released footage of two Gauteng train stations that have been closed, with services suspended due to vandalism in December 2019.  The stations are Booysens in Johannesburg and Knights station in Kaalfontein.  In a statement, the agency said an unprecedented spike in mass vandalism, theft of electrical wires, lack of electrical lines and the destruction of infrastructure had resulted in a majority of sections across regional railway services being closed down.  It had suffered severe disruption in commuter services as a result.  Prasa indicated that it had implemented various interventions to reduce the delay and cancellation of services, including diesel locomotives being taken to areas with no overhead power to run trains.  The rail agency has also focused security on high-crime hot spots and expedited all procurement contracts for spares and other critical services.  "The enormity of the task to rebuild substations and related support infrastructure cannot be underestimated, there simply are no quick fixes," Zwelakhe Mayaba, Acting Prasa Rail CEO, warned.  

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nomvelo Chalumbira at News24