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, 31 March 2020.
|
Lockdown is legal, says Constitutional Court as it dismisses NGO's application to have it declared unconstitutional TimesLIVE reports that the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) has dismissed an application by a civil society organisation to have President Cyril Ramaphosa's lockdown declared unconstitutional. Ramaphosa declared a 21-day lockdown last week in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19. The Hola Bon Renaissance (HBR) Foundation urgently approached the court on Thursday asking it to declare the 21-day lockdown unconstitutional. The NGO had wanted the court to declare that Covid-19 posed no serious threat to the country and its people. “HBR Foundation believes that Covid-19 cannot be harmful to Africans,” it claimed. On Monday, the ConCourt dismissed the application, saying: “The Constitutional Court has considered the application for direct access to this court on an urgent basis. It has concluded that the application should be dismissed as it bears no reasonable prospects of success.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nomahlubi Jordaan at TimesLIVE Netcare warns 21-day lockdown might not be long enough to achieve intended goal BusinessLive reports that private hospital group Netcare says the three-week lockdown initiated by President Cyril Ramaphosa might not be long enough to achieve the government’s aim of slowing the spread of Covid-19 to prevent the health system from being overwhelmed. “Our modelling suggests that, as has been experienced in other countries, and depending on the effectiveness of the lockdown, it will require ongoing evaluation to determine if the time period is sufficient to achieve its intended goals,” it stated. Netcare has already spent R150m in stepping up protective measures in its facilities and readying itself for an anticipated surge in Covid-19 patients. It has paused capital expenditure projects totalling R800m, put strategic projects on hold and is suspending future share buybacks. The group has also stopped all non-essential elective surgery and closed its in-house pharmacies to the public, to reduce the risk of asymptomatic carriers transmitting the virus to staff or patients. Netcare said the situation in SA was “extremely concerning”, and its actuarial modelling indicated the already constrained health system would struggle to cope with the looming increase in the number of patients requiring hospitalisation and beds in intensive care units. Given the state’s limited hospital bed capacity, the health department has been negotiating with the private sector to draw on its resources. Netcare has agreed to treat state patients on a not-for-profit, cost-recovery basis. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive Local companies urged to free up their protective equipment for health workers BusinessLive reports that Business SA (BSA), a new initiative to help the government’s response to Covid-19, has issued an urgent call to companies to release their supplies of masks, gowns and gloves to protect health-care staff tackling the virus. BSA includes organisations such as Business Unity SA (Busa) and the Black Business Council. Local stocks of personal protective equipment (PPE) have been hit by soaring global demand in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and health-care workers have already sounded the alarm over shortages of masks, gloves, plastic aprons and goggles. The SA Medical Association (Sama) has advised doctors to consider every patient as being potentially infected and step up their use of protective equipment, but it has received reports of shortages in public hospitals, particularly in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. “In almost every sector, there are companies that have stocks of protective gear that they issue to employees to protect them in the workplace. These are the stocks that are urgently required to be fed into the national health efforts to combat and manage the spread of Covid-19,” said BSA’s Stavros Nicolaou. Supplies will be allocated to both private and public health-care facilities, in consultation with the national health department. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive. Read too, Business SA urges ‘maximum generosity’ during lockdown, at BusinessLive Employees of international call centre in Durban evacuated over lockdown violations TimesLIVE reports that an international call centre based in SA has drawn the ire of union federation Cosatu and the KwaZulu-Natal department of economic development, tourism and environmental affairs for allegedly forcing workers to continue working during the national lockdown and threatening pay cuts for those who refuse. On Monday, Cosatu and economic department officials met CCI South Africa representatives and employees before staff were evacuated from the company’s premises in Umhlanga. Cosatu’s Edwin Mkhize indicated that because of the high volume of calls received from employees of the company since Friday, the federation paid a visit to the building. He indicated: "CCI has a history of exploiting workers. First, we went through the building and none of the people there are essential workers. They are not supposed to be at work." Apparently, workers were only given masks and gloves and social distancing enforced once Cosatu officials arrived. Mkhize also claimed that: "Workers were told to come to work or take unpaid leave. We have since established that the employer has deducted monies from salaries, in anticipation of workers taking leave before they can even get their salaries." He demanded that money deducted from salaries be returned and that the unpaid compulsory leave be put to an end. Mkhize added that the company should not be in operation and the workers should be paid for the 21 days of lockdown. According to one employee they were told to lie to authorities and claim they worked at a network service provider that was given essential-service status. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Zimasa Matiwane and Lwandile Bhengu at TimesLIVE Concern over conduct of law enforcement officers after three lockdown-related deaths News24 reports that the conduct of police and the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) in the first four days of the national Covid-19 lockdown has come into sharp focus. There have been three deaths, allegedly at the hands of law enforcement officers, and claims of abuse, heavy-handed policing and the use of excessive force. The lockdown started on Friday, in a bid to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19). President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed the SANDF to assist police in ensuring residents stayed indoors, except to buy food and medication or to get medical attention. Only people who work for businesses deemed to render essential services may leave home to go to work. Footage of soldiers and police officers beating people or forcing them to perform strenuous exercises has been widely circulated on social media. Three people have died since Friday after alleged interactions with a metro police officer and at least two police officers, one in Gauteng and two in the Western Cape. In the first incident, a Vosloorus man was gunned down in his home after allegedly being followed by police. The man's children, aged four and 11, were also injured in the shooting. In the second incident, a man was allegedly beaten with a hammer and tasered by police in Cape Town after being caught on a beer run. Details about the second death in the Western Cape are not yet available. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Azarrah Karrim at News24. Read too, Lockdown brutality exposed, on page 1 of The Star of 31 March 2020 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Bus companies and transport unions reach 6% wage agreement, averting possibility of strike BusinessLive reports that bus companies have reached a wage agreement with trade unions, averting a possible strike in the sector that has already been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Gary Wilson, general secretary of the SA Road Passenger Bargaining Council (Sarpbac), advised on Monday that a one-year agreement was reached on Thursday last week. All workers will receive a 6% wage increase, effective on 1 April. The parties compromised by dropping other demands that could potentially have led to a strike during the Easter period. The unions covered by the agreement include the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), Transport & Omnibus Workers Union (Towu), Togetherness Amalgamated Workers' Union of SA (Tawusa), and Tirisano Transport and Services Workers Union (Taswu). Among their demands, the unions had sought an industry medical aid and a one-year, 8.5% wage increase for employees at the lower end of the wage scale and 7.5% for those at the higher end of the scale. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive
Cosatu’s unions declare dispute over public sector salary increases due on 1 April BusinessLive reports that Cosatu’s public sector unions have declared a wage dispute with the government over salary increases due in April, thereby leading the way to possible court action. The unions, including Nehawu, Sadtu and Denosa, held a teleconference on Monday where this decision was taken. On Tuesday, Nehawu’s Zola Saphetha indicated that they had “formally declared a dispute” that would culminate in the unions approaching the courts to force the government to implement the wage agreement. Denosa’s Cassim Lekhoathi said they had followed the dispute resolution processes, which he stated could “force the employer to comply”. “A letter to that effect will be sent ... to the employer on Tuesday,” said Lekhoathi. This was after the unions rejected public service and administration minister Senzo Mchunu’s revised offer of a 4.4% pay increase for workers on employment levels one to eight, with no increase for levels nine to 16. The unions want the government to implement the last leg of the three-year wage agreement signed in the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) in 2018. In the agreement the government agreed to pay levels one to eight employees CPI plus 1% and to pay levels nine to 16 CPI plus 0.5%. The Public Servants Association of SA has put the state on terms to honour the 2018 wage agreement. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive Certain office bearers and members of judiciary get backdated salary hikes The Star reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa has published in the government gazette a determination of salaries and allowances for certain categories of public servants and some members of the judiciary. In terms of his notice published on 25 March, the increases will be backdated to April last year. Increases of 3% will apply for office bearers who earn above R1.5million, and 4% for those earning below that. The salaries of kings and queens are now set at R1.2m, principal traditional leaders at R1.1m, senior traditional leaders at R270,729 and headmen and head women at R116,418. The chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders (NHTL) will pocket R933,270; his deputy R713,811; chairperson of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders (PHTL) R768,678; NHTL members R415,113; and PHTL members R355,842. According to the notice, judges will not receive any increases. However, the salaries of magistrates will be increased by 4%. Regional court presidents will receive R1.4m; regional magistrates R1.3m; chief magistrates R1.3m; and senior magistrates and magistrates up to R1m each. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mayibongwe Maqhina at Independent News
Cosatu wants PIC to pressurise malls into giving Edcon stores rental holidays BL Premium reports that in a bid to save Edcon, trade union federation Cosatu wants the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) to pressure landlords to provide the retailer with a rental holiday. The PIC put up R1.2bn in cash, using Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) funds, to save Edcon at the end of 2018, reportedly at the strong urging of Cosatu. Edcon CEO Grant Pattison told suppliers on Thursday that the fashion retailer could not pay them due to a 45% reduction in cash flow, after shoppers stayed away in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. He is unsure if the shops will be able reopen at the end of the lockdown. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks said as the PIC was a shareholder in many property companies that owned malls, it had influence to negotiate further reduced rental rates for Edcon. The PIC managers just more than R2-trillion in assets, mostly on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund. Cosatu also wants banks to provide a payment holiday to consumers who have home, credit card and car loans to help them cope with constrained finances. A payment holiday would allow shoppers to have cash to spend if and when Edcon reopens. Etienne Vlok of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) said the union would fight to save the retailer. Sactwu represents textile factory workers who work for Edcon suppliers. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Katharine Child and Alistair Anderson at BusinessLive (paywall access only). Read too, Covid-19 could be Edcon death blow, on page 5 of Sunday Times Business Times of 29 March 2020. And also, Edcon can only pay salaries right now, tearful CEO tells suppliers, at BizCommunity
Seifsa encourages re-industrialisation, development of artisans Engineering News reports that the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) says that while SA remains a dual economy with a very high level of inequality, part of addressing the unemployment challenge can be through re-industrialisation of its economy. According to Seifsa, re-industrialisation is one of the key initiatives with the potential to not only unlock the country’s economic growth potential but also to create much-needed jobs, particularly for young people. “When it takes off, South Africa’s re-industrialisation will demand technical skills, such as those offered by artisans, among others,” the industry body noted. Seifsa CEO Kaizer Nyatsumba pointed out that as a country SA did not produce a sufficient number of artisan skills on a yearly basis, compared with the skills produced by universities, universities of technology and private colleges. Moreover, South Africans tended to place “too great an emphasis” on sending children to universities to improve their prospects of finding employment, notwithstanding that every year thousands of university graduates struggled to find jobs. Accordingly, Seifsa first introduced the Seifsa Awards for Excellence in 2015 to celebrate companies that have embarked on the continuous journey of developing a pool of artisans SA can count on. And this year, Seifsa will present the Decade of the Artisan Award to a company that trained the highest number of artisans between July 2018 and December 2019. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News
New Metair project will create 3,200 jobs, mostly in SA Moneyweb reports that automotive component manufacturer Metair Investments is confident that a business opportunity it has secured, which will create 3,200 new jobs, will still materialise and has not been destroyed by the coronavirus. Most of the new jobs will be in SA. “We don’t believe the opportunity has gone away because of the crisis. It might be delayed a bit but it’s definitely not gone away,” said Metair CEO Theo Loock on Monday. He added that any delay was not only in Metair’s hands because it was a customer project but they would prefer to enter into such capital-intensive projects in a period of stability. He indicated that these projects were not necessarily linked that much to market demand issues because they involved planned new product launches, but their preference was for a delay of three to six months. Loock advised that 80% of Metair’s almost 7,000 employees worldwide were in SA and this opportunity would grow that 80% by 3,200 employees. Metair confirmed on Monday that its operations in South Africa, Romania and Germany were all closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Roy Cokayne at Moneyweb
Coca-Cola wins round one in battle against SAB over BEE benefit payouts to former employees BL Premium reports that Coca-Cola Beverages SA (CCBSA) has won its urgent application relating to the payout by SABMiller of BEE benefits to its former employees. CCBSA, on behalf of its employees, claimed a breach of the conditions of the merger in terms of which the Coca-Cola Company bought SABMiller shares held in Coca-Cola Beverage Africa (CCBA). The merger joined the bottling operations of Coca-Cola southern and east Africa and SABMiller and its amalgamate beverages unit that makes soft drinks. It was subject to strict conditions. At the time, SAB said its then employees would remain beneficiaries of its BEE scheme, Zenzele, as if they had never changed employers to Coca-Cola. This was made an order of the court by the Competition Tribunal that approved the merger conditions. With the SAB-Zenzele scheme coming to completion, SABMiller has said its last March top-up benefits would not be paid to former employees, who are now at Coca-Cola. SAB and AB-InBev do not interpret the merger agreement to apply to the March top-up benefits. However, CCBSA believes its workers are entitled to the top-up benefits. In an urgent interim order, the Tribunal sided with CCBSA's interpretation of the merger agreement as it applied to the BEE scheme. SABMiller has to set aside benefits for its former workers, but they will not be paid out until the Competition Commission makes a final recommendation on the issue. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Katharine Child at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
Workforce Holdings says national minimum wage hike has hit its clients BusinessLive reports that labour services group Workforce Holding said on Tuesday that the recent increase in the national minimum wage (NMW) was having an effect on some of its clients. SA’s national minimum wage increased by 3.8% from the beginning of March, which the group said has clearly affected some of its clients. CEO Ronny Katz said the group welcomed the NMW legislation, believing that, in the longer term, it would improve the stability of labour in SA and provide fairer and more sustainable wage structures. “Minimum wage legislation was introduced in 2019 and we actively engaged with our clients at the time to assist with any implications and opportunities arising from this,” Katz indicated. Workforce also reported an “ever-increasing unemployment rate”, poor consumer sentiment, and a faltering economy. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Karl Gernetzky at BusinessLive
MTN Group CEO Rob Shuter paid R58.2m in 2019 Moneyweb reports that MTN Group CEO Rob Shuter was paid R58.2 million in the 2019 financial year, a 35.7% increase on his total remuneration for 2018. But even these generous rewards were not enough to keep him, as he announced on 11 March that he would step down in a year’s time. Shuter earned a base salary of R17.3 million, according to the group’s 2019 integrated report, which was published on Tuesday. On top of that, he received R1.8 million in post-employment benefits; R1.1 million in “other benefits”; R27.6 million in bonuses; and R10.4 million long-term incentives, which vested in December 2019. Chief financial officer Ralph Mupita, who is a strong candidate to take the reins from Shuter when he steps down, took home even more, namely total remuneration of R66.3 million. Much of Mupita’s remuneration took the form of “other benefits”, mostly related to a special “cash-settled on-boarding incentive” awarded in lieu of the loss of equity in his previous employer, Old Mutual, where he was CEO of the Emerging Markets business. Shuter and Mupita are MTN Group’s only two executive directors. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Duncan McLeod at Moneyweb Other internet posting(s) in this news category
|
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page