Today's Labour News

TOP STORY – CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

Cabinet kicks Covid-19 can down the road, with no decisions taken at Wednesday on economic crisis

BusinessLive reports that a crucial cabinet meeting on Wednesday to plan SA’s response to Covid-19 and the resulting economic crisis ended inconclusively with no decisions taken and all proposals put off.  The government's inaction comes as the economy buckles under the burden of the lockdown and social unrest and crime emerge in communities under stress.  In a statement on Wednesday night, the cabinet said that it had received five presentations from the various government clusters on a recovery plan focusing on the country’s economic recovery as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent downgrading of SA by ratings agencies.  The clusters have been asked to work together to produce one consolidated document for the next cabinet meeting due to take place on 20 April.  Finance Minister Tito Mboweni apparently took two crucial proposals to the cabinet.  His income support proposal, as endorsed by labour and organised business in various forms, included the topping up of social welfare grants by R500 for the next three months.  His second proposal was for a loan guarantee backed by the Treasury to enable banks to extend new credit to firms.  The cabinet also noted developments at SAA, which has been told that no more funding for the business-rescue process was available

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton at BusinessLive. Read too, Covid-19: Cabinet defers decision on economic crisis plan, at Independent News

Study predicts 55,000 SMME businesses employing over 42,000 will be lost due to pandemic

Business Report writes that according to a study released on Wednesday, about 55,000 small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) will not survive the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in more than 42,000 jobs being decimated.  The study, by 22 on Sloane, surveyed 120 respondents between 23 and 28 March and 28, and revealed that 11% of them did not see their businesses surviving during the national lockdown.  At the time of the survey the lockdown was expected to be 21 days, but it has since been extended by a further two weeks.  The sample included business owners aged between 31 and 40, with 83% of them located in Gauteng, mainly in the retail, consulting, ICT and media sectors.  The report indicated:  “If we consider a report by the Small Business Institute, which claims that South Africa has a quarter-of-a-million formal SMMEs, there could potentially be 55,000 SMMEs who do not survive this pandemic.”  Of the 11% of the SMMEs that did not see their businesses surviving, 77% of them employed between one and 10 people.  “This means that at least 42,350 working for the SMMEs … could lose their jobs as a direct result of Covid-19,” the report indicated.  Kizito Okechukwu, executive head of 22 on Sloane, said on Wednesday that the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s R40bn Covid-19 intervention would go a long way to alleviating the plight of small businesses.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dinei Faku at Business Report

Coke's biggest manufacturing plant in Gauteng shuts down after employee tests positive for Covid-19

The Star reports that Coca Cola has been forced to shut down one of its biggest manufacturing plants in Gauteng after an employee tested positive for Covid19.  According to an internal memo sent to employees at the Devland manufacturing plant on Monday, a worker with the respiratory disease was on the site on Sunday.  “We have already initiated a tracing process to identify all employees who may have been in contact with the positive colleague, these employees will undergo testing,” said MD Velaphi Ratshefola, who added that the company has increased rigid health and safety protocols.  The plant has 222 employees.  Coca Cola currently has 14 plants operating nationally.  Also, City Power was forced to shut its doors on Wednesday after an employee at the entity’s main warehouse in Reuven, Booysens, tested positive for Covid-19.  The person is in self-isolation at home.  Mediclinic Morningside announced on Wednesday that it would not accept new admissions, apart from emergencies, to reduce the transmission of coronavirus in the facility.  The hospital said four patients and 15 staff members, including nine health-care workers, tested positive for the virus and were currently isolated.  In KZN, Netcare’s Kingsway Hospital in Amanzimtoti stopped taking in new patients after discovering a Covid-19 case in one of its wards.  This is Netcare’s second hospital to be forced to cancel new patient intake after St Augustine’s in Durban had to temporarily close most of its sections.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tebogo Monama, Chulumanco Mahamba and Bongani Hans at The Star. Read too, Mediclinic Morningside closes after staff and patients contract Covid-19, at DispatchLIVE. And also, City Power shuts warehouse after employee tests positive for Covid-19, at TimesLIVE

Tiger Brands closes Albany bakery in Durban after workers test positive for Covid-19

SowetanLive reports that Tiger Brands has temporarily closed its Durban bakery after staffers tested positive for Covid-19.  The company said on Wednesday that it had closed the bakery as a precautionary measure and had contacted the Department of Health (DOH) and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).  The food manufacturer added that it had put in place measures to support all staff while they underwent Covid-19 testing.  All protocols and regulatory requirements as mandated by the DOH and the NICD have apparently been followed.  It is not yet known how many employees tested positive or how they contracted the virus.  The company has made alternative arrangements to supply its Durban customers from its other facilities.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lwandile Bhengu at SowetanLive

Red tape holds up Covid-19 relief from UIF, with only 139 out of 23,245 applications processed so far

Moneyweb reports that funds for financially distressed businesses that have applied for the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s (UIF) relief scheme to assist them in paying workers during the Covid-19 crisis are only slowly trickling in.  An examination of the complaints from business owners on social media shows frustration over the bureaucratic process and red tape involved in claiming from the UIF’s Covid-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Scheme (Ters).  The view that claims aren’t being processed holds true when the figures are examined.  To date, the UIF has received 39,000 applications and has only processed 136.  The reason for this was that only 136 applications out of the entire batch were valid, UIF Commissioner Teboho Maruping indicated.  The UIF has had to remove 15,755 duplicate applications, leaving it with 23,245 applications.  Maruping said 23,000 companies were sent e-mails on Saturday advising them to resubmit the correct file format and/or supply full information.  For instance, one critical piece of information that has been missing from many applications is the amount of remuneration the employee has received during the shutdown period.  The UIF has set aside R40 billion for the Ters benefit.

Read the full original of the informative report in the above regard by Tebogo Tshwane at Moneyweb. Read too, Workers not registered for UIF relief to be hit hard financially during Covid-19, at The Star

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

• SA resilient enough to overcome Covid-19, says IMF, at BusinessLive
• Public servants urged to resist ‘forced donations’ during lockdown, at Independent News

MINING LABOUR

Extended lockdown could see 45,000 job losses in mining industry

BL Premium reports that the Minerals Council SA (MCSA) warned on Wednesday that SA’s debt-laden mines with high fixed costs stood to lose between 10,000 and 45,000 jobs in the national lockdown if they received no support.  In an economic assessment of the lockdown that started on 27 March to curb the spread of Covid-19, the MCSA warned as follows:  “The industry’s high fixed-cost structure and high debt-leverage ratio, combined with the inability to produce sufficient volumes, will lead to the permanent closure of some operations and even companies, job losses and substantial negative impact on supplier and downstream industries, ultimately affecting the entire economy.”  While some mining companies have successfully applied for permission to strictly limited mining at surface assets, and to operate furnaces and refineries, the bulk of SA’s mines are labour-intensive, underground operations and remain shut.  For the original 21-day period, the council estimated 10,000 jobs out of the sector’s 450,000 jobs were at risk, while a longer lockdown “with lower production and no mechanisms in place to support the industry, could put 10% of the workforce, or 45,000 direct jobs, at risk”.  The ongoing costs for mines, which incorporated paying wages during the lockdown as well as care and maintenance costs for suspended mines, have repercussions for companies, the council noted.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Allan Seccombe at BusinessLive (paywall access only). Read too, South Africa mining faces 45,000 job losses on extended lockdown, at Moneyweb. And also, SA to allow mines to operate at 50% capacity during lockdown, at Moneyweb

AngloGold Ashanti restarts surface operations on limited basis

Mining Weekly reports that the surface operations of AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) have restarted on a limited basis following the granting of recommencement permission by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.  The gold producer said on Wednesday that the restart involved the processing of marginal ore dumps at the West Wits Operations, and the reclamation of tailings at the Mine Waste Solutions business unit, in the Vaal River region.  The 500 employees, spread across both regions, represented less than a third of the usual staff complement for these business units, and roughly 8% of AGA’s SA workforce.  All sites had the requisite Covid-19 risk management plans in place.  The limited restart would help to safeguard technical infrastructure and enable a safe, quick resumption of all remaining operations once the lockdown ended, the company stated.  Production from the Mponeng underground operation would likely remain suspended until the scheduled 30 April lockdown termination.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly

Harmony Gold and NUM agree on 2 May as return date following lifting of lockdown

Mining Weekly reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Harmony Gold have agreed upon 2 May as the return-to-work date following the lifting of SA’s Covid-19 lockdown.  According to NUM general secretary David Sipunzi, the agreement followed a meeting with the gold producer on Tuesday.  While Harmony’s nine underground gold mines have been on temporary care and maintenance since 31 March, its surface retreatment operations and opencast mine have continued to function.  Stringent measures at all operations had been formulated to ensure worker health and safety.  “We expect all mining companies in South Africa to adhere to the strict health and safety measures in fighting the virus in their operations,” the NUM warned.  Where strict measures were not in place, NUM members would apparently refuse to work.  The union added:  “We will not hesitate to name and shame mining companies that fail to adhere to the strict health and safety measures required to fight the virus.  We also call on the mining companies to make available some of their clinics and hospitals to treat employees who are sick and infected.”  NUM also indicated that Harmony would be paying workers their salaries for the entire lockdown period.  

Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

• Gwede Mantashe outlines strategy to restart mines, at BusinessLive

PUBLIC SECTOR SALARY INCREASES

State faces wrath of public servants over non-payment of salary increases

BL Premium reports that in the midst of dealing with the economic fallout of its battle to curb the spread of Covid-19, the government faces the wrath of 1.3-million public servants after it failed to honour a three-year wage agreement.  The first batch of public servants, including nurses, pharmacists and lab technicians crucial to the battle with the virus, received their salaries on Wednesday without the increase agreed on in the last leg of the multi-year wage agreement signed in 2018.  Unions said this proved that the state did not value their hard work.  While the government did previously put forward a revised offer of a 4.4% pay increase for some levels of workers, unions rejected it.  Zola Saphetha of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) said on Wednesday that they had resolved during a meeting last month to "wage a relentless war" against the government.  He indicated that they were awaiting date for conciliation in respect of their dispute over the matter from the Public Sector Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC).  Reuben Maleka of the Public Servants Association (PSA) said they would file court papers on Wednesday, after it became apparent the government would renege on the wage agreement.  Cosatu’s chief negotiator for public sector unions, Mugwena Maluleke, said they would fight for the salary increases through the conciliation and arbitration processes.  The trade union federation has said it would support Nehawu should it elect to down tools over the matter.

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

PRICES

Another massive fuel price drop expected

The Citizen reports that coming in the wake of March’s record fuel price reductions, South Africa is probably set for a second month of record fuel price drops for some fuel types.  This is according to the Automobile Association (AA), which was commenting on unaudited mid-month fuel price data released by the Central Energy Fund.  But the AA went on to note:  “The irony is that this has come at a time where motorists and businesses are severely limited as to how they can use their vehicles.”  Globally destructive economic instability has pushed fuel prices into drastic retreat.  The association noted that even the rand’s vast crash against the US dollar since March has not been enough to offset the steep decline in oil prices.  Cautioning that the market remained highly volatile and that the figures could be very different by month-end, the AA indicated that “as matters currently stand, when South Africans come out of lockdown at the end of April, fuel prices will be around R3 a litre lower than when they went in.”

Read the full original of the report in the above regard at The Citizen

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

• Covid-19: Wave of prosecutions' imminent for companies inflating prices, at TimesLIVE

RETRENCHMENTS / COMPANY JOB CUTS

Col’Cacchio to retrench head office employees as lockdown bites

BL Premium reports that pizza chain Col’Cacchio, which is embroiled in a dispute with 18 franchisees over royalty fees, is to retrench head office employees as it faces an uncertain future because of the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.  The group makes its money from franchise fees, but it was not charging royalty and marketing fees while restaurants were closed.  Col’Cacchio’s 18 franchisees, who have refused to pay royalty fees for the first two weeks of March when business was normal, say they cannot afford to pay fees as they borrowed money to pay staff and suppliers.  But Col’Cacchio said without fees, it lost 60% of March income.  Col’Cacchio MD Kinga Baranowska said she was “gutted” at letting staff go but was receiving no income.  The management group would not give the numbers of how many employees it will retrench.  Baranowska and marketing manager Greg Mommsen estimated that their 32 restaurants, mostly franchises, employed more than 1,000 people.  Mommsen added that they had been trying to help head office staff and franchisees access money from the Unemployment Insurance Fund, but to date none have been paid.

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

WORKPLACE CORRUPTION / FRAUD

Investigation clears Eskom COO of corruption allegations

BusinessLive reports that an investigation has cleared Eskom’s COO Jan Oberholzer of allegations of corruption, dishonesty and abuse of power, the state-owned power utility said on Wednesday.  Last month, the Eskom board appointed an independent senior counsel, Nazeer Cassim, to conduct an investigation into the allegations leveled against Oberholzer by an Eskom employee.  It had been reported that Oberholzer owned shares in Stefanutti Stocks, which has been accused of defrauding Eskom of R139bn in inflated contracts, and that he had held several meetings with the company’s directors shortly after he was appointed as Eskom COO in 2018.  The Eskom board also received correspondence from Corruption Watch and from the SA Federation of Trade Unions earlier in March, which alleged corruption and victimisation by the COO.  Cassim’s report was submitted to the board on 4 April and found “no basis to the allegations of dishonesty, corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of power leveled against the COO”.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lisa Steyn at BusinessLive