TOP STORY – CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC / NATIONAL LOCKDOWN

Labour inspectors find that many employers not adhering to lockdown health and safety regulations

BusinessLive reports that Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) inspectors have uncovered a high level of noncompliance by employers with the health and safety regulations related to Covid-19.  And, according to MPs, there is a danger of the situation worsening once the lockdown is eased and workers return to work.  The DEL’s 170 health and safety inspectors have conducted inspections of both private and public companies, most of them retail stores.  In the 11 days to 15 April, 45% of the 1,135 companies inspected were found to be noncompliant.  In some instances companies have been closed down because of their noncompliance and 617 contravention, improvement or prohibition notices have been issued.  DEL director-general Thobile Lamati told MPs that the department had received numerous complaints from workers who felt that their employers were not taking the Covid-19 issue seriously.  In some cases, employers were found to be in possession of false certificates to operate as essential services.  Also, several workplaces had not undertaken the necessary risk assessments and some companies had failed to implement best practice to prevent the virus spreading.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor at BusinessLive. Read too, Some employers over-claiming coronavirus UIF, says labour minister, at Fin24

Massive job losses, closure of companies on the cards, warns labour minister Thulas Nxesi

The Star reports that Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi has warned about massive retrenchments and scores of companies likely to go under after the Covid-19 pandemic.  Addressing MPs on Wednesday, Nxesi said:  “It is a fact that a number of companies after Covid-19 might not be able to recover.  They might take up to six months to recover.  Some might take a year.  Some might not come back and be able to operate.  The reality is that there are going to be massive retrenchments.  We might add 1 million or 2 million to the high unemployment (rate), which we have in the country.”  The minister painted a serious situation that might result in lots of companies applying for the temporary employee relief scheme (Ters).  Nxesi noted with concern that some were not complying with regulations, and did not want to submit claims on behalf of their workers, something that caused the government to amend regulations to compel them to do so.  Nxesi also anticipated a spike in thousands of disputes to be lodged with the CCMA arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.  “Some employers have already informed workers about Section 189 (notices) in terms of retrenchments. There is a lot to deal with,” he lamented.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mayibongwe Maqhina at Independent News. Read too, This is who is most at risk of losing a job due to Covid-19 lockdown, at BusinessLive

Restaurant industry on its knees and its workers are starving due to lockdown

Financial Mail reports that Wendy Alberts, head of the Restaurant Association of SA (RASA), says hundreds of thousands of restaurant workers are starving as they haven’t earned any money during the national lockdown in which restaurants are not allowed to be open.  She has been inundated with messages from restaurant owners who are unable to provide for hungry staff.  Alberts lamented that the Covid-19 lockdown was crippling restaurants, yet they have received "absolutely no financial support from the government, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), banks or landlords".  Plus, there was a lack of communication from the government about when they could reopen and how.  Rasa estimates that restaurant sector employs 800,000 people, and is a large employer of unskilled workers.  It has surveyed thousands of restaurants about their financial positions and the responses overwhelmingly show that restaurants have been left on their own and face imminent closure.  Only 3% of those that responded said they had accessed financial help from banks in the form of loans.  .  The impact on restaurant workers has been even more dire.  Waiters rely on tips for a large portion of their income and they have gone without since mid-March.  Moreover, it is believed that when the lockdown ends, people will prefer to have food delivered rather than go to restaurants.  Alberts sees a future with far fewer restaurants.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Katharine Child at BusinessLive. Read too, Holes in the safety net may leave informal workers and some in formal economy with nothing, at Moneyweb

New Covid-19 distress grant of R350 per month for the jobless hailed

SowetanLive reports that around seven million unemployed South Africans qualify for the Covid-19 distress grant, which has been hailed by economists and labour analysts as an important intervention by government.  President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the distress grant of R350 a month for the next six months, which will be paid to individuals who are currently unemployed and who do not receive any other form of social grant or UIF payment.  According to unemployment figures released by Statistics SA in February, there are around 6.7-million unemployed South Africans.  University of the Witwatersrand economics professor Imraan Valodia said the intervention was "very needed" and added:  "Shutting the economy removed the opportunity for people to earn small amounts of money.  The economic lives of these people are very vulnerable at the best of times.  Under the current conditions it's made even worse, so the grant is important and timely."  The logistical aspects of how the grant will be implemented are yet to be made public, but technically everyone who is not employed could apply.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Isaac Mahlangu at SowetanLive. Read too, Black Sash urges government to up R350 unemployment grant to R1,000, at TimesLIVE

Denosa claims five health workers at Addington Hospital in Durban 'tested positive' for Covid-19

TimesLIVE reports that the Democratic Nursing Union of SA (Denosa) claimed on Thursday that five health workers at Durban's Addington Hospital have tested positive for Covid-19.  The hospital has been identified as a state facility for the treatment of patients with Covid-19.  Denosa’s Mandla Shabangu said they were investigating allegations that the transmission was linked to a nurse at the hospital whose partner worked at a private hospital.  “The people affected at Addington work in the theatre, among them are nurses.  The report we have is that the person who first tested positive contracted it from her partner who was moonlighting at a private hospital,” Shabangu stated.  He went on to indicate:  “Addington Hospital is not closed.  The theatre is closed because the positive cases were there.  This did not happen in the ward where other patients with Covid-19 are being nursed.”  Spokesperson for the KwaZulu-Natal department of health Ntokozo Maphisa would not comment specifically on the Addington situation, but said the department had put in place stringent clinical guidelines and protocols.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Suthentira Govender at TimesLIVE

Healthcare workers testing positive for Covid-19 on the rise, with six pharmacy staffers at Charlotte Maxeke hospital the latest cases

SowetanLive reports that the numbers of healthcare workers who have tested positive for Covid-19 are on the rise, with Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital being the latest facility to report employees who have contracted the virus.  The Gauteng health department confirmed that six pharmacy employees tested positive for Covid-19 and indicated further as follows:  "The team has already started the process of tracing all possible contacts and testing other workers.  The disinfecting of the particular pharmacy they work at is also procedure."  Employees said they came to know of the first positive case on Friday when they were called to a meeting and requested to test for Covid-19.  But they are continuing to work even though they do not know what their results are, so posing a danger to other employees and patients.  "We were not sure whether we were helping or killing the patients we have to attend to while awaiting the tests," said one of the pharmacy staff.  They claimed that their calls to be allowed to self-isolate at home fell on deaf ears.  Another said what was making matters worse was a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE).  Addington Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal also has a number of confirmed Covid-19 cases among staff.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Noxolo Majavu at SowetanLive

Vavi to test for Covid-19 for a third time after second test comes back positive

Sowetan reports that SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi says he will be testing for Covid-19 for a third time after his second test result came back positive.  Vavi was discharged from hospital two weeks ago after testing positive for the coronavirus.  Last Thursday‚ he shared on Twitter that he and his youngest son were getting tested for the second time.  On Tuesday‚ Vavi told Jacaranda FM that he was still positive for Covid-19 after testing for a second time, but was no longer showing any symptoms of the virus.  He said his son‚ who tested positive last month‚ was now negative and added that his wife‚ who initially was negative‚ was now positive and would also test again.  Saying that it “sort of a little setback”, to test positive again, Vavi indicated that he had been forewarned that that was a possibility.  He also remarked:  “I drank lots of water and rested for hours.  I also [took] lots of vitamin C and iron and have had a lot of garlic – never had to munch garlic in the manner I have been doing in the past few days and weeks.”  Eating garlic and ginger have not been listed as preventive measures against contracting the virus.  Antibiotics also do not work against the virus.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Unathi Nkanjeni on page 8 of Sowetan of 23 April 2020

Why the war on Covid-19 needs an extra 73,180 soldiers

SowetanLive reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed an additional 73,180 defence force members on Tuesday to support government departments and to control borders to combat the spread of the coronavirus in all nine provinces until the end of June.  Soldiers will now move beyond just enforcing the lockdown regulations on the streets, with the additional personnel set to screen people at roadblocks, set up field hospitals and deliver water to communities.  Briefing MPs on Wednesday, secretary of defence Dr Sam Makhudu Gulube said most of the deployed soldiers would be helping the Department of Health with the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic through tasks such as quarantining civilians and delivering personal protective equipment (PPE) to those on the ground.  The additional soldiers include members of the air force, navy, military health services, military police, defence intelligence, legal services, operational communication, technical services and finance accounting, among others.  Through the SA Military Health Services, they will establish military field hospitals in the provinces most affected by Covid-19, including Gauteng, Western Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.  Gulube indicated that the revised deployment budget of R4.5bn was also to procure PPE items such as masks and gloves for the soldiers on the ground.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kgothatso Madisa at TimesLIVE

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

• Lockdown has hammered the motor industry, says Toyota, at BusinessLive
• Allow us to return to work as quickly as possible, say car and truck dealers, at BusinessLive
• Durban supermarket closes after cashier tests positive for Covid-19, at TimesLIVE

MINING LABOUR

Amcu’s court application for regulations regulating health and safety of employees returning to mines to be heard on 29 April

TimesLIVE reports that a legal challenge by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) to force the government to regulate the health and safety of employees returning to mines will be heard urgently by the Labour Court on 29 April.  Amcu approached the court for the matter to be urgently heard after the government amended Covid-19 lockdown regulations for the mining sector on 16 April to allow companies to resume half their operations.  For weeks, Amcu has argued that the health and safety of workers cannot be left to the systems set up by mining companies but have to be regulated to ensure every mine was held to the same standards.  These requests have not gained traction with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE).  The court ruled on Tuesday that, while the matter was set down for an urgent hearing on 29 April, the state could use the opportunity to argue that it was not in fact an urgent matter.  The matter will be heard via the Zoom video-conferencing platform.  It is Amcu’s argument that the mineral resources minister and the chief inspector of mines must exercise the powers granted to them under the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) to impose binding obligations on employers to address the health and safety of mineworkers in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Allan Seccombe at BusinessLive

Firm directive issued by mineral resources department to ensure safe mining resumption

Mining Weekly reports that the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) on Thursday issued a firm directive to all mining operations to ensure safe startup procedures as the sector prepares to ramp up to 50% of capacity.  It was issued to ensure compliance with Section 5(1) of the Mine Health and Safety Act of 1996, which requires that every employer must, as far as reasonably practicable, provide and maintain a safe working environment.  The startup procedures must also address measures to be taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19, as well as actions to provide a safe working environment, especially following the prolonged closure of some operations.  The directive follows last week’s 50%-return announcement by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe.  In line with the directive, mining companies must, in consultation with labour unions in the respective operations, develop the startup procedure, and provide a copy to the DMRE prior to ramp-up.

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

PUBLIC SECTOR WAGE DISPUTE

Public service unions preparing for ‘mother of all fights’ over salary increases

Financial Mail reports that public sector trade unions are preparing for "the mother of all fights" after the government last week reneged on the final leg of its 2018 wage agreement.  On 15 April, the first group of SA’s public servants — nurses among them — were to receive salary increases based on the deal struck in the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) in 2018.  "Sadly, there are no adjustments," Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) general secretary Riefdah Ajam indicated after the first tranche of salaries was paid.  Fedusa has launched a Labour Court application to force the government to implement the agreement, but the matter is likely to be heard only once the court reopens in May.  The National Union of Public Service & Allied Workers (Nupsaw) also says it has "no option" but to take the government to court.  SA’s biggest public service union, the National Education Health & Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), has taken a harder stance, saying it will begin to mobilise its members "in earnest" for "the mother of all fights".  General secretary Zola Saphetha warned that when the national Covid-19 national lockdown ends, his members and workers in general “will emerge militant, strong, energised and inspired to pick up a real fight with the government … to render the state system unworkable."  The government’s about-turn on the 2018 agreement comes after Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, in his February budget speech, announced drastic cuts to the public sector wage bill.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive. Read too, Unions declare dispute with government over salaries, conditions, at The Star

REMUNERATION

SAA Technical wants workers to ‘sacrifice’ half their wages

Moneyweb reports that SAA Technical has informed workers that the travel bans and the nationwide lockdown have left the aircraft maintenance entity’s finances in dire straits, with just enough to pay only 50% of some employee net salaries and full medical and pension contributions.  Only employees with full leave credits and those who had been working during the lockdown period would receive 50% of their salaries.  Employees who do not have leave credits will not be paid at all or will receive partial payment based on the number of leave days they have.  For those employees, the company would only cover the admin and risk contributions for the pension fund and, while medical aid payments will be made on their behalf, the money would be recovered from their future earnings.  The loss of earnings for all employees will be partially topped up from the Temporary Employee Relieve Scheme (Ters), once received from the Unemployment Insurance Fund.  But, according to SAA Technical’s general manager Vincent Matlala, they were still locked in talks with organised labour and these discussions would continue on Thursday.  In an update sent to employees following discussions with labour, where a question was asked about whether employees would receive the balance of their salaries at a later stage, Matlala said that the current cuts would be “on a salary sacrifice basis”.

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

SA Express again turns to UIF for money to pay salaries

Fin24 reports that SA Express will not be able to pay salaries for April unless it obtains financial support from the Covid-19 Unemployment Insurance Fund or the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) overseen by the CCMA.  This has been indicated by the state-owned regional airline's business rescue practitioners (BRPs).  There has been no outcome, as yet, to a similar application for money to pay the March salaries.  A letter addressed to stakeholders indicated that the BRPs have applied for funding from the UIF in order to be able to pay the April salaries.  SA Express was forced into business rescue by the South Gauteng High Court on 6 February 2020 on the application of transport and logistics company Ziegler SA.  According to the BRPs, SA Express is facing "a myriad of financial and operational challenges", which have affected the airline's ability to generate any revenue to fund critical operational expenses as they became due.  The challenges include "the adverse operational challenges that the company faced in the last months, exacerbated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the domestic and global airline industry".  The challenge to generate cash was further increased by the suspension of operations on 19 March 2020.  Non-critical" staff were placed on compulsory leave.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carin Smith at Fin24

Sasol slashes salaries across management levels in bid to protect balance sheet

Fin24 reports that Sasol has announced a range of salary cuts across its management levels as the company navigates the impact of Covid-19.  The petrochemicals company will cut the salaries of group executive committee and senior leadership members by 20%, and of middle and junior managers by between 10% and 15%.  "Salary sacrifices are planned for 8 months, however the duration of the temporary measures will be reassessed against the progress we make towards our savings targets," the company told shareholders on Thursday.  No salary increases will be received in 2020.  "These measures are necessary to help protect the company’s balance sheet and liquidity until at least the end of financial year 2021," Sasol explained.  The pay cuts include the group's CEO, who will donate 33% of his pay to the state’s Solidarity Fund for three months.  This will be followed by a further 20% pay cut for the following five months.  Sasol has been heavily impacted by the global economic meltdown caused by Covid 19, which has slowed demand for oil.  Also, its Lake Charles chemical project in Louisiana in the US has been a major source of financial problems for the company.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sibongile Khumalo at Fin24