Today's Labour News

TOP STORY – CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC / NATIONAL LOCKDOWN

More than 600,000 domestic workers might be entitled to grant from UIF’s Covid-19 Temporary Relief Scheme

Business Insider SA reports that domestic workers whose employers contribute to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) are entitled to receive a special Covid-19 benefit during the lockdown period.  As part of the Covid-19 Temporary Relief Scheme (Ters), workers who are put on unpaid leave, have been laid off temporarily or whose employers cannot afford to pay their full salaries are entitled to the special payout from the UIF.  The minimum amount payable is R3,500 a month during the lockdown period.  According to UIF spokesperson Lungelo Mkamba, 673,940 domestic workers are registered with the UIF.  Employers of domestic workers have to apply online on the Ters platform to register for the payout.  The UIF hotline for the coronavirus benefit is 012 337 1997.  According to the new regulations for Level 4 of lockdown, domestic workers can return to work from 1 May – provided they are employed by those who are allowed to work in Level 4.  All live-in staff can also return to work.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard at BusinessInsider

Ters relief directives cause confusion, first through a lack of clarity, then through amendments

Moneyweb reports that the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) has issued several directives relating to the temporary relief scheme offered to employers and employees affected by the national lockdown necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic.  However, the lack of clarity around the Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) and the complicated calculations involved have resulted in misunderstandings and incorrect calculations.  Added to this, employers and consultants have experienced problems with the call centre not answering calls for several days while also struggling to submit applications online.  The SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) issued a statement over the weekend notifying employers who have done incorrect calculations to “immediately correct” their payroll.  The institute also urged employers to engage their staff, especially where workers were under the impression that the Ters benefit would top up their salaries.  According to Joon Chong of Webber Wentzel, there is a lot of uncertainty around how the Ters benefits would be paid due to the ongoing changes (amended directives).  “This is especially the case in situations where employers have processed the April payroll and paid the Ters benefits as an advance payment and additional amounts for the shortfall.”

Read the full original of the informative report in the above regard by Amanda Visser at Moneyweb

Solidarity and AfriForum in court challenge to 'discriminatory' Covid-19 tourism relief fund

Fin24 reports that Solidarity and AfriForum have challenged government's decision to use broad-based black economic empowerment scores to determine who is eligible for the R200m in emergency funding for tourism-related businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.  In an urgent application heard in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday, the union and the civil rights group requested the court to set aside a decision by the Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, to use transformational scores for the sector as part of her department's relief funding criteria.  They argued that the criteria were unconstitutional because, while all businesses were affected by the pandemic, some would not be able to benefit from the fund.  Solidarity’s legal representative argued in court that the minister erred in applying empowerment laws to the Disaster Management Act and that the system disadvantaged white-owned business.  Speaking after the court proceedings, Kubayi-Ngubane advised that the fund had received more than 10,000 applications, but that her department would not be able to proceed with disbursement of funds prior to the legal matter being concluded.  "From our position this is a matter worth defending," she said.  Judge Jody Kollapen said he would deliver judgment on the matter by the end of the week.  SA's tourism industry has come to a virtual standstill since the national coronavirus lockdown began just over a month ago.

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

Cubans are expert Covid-19 fighters, says health department

HeraldLIVE reports that more than 200 Cuban doctors who jetted into SA on Sunday are world-renowned Covid-19 experts who will be deployed where they will be needed the most across the country, but mainly in the Western Cape and Gauteng.  President Cyril Ramaphosa said the 217 health specialists and workers arrived following a request he made to his Cuban counterpart President Miguel Díaz-Canel.  The group consists of experts in the fields of epidemiology, biostatistics, and public health.  They also include family physicians who will guide SA's interventions through door-to-door testing and assist local health workers in health promotion and disease surveillance at community level.  Health care technology engineers will assist their local counterparts in maintaining the inventory, deployment and repair of aged medical equipment.  The Health Department's spokesperson, Popo Maja, said the personnel would be working very closely with SA doctors to impart knowledge.  "We will deploy them according to where the needs are and their deployment is going to be much more easier than the deployment of our own doctors because they don't have families here so it'll be easier to move them from one province to the other," Maja indicated.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Isaac Mahlangu at HeraldLIVE

SA Medical Association ‘not happy’ about Cuban doctors being brought in, says it was ‘a bit premature’

TimesLIVE reports that according to the SA Medical Association (Sama), the arrival of over 200 medical specialists from Cuba was a “little bit premature”. Sama chairperson Dr Angelique Coetzee said on Tuesday:  “We always need expertise from other people and it is always welcome to have them on board and in our country, but for now I think it is a bit premature.  So far we have managed quite well without outside help.”  The group of medical doctors from Cuba arrived in the country on Monday.  It consists of experts in epidemiology, biostatistics, and public health, family physicians, health care technology engineers and experts to provide technical assistance.  According to Coetzee, there are many retired doctors in the country who could play a key role in mentoring younger doctors during the outbreak.  “Only when you have exhausted all your internal resources, then it could be prudent to get people from the outside in …We are not unhappy that there are doctors coming in; we just say that it is premature and that we must first look at our own resources and look at our own people,” Coetzee said.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Iavan Pijoos at TimesLIVE. Read too, Western Cape begrudgingly accepts help from Cuban doctors, at The Citizen

SA's hotel industry 'near-decimated' by coronavirus lockdown

Fin24 reports that SA’s hotel industry has been near-decimated by the coronavirus pandemic and resultant lockdown, according to Lee-Anne Bac, director for tourism and travel at accounting group BDO.  Before the pandemic, tourism accounted for over 1.2 million jobs in SA and contributed more than 8% to economic activity.  But under lockdown regulations, tourism establishments fall under non-essential services.  The industry has also been dealt heavy blows by travel restrictions as well as consumer concerns over the need to maintain physical distancing.  The lockdown will be downgraded to level 4 at the beginning of May, allowing some sectors to return to production under strict regulations.  But tourism is categorized as one of the industries with the highest risk of transmission and restrictions will remain in place for sit-in restaurants and hotels and conference and convention centres, regardless of the lockdown level.  If the lockdown is extended much longer, Bac foresees a real bloodbath in the tourism industry due to establishments closing and employees losing their jobs.  Some industry members are nonetheless upbeat.  Not all hotels closed once the lockdown started as some had to remain open to service guests who were unable to travel home due to various reasons.  One such hotel is the Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront, in Cape Town, where Nicol Carelse, guest relations manager, said that overall, “the mood is positive."

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

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

• Final list of sectors entitled to resume under ‘Level 4’ lockdown to be published soon, at Engineering News
• Slashed wages just the start of spiralling misery, at Times Select

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY

National health department to step up scrutiny of stocks of personal protective equipment

BusinessLive reports that the national Department of Health (DOH) is planning closer scrutiny of provincial stocks of personal protective medical equipment (PPE) and will be adding these details to a real-time system already in place for monitoring key medicines.  Despite SA’s relatively low numbers of Covid-19 cases by global standards, a shortage of PPE has already emerged as a key concern among health-care professionals.  SA’s biggest doctor union, the SA Medical Association (Sama), has previously raised the alarm over a shortage of PPE as reported by its members, and last week health minister Zweli Mkhize ordered an audit of supplies in Eastern Cape as part of a national effort to shore up the province’s response to Covid-19.  DOH acting director-general Anban Pillay attributed hospital-level shortages of PPE to supply-chain problems within provinces.  “The supply chain needs to be more agile, and respond quickly to orders,” he indicated.  The DOH has a well-established “stock visibility system” for monitoring medicine supplies and expects to start capturing PPE details on it this week, Pillay advised.  In a separate development, Proudly SA announced on Monday that it has launched an online marketplace for cloth masks to connect corporate buyers with local producers.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive

Sadtu calls for strict health protocols before pupils and teachers return to school, including temperature scanning

TimesLIVE reports that the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) has called on the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Higher Education to provide temperature scanners to screen pupils and students when schools and tertiary institutions reopen.  Sadtu urged the departments to comply with a number of minimum requirements that had to be put in place at learning institutions at least two weeks before any activity could take place.  In a statement, Sadtu said that the institutions needed to be fumigated and disinfected and that water tankers should be deployed to those without running water.  The departments should ensure that the institutions have enough soap, disinfectants and sanitisers and that hygiene is part of the curriculum, where it should be the first thing to be practised prior to any daily learning activity.  Sadtu said that the departments should hire more staff to clean and sanitise the classrooms, workshops and offices as frequently as possible.  Desk screens should be provided to prevent learners from touching each other or the desks or chairs.  The union further said that high quality masks should be provided and that it should be mandatory for them to be worn at all times inside and outside classrooms and workshops.  Also, the space for the teacher or lecturer to walk between rows of desks or chairs should be in compliance with social distancing.

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

Older teachers and those with underlying medical conditions ‘terrified’ of returning to classrooms

TimesSelect writes that teachers with underlying medical conditions and those 60 and older are reportedly “terrified” of returning to classrooms because they are at greater risk of contracting the coronavirus.  Basil Manuel of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA (Naptosa) said the union had “very real concerns” about teachers 60 years old and over.  “We have put it on the table with the department of basic education that we want very clear health-based instructions about how people with underlying conditions and those over 60 are going to be treated.  We need to know exactly what the health department is saying to us.  If their [teachers’] lives are in danger, we will definitely not support that they report to school,” he indicated.  Manuel also said a departmental official who had been on a ventilator for more than two weeks after contracting the virus overseas was “panicking” about returning to work.  He pointed out that there were a number of teachers over the age of 60 in the education system, many of whom were teaching matric pupils.  David de Korte of the SA Principals’ Association indicated:  “No one is going to be forced to come back to school if they feel fearful that their health is going to be at risk.”  Speculation is rife that at-risk teachers could apply for special leave if they furnished proof of an underlying medical condition.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Prega Govender at TimesSelect

MINING LABOUR

Opencast mines permitted to return to 100% of capacity from 1 May

Mining Weekly reports that Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel said on Saturday that opencast mines would be permitted to return in phases to 100% operation from 1 May, but underground mines had to continue at 50% of production capacity.  Speaking during a media briefing on SA’s easing from the current Level 5 lockdown stage to Level 4, Patel said:  “Mining has already begun the process of workers returning to work.  They do so in batches because of the large numbers involved.  Not all workers in mining can go back at the same time and my colleague Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has already outlined how that process will work in Level 5.”  Patel went on to indicate:  “In Level 4, the new addition is that those workers who work in opencast mining, in other words not underground, will be able to go back in larger numbers, again in phases but returning in the period from the current 50% eventually, in phases, to 100%.”  Professional services, including engineering services, will also increase into the Level 4 risk-adjusted category of phased lockdown easing.

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

CONSUMER INFLATION

Collapse of oil price pushing consumer inflation rate down

Business Times writes that with the Covid-19 disaster having shut down much of the world economy, demand for oil has collapsed.  Brent crude fell briefly last week below $20 a barrel for the first time in decades, and is still trading at just above $20 a barrel.  That's an economic bright spot for SA even if cheaper petrol isn't much use to motorists in the lockdown.  With demand for fuel down by 60% or more, four of SA's refineries have shut down, with only Sasol's Secunda plant and PetroSA in partial production.  SA's inflation consumer rate is already benefiting from lower oil prices and stands to benefit even more in the months to come.  It will also help to justify a further interest rate cut by the SA Reserve Bank (Sarb).  The rand price for oil is now about 40% lower than a year ago.  "That's enough to push headline inflation down, probably to below 3%, even though petrol is only about 5% of the CPI basket," said Old Mutual investment strategist Izak Odendaal.  The March inflation rate, released last week, decreased to 4.1% from 4.6% in February, mainly because of fuel-price disinflation and April's numbers will benefit as well.  Sarb this month revised its inflation forecast down to 3.6% this year and 4.5% next year and it may cut its forecast further.  But with the government now seriously cash-strapped, there's a good chance of it taking advantage of lower prices to implement another hike in the fuel tax.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Hilary Joffe at BusinessLive

BUSINESS RESCUE / LIQUIDATIONS

SA Express reportedly provisionally liquidated

Fin24 reports that state-owned regional airline SA Express has reportedly been placed in provisional liquidation after its business rescue practitioners (BRPs) filed an urgent court application in the Pretoria High Court on 25 March.  In March, SA Express, like other airlines, had to suspend operations due to travel bans imposed for the national lockdown in SA.  The BRPs have not been able to pay salaries for SA Express staff in March or April.  Formal applications have been launched with the UIF for consideration of Covid-19 relief aid.  Gideon Slabbert of Turnaround Rescue Solutions explained that provisional liquidation meant the affected parties would have an opportunity to contest the court order.  The court can appoint a provisional liquidator to preserve the assets of a company until it hears the winding up application.  If the order remains uncontested, a final liquidation order will be passed and the Master of the High Court will appoint a liquidator to wind-up the company.  SA Express was placed under business rescue last month due to financial pressures resulting from years of mismanagement and state capture.  In the view of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the SA Cabin Crew Association (Sacca), employees will now be made to suffer as a result of the mismanagement of the airline.

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

RISK COVER

Pepkor unit JDG Trading sued for selling unemployment and disability insurance to pensioners

Bloomberg reports that a unit of retailer Pepkor has been sued by the national credit regulator for selling unemployment and disability insurance to pensioners on welfare who would never be able to claim those benefits.  In a high court case against JDG Trading, which sells furniture and offers financial services, the company has been accused of taking advantage of some of SA’s poorest and least financially literate people.  JDG “is selling insurance that certain consumers, pensioners and disabled persons do not need, cannot claim benefits for, and yet pay for.  There appears to be a lack of compliance with the duty to explain this to pensioners, particularly to those illiterate pensioners,” the regulator claimed in court documents.  A date for the case to be heard is yet to be set.  JDG sells the insurance as a mandatory requirement for customers who wish to buy goods from its stores on credit.  The cover enables the company to be repaid in the event of the shopper’s death, unemployment or disability.  In its own court papers, JDG said that the “bundled” nature of the credit insurance made the policies cheaper on average for clients, some of whom were employed.  The company accused the regulator of being “paternalistic” for assuming that pensioners did not understand what they were purchasing.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Antony Sguazzin at BusinessLive