Today's Labour News

TOP STORY – CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN

UIF has paid out more than R15bn for Covid-19 relief, apologises for network break affecting processing of May claims

TimesLIVE reports that according to the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL), the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has to date paid in excess of R15bn to beneficiaries of the company relief scheme.  On 16 April the fund paid the first batch of Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) benefits to employers on behalf of workers.  Applications for May opened at midnight on Tuesday.  But, UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping apologised for a break in its network, which affected plans to capture the May Covid-19 Ters online applications.  He said they were “doing everything in our power to ensure that the problem is resolved today (Wednesday) so that we can start processing May applications immediately.”  Maruping promised that the UIF would make a public announcement once the system had been restored.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kgaugelo Masweneng at TimesLIVE. Read too, DA demands details on UIF’s Covid-19 relief payments and says its website is constantly offline, at EWN

Unions support DEB's plan to adjust curricula so that content lost during lockdown can be covered next year

The Star reports that unions have thrown their weight behind the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE’s) plan to defer teaching of some of the content yet to be covered in classrooms to the next grade.  This is the so-called curriculum trimming and reorganisation plan, which is central to the department's drive to recover the teaching and learning time lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Matric and Grade 7 pupils are due to return to school next week Monday and other grades will return later.  The reorganisation plan, intended for Grades 4 to 11, will entail coverage of the core content just enough to “allow learners to cope with the next grade”.  “The key aim of the school recovery plan is to ensure that the critical skills, knowledge, values and attitudes outlined in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (Caps) and those that are relevant to the learner’s current grade are covered over a reduced time period,” said DBE director-general Mathanzima Mweli.  He emphasised that the plan was meant just for this year.  Mugwena Maluleke of the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) said they supported the reconfiguration of the curriculum.  The National Teachers’ Union (Natu) also welcomed the deferment of some lessons, “especially the concepts that will be introduced this year and be dealt with again next year”

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bongani Nkosi at The Star

KZN education department to hire 6,000 EPWP workers to screen teachers and pupils at schools

TimesLIVE reports that the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) education department says it will deploy 6,000 people to screen teachers and pupils at schools in the province from 1 June.  In a communique sent out to district directors on Tuesday, the department advised that people employed to do screenings at schools would fall under the Department of Public Works' (DPW’s) extended public works programme (EPWP).  Principals and school governing bodies were given until Wednesday to identify people within their communities who would be beneficiaries of the programme.  In a separate communique, the DPW said those employed would be employed until 31 August, with an estimated budget of R38m for payment of monthly stipends of R2,000 a month.  The Department of Health will be conducting training and providing the required PPE to the EPWP beneficiaries.  KZN premier Sihle Zikalala along with education MEC Kwazi Mshengu were due on Thursday to visit a number of schools in the province, where close to 91,000 teachers were expected to be back at school.

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

Court to rule on garbage recyclers' right to work during lockdown

GroundUp reports that in an urgent application, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) has asked the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to declare the lockdown directive which requires reclaimers to apply to municipalities for a work permit unconstitutional and invalid.  Between 60,000 and 90,000 reclaimers - people who collect and sell recyclable material - are responsible for collecting 80% to 90% of used packaging and paper recycled in SA.  Under Level 5 lockdown regulations, reclaimers were not classified as an essential service so they were prohibited from working.  LHR brought an urgent application to the court to have them classified as an essential service, but the application was dismissed.  The government then announced on 29 April that reclaimers would be allowed to work under Level 4 lockdown regulations, but that they would need to apply to municipalities for a work permit - a law that did not exist before the lockdown.  In order to get a permit, all South African informal reclaimers must provide municipalities with an ID or passport.  Foreign national reclaimers must have a passport and work permit, an asylum seekers permit or a formal written recognition for refugee status.  But the LHR argues that proof of identity “is a means of exclusion when one considers that some of the applicants are foreign nationals who have either lost their proof of identity or have none.”  The LHR has asked the court to declare the permit directive unconstitutional and set it aside and to declare that all reclaimers in the Tshwane Municipality be allowed to operate without a permit.

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

HEALTH & SAFETY

Patients and staff at two frail care centres in Port Elizabeth hit by Covid-19

HeraldLIVE reports that Covid-19 has hit two frail care centres in Port Elizabeth, with a combined 20 patients and 11 employees infected and an elderly woman who contracted the virus having died.  The Lorraine Frail Care Centre, which is run by Life Esidimeni, has the highest number of infections, with 19 patients and 10 staff members testing positive.  Across the city, the Gelvan Park Frail Aged Home received the news on Tuesday that a patient and an employee had tested positive.  The health department had started screening at the home last week, with four Cuban doctors assisting from Monday.  The two who tested positive are both in isolation at Livingstone Hospital.  The 83-year-old Lorraine woman died on Saturday had a chronic neurological disease, according to a health department spokesperson.  The elderly and those in frail care — due to comorbidities and age — have consistently been reported as being particularly susceptible to Covid-19.  An employee at the Gelvan Park home said it was terrifying having to work knowing that others could be positive for the virus.  “It is so scary.  I can’t explain it.  You work with the fear.  It never leaves you.  It is terrifying,” she said.  Meanwhile, ACVV Huis Genot manager Sarel Broodryk said four staff members had tested positive, but had since been cleared of Covid-19.  “They are back at work and everyone is clear at the moment,” he indicated.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Michael Kimberley at HeraldLIVE. See too, Patients and staff test positive for Covid-19 at frail care centre in PE, at TimesLIVE

Fear grips Tshwane retirement village's 400 residents after food preparation staff member tests positive for Covid-19

The Star reports that fear has gripped a Gauteng retirement village that houses more than 400 vulnerable senior citizens after a staff member working in the food preparation section allegedly tested positive for Covid-19.  This stirred accusations that last week’s death of an elderly woman, who resided at Bougainvilla Retirement Village in Tshwane and who had a pre-existing lung condition, was due to Covid-19.  Allegedly, the facility’s management concealed a catering staff member’s positive Covid-19 test results that came back on Saturday, with residents being informed only on Sunday after their relatives sent a flurry of emails fuelled by anxiety over the safety of their loved ones.  There was also a report on Tuesday about the “crisis” at the Sen-Cit Resthaven Old Age Home, where two deaths and 32 positive Covid-19 cases were recorded.  That sparked concern among the families of Bougainvilla residents, who feared that kitchen and administration staff who were in contact with the Covid-19 positive worker still served food to them on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  The village’s management advised that it had been the employee’s husband who tested positive on Saturday, after which the staff member “was sent home immediately and tested as well”.  Further to that, the whole team was sent home and the kitchen sanitised on Saturday evening.  A whole new team apparently started work on Sunday morning.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khaya Koko at The Star

More Netcare staff test positive for Covid-19, this time at Sunward Park Hospital in Boksburg

News24 reports that the Netcare Sunward Park Hospital in Boksburg has closed its theatres for seven days and has diverted ambulance emergencies after some staff members tested positive for Covid-19.  The facility has made special arrangements to take care of walk-in patients for emergency procedures during this time.  The hospital's general manager, Dr Zecharai Esterhuizen, said the tracking and tracing of everybody who came in contact with the staffers was underway.  High-risk nursing support staff and doctors will be monitored and placed in self-isolation for 14 days as a precaution.  All individuals who work at the East Rand health facility who tested positive for Covid-19 will be re-tested once their quarantine period has been completed.  They will only be allowed to go back to work if their results are negative.  The hospital group has been hit by the virus.  Four people died during an outbreak at St Augustine's Hospital in Durban and 47 staff members tested positive, while 10 staff members at Kingsway Hospital in Amanzimtoti tested positive.  Mediclinic has also been hit by the virus, with 26 people testing positive at Mediclinic Cape Town in Oranjezicht, the company confirmed on Monday.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard at News24

'Laboratory error' means SABC employee in KZN who tested positive for Covid-19 was actually negative

TimesLIVE reports that after releasing a precautionary communiqué on a positive Covid-19 case at its KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) office, the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has announced that the employee was in fact negative.  The public broadcaster said on Tuesday that it was closing the office as a precaution after the employee's test results.  However, there was seemingly a laboratory error and the employee was actually negative.  The SABC noted that, as per the norm, it had “duly followed and adhered to all the internal protocols prior to confirming the case.”  The corporation comment further as follows:  “This latest reported case has had a serious impact on the organisation, including the temporary closure of the Durban office and some staff members urgently having to undergo testing.  The office will resume its normal operations on Friday May 29.”

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kgaugelo Masweneng at TimesLIVE

Pick n Pay outlet at Evaton Mall, eight other stores in Sebokeng closed for contravening health regulations

News24 reports that a Pick n Pay outlet, seven stores owned by foreign nationals and a butchery have been closed by Gauteng MEC Faith Mazibuko for contravening the law.  The Pick n Pay outlet, situated at Evaton Mall, was found selling rotten meat and expired food items.  Before closing the store, Mazibuko showed management and employees of the store the recovered expired items and rotten meat.  The store will remain closed until it complies with the law.  Additionally, at the nearby Mandela Square shopping centre in Sebokeng, Mazibuko and her entourage closed eight shops owned by foreign nationals, including the United Meat and Chicken butchery owned by a local businessman.  Five people, comprising four foreign nationals and an employee of the shopping centre, were arrested for alleged fraud after their shops were found operating with fake documents on Emfuleni Local Municipality letterheads.  Inside the butchery, workers were working without personal protective equipment (PPE).

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

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

• Soweto hospital slammed for 'starving' pregnant patient thought to have Covid-19, at EWN

MINING LABOUR

Momentum grows for an out-of-court settlement of the Mining Charter impasse

BL Premium reports that the Minerals Council SA (MCSA - previously called the Chamber of Mines) has spoken glowingly of an easing of tensions between the industry and Department of Mineral Resources & Energy (DMRE), raising hopes that a legal battle over the Mining Charter could be resolved out of court.  The third iteration of the document, gazetted in September 2018, outlines racial transformation requirements for the industry.  Of particular concern to the MCSA and its members is the lack of recognition of past empowerment transactions over mining rights being renewed or transferred in a sale.  After talks with the ministry failed, the MCSA lodged an application in court in March 2019 to review and set aside that clause and a few others.  At the council’s AGM on Wednesday, mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe pointed out that whoever lost the court case would take the matter on appeal and would continue doing so all the way up to the Constitutional Court, a process that would take years.  The best way to resolve the impasse was through direct talks, he said, because a court ruling would not resolve the underlying problems about transformation of an industry that had a long history of racial division.  Mxolisi Mgojo, the re-elected president of the council, said on Wednesday that there was a new spirit of co-operation between the industry and department as it dealt with the crisis forced on mining companies and the broader economy by the coronavirus pandemic.  He said the council fully agreed with the minister that talks had to restart to avoid a protracted court battle.

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

Other general posting(s) relating to mining

• Minerals Council expects pandemic to hit production further, at Business Report
• Mines not complying with Covid-19 regulations will be closed, says Makhura, at EWN

BUSINESS RESCUE

SAA’s business rescue practitioners say they’re engaging with government on new airline

BL Premium reports that the SA Airways (SAA) business rescue practitioners (BRPs) told creditors on Wednesday that they were continuing to engage with the government on plans for a new airline, which stood a reasonable chance of materialising if funds were made available.  The letter to creditors also responded to the many criticisms made against the business rescue team by public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan.  It provided a chronology of the process and explained the unsuccessful attempts of Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana to publish a business rescue plan, six months after the rescue commenced.  The BRPs also refuted claims that they had squandered money on consultants and had ran the airline in a wasteful manner that burned through the funding provided by the government for the rescue.  Instead, they asserted that they succeeded in lowering the costs of SAA operations by R500m a month.  Notably in the letter, the BRPs strike an amicable note, saying that “discussions are now being held between the practitioners and the shareholder to possibly restructure the airline.  An announcement in this regard will be made in due course, as well as an agreed timeline for the consultation on the business rescue plan, as well as its publication.”

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton at BusinessLive (paywall access only). Read too, BRPs hit back at criticism of their processes, at Business Report

APPOINTMENTS / RECRUITMENT

Cabinet gives approval for GEPF head Abel Sithole to take over as CEO of PIC

Moneyweb writes that if the Public Investment Corporation’s (PIC’s) board had had its way, Abel Sithole, the principal executive officer of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), would have been heading the R2 trillion investment organisation right now.  The PIC board submitted Sithole’s name for approval four months’ ago after a “lengthy, and thorough process” which began immediately after Dr Reuel Khoza was appointed interim chair in July 2019.  Ideally, the board had intended for Sithole to take over the position in March.  Finally, on Wednesday, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced that cabinet had given its approval for the board to proceed with Sithole’s appointment for a term of five years.  The PIC, which largely manages government employee pensions, has been without a permanent chief executive since the resignation of Dan Matjila in November 2018.  Nonetheless, negotiations regarding when Sithole will start in his new role at the PIC have not yet been finalised.  It is expected that Sithole will serve a short period for handover to his successor at the GEPF, where he has been serving as its PEO since July 2015.  A seasoned executive with extensive experience, Sithole is also the commissioner of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).  Prior to his appointment at the GEPF, he was deputy executive director at the Institute of Futures Research at the University of Stellenbosch’s Business School.

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

SALARY INCREASES

Municipal councillors to get pay hike from July, those in Cape Town urged to donate to Covid-19 relief

TimesLIVE reports that in line with a national agreement, municipal councillors will receive a pay hike from July.  This was indicated in a statement on Cape Town's budget presentation, but is apparently applicable across the country.  Mayor Dan Plato said during a budget discussion to the council that “councillors will receive only a 4% cost of living increase this year compared to 6% in other metros.”  He called on all councillors to donate back-pay of their cost of living increase to the Mayor’s Special Fund for food relief initiatives.  The mayor also indicated that the city was saving R450m in staff costs through a range of measures, including a limit placed on filling vacancies; a 50% reduction in annual performance increases for management; reductions in the appointment of consultants and training programmes; and a 50% portion of long service rewards being converted into additional leave.  The city’s Covid-19 budget impact has been budgeted for at R3.8bn, including more than R900m of additional Covid-19 expenditure.  A R3bn social package has also been passed to support the indigent, disabled and pensioners.  Plato explained:  “We know that many have already lost their jobs or fallen on hard times.  That’s why we are expanding indigent relief to persons earning R7,000 per month or less, and increasing the rates discount for many in this category.”

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