In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Tuesday, 3 November 2020.
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Nehawu to strike on 26 November over Tito Mboweni and Treasury ‘peeing on collective bargaining’ The Citizen reports that the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) has confirmed that it is planning to carry out a national day of action on 26 November to protest against the government’s decision to freeze public-sector wage increases. In his recent medium-term budget policy statement, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni proposed growth in the public sector wage bill of 1.8% in the current year and an average annual growth of 0.8% over the 2021 medium-term expenditure framework period. Meantime, the third leg of the 2018 public-sector wage increase agreement was not implemented in April this year. In a statement, Nehawu accused Mboweni and National Treasury of reversing “the hard-won gains of workers while peeing on collective bargaining”. The union said it would never accept a wage freeze on behalf of its members and workers. It further pointed out that it had never agreed with a wage freeze or the non-implementation of the 2020 salary increases. The union indicated that its members would march to the Union Buildings and Parliament to “raise sharply the issue of the onslaught on collective bargaining, austerity measures and neoliberal policies by National Treasury and the intended wage freeze”. Nehawu also advised that it “is forging ahead with the national strike of community healthcare workers which is scheduled to start on the 11 November across the country.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard at The Citizen. See too, Major strike planned for South Africa over wage freeze, at BusinessTech The ‘hidden’ cost for tax revenue of cutting the public sector wage bill BusinessTech reports that the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has published its analysis of Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) and some of its tax implications. The PBO provides independent, objective and professional advice and analysis to parliament on matters related to the budget and other money bills. In a presentation to parliament on Tuesday, the PBO noted that the MTBPS called for additional tax measures amounting to R40 billion over the medium-term to help consolidate the country’s finances, alongside a range of spending cuts. However, the PBO said some policy proposals in the MTBPS might worsen tax revenue collection if implemented – for example, the impact on Personal Income Tax (PIT) and VAT due to the reduction in the public sector wage bill. According to Mboweni, National Treasury would propose a three-year wage freeze in an effort to stabilise the spiralling public sector wage bill. The PBO noted, however, that public sector workers accounted for a relatively larger portion of PIT base because they comprised a larger share of the workforce and their earnings tended to be higher than their counterparts in the private sector. Consequently, the PIT tax base was potentially more sensitive to public sector pay policy decisions or level of employment. The PBO observed: “In times of public spending growth, it is generally recognized that public sector tends to offer greater job security than the private sector, yielding a steady stream of PIT revenue. However, in times of austerity, the tendency to impose policies directly aimed at reducing the public sector workforce size or capping pay can have a disproportionate effect on the PIT tax base.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard at BusinessTech
Mkhize wants security at hospital tightened The Citizen reports that Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has lamented instances of murder, attempted rape and patients assaulting staff at healthcare facilities. In a podcast, Mkhize indicated: “These have been very, very distressing situations for all of us and we had meetings where we had to then ask [police] for a strategy to try and look at ways we can tighten the security.” He added that hospital management had been tasked with dealing with basic security. Mkhize reported there were several cases of people having been hurt at work due to criminal activities linked to poor security at hospitals. On another matter, the minister pointed out that corruption during the Covid-19 pandemic was a distraction and urged South Africans to take a stand and fight to eradicate it. He reported that his department had been working closely with the auditor-general to look at the risk factors across the country. “There is a process of auditing that is going on to find out when things haven’t really been done properly,” he said, adding that it was important to strengthen the department’s supply chain processes. The minister gave the assurance that his department would cooperate with the National Prosecuting Authority, the Special Investigating Unit, the police and all law enforcement agencies to ensure corruption and other crimes were uncovered. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Makhosandile Zulu on page 6 of The Citizen of 3 November 2020 Rot runs deep in Gauteng health with no approved structure and no regular skills audits City Press reports that operating without an approved structure since 2006, lack of regular skills audits and irregular appointments have been identified by senior staff members at the Gauteng health department as major catalysts for the continued corruption and incompetence that have plagued the department in recent years. The department has in recent months again been thrust into the spotlight as a result of tens of millions of rands worth of irregular Covid-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement. According to senior staffers, “the fault does not merely lie with who was at the helm when incidents such as the PPE scandal this year, Life Esidimeni in 2016 or even the R1.2 billion irregular contract awarded in 2007 happened. What ensured that such incidents happened and continue to recur is that operational requirements are not adhered to.” One staff member commented that what was most concerning – and what had left the department susceptible to senior officials flaunting departmental regulations, both financial and operational – was the fact that “Gauteng health has been without an approved structure since 2006, when Dr Gwen Ramokgopa was still MEC”. Operating without an approved structure is against the regulations of the public service and administration department, the Public Finance Management Act, the Public Service Act and National Treasury. Acting Gauteng Health MEC Jacob Mamabolo’s spokesperson confirmed that the department was working without an approved organisational structure, but said they were working on finalising it. Mamabolo, however, denied that skills audits had not been done, saying that “skills audits are conducted on an ongoing basis and not in an arbitrary manner”. The most recent one was apparently conducted in 2017. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Juniour Khumalo at City Press (paywall access only)
Government must declare police killings as treason, says SA Policing Union EWN reports that the South African Policing Union (Sapu) on Tuesday said society needed to take a stand against police killings in the same way it did against other murders. Sapu was reacting to the murders of two officers in Cape Town in less than a week. A constable was shot dead in Samora Machel last week. On Saturday, another officer was killed in the Strand area. He was off duty when he was stabbed to death. A suspect has been arrested. Sapu’s Tumelo Mogodiseng reiterated that an attack on a police officer was an attack on the state and went on to indicate: “We’ve been calling on the minister to influence the laws in Parliament to declare police killings as treason because when you attack a police officer, you’re attacking the state.” Mogodiseng also said the public needed to help police: “The country must come to a standstill when a police officer is killed. It can’t be business as usual when police are being killed.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lizell Persens at EWN. Read too, Two off-duty Cape Town policemen murdered in same week, at EWN Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Unisa academics allegedly 'hacked, stabbed' in bloody clash with union leaders City Press reports that academics and union leaders at the University of SA (Unisa) are embroiled in rivalry believed to have led to an incident in which senior lecturer Dr Rendani Netanda and two others were allegedly assaulted, hacked and stabbed. According to Netanda, he and two colleagues had gone to the Academic and Professional Staff Association’s (Apsa’s) head office in Sunnyside, Pretoria, on Friday to have termination forms signed for members they were recruiting into their new union, which will be known as the Academic Staff and Educators’ Union. But, they were told to leave. Netanda related what then happened: “As we were about to leave in the car, I was suddenly grabbed and assaulted. I just missed being struck by some object one of our assailants was holding and managed to flee. The attackers then went for my two colleagues, who were severely beaten. Their wounds show that they were also hacked and stabbed.” Netanda said the Apsa leaders were clearly “unhappy” that they were losing members. Hellen Dladla, an administrative officer at Unisa who is among those leaving Apsa, confirmed the attacks and said she was also present when a case of assault was opened at the Sunnyside police station and the injured men treated for “serious wounds to their faces and bodies” in hospital. Apsa general secretary Boitumelo Senokoane, said in response to allegations of attack on the trio: “Former Apsa members, who opened their own union, invaded Apsa headquarters on October 30 2020 and held leadership hostage, and assaulted officials and office bearers. Staff members were injured. A case was opened with SAPS and the matter is sub judice.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Poloko Tau at City Press (paywall access only)
ConCourt clarifies rights of employers to amend employment conditions if required for company to continue functioning Mail & Guardian reports that a recent Constitutional Court (ConCourt) judgment empowers employers to change their workers’ employment conditions if the further functioning of a company requires this and, should workers refuse the changes, they may be dismissed without severance. Last week, the court ruled against a group of National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) workers, who were dismissed amid a strained restructuring process at Aveng Trident Steel. Adv. Greg Fourie SC, commented that the judgment was potentially a big victory for employers, especially as they sought to rebuild in the wake of Covid-19. Before the judgment, employers could not change their workers’ contracts — how much they were paid and what jobs they did — without consulting them. “It wasn’t clear what the employer could do to force the change. Would the employer simply have to keep paying a full salary until they go into liquidation, or would they have to retrench some of the people? … But the judgment allows an employer to force a change with the threat of dismissal,” Fourie explained. This must happen through a retrenchment process and not through collective bargaining. The ConCourt agreed that the dismissals by Aveng were not automatically unfair in terms of section 187 of the Labour Relations Act. The judgment concluded that, on a plain reading of section 187, “it cannot be suggested that the section should not be interpreted in a manner that permits dismissal for operational requirements”. But decisions to change workers’ basic conditions of employment must be made in good faith. The ConCourt judgment added that employers did not have carte blanche to dismiss workers. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sarah Smit at Mail & Guardian (paywall access only)
Gauteng education department warns of scam in which con artists are offering false jobs News24 reports that the Gauteng Department of Education (DoE) has warned residents and schools that people purporting to be BMW human resources personnel have been offering donations to schools and job opportunities to parents of school pupils. According to the department, the scammers were exploiting schools to disseminate false advertisements. Their modus operandi was to contact school principals and offer to donate IT equipment to schools. The department said the scammers offered to fight unemployment by sending flyers advertising false jobs and asking principals to make copies, stamp them and hand them over to pupils so that they could give them to their parents. "Applicants are told to pay money for a medical test, uniform and [to] be given preferential treatment in order to secure a job." The department said the people concerned were not contracted by it and warned people against paying money to secure jobs. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sesona Ngqakamba at News24
Pretoria high court judge Nana Makhubele heads to court to prevent her suspension TimesLIVE reports that Pretoria high court judge Nana Makhubele has urgently gone to court to prevent her suspension on the basis that she was not yet a judge at the time she was alleged to have committed gross misconduct. Last month the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to suspend Makhubele, pending an investigation into possible impeachment. This was because she had, after being appointed a judge, taken up the position of chairperson of the Passenger Rail Service of SA (Prasa) and has been accused, while there, of improper conduct. But Makhubele has asked the Pretoria high court to set aside the finding of the JSC that her appointment as a judge commenced on 1 January 2018. In her affidavit, filed in court on Monday, she said that — on a request to the president by judge president Dunstan Mlambo — her 1 January starting date had been revoked and changed to 1 June 2018. Makhubele pointed out that when she carried out her duties as Prasa chair she was neither a judge nor performing judicial functions. She had not taken her oath of office, she was not receiving a salary or any benefits of judicial office. She has asked that, until the court case is finalised, the decisions that she should be suspended and face a judicial conduct tribunal should themselves be suspended. She also wants the high court to declare that it is unlawful for the state to refuse to fund her legal costs in her proceedings before the JSC. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Franny Rabkin at TimesLIVE
Prasa hopes to gain trust of Mabopane train commuters as limited services resume on Tuesday Pretoria News reports that the Passenger Railway Agency of SA (Prasa) is hoping to regain the trust of commuters in Mabopane when limited train services resume on Tuesday. Prasa is also hoping that vandalism will end. Commuters have waited more than nine months for services to resume. Prasa stopped the service because of safety concerns following severe vandalism. Metrorail spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng said they were insourcing security to protect assets, staff and commuters. In adherence to Covid-19 regulations, the trains would only load 70% of total capacity to allow for physical distancing. Mofokeng advised further: “The first-come, first-serve rule will apply. In addition, train services will only operate during morning peak – 5am to 9am – and afternoon peak hours (3pm to 7pm).” She urged commuters to adhere to the lockdown regulations and said commuters would be expected to wear masks at all times and maintain physical distancing. Prasa will be using diesel locomotives and for safety reasons and because of the severe impact of theft and vandalism, trains will not be stopping at all stations. Plans are at an advanced stage for a limited train service in Saulsville to resume operations on 16 November. Prasa has asked commuters and the community to “be patient and understanding during this time” as it works around the clock to repair stations to acceptable standards. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sakhile Ndlazi at Pretoria News. See too, Metrorail announces limited train service in Pretoria, at The Citizen Government begins talks on regulation of minibus taxi industry Bloomberg reports that government has begun talks to regulate the minibus taxi industry, a key economic sector that transports 40% of the population, but whose reputation has been tarnished by lawlessness and a poor safety record. The private industry employs 300,000 drivers and generates an estimated R90 billion in revenue every year. Taxis are often the only option for workers in low-income areas as the nation’s bus system is limited and dilapidated passenger trains are prone to lengthy delays. In a virtual conference address last week to stakeholders in the industry, President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “Given its financial size, formalising the taxi industry is a vital step toward ensuring its contribution to the national tax revenue base.” He said that among the challenges facing the industry were labor relations, allegations of exploitation of workers and compliance with tax laws. The talks might eventually result in an accord that would be “anchored in the rule of law,” Ramaphosa said. According to Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, “something fundamental” should be on the table by April 2021. Access to finance, skills training and subsidies are among the issues being discussed. Phillip Taaibosch of the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) told the conference that stronger regulation was needed following persistent reports of abuse of passengers. Read the original of the report in the above regard by Gemma Gatticchi at Moneyweb Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Umdoni municipal officials cashed in on ‘danger pay for Covid-19’ Mail & Guardian reports that the ANC’s KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provincial executive committee has axed Umdoni mayor Thabani Dube and the municipality’s chief whip, Bonginkosi Mngadi, after it discovered that officials claimed “danger pay” for working during SA’s hard Covid-19 lockdown. This occurred under the duo’s watch. The party’s provincial secretary, Mdumiseni Ntuli, indicated last week that because of blatantly poor leadership at Umdoni, service delivery had regressed and the “embodiment” of the problems could be found in chief whip Mngadi and mayor Dube. An example of their leadership failures related to management claiming danger pay during the hard lockdown, which Ntuli said “we were very, very unhappy with”. He went on to explain: “They paid without it (danger pay) being regulated by a policy of the municipality, let alone a decision of the council. So, we said to the leadership there: How did this happen under your watch? And when we raised our concerns, those who had received the danger pay started paying back the money, which means they knew from the time they were doing the thing that it was absolutely wrong, it was illegal, [and] it should not have happened.” The municipality is currently in the midst of a rates dispute with a residents’ group, which is refusing payment until adequate service delivery and infrastructure maintenance takes place. The level of chaos within the municipality has been compounded by the Covid-19 lockdown having a detrimental effect on the region’s usually year-round tourism industry Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Des Erasmus at Mail and Guardian (paywall access only)
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