In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Monday, 23 November 2020.
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Eskom security guard shot dead while on patrol in Soweto News24 reports that a security officer who was contracted to Eskom was shot dead last week while patrolling in Soweto. "An Eskom-contracted security officer sustained gunshot injuries on Thursday evening while on patrol along the Chris Hani Road in Soweto," the power utility indicated in a statement. The incident on Thursday came after two security officers, also contracted to Eskom, died after they were shot in Lenasia South on 10 November. The preliminary findings indicated that the officers were ambushed from behind. No one has yet been arrested for the crimes. Eskom condemned the shootings, saying the security guards were part of its strategy to "combat the escalating theft of its network infrastructure", which has caused prolonged outages in Gauteng. "The power utility is deeply concerned about the escalating acts of theft and vandalism of its network equipment and infrastructure which are aimed at derailing its efforts to provide electricity," the statement lamented. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicole McCain at News24
Hundreds of truck drivers protest in Durban on Monday over hiring of foreign national drivers TimesLIVE writes that government's inability to resolve the deep-rooted issue of the hiring of foreign national truck drivers has again resulted in protest action. Hundreds of truck drivers — claiming to be from the All Truck Drivers Foundation (ATDF) — embarked on action on Monday in the Bayhead area of Durban to protest against the hiring of foreign national truck drivers in the country. Metro police spokesperson Supt Parboo Sewpersad said at least 300 protesters gathered on Langeberg Road in Bayhead, burning tyres and blockading parts of the road. On Sunday evening, members from the ATDF embarked on protest action at the Marianhill toll plaza along the N3 highway. There have been attacks on trucks across the province and country over the past few days. The Road Freight Association (RFA) told the Sunday Times that at least 30 truck drivers had been attacked across SA last week alone. Dozens of trucks have been torched since last Thursday, fuelling fears that yet another trucking war was looming. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Orrin Singh at TimesLIVE President Ramaphosa must act on truck attacks, says Road Freight Association The Citizen reports that at least 25 trucks have either been petrol bombed, burnt, shot at or stoned across the country since Thursday, with the Road Freight Association (RFA) insisting that police must gather intelligence and identify those inciting the violence for prosecution. The association also called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to focus the security resources at his disposal to counter, prevent and prosecute those who sought to destroy the country. Gavin Kelly, the association’s technical operations manager, said the attacks were uncalled for, irrespective of the concerns or complaints of the various parties perpetrating the violent attack on the logistics industry. Kelly said drivers were increasingly fearful for their lives and that drivers were being randomly shot at. He added that not only foreign drivers were under attack, but local drivers as well. All Truck Drivers Foundation (ATDF), a group of local truck drivers advocating for 100% employment of locals, has distanced itself from the attacks, but indicated that it supported local drivers fighting for their jobs. The organisation’s previous protests against the employment of foreign truck drivers by local freight companies have been marred by violence, with trucks forced off the road and torched. A call on social media for a three-day national shutdown by SA truck drivers “to clean the industry” of foreign drivers has left the industry jittery, with lawyers demanding that the ATDF should commit not to organising, encouraging or participating in the action. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sipho Mabena at The Citizen. Read too, Freight industry appeals to president to intervene in wake of truck torchings, at The Mercury Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Search for last miner trapped at Gamsberg zinc mine continues Reuters reports that rescuers were still searching for the last of 10 miners trapped at the Gamsberg zinc mine on Saturday and mining activity remained suspended until further notice, owner Vedanta Zinc International advised. The company added that technical experts had been called in to conduct the rescue operation. The shutdown of the mine, which halted operations from 17 November, followed a "geotechnical incident". The mine, located in the Northern Cape and bordering on Namibia, has been operational since 2019. As many as 10 employees were trapped after the accident, which occurred on Tuesday morning. Eight have so far been rescued and one has died, the company indicated. Read the original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly
Fitch says SA’s ability to tame public sector wage bill uncertain Bloomberg reports that Fitch Ratings said on Monday that SA might struggle to stick to a plan to rein in government spending by freezing public-sector wages. Finance minister Tito Mboweni has outlined a plan to pare the government salary bill, which has surged 51% since 2008, as part of an effort to start bringing the country’s debt trajectory down after 2026. But, according to Fitch’s Jan Friederich, the government hasn’t had a good track record in maintaining a lid on public spending during the past decade. “If you look back the past decade, there has always been overruns in wage negotiations even when the offer from the government was quite a bit more generous than inflation. Now a wage freeze in an environment where there is still some inflation is quite a drastic measure. A lot of the savings depend on it and it’s highly uncertain,” Friederich commented. The proposed wage freeze also risks stoking the ire of politically influential labour unions that are already in a legal battle with the state to honour the last leg of a 2018 pay increase deal. If state salaries can’t be cut, the government will find itself with little room to offset measures in other expenditure areas. Fitch and Moody’s Investors Service on Friday lowered the country’s credit ratings further. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Felix Njini and Manus Cranny at Moneyweb (https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news-fast-news/sas-ability-to-tame-wage-bill-uncertain-fitch-says/). Read too, Downgrades deal blow to economic recovery plan, at Engineering News
Labour Court dismisses Numsa’s application to stop retrenchments forming part of Comair’s business rescue Fin24 reports that an application by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) against Comair, Solidarity and other parties was dismissed by the Labour Court on Monday. Comair, which operates kulula.com as well as British Airways domestically, is currently in business rescue. Numsa had wanted the court to declare that Comair and its business rescue practitioners (BRPs) were acting in a procedurally unfair manner in respect of a retrenchment process that commenced on 27 October. Numsa had also wanted the court to declare that its members were not bound by the terms of a collective agreement reached in September between Comair, the BRPs, Solidarity and a pilots' association. However according to Solidarity, abolition of the agreement might have meant that Comair would lose its business rescue funding, thus preventing the company from resuming flights as from 1 December. Solidarity argued that the collective agreement was part and parcel of conditions set by the Comair Rescue Consortium, which won the bid in the rescue process. Solidarity also welcomed the Labour Court ruling upholding the collective agreement between Comair and Solidarity. In its view, the ruling gives employees, employers, as well as the airline's investors a sense of greater security and confidence. "It was of the utmost importance that this agreement remained in place to ensure the survival of the airline and to make it possible for it to start flying again on 1 December 2020. It is thanks to this agreement that the jobs of hundreds of employees are protected, and the airline's long-term sustainability is protected," said Derek Mans, Solidarity's aviation and defence organiser. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carin Smith at Fin24. Read Solidarity’s press statement on this matter at Solidarity News
Retirement fund ordered to pay for costs of DNA test in death benefit dispute Rising Sun Overport reports that a pension fund has been slated by the Deputy Pension Funds Adjudicator, Advocate Matome Thulare, for not including a deceased member’s romantic partner and child in the distribution of the deceased’s death benefit. The deceased member died, leaving behind his partner, who was pregnant at the time of his death and financially dependent on him. The status of the partner and the paternity of the child was seemingly acknowledged by the other family members of the deceased. But, the Masakhane Provident Fund never contacted the partner directly during its investigations and eventually decided to exclude the child and the life partner from the distribution of the death benefit. In response to a complaint from the life partner, the fund submitted that it was willing to redistribute the death benefit on condition that the child underwent a DNA test. Thulare found that there was no dispute about the permanent life partner’s status as a spouse of the deceased or the paternity of the child. In Thulare’s view, while that there was no need for a DNA test, if the fund wanted to have one done then it should have to pay for it. The fund was ordered to pay for all costs associated with the DNA test, including the costs of reasonable transport and accommodation where necessary. The deputy adjudicator added that the complainant might have to travel with the child for the purposes of conducting the DNA test and, therefore, any travel and accommodation must be suitable. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Two bogus Hawks officers bust in Mpumalanga after demanding R50K bribe to quash nonexistent PPE corruption docket News24 reports that two people have been arrested in Marble Hall for allegedly impersonating Hawks officers and attempting to solicit a R50,000 bribe. The arrests on Saturday came after a director of a company, which had been awarded a tender to supply Covid-19 personal protective equipment (PPE), received a call from one of them. The suspect apparently introduced himself as a member of the Hawks stationed in Mpumalanga and allegedly told the director that he was investigating a case of corruption against him and demanded R50,000 "to quash the docket". The matter was reported to the Hawks' Serious Corruption Investigation Unit, which acted swiftly and arrested two suspects immediately after they had received R20,000. Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects were in possession of fraudulent documents bearing the Hawks' logo. They were scheduled to appear in the Marble Hall Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of corruption and impersonating police officials. Read the original of the report in the above regard by Nicole McCain at News24 Two former Fidelity staffers who allegedly tipped off cash-in-transit robbers arrested on Friday TimesLIVE reports that the Hawks on Friday arrested two men for their alleged involvement in a cash-in-transit robbery in Soshanguve, Pretoria, in October last year. They will join four others who were previously arrested for the robbery. The Hawks said their investigation team followed up on intelligence about the suspects, who are former Fidelity Cash Solutions personnel, for their alleged involvement in the robbery at Batho Plaza. “The suspects aged 30 and 39 allegedly provided crucial information while working for Fidelity, regarding the cash distribution vehicles' movements which subsequently led to excessive cash-in-transit robberies in Gauteng,” a Hawks spokesperson advised. The two were positively linked to the armed robbery and subsequently arrested in Soshanguve on Friday. The Hawks also seized a firearm and ammunition for further investigation. The two suspects were scheduled to appear in the Soshanguve Regional Court on Monday. Read the original of the report in the above regard by Ernest Mabuza at TimesLIVE. Read too, Two Fidelity employees accused of tipping off Tshwane CIT robbers arrested, at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Taxi industry bemoans conditions set down by transport department to qualify for Covid-19 relief funds Pretoria News reports that the taxi industry has bemoaned the conditions set out by the Department of Transport for its members to qualify for the Covid-19 relief funds. SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) spokesperson Thabisho Molelekwa indicated that the stringent conditions were their biggest problem. He reported that in their last negotiations, they had asked the department to persuade Treasury to relook at conditions that were impossible to comply with. Molelekwa also noted that at a recent industry lekgotla, they had taken a resolution that provinces must be allowed to distribute the funds as they saw fit, including giving them to operators directly or setting up an empowerment programme. Among the conditions set out by the department were that the taxi operations must be formally registered as a business entity, which must have a business banking account into which the relief allowance would be paid. Furthermore, the businesses must be registered for tax and other applicable taxes related to running a business. They must furthermore register employees with the UIF, the Compensation Fund and for the skills development levy, and be in possession of a valid operating licence. “The fundamental problem is that they wanted operators to register companies and put operating licences into the name of an entity and then apply through the name of the entity,” Molelekwa explained. He added that, while the government maintained that the move was part and parcel of the formalisation process, which the industry did not deny was necessary, in the present situation the process was cumbersome. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Liam Ngobeni at Pretoria News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Africa Check finds no evidence for Mashaba’s claim of 15 million undocumented foreigners in SA TimesLIVE reports that fact-checking group Africa Check has responded to Action SA leader Herman Mashaba’s statement that SA has 15 million “undocumented foreigners” by indicating that there is no evidence to support the claim. Mashaba made the claim earlier this month, saying the country had 15 million undocumented foreigners with some “occupying jobs that can be done by our own people”. To back up his claim, Mashaba shared a link to a 2019 news report, which claimed that 15 million people in SA were unregistered, and many are “stateless children”. It also stated that “the World Bank say that the country has more than 15 million unregistered people”. However, Africa Check said its research revealed no evidence to support Mashaba’s claim. The organisation said it was difficult to account for every undocumented migrant, but available data “points to a figure much lower than 15 million”. According to Stats SA's chief director of demographic analysis, Diego Iturralde, the number of foreign-born people living in SA in 2020 was about 3.9 million. He told Africa Check this included both documented and undocumented foreigners. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Unathi Nkanjeni at TimesLIVE David Mabuza’s protection over six-month period cost taxpayers R8.4 million, excluding salary costs Lowvelder reports that the 28 policemen who were responsible for the safety and security of Deputy President David Mabuza cost taxpayers R8.4 million over a six-month period. The revelation came after the DA spokesperson of tourism, Manny de Freitas, asked for a breakdown of the cost to protect Mabuza during the Covid-19 lockdown. Police Minister Bheki Cele confirmed that there were 28 highly trained policemen on Mabuza’s protection detail. The R8.4 million was for meals, incidental costs and accommodation, and excluded salaries and other benefits. The funding of the protection services came out of the police budget. From 1 April until 30 September, R6.2 million was spent on accommodation (mainly hotels and luxury lodges), R900,000 on transport and more than R884,000 on “incidental” costs. To feed the 28-member squad cost taxpayers R1.4 million. Cele refused to identify the establishments used due to the security risks to Mabuza. In a statement, De Freitas said the amount was “ridiculous” to spend on one man. “Why can’t they have one or two protectors each?” asked De Freitas. In his view, the money could have been better spent on other more important and crucial services. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Buks Viljoen at The Citizen
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