Today's Labour News

PUBLIC SECTOR WAGE NEGOTIATIONS

Stage is set for bitter fight between public sector unions and government over increases

BL Premium reports that the stage has been set for a bitter clash between the government and public sector unions, with the latter meeting on Monday to iron out sticking points in their demands for above-inflation wage increases. However, the Treasury has said its approach to future negotiations would be to ensure the outcome aligns with both the country’s fiscal position as well as prevailing economic conditions, which does not augur well for workers receiving salary increases in the coming years. The new public service wage demands are due to be tabled later on Monday, which will start what is expected to be an arduous negotiating process. A new wage agreement is supposed to take effect on 1 April, but as in previous years negotiations are unlikely to be complete by then. The biggest sticking point with finalisation of the unions’ demands is apparently whether increases should be on a sliding scale, with different salary increases for different salary bands, or one increase across the board. The sliding scale demand would be for an increase of the change in the consumer price index (CPI) plus four percentage points on the lower salary bands, and CPI plus two points on the higher salary bands. The across-the-board proposal would see a demand of CPI plus two percentage points for all salary bands. The latest CPI put inflation at 3.2% in January, but the Treasury is predicting it will average 3.9% during 2021. However, the unions agree they want to negotiate a single-year agreement.   This is because they were burnt by the state last year when it refused to implement the final year of the last multi-term wage agreement.

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

Unions will ask for CPI plus 4% in 2021 public sector wage talks

BL Premium reports that public sector unions are in line for another wage battle with government as they will be asking for an increase well above inflation in this year’s wage negotiations.   According to the demands that will be tabled at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council on Monday afternoon, the unions will ask for an across the board increase of the consumer price index (CPI) plus 4%. The latest CPI data put inflation at 3.2% in January, but the Treasury is predicting it will average 3.9% in 2021. The negotiations are set to be tough as the National Treasury has pencilled in major cuts to the wage bill over the medium term, amounting to a wage freeze for the next three years. The demands indicate that labour wants the lowest salary bands to be abolished.   It wants level 4 of the salary band, which provides for a higher salary than the first three levels, to be the entry level in the public service. Salary levels in the public service range from level 1, at its lowest, to level 12, at its highest. While the government has intimated that it will ask for a multiyear agreement, unions are now set to sign only a single-year agreement.

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

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY

Hawks to investigate ‘heinous’ shooting of two Cape Town police officers on Sunday

News24 reports that National Police Commissioner General Khehla Sitole has condemned the murder of two officers who were attacked while patrolling in a Cape Town suburb. The two were killed in Bloekombos in the early hours of Sunday. According to Sitole’s spokesperson, Colonel Brenda Muridili, the commissioner has ordered that the 72-hour activation plan be implemented to mobilise all the resources needed to investigate the case, while the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) has been assigned to investigate the circumstances surrounding “this heinous act that seeks to undermine the authority of the state." The officers' vehicle came under attack along Phumla Street. Apparently, they were both shot in the head while still inside the vehicle.  The killers then stole their official firearms before fleeing the scene. Meanwhile, Police Minister Bheki Cele on Sunday joined mourners at the funeral of Durban police officer Royal Ndlovu who was killed when he and a colleague responded to a domestic violence incident in Chatsworth two weeks ago. Ndlovu was shot in the chest above his bulletproof vest by a gunman inside the house, and died instantly. His partner returned fire, killing the gunman. The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) said it was distraught by the continuous reports of police killings.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Getrude Makhafola at News24

Netcare helicopter crash on 21 January was ’not survivable’, Sacaa preliminary report concludes

Sunday Tribune reports that the SA Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa) released its preliminary accident report last week on the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of a medical team on a “mercy mission” and the pilot, in Winterton, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Netcare’s Bell 430 helicopter was cruising at approximately 725 feet above ground level when it started to come apart mid-air. According to the report, the 21 January crash was “not survivable” as the craft burst into flames after plummeting rapidly to the ground. The Sacaa compiled the report, according to Civil Aviation Regulations, as part of its commitment to promote safety and reduce accidents, and without apportioning blame or liability. Dr Kgopotso Rudolph Mononyane, a cardiothoracic surgeon; Dr Siyabonga Mahlangu; nurse Mpho Xaba; paramedic Sinjin Joshua Farrance; and pilot Mark Stoxreiter, a National Airways Corporation employee, were killed in the crash. Their mission had been to urgently collect and relocate a patient from Hillcrest Hospital to another health-care facility where more specialised treatment could be administered. They were delayed when Mononyane responded to a request from a doctor friend to help save the life of Minister Jackson Mthembu, who had experienced Covid-19-related complications. Despite the efforts of Mononyane and the other medics, Mthembu died. Due to the considerable damage done to the cockpit and cabin, which resulted in fatal injuries for the occupants, investigators declared the accident as “not survivable”.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mervyn Naidoo at Sunday Tribune

MINING LABOUR

Mpumalanga High Court interdicts business rescue of Lily and Barbrook mines

Mining Weekly reports that the Mpumalanga division of the High Court on 26 February granted an interim interdict, as applied for by bidder Arqomanzi, delaying the implementation of business rescue plans for the Lily and Barbrook mines by former owner Vantage Goldfields. The interim interdict is valid until 4 May.   Both mines have been in business rescue since 2016, after a collapse at the Lily mine resulted in the deaths of the still unaccounted for mineworkers Yvonne Mnisi, Pretty Nkambule and Solomon Nyirenda. Arqomanzi, which is part-owned by minerals investment group SSC Group, was a bidder for both mines, having submitted business rescue proposals to reopen the mines about a year ago. Meanwhile, on 15 February this year, Vantage received approval from the business rescue practitioners (BRPs) to implement its proposed business rescue plans for the reopening of both mines. In a statement on 27 February, Vantage stated that it was “extremely disappointed” with the impact that the interdict has had on the employees, creditors and community members who were interested persons of the companies currently subject to business rescue. Vantage indicated further as follows: “There is funding available for the continued implementation of the Vantage plans and it was intended that employees and creditors would be paid imminently, which the company believes would have been “particularly beneficial to the many employees” who have now been unemployed for more than five years.

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

APPOINTMENTS / RECRUITMENT

Appointment of new permanent CEO at ‘broken’ Prasa marks beginning of new era, says Mbalula

Fin24 reports that Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Saturday that the appointment a new permanent CEO at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) signified the "beginning of a new era" for the rail agency that has been beset by operational and financial challenges. Zolani Matthews has been named Group CEO of Prasa after years of leadership instability and allegations of corruption that have led to the dismissal of several senior employees. Matthews, a councillor at the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), will start his new job in March. He committed to upholding and rebuilding a culture of good governance at the agency, stating that his first task would involve getting a "clear understanding of the ongoing issues and implementing the measures that have already been taken by the board" to stabilise the company. "It is going to be a process," he said, adding that he was expected to waste no time in fixing what has been described as a "broken" organisation. Prasa has not had a permanent CEO since the departure of Lucky Montana in 2015. A total of 10 acting CEO’s have been appointed since Montana's departure, and the agency was placed under administration in December 2019.

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

EXECUTIVE PAY

Steinhoff chief executive got double-digit increase in basic salary in year to September 2020

Business Report writes that Steinhoff International increased the basic salary of its chief executive Louis du Preez by 10.83% to €1.33 million (R24.22m) for the year to end September 2020, up from €1.2m the previous year. This was disclosed by the retailer in its annual report released on Friday. The leadership of Steinhoff has had to steer the company after the fallout from an accounting fraud in 2017 destabilised the company, which is still facing litigation, and has led to it selling assets and streamlining its portfolio. Du Preez's total remuneration also increased to €3.45m, up by 26% compared to the €2.72m he earned a year earlier. His total remuneration was made up of the €1.33m salary, a pension of €54,000, accrued annual bonus and long-term incentive of €1.53m, annual leave paid out of €116,000 and an annual bonus of €415,000. The group's chief financial officer Theodore de Klerk took home a total remuneration package of €2.88m during the year, up from €2.10m compared to a year earlier.  The executive remuneration and annual reports were released together with the group's trading performance for the first quarter to end December. The group said it faced ongoing challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic as differing levels of trading restrictions were once again imposed on a number of its businesses at various times.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sandile Mchunu at Business Report

PENSION PAY-OUTS

Bathabile Dlamini's pension cash held back to recoup VIP perk paid for by Sassa

Sunday Times reports that the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) blocked former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini's pension payout to recoup the R2m the agency paid for VIP protection of her children back in 2015. Sassa has taken both Dlamini and her former spokesperson, Lumka Oliphant, to court as it seeks to recover a total of R3.5m it paid for the security of their families. The agency wants Oliphant to pay back R1.4m used to protect her and her children.   Dlamini, Oliphant and former Sassa CEO Virginia Petersen were served with summonses in February 2019. This week Dlamini, who is president of the ANC Women's League, insisted she did not know the reason why her pension was being withheld by the state after she resigned from parliament when she didn't make it into President Cyril Ramaphosa's cabinet. Sassa claims security upgrades were installed in the homes of Dlamini and Oliphant after they said their lives and those of their children were under threat. The auditor-general classified the expenditure as fruitless and wasteful.   Dlamini blamed her political opponents for the state's refusal to pay out her pension. Last week the women's league national executive committee expressed its support for their president.   Sassa CEO Busisiwe Memela denied that its court action was politically motivated.

Read the original of the report in the above regard by Nonkululeko Njilo and Amanda Khoza at Sunday Times. Read too, ANCWL demands the release of Bathabile Dlamini’s pension funds, at EWN. And also, Bathabile Dlamini accuses justice department of lying about her pension, at BusinessLive

SUSPENSIONS

National Arts Council suspends CEO, CFO over rollout of employment stimulus programme

SowetanLive reports that the National Arts Council (NAC) has suspended its CEO Rosemary Mangope and CFO Clifton Changfoot pending an investigation. The two were suspended on Sunday by the newly elected council in relation to the management of the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP).   The council has appointed Julie Diphofa, who has been a senior official at the NAC for over 20 years, as the acting CEO and Reshma Bhoola as the acting CFO. According to a council statement, the decision followed robust engagement with management over the past weeks culminating in the council meeting of Friday, which left the council seriously dissatisfied with the progress on the rollout of the PESP. “The NAC is entrusted with the responsibility to administer the PESP on behalf of the department of sport, arts and culture. The NAC was allocated R300m to be disbursed through two funding streams, at R100 million and R200 million for stream one and stream two respectively. Stream one was intended to enable job retention, while stream two was for work opportunities within the arts, culture and heritage sector. The council took these decisive steps in the interest of service delivery as it relates to the PESP meant to support hundreds of arts, culture and heritage practitioners,” the statement noted. The council affirmed its commitment “to completing this process as soon as possible and to ensure that the PESP funds reach all the deserving and successful applicants so that projects that will either sustain or create jobs are not hindered in any way.”

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Patience Bambalele at SowetanLive

Eskom suspends chief procurement officer over his failure to turn around the utility’s procurement division

News24 Wire reports that Eskom has suspended its chief procurement officer, Solly Tshitangano, and will be instituting disciplinary action against him following allegations of poor performance over the last year. Andre de Ruyter, the power utility’s group chief executive officer, confirmed that Tshitangano had been suspended because of his failure to turn around the company's procurement division. He was tasked with saving Eskom 4% of its annual spend of R140-billion on goods and services, but has been unable to do so. "We spend R140-billion buying goods and services.   We are paying more than what we should be paying. R2-billion savings is not a lot, it's about 4% of R140-billion. That is exceptionally modest, but Solly has not delivered what was asked of him," De Ruyter indicated.   Tshitangano, a former senior official at National Treasury's highly regarded procurement office, is well-known in government circles for demanding that the Public Finance Management Act and, in particular, procurement regulations be followed to the letter. De Ruyter said the procurement division was battling to implement a turnaround strategy.   He reported that Eskom would have paid R238,000 for a wooden mop had he not intervened, but that it had until recently been paying R28 for a roll of single-ply toilet paper and R56 for a two litre bottle of milk.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News

WORKPLACE CORRUPTION / FRAUD

Sassa officials and 17 others in court for disability grant fraud amounting to over R300,000

SowetanLive reports that the Hawks have dismantled one of the biggest disability grant fraud and corruption syndicates to hit the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) after the arrest of officials and undeserving beneficiaries in Limpopo. The agency was scammed of disability grants by officials colluding with beneficiaries between 2018 and 2019 in Khobo village outside Tzaneen. A Sassa official explained: “A suspended senior Sassa official, who was entrusted with payment approvals of the beneficiaries at Nkowankowa offices, colluded with his girlfriend to recruit undeserving beneficiaries. The girlfriend is running a drop-in centre and has recruited many women who worked there as part of the expanded Public Works programme.” Official identity documents of the bogus beneficiaries would be collected by the girlfriend and handed over to the official as part of the scam. “These people would be registered in the system without having any file or a letter from a medical doctor recommending that they qualify for a disability grant.   We believe the agency has lost close to a million rand in this fraud not the R300,000 that people are talking about,” the official indicated. Twenty of the people who were arrested on Monday and Tuesday last week in connection with the scam have already appeared in the Tzaneen Magistrate’s Court.   Their case of fraud and corruption was postponed to 24 March.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Peter Ramothwala at SowetanLive

OTHER REPORTS

Durban man bust for impersonating a police officer and robbery

TimesLIVE reports that a Durban man was arrested on Sunday after he allegedly posed as a police officer to rob a victim of his cash and cellphone. Police spokesperson Capt Nqobile Gwala indicated that the 35-year-old suspect was scheduled to appear in the Durban Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of robbery and impersonating a police officer. Gwala reported: “Yesterday at 12.30, Durban Central police officers were patrolling along Warwick Avenue when a man approached them and informed them that two unknown suspects robbed him. It was alleged that one of the men posed as a police officer. The victim was searched and robbed of his belongings by the two men. The police officers conducted a follow-up operation, which led them to the Phoenix taxi rank in the CBD, where one of the suspects was identified by the victim.   A 35-year-old man was searched and was found in possession of the complainant’s cellphone and cash.” The man was found in possession of a fake appointment card.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Suthentira Govender at TimesLIVE. Read too, KZN man in the dock for committing a robbery while impersonating a police officer, at Independent Media