TOP STORY – CCMA BUDGETS CUTS

‘Open CCMA Campaign’ alleges CCMA outsourcing its dispute referral system to corner stores and internet cafés

BL Premium reports that the budget cuts at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) have plunged the statutory body for aggrieved employees into a crisis. It is now allegedly outsourcing its dispute referral system to corner stores and internet cafés. Security guards, touts and con artists have been exploiting workers with enquiries and charging to make copies of and complete dispute referral forms. The cash-strapped CCMA, which processes more than 200,000 cases a year involving unfair dismissals, wage disputes and retrenchments, has had its budget of R1bn cut by R99m this year, with steeper cuts of R170m and R231m pencilled in over the following two years. The Casual Workers Advice Office (CWAO), which is part of the “Open CCMA Campaign”, tweeted last week: “Want to know what the [CCMA] budget cuts mean? Today we found that the CCMA Benoni has effectively outsourced its dispute referral system to a corner store/internet café. Workers now pay R10 at the internet café to refer a case online. It is next door to the CCMA!” The CCMA responded by saying it would have “no alternative but to take further action necessary against CWAO” for defamation should the tweet not be removed within seven days, but by Thursday it was still up. Open CCMA Campaign spokesperson Harry May said that the real situation facing workers was actually much worse than revealed in the tweet. After spending days last week outside CCMA offices, they were able to establish that in Benoni a CCMA administrator directed workers to an adjoining internet café where they were expected to pay R10 for a dispute referral form, R20 for support with completing the form and a further R30 for e-mailing the completed form to employers and the CCMA, right next door. At the Joburg CCMA office, security guards charged workers for forms and then directed them to an internet café to refer a case where they paid an additional fee. Also at Joburg, touts and con artists charged workers up to R900 to complete dispute referral forms. The Open CCMA Campaign has called for the immediate full reopening of the CCMA, including walk-in facilities and part-time commissioners hearing cases.

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

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY

On Friday, another cop shot dead in Cape Town

News24 reports that the Cape Town police force lost another member after an off-duty police constable was shot and killed in Delft on Friday afternoon. Western Cape police spokesperson Captain FC Van Wyk indicated in a statement that the 40-year-old constable was based with the Mowbray SA Police Service (SAPS).   Last month, two officers were killed in an ambush and robbed of their firearms in the city when they came under attack while patrolling along Phumla Street in Bloekombos. They were both declared dead on the scene. A 32-year-old man arrested in connection with the murders has appeared in the Blue Downs Magistrate's Court. Van Wyk said Friday's shooting occurred in Ravel Street in Delft South. Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) detectives are undertaking the investigation.

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

JMPD security officer’s body found burnt at Rea Vaya bus station on Friday

News24 reports that the body of a Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) security officer was found burnt at a Rea Vaya bus station on Friday. Officer Dumisani Tani's body was discovered by a colleague who came to relieve him of his duties at the bus station at Klipspruit Valley Road in Klipspruit, Soweto. "The colleague was surprised to see the station quiet. When he checked in the toilet he found Dumisani burnt and non-responsive. Gauteng Emergency Medical Services Paramedics were called and Dumisani was declared dead on the scene," said JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla.

Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Lwandile Bhengu at News24

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

• Limpopo police search for security guard who allegedly killed his colleague, at News24

TERS BENEFIT

Employers refund R2bn to UIF following fraudulent Ters claims

BL Premium reports that Department of Employment & Labour (DEL) Minister Thulas Nxesi told MPs on Thursday that employers who had made fraudulent claims under the Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) have refunded just over R2bn to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). He advised that employers were entering into acknowledgment of debt arrangements with the UIF for the false claims made under the scheme. Between 27 March 2020 and the previous expiry date of 15 October 2020, Ters payments cost the UIF R58.3bn, with 13.7m payments having been made to workers and 1.2m employers having applied for the relief.   Nxesi said about 1,000 cases of allegedly fraudulent claims had been referred to the police for possible criminal investigation and about 80 employers had already appeared in court on charges of fraud and corruption. The minister said the “follow the money” project was continuing to find out how much money had been stolen. A lot of fraud, he said, took place in the initial phase when the UIF paid money to employers rather than directly to the workers themselves. In some cases, employers failed to pass on the money to workers. Forms the fraud took were that employers inflated the amount or the number of workers who were claiming the benefit. Nxesi said nine audit firms had been employed to “follow the money” and some of those who were corrupt were being identified during the process.   The Special Investigating Unit has also been investigating the fraud and would hand over its report once its investigation was concluded.

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

PUBLIC SECTOR WAGE NEGOTIATIONS

Deputy Minister tells MPs that wage demands of public sector unions will be heard with ‘an open mind’

BL Premium reports that a senior government official has signalled that public-sector union wage demands could still be open for discussion, despite the Treasury indicating that the state could not afford salary increases. Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) Deputy Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga said in parliament on Thursday that the government would approach wage negotiations with public sector unions with “an open mind”. Chikunga commented:  “We are open to proposals because the demands of the unions are out there; however, at the moment there is no decision to either increase or not to increase salaries. The negotiations are just starting ... If you want to suggest anything to the government as an employer you can give that to us. For now we cannot say there will be an increase or no increase, because then that will nullify the importance of the negotiations. We will go to the negotiations with an open mind.”   Finance Minister Tito Mboweni emphasised in his budget speech in February the need to contain compensation costs to support fiscal consolidation. But a few days after the budget, public sector unions asked for an across-the-board increase equivalent to the consumer price index (CPI) plus 4%. The Treasury is predicting that CPI will average 3.9% in 2021. Chikunga said negotiations with unions would commence on 29 March at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council. He declined to comment on the details of the unions’ demands.

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

MINING LABOUR

Impala invests R10m over four years in bursary programme, launches new Future Women in Mining bursary

Mining Weekly reports that Impala Platinum (Implats) will be investing R10-million over the next four years into the 2021 intake of bursars. The funding will cover tuition, accommodation, books and pocket money, as well as paid vacation work for many of the students. The 2021 intake of bursars will see 18 young people who matriculated in 2020 on their way to a career in the mining industry owing to the miner’s successful bursary programme for external candidates.   This year also sees the addition of a brand-new bursary, “The Future Women in Mining Bursary”, of which Dulcie Kagisho, from Paardekraal, is the first recipient. Of the 18 successful bursars for 2021, seven men and 11 women were selected from 11 high schools in the Rustenburg area. They will be studying a range of disciplines, including mining, mechanical, chemical and electrical engineering, chemistry, geology, teaching, HR and accounting, at various universities. “It’s crucial for our mining industry to be more representative of our population and to encourage women to pursue the many opportunities available to them throughout the mining processes,” Impala Rustenburg CEO Mark Munroe commented. He added that Dulcie, as well as Impala’s 11 other women bursars and any other future Women in Mining graduates, “will encourage many more women to work hard to achieve good matric results to be able to embark on an exciting career in the mining industry.”

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

SAA BUSINESS RESCUE

SAA business rescue over by end of March, but no date for when flights will resume

BL Premium reports that the business rescue practitioners (BRPs) of SA Airways (SAA) intend to hand back the company by the end of March. In a notice to affected parties on Friday, the BRPs said SAA was now “solvent and liquid” and they outlined all the outstanding matters to be completed by the end of March. SAA has been in business rescue since December 2019. In October 2020 it was allocated R10.5bn to fund the rescue process.   Most of this has already flowed to SAA, with the rest to come as other obligations fall due later in 2021. To hand the company back and file a notice of “substantial implementation”, the BRPs said they needed to complete the payment of employees, or make provision for it; finalise payment of post-commencement creditors; and establish the receivership to manage these payments.   However, it is not yet clear when SAA will resume flying. A travel advisory posted on its website recently said that flying was suspended until October. Resuming operations will depend on there being both a management team in place and sufficient working capital. At present there is almost no senior management in place and the only member of the executive committee is an acting CFO. The company does however have an interim board. The Department of Public Enterprises had previously stated that unless a strategic equity partner was secured, SAA would not have sufficient working capital to resume operations. The process of selection of a strategic equity partner or partners is being managed by the department.

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

SAA nears takeoff, but no management team in place to fly the airline

Business Times writes that the SA Airways (SAA) rescue saga seems to be drawing to a close, with its business rescue practitioners (BRPs) indicating on Friday that they hoped to complete the process and hand the airline back to its interim board by the end of this month. But, the question that remains unanswered is when a CEO and commercial director will be appointed to drive the airline's re-launch. The group’s acting CEO, Zuks Ramasia, took early retirement in April 2020 after assuming the role in June 2019 following the resignation of Vuyani Jarana.   SAA’s commercial director, Philip Saunders, left the group in December 2020. Asked for comment about the appointment of a CEO and commercial director for SAA, the BRPs said it was never their role to appoint executive management. Meantime, the Department of Public Enterprises said the interim board had been tasked with ensuring that an experienced management team with the requisite expertise was appointed at SAA to ensure a smooth transition from business rescue. The BRPs said in an update on Friday they were “making every effort to finalise the outstanding items by the end of March 2021". Thereafter the company would be placed in the hands of the interim board. SAA’s liabilities were reduced by R35.7bn to R2.3bn due to “the compromise ... negotiated by the business rescue practitioners with concurrent creditors and lessors”. The workforce has been reduced from 4,700 to about 1,000 through voluntary severance packages and retrenchments.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nick Wilson at BusinessLive (paywall access only). Read too, SAA rescuers claim they saved airline R36bn, at Independent Media

SAAT SALARY PAYMENTS

SAA Technical management hoping to pay employees 50% of their March salaries

News24 Wire reports that management at SAA Technical (SAAT) is continuing with efforts to try to pay employees at least 50% of their salaries due for March. But as of Friday, management was still waiting for details of "anticipated funding" from its shareholder, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE).   This was indicated in a letter to SAAT employees dated 18 March. Unlike its parent company, SA Airways (SAA), SAAT is not in business rescue and its operations fall outside the domain of SAA's business rescue practitioners. In the letter, SAAT interim CEO Terrance Naidoo informed employees as follows:  “Funding available to SAAT at this stage is limited, and the exco [executive committee] continues to recover more payments to SAAT in order to meet 50% payment of salaries, as a minimum." Previously, before the latest letter dated 18 March, it had been indicated to SAAT employees that they might get only 25% of their salaries in March. Derek Mans, organiser for aviation and defence at trade union Solidarity, pointed out last week that the reduced payments were regardless of employees having worked full roster schedules. In February, only about 50% of salary amounts were paid.   Solidarity's legal team is considering taking legal action against SAAT similar to the recent action undertook against Denel due to the outstanding salaries. In that matter, the Labour Court recently awarded Solidarity an attachment order. On Friday, SAAT employees staged a walk out in protest at the current situation.

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

COMPANY JOB CUTS

Coke’s assertion disputed that layoffs two years ago were as a result of sugar tax and not merger

BL Premium reports that Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (Coke) told the Competition Tribunal on Thursday that the retrenchment of staff two years ago was due to the effect of the sugar tax on its profits and not the merger with two bottling plants. The Competition Commission has accused Coke of breaching the merger conditions surrounding its purchase in 2016 of two bottling plants, Shanduka Beverages SA and the Coca-Cola Canners of Southern Africa. Coke was given the go-ahead for buyout of the companies on condition that it did not retrench certain staff as a result of the takeover.   Three years after the buyout, Coke cut 368 jobs at some of its bottling plants. At about the same time as it was retrenching, Coke apparently hired 1,000 employees through labour brokers at wages lower than those paid to the retrenched workers. The Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) complained to the commission about the job cuts, arguing that Coke had breached the merger conditions.   Margaretha Engelbrecht SC, representing Coke, told the tribunal that the decision to cut jobs was an “operational one” in response to rising input costs, a weak economy, reduced consumer demand, the increased price of sugar, the higher cost of fuel and the sugar tax.   The sugar tax introduced in April 2018 increased the costs of sugary products. Nyoko Muvangua, advocate for Fawu, hit at Coca-Cola’s claims, claiming the “sugar tax was used as a veneer” by the company to defend its retrenchments. Muvangua argued that the job cuts were as a direct result of the mergers with the two bottling plants three years before. She said Coca-Cola had not provided enough facts to show the retrenchments were not related to the merger.

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

SUSPENSIONS

Another top Dirco official suspended in connection with botched R118m New York land deal

News24 reports that Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) chief financial officer Caiphus Ramashau has been placed on precautionary suspension in connection with a R118 million New York deal to buy land which didn’t exist. Dirco director-general Kgabo Mahoai was suspended last month in connection with the deal. The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomed Ramashau suspension, but said the party still had serious concerns about other senior officials implicated in the project who have not been suspended. DA spokesperson on international relations, Mergan Chetty, said on Sunday: "It has now emerged that the department has engaged to sublease office space for our missions in New York, and the very role players implicated in the R118 million shenanigans are also at the centre of this new deal. This is a recipe for disaster, and we brought this to [International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor's] attention.” The party previously claimed that Mahoai's suspension was "a smokescreen to protect other senior officials closely linked to senior politicians". Pandor said in Parliament earlier this month that the department was making efforts to recover the money through a review of the tender in the high court.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carien du Plessis at News24

CORRUPTION / FRAUD

Four JMPD officers, including two superintendents, to appear in court on charges of corruption and theft of a vehicle

News24 reports that four Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officers, including two superintendents, are expected to appear in court on Tuesday where they will face charges of corruption and theft out of a motor vehicle. JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla reported that the officers were arrested by the Hawks on Thursday. The suspects are two males and two females aged between 39 and 48. "The management of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department is aware of the allegations and cannot comment on the details of the case as it is still being investigated. The matter will also be investigated internally," said Fihla.

Read the original of the report in the above regard by Lwandile Bhengu at News24