This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
In our early morning roundup, see summaries
of our selection of recent South African labour-
labour-related reports.
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With health-care system under ‘tremendous pressure’ amid Covid-19 third wave, tighter restrictions on the agenda for Gauteng BL Premium reports that with the Covid-19 third wave threatening to engulf Gauteng, a potential tightening of restrictions in line with levels seen in 2020 is on the agenda. Gauteng’s provincial command council will meet on Tuesday when the possibility of recommending severe restrictions will be considered. Nationally, the interministerial committee will be meeting on Thursday to consider the government’s response after experts told it that their "worst-case scenario" had materialised. Cabinet decided to impose light restrictions last week, opting against a proposal by the national command council for stronger measures, including a total ban on alcohol for a few days. Gauteng premier David Makhura, who is on record calling for extraordinary measures to be imposed on Gauteng, said the health-care system was under "tremendous pressure". The overwhelming majority of all new Covid-19 cases in the country are being recorded in Gauteng, with 60% and 80% of Covid wards at public and private hospitals, respectively, full. With Gauteng registering 66 out of every 100 new Covid-19 infections, only those deemed to be serious are admitted into hospitals. Wards in private institutions, in particular, are bulging to the point of having to expand intensive care units. The province could do more with more health-care workers, the premier said. He expressed unhappiness that Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, which was gutted by a fire in April, was still closed, noting however that all its staff had been deployed to different health-care facilities across the province. He said there were no health workers sitting at home. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Hajra Omarjee and Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (paywall access only) Teachers urged to be present at schools for vaccine rollout beginning on Wednesday News24 reports that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has urged teachers to be present at school as it prepares to begin its vaccine rollout on Wednesday. "Regular attendance to school will contribute to the successful implementation of the vaccination programme targeted at 582,000 people in the next two weeks. The vaccination programme is an opportunity to normalise schooling and intensify the process of mitigating the impact of Covid-19 on schooling," the DBE said on Monday. The department has ambitiously set out to vaccinate its 582,000 teachers and school personnel within 10 working days. During a briefing by the acting health minister on the country's vaccination programme last week, Deputy Director-General of Health Dr Nicholas Crisp said the DBE was organising transport for teachers to their designated vaccination sites. At a briefing over the weekend, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said they had the support of all five recognised teachers' unions and school governing body organisations and called on teachers and communities to get behind the vaccine rollout. The security cluster is expected to be vaccinated next. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lwandile Bhengu at News24. Read too, Western Cape education department urges teachers to get Covid-19 jab, at News24 Educators' Union of SA calls on teachers not to report for duty until vaccinated EWN reports that the Educators' Union of SA is concerned about schools remaining open during the Covid-19 third wave and has called on teachers not to report for duty until the vaccination programme has been completed. Over 500,000 teachers and other employees in the education sector will head to 281 vaccination sites in the country from Wednesday. The vaccine programme will run for 14 days. The Department of Basic Education said regular attendance at schools would contribute to the successful implementation of the vaccination programme. Basic Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga warned that calls for a stay-away would only set the department back. The department advised that circulars had been sent to provinces to outline all steps that must be taken before and after the vaccination process and that all provinces were ready to vaccinate education staff this week. Mhlanga was confident the rollout would work, as the department knew exactly where teachers were and how many staff were in the sector. "We have all the numbers. The majority of them are fully employed by the department. So, it's easy to plan based on that, but of course, it all depends on the movement and cooperation of people," he noted. Read the original of the report in the above regard by Thando Kubheka & Kaylynn Palm at EWN Solidarity to take employers to court who dismiss employees for failing to vaccinate Business Report writes that Solidarity's chief executive, Dirk Hermann, said on Friday that the trade union would take to court employers who dismissed employees because of their choice not to be vaccinated. Anton van der Bijl, head of legal matters, said they knew of no cases at this stage where employees had been dismissed for refusing to be vaccinated, and a Department of Employment and Labour directive on the issue had only recently been published. The legal firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr advised last week that, while the directive did permit mandatory workplace vaccination policies, the employer also had to take into account and accommodate refusals by employees to be vaccinated for health and constitutional rights reasons. Hermann said Solidarity had obtained its own external legal opinion on the directive, which had confirmed that employees have a right to choose not to be vaccinated, and employers may not deprive them of this choice. “Solidarity is of the opinion that there is certainty in the directive from the department that employees have the right to refuse the vaccine on the grounds of constitutional and bodily integrity reasons and that employers must do everything in their power to accommodate such employees,” Hermann said. According to Solidarity it would be illegal for an employer to make vaccinations compulsory without considering individuals’ constitutional rights. The motivations of employees for refusing to be vaccinated could include medical tests, religious reasons and the constitutional right to bodily integrity. “We will not hesitate to protect our members with the full power of the law,” said Hermann. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Edward West at Business Report Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Lecturers at Tshwane community learning centres protest over employment conditions, pay cut Pretoria News reports that lecturers stationed at Community Learning Centres across Tshwane have vowed to continue their protest at the Department of Higher Education and Training in Pretoria until their pleas for permanent employment are finally heard. Councillor Terry Maboe, from the EFF regional labour desk, said they joined workers who came looking for help in taking on the department as it had failed to do right by lecturers stationed at the centres (formerly known as Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) centres). Maboe said workers were unhappy with the 45% salary cut that some of them received this month and questioned why so many had remained on contract for many years without permanent employment. Karabo Tshoane, a lecturer from DWT Nthathe Community Learning Centre in Winterveldt, said they were unhappy that they had been working on a contract basis for many years and were being paid on an hourly basis by the department. Tshoane said what frustrated them the most was the fact that they were not getting paid the same salary scales across the board, with some lecturers being granted more working hours than others without a proper explanation. “No one can really say to us what type of employment we're in and how much the rate is for an hour," added Mmapula Poo, another lecturer from Winterveldt. Amos Monyela, deputy director within the department, assured workers that the department was willing to assist them with their issues and urged workers to bring their payslips to address their individual needs. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Goitsemang Tlhabye at Pretoria News
Grim task of identifying 20 illegal miners found dead in Orkney under way News24 reports that the families of the illegal miners found dead in Orkney, North West, last week started the grim task of identifying their bodies on Monday. Six bodies were found near a disused ventilation shaft and another 14 along a road. The cause of the deaths is not clear yet. North West Premier Job Mokgoro and Lesotho Consul General Selimo Thabane expressed their intention to help the families with the identification process after establishing that most of the deceased were from Lesotho. They had allegedly been mining illegally. EWN reported that at least one miner has been identified, but the identity has not been released. City Press reported that a video was being analysed which could be of a person named "Mafifi" pleading for advice on how to bring bodies to the surface. He says in the video that the deceased were "hit by some smoke". Some of the miners had notes tucked into the wrappings their bodies were swaddled with, which could contain their identities. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jenni Evans at News24 Other general posting(s) relating to mining
Mboweni sees need for review of SA’s labour laws to ensure they don’t impede economic growth Bloomberg reports that Tito Mboweni, the architect of many of SA’s labour laws, said it might be time to review them to ensure they weren’t impeding economic growth. Mboweni, who is SA’s current finance minister, told an investment conference on Thursday that when he served as the first post-apartheid labour minister from 1994 to 1998 “we made a number of mistakes that need to be attended to.” He asked: “To what extent are some of the labour policies we put in place acting as binding constraints? How do we make sure that our labour laws don’t impinge on the ability of small and medium enterprises to function effectively?” SA’s labour laws have been praised and criticised in turn for protecting workers rights and discouraging hiring in a country where a third of the labour force is unemployed. While labour unions would oppose any changes, a commission should perhaps be set up to examine the laws and amend them where necessary, said Mboweni. The minister was also adamant that the Treasury would not back down on its insistence that any wage agreement for civil servants must not breach the government’s fiscal ceiling. In February, Mboweni announced a three-year pay freeze in the public sector as part of plans to rein in spending, reduce the budget deficit and stabilise debt. Unions, which are demanding increases of inflation, which averaged 3.3% last year, plus four percentage points, have threatened to strike. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Antony Sguazzin at Moneyweb
More than 200 medical graduates still waiting for placements The Citizen reports that according to the SA Medical Association (Sama), hundreds of qualified doctors still waiting to be placed for their mid-year internships would eventually be allocated positions despite the frustrating delays in their placements. More than 200 qualified doctors have expressed frustration and worry as they have had no word from the Department of Health (DOH) on the mid-year internship intake, which is set to start next month. With some waiting for placement for more than a year, most completed their studies this year and have been waiting several months to be placed by the DOH’s Internship and Community Service Programme (ICSP). A medical graduate indicated: “We have applied for the midyear cycle, which is supposed to start placing us from 11 June, but on Friday, they said they postponed the placement as some posts still need to be funded.” But the excuse of lack of funding was invalid, as the health department had always known they would need to allocate and place medical interns, a Walter Sisulu University medical graduate pointed out. According to an e-mail sent by the ICSP to the graduates on Friday, the DOH was still finalising the process for the midyear intake due to the extension of the academic year at higher education institutions. But Sama, which was in talks with the DOH on the intakes, said the students would definitely be placed, despite the delay from the department. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Rorisang Kgosana at The Citizen Department of Health urged by DA to come up with clear placement plan for community service doctors Independent Media reports that the Democratic Alliance (DA) has called on the Department of Health to urgently come forward with a clear plan to address the chronic challenges preventing the efficient placement of community service doctors. “We have been inundated with various concerns by many community service doctors and interns throughout the year. Many have not been placed, are awaiting placement or have been placed in locations where families need to be separated,” DA MP Haseena Ismail said. She made the comments amid media reports that more than 200 qualified medical graduates were still waiting for jobs. Ismail pointed out that the government had used the lack of funds as an additional excuse for not absorbing qualified doctors into the system, yet it had spent close to R1 billion on a 10-year-long agreement deploying Cuban health practitioners to SA. This emerged in a written response by acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane to questions from the DA about the costs and employment of Cubans. “Given the money spent on Cuban doctors, government cannot use this poor excuse (lack of funds). It also knew exactly how many and by when these doctors would have graduated… The department must prioritise the absorption of community service doctors and interns as soon as possible as they can play a crucial role in the fight against Covid,” Ismail said. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mayibongwe Maqhina at Independent Media Health Department defends spending R83m a year on Cuban medics Independent Media reports that the Department of Health has defended the R83 million a year spent on the Cuban medical brigades that have been in the country since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. In a written response to parliamentary questions, acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said the 119-strong medical brigade had specialised expertise that was limited in the country. Democratic Alliance (DA) MPs had asked various ministers whether their departments had concluded any work exchange and/or employment agreements with Cuba from 2010-11 to date. They had requested details on the work that each of the Cuban nationals performed and the total cost of employment, among other things. Kubayi-Ngubane said the health department had signed a government-to-government agreement that included work exchange and/or employment agreements with Cuba. She advised that a team of 119 Cuban medical experts and health professionals with experience in planning, execution and management of the public health response to the pandemic had been contracted from May 2021 to April 2022, with R83,030,688 in remuneration costs. Kubayi-Ngubane said the medical brigade performed specialised expertise services as epidemiologists, bio-statisticians, public health specialists, family physicians and health-care technology engineers, and they each had more than 10 years’ experience. She added that while those skills sets were available in SA, “these are limited in number and not equitably distributed across the country.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mayibongwe Maqhina at Independent Media
Family of cop who died of Covid-19 complications finally receives pension payout after eight months Weekend Argus reports that the widow of a police officer and her children, who were facing eviction from their Paarl home, can now breathe a sigh of relief. Alvina Abrahams and her three children were four months behind with their rent. Her husband, David J Abrahams, who had worked for the Rapid Rail Police in Bellville, died of Covid-19 complications in September last year, and for the past eight months Alvina has been waiting for her husband’s pension payout. Following the Weekend Argus’s publication of the story, the pension payout has been fully paid and she also received her monthly spouse pension, which she is entitled to for the rest of her life. “I’ve got my money, thank you. Because of your article, I’ve got my money,” an excited Alvina said on Friday. She also revealed that she had had to sell some of her possessions, such as her car, to cover a month’s rent and so gain more time before the landlord evicted them. Not only were they facing eviction, but the family said they were also without food. Now, this is a matter of the past for the family. Government Pensions Administration Agency spokesperson Mack Lewele apologised to the Abrahams family for the delayed payout. He said that between them and the employer (SAPS), “this matter could have been handled better.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Velani Ludidi at Weekend Argus Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Western Cape traffic chief accused of sexual harassment still in post pending verdict Cape Times reports that senior Western Cape traffic chief Farrel Payne, who is accused of sexual harassment, appeared in the Cape Town Regional Court on Monday, where the matter was postponed to 27 July. Payne remains out on bail of R5,000. He is accused of sexual assault, crimen injuria and an attempt to commit a sexual act. Following his arrest in October last year, after a female complainant had reported allegations in September, Payne was booked off on indefinite incapacity leave. Speaking last week, the woman said she felt robbed of her career and was too traumatised to return to work, where she feared bumping into Payne. Payne has remained in his position at the Department of Transport and Public Works pending an internal investigation. The final report of the investigation has been finanlised was received on 8 April, but the head of department has yet to make a ruling on the matter. Anti-GBV activist Alexis Serra slated the department for the manner in which the matter was being handled and added: “After two months of receiving no feedback, the victim had to hear all the new developments through a parliamentary plenary debate, which was live on national television. It seems that the department’s senior management are doing everything in their power to frustrate the victim and prolong the process, to keep Payne in his position.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Chevon Booysen at Cape Times Other internet posting(s) in this news category WCED concludes probe into sexual abuse claim at Cape Town primary school, at News24
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