In our early morning roundup, see summaries
of our selection of recent South African labour-
labour-related reports.
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Acting minister in the Presidency says 5,000 soldiers now being deployed to quell unrest News24 reports that Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni indicated during a media briefing on Wednesday that 5,000 soldiers had been deployed and placed at identified hot spots hit by ongoing civil unrest. "Yesterday [Tuesday], when we did the briefing of the justice crime prevention cluster, we said 2,500 were initially planned because the process of mobilising the military is not as easy as people think. There are different units. Overnight, the deployment continued as we indicated - and, as we speak, 5,000 are on the ground. We cannot say where they are placed because it will jeopardise their ability to be effective," Ntshavheni advised. She added that critical infrastructure had been secured, especially those that would put jobs and food security at risk if damaged. A total of 208 looting incidents at shopping centres and businesses were reported overnight - 156 in KwaZulu-Natal and 52 in Gauteng. Ntshavheni said the government was currently engaging with the National Consumer Goods Council to ensure food security. She added the government was assessing as to whether to declare a state of emergency or not. She was, however, mum about the ongoing investigation into the 12 people identified as being at the centre of orchestrating the unrest. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marvin Charles at News24. Read too, Opposition parties in heated meeting with Ramaphosa over 'small' army deployment, at News24 Economic sabotage behind public violence and looting, says police minister Cele BL Premium reports that the government has stated that the acts of public violence and looting that threaten the country’s economic prospects are sabotage and not just a spontaneous response to former president Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment. What began as sporadic instances of violence on 7 July as a response to Zuma being jailed for defying a court order, rapidly spread to Gauteng from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), threatening food and medicine supply chains. It also stalled the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines. “It was all [a] smokescreen,” police minister Bheki Cele said after assessing damage to property in Gauteng and KZN. Separately, he told Business Day that investigations and prosecutions of suspects connected to the mayhem, which by Wednesday had left more than 70 dead and disrupted the N3 highway, a key route for transporting everything from cars to medicine, would reveal whether anyone should be charged with treason. While Cele was reluctant to expand any further and made no comments about whether people linked to Zuma were directly involved in planning the violence, he gave the first clear indication of the security agencies’ thinking about the source of the violence. Bloomberg reported that Cele sidestepped questions about whether Zuma’s daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla was being investigated, saying only that as many as 12 people were on the radar of authorities for stoking the riots. The news agency reported Mzwanele Manyi, a spokesperson for the Jacob Zuma Foundation, as saying that there was no link between the violence and tweets by Zuma-Sambudla. Business organisations, including the body representing most of the country’s commercial property owners, believe the violence was planned and orchestrated, Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at BusinessLive (paywall access only) Despite closure of Sapref refinery, SA has sufficient fuel stocks BL Premium reports that motorists have been advised not to panic-buy petrol, as the country’s fuel stocks are deemed sufficient, despite the closure of the SA Petroleum Refineries (Sapref) on Tuesday. Panic buying of fuel ensued on Tuesday, with long queues reported at Durban petrol stations as several ran out of fuel while others were closed. There were also reports on Wednesday of motorists arriving at petrol stations in other provinces in their numbers to fill up their tanks. Avhapfani Tshifularo of the SA Petroleum Industry Association (Sapia) advised that the “preliminary assessment indicates industry has sufficient stock”, although he noted that the industry was “constantly monitoring the situation”. The Sapref refinery declared force majeure to customers in a notice on Tuesday as it closed its doors amid rampant unrest and looting in KwaZulu-Natal. Force majeure is a contractual provision that can be invoked when unforeseeable circumstances prevent a company from fulfilling a contract. Sapref, which is jointly owned by Shell and BP, said it was unable to sustain refinery operations as suppliers of “critical” materials had suspended deliveries to the refinery due to safety concerns for their staff and damage to their vehicles. Reggie Sibiya of the Fuel Retailers Association of Southern Africa said members currently had sufficient fuel and shortages had only been experienced in hotspots of unrest that could not be reached. The Automobile Association’s Leyton Beard commented that if Sapref was unable to refine and deliver product, then logically there were likely to be supply problems down the line. He, however, urged motorists not to panic-buy. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lisa Steyn at BusinessLive (paywall access only) Transnet says ports, key rail line disrupted by violence Reuters reports that logistics and freight companies said on Wednesday that Durban port had suffered major disruption after days of unrest, and operations have also been badly affected at the Richards Bay port and on a national freight rail line. The violence erupted last week in KwaZulu-Natal after the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma, but rapidly escalated into looting and destruction in Gauteng. State logistics group Transnet said in a statement that service levels at the Durban and Richards Bay ports were impacted "as the entire supply chain is closed," including roads into and out of the ports. The SA Association of Freight Forwarders told Reuters that port health services at Durban had been closed, effectively preventing vessels from berthing because Covid-19 testing could not be carried out. "This situation is exacerbated by launch crews also not being available," it advised. Juan Enslin of the Leschaco Group said his logistics firm had had to leave several containers in Durban port for safety reasons. "We therefore will fall way behind in our delivery schedules. Cargo that has been on the road was also diverted," he reported. On the impact on freight rail, Transnet said force majeure had been declared on the Natcor rail line that connects Durban to Gauteng. Transnet also said it was deploying resources to avert commercial fuel operations being affected, after being served with a force majeure notice by the Sapref oil refinery. Read the original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News Durban looting sees 45,000 businesses affected, R16 billion in lost stock and 129,000 jobs at risk City Press reports that Durban has borne the brunt of the ongoing unrest, with 45,000 businesses out of commission, an estimated R16 billion in stolen stock, and damage to infrastructure and equipment. eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda made this announcement during a media briefing on Wednesday, as the city began to count the costs of the impact of the riots. Preliminary estimates of the economic impact revealed that the unrest had cost the metro “R1 billion in terms of loss of stock and about R15 billion of damage to property and equipment”. Kaunda said that 5,000 informal traders had been severely affected by the criminality that has wreaked havoc in the coastal city, with a further “40,000 formal business also affected, including small businesses”. The expectation was that a large portion of those small businesses “may never recover from this upheaval”. A staggering 129,000 jobs are at risk, following the destruction of malls, factories and certain industries with “a large portion of those workers” likely to be added to the country’s skyrocketing unemployment figures. In Durban and surrounding areas, rioters breached the perimeter of the Massmart distribution centre in Riverhorse Valley on Monday night, and the targeting of malls and industrial warehouses has been the order of the day since then. Despite the announcement that the SA National Defence Force would be deployed in the city to relieve a flagging police contingent, wanton theft continued and people streamed in and out of the warehouse on Tuesday and Wednesday. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Juniour Khumalo at City Press Food crisis grips riot-torn KwaZulu-Natal, as sabotage continues BL Premium reports that dazed and shocked residents of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) are still reeling from the anarchy that has reduced much of the province, including the Durban metro and the provincial capital Pietermaritzburg to rubble in the past few days. They woke up on Wednesday to face another stark reality, namely that milk, bread and other basic foodstuffs have become scarce. With reports circulating in local communities of mobs and sinister prowlers in cars without registration plates, of an increasing number of fires being started, and water pipes and electricity substations being sabotaged, anxious people swamped the entrances of the few intact grocery outlets spared destruction. Most customers were turned away empty-handed after standing in queues for several hours. The lucky few were restricted to 16 items each. This because almost everything had been looted, with cupboards and refrigerators in the shops empty. Medicine is also in short supply, and petrol pumps are running dry. With millions of jobs across eThekwini, Pietermaritzburg and KZN lost and food supplies running out at a frightening rate, fresh produce is no longer on anyone’s mind. “Despair and anxiety are setting in with the realisation that this is not a temporary problem, that the entire food supply chain has been destroyed, and that it will take a very long time to restore it in any significant way. The crisis is going to deepen disastrously as the looted food runs out rapidly and the numbers of the desperately hungry shoot up exponentially,” said Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Palesa Phili. He is co-ordinating a relief strategy with a range of suppliers and distributors, Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mary Papayya at BusinessLive (paywall access only). Read too, Food supply to 675,000 people cut off after Durban food bank ransacked, at GroundUp. And also, Livestock starvation looms as deliveries of feed come to halt, at BusinessLive (paywall access only) Minerals Council warns of lasting impact of violence, looting on investment Mining Weekly reports that the Minerals Council SA (MCSA) has condemned the acts of violence and looting that have been spreading through various parts of the country, particularly KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. “We are deeply concerned about the loss of life,” the MCSA (previously known as the Chamber of Mines) said in a statement on Wednesday. It bemoaned the destruction of assets and the consequent impact on livelihoods, which would have devastating consequences and would also interrupt the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out. The MCSA also stressed that the images of mayhem playing across screens in SA and abroad “will have a lasting impact in discouraging investment”. However, while the industry supported the deployment of military resources in the circumstances, the MCSA implored that this be done in line with basic human rights standards, including the minimum use of force. It has also, as business, committed to working with social partners in government, organised labour and civil society to help restore law and order, which it said was “the foundation of a constitutional democracy”. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly Other internet posting(s) in this news category
UIF expects to start making Ters payments from 26 July BL Premium reports that the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) says employees in sectors hit hardest by the latest Covid-19 lockdown measures will start receiving Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) payments from 26 July. “According to the agreed project plan, UIF should be ready to open the system for applications from July 19 2021 so that payments could start flowing from July 26 2021,” spokesperson Makhosonke Buthelezi advised on Wednesday. Buthelezi said details on who would qualify would be published in the coming days. On Sunday, President Ramaphosa announced the extension of the lockdown level 4 restrictions that had been imposed to curb the third wave of Covid-19 infections, leaving many workers, particularly in liquor, leisure, travel and tourism industries with reduced or no income at all. This week, Ramaphosa said the UIF, after discussion with labour and businesses, would extend its Ters pay-protection scheme to workers affected by the lockdown restrictions. Buthelezi advised that the UIF had enough funds available to cushion affected workers. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bekezela Phakathi at BusinessLive (paywall access only) Western Cape Education Department reaches 84% of its target in vaccinating teachers against Covid-19 News24 reports that the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has nearly reached its target in the vaccination of teachers in the province against the Covid-19 virus. As of Tuesday, nearly 46,000 education staff members had been vaccinated. Kerry Mauchline, spokesperson for Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer, said the education sector had so far achieved 84% of its target in vaccinating teachers in the province. She added there were some challenges with the cold and rainy weather experienced in the Western Cape recently, and with staff arriving at sites at times other than their scheduled appointments, but that did not stop them from wanting to get the jab. Mauchline indicated that the WCED had yet to collate how many staff overall in the education sector did not take up the offer to get vaccinated. The department had worked on a consensus basis whereby they asked schools to submit names of staff who had consented to take the vaccine and had scheduled them accordingly. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lisalee Solomons at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Sibanye-Stillwater may wind down its gold mines in South Africa’s fading sector Bloomberg reports that Sibanye-Stillwater may wind down its three South African gold mines in the next decade or so as it becomes harder to exploit aging assets in an industry that was once the world’s largest. The company is among the few remaining SA gold producers squeezing profits from mines that are among the deepest in the world and are becoming more costly to run. Sibanye, which also mines platinum-group metals in southern Africa and North America, may look at gold assets outside South Africa as it winds down the three sites there. Unless gold prices moved much higher and the investment environment improved, Sibanye was unlikely to exploit its Beatrix mine beyond about five years’ time, spokesperson James Wellsted said. Meantime, Driefontein will run out around 2030, and Kloof about three years after that. “These mines have got a finite life, some of them are more than 70 years old, so they can’t go on forever,” Wellsted said in an interview. The appeal of investing in the sector has waned amid regulatory uncertainty, high power and labor costs as well as community protests and violence, Wellsted pointed out. Sibanye employs about one-third of the roughly 93,000 workers in SA’s gold industry. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly
New mom tells of eight-month struggle for UIF payout The Citizen writes that becoming a new mother is stressful enough, but imagine giving birth in a pandemic and waiting eight months for the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to make a payout. Liesie Pretorius from Pretoria West has been struggling that long to get her UIF payment after giving birth to a girl in November last year. She said this was despite her UIF contribution having been paid each month. Pretorius has to wait months for her claim to be paid out, which was very difficult because she cannot even afford medical bills. “I have tried calling several times, and found there were days they did not answer,” she indicated. She phoned in April, May, June, and this month and still got no answer, and “when they do eventually answer it was always the same story”. “They will give a ticket log about my request and promise to give me feedback, only for me to wait two weeks and still get no feedback,” she claimed. Pretorius initially used a UIF claim service that filed the claim on her behalf. A second agent informed her the documents hadn’t been filed to the system yet. Things went from bad to worse when she was informed that the assessor originally made a mistake on the system and uploaded her claim as a miscarriage. Pretorius is waiting for her claim to be reassessed. When she phoned, she was told a claim takes 35 working days to be reprocessed. By Wednesday, the system was still indicating Pretorius had had a miscarriage. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marizka Coetzer at The Citizen
Contract of Mossel Bay’s municipal manager terminated following sexual harassment allegations News24 reports that the Mossel Bay Municipality has terminated the contract of its municipal manager following allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct. Thys Giliomee was placed on special leave in April for serious misconduct following an investigation which indicated that there was a prima facie case of sexual harassment that he had to answer to. At a special council meeting last month, Mayor Harry Levendal tabled the investigation report, which was accepted by the full council. The council also decided to institute disciplinary proceedings against Giliomee on the basis of an allegation that Giliomee sexually harassed a junior employee. Levendal said the agreement to terminate Giliomee's contract was reached following "extensive negotiations". He stated: "The settlement was the logical and best solution under the circumstances. Advocate Giliomee leaves a stable administration with exceptionally high standards of municipal service delivery.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marvin Charles at News24
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