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 Wednesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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No jab, no job: CCMA rules that suspension of security firm employee at Sasol was not unfair Fin24 reports that the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) found in an arbitration award made on 25 January 2022 that the suspension of a security firm employee who refused to be vaccinated was not an unfair labour practice. The applicant in the arbitration was Gideon Kok, and the respondent his employer, Ndaka Security and Services, which provides services to Sasol in Sasolburg. Kok, who is not willing to be vaccinated against Covid-19, approached the CCMA in a bid to have his suspension declared an unfair labour practice. According to Kok, he was unfairly suspended from duty and told to return to his workplace only once he had been vaccinated against Covid-19. Alternatively, he was required to submit a weekly Covid-19 test result. According to the arbitration award, the decision to send Kok home was preceded by a decision by Ndaka's client, Sasol, to require a 100% vaccination rate. Kok cannot enter the Sasol site as his access card has been blocked since 1 November 2021. He made use of the alternative to submit a negative Covid-19 test on some occasions, but was no longer willing to submit those as he had to pay personally for the testing. He argued that there was no legislation that compelled an employee to be vaccinated and that it would be contrary to the Constitution, the National Health Act and directives issued by the Minister of Labour. Furthermore, Kok said he was a devout Christian who had already recovered from Covid-19. On behalf of Ndaka, it was argued that three separate risk assessments of the workplace had been conducted. Kok was identified as an employee who should be vaccinated as he shared an open-plan office with about 10 persons and worked in close contact with others. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carin Smith at Fin24. Lees ook, Maatskappy mag werkers wat inenting weier, skors, by Maroela Media Government clarifies that asymptomatic people don't need to isolate, but still need to wear masks EWN reports that the Department of Health on Tuesday clarified that people who have tested positive for Covid-19, but are not showing any symptoms, should be allowed to go to work, school and interact with others given that they still use a mask and sanitisers. If a person has Covid-19 symptoms, they now only need to isolate for seven days instead of ten. Government announced changes to the coronavirus regulations on Monday night, confirming that the country has now exited the fourth wave of infections. Although people who are asymptomatic don't have to isolate under the new regulations the department's Ramphelane Morewane said it shouldn't have an impact on the testing rate. While there seems to be some discomfort about this specific regulation, UKZN vaccinology professor Mosa Moshabela said the risk of an asymptomatic person transmitting the virus was far less than those who were showing symptoms. Cabinet announced the changes based on the proportion of people with immunity to Covid-19, which has risen substantially, exceeding 60-80% in several surveys. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mia Lindeque at EWN Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Saftu’s Vavi vows to “scale up the fight” against Clover GroundUp reports that unions supporting striking workers of dairy producer Clover say the strike will continue and action against the company will be intensified. During recent negotiations, the unions and Clover management again failed to reach an agreement. Workers are demanding that Clover stop plans for further retrenchments, factory closures and salary cuts. They are also demanding that the company reinstate all dismissed workers. They moreover want the company to be independent of the Israeli company Central Bottling Company (CBC), which owns Clover through the Milco SA consortium. Representatives of Clover met with leaders from the Food and Allied Workers’ Union (FAWU), the General Industries Workers’ Unions of SA (GIWUSA) and the SA Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) on Friday to try and end the strike, which started in November 2021. The meeting, which the Palestine Solidarity Alliance (PSA) also attended, was hosted by officials from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. On Tuesday, striking workers and supporting union members met under the banner of the ‘Clover Strike War Council’. SAFTU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said they would “scale up the fight” and mobilise more support for striking workers. He said that during the meeting last Friday, Clover was “telling us the same things they said in the previous meeting. They are going ahead with the 20% cut of the wages of workers, that we must accept that [factories in] Lichtenburg and Frankfort are gone and not going to reopen. They want to make life impossible to live and work under in the Clover company”. Clover told GroundUp that it had explored “all possible avenues” to minimise retrenchments but trading conditions and poor economic growth have made things difficult. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Masego Mafata at GroundUp
Zondo says executive can't be trusted with SOE appointments and independent recruitment board must be set up TimesLive writes that politicians have failed to ensure that those who are able to do the job are appointed to the boards and senior positions at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) — with devastating consequences. This is according to part 2 of the state capture commission's findings, which was handed to President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday. Part 2, volume 2, deals specifically with Denel, but says failures relating to the state-owned arms manufacturer were apparent at other SOEs. The report says these failures resulted in near — and sometimes full — collapse of SOEs and repeated bailouts. In the case of Denel, commission chair acting chief justice Raymond Zondo said it went from “highly regarded internationally” to an empty shell in record time. The appointment of boards and CEOs of SOEs was “a matter of serious concern” — and the executive "often failed to appoint the right kind of people [in] these positions”, Zondo found. “It is clear that the appointment of members of boards of directors of SOEs and senior executives, such as CEOs and CFOs, can no longer be left solely in the hands of politicians, because in the main they have failed to give these SOEs members of boards and CEOs and CFOs of integrity and who have what it takes to lead these institutions successfully. They are going down one by one and, often, they depend on bailouts,” Zondo wrote. He recommended that an independent body be established to identify, select and recruit “the right kind of people” to lead these boards and organisations. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Matthew Savides at TimesLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
DA’s Michael Bagraim asks whether Nxesi is thumbing his nose at the president over quotas for foreign nationals In a letter to the editor, Michael Bagraim MP, who is the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) shadow employment & labour minister, writes that much to his horror, employment & labour minister Thulas Nxesi recently said he wanted to investigate the possible introduction of quotas for the employment of foreign nationals in each workplace. Bagraim comments as follows: “This means either the minister hasn’t read our constitution or intends to defy it. Both possibilities loom large when looking at the minister’s previous actions. At the same time, South Africans will remember that our president has signed the AU agreement, which calls for free movement by citizens between members of the AU. Nxesi obviously does not recall the agreement, or like others in the governing party he is simply thumbing his nose at President Cyril Ramaphosa.” Read the original of Bagraim’s short letter at BusinessLive
Following Mthimkhulu conviction, Prasa puts faith in skills audit to root out qualification frauds Fin24 reports that the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) said in a statement on Tuesday that it would continue with the work of auditing the qualifications of its staff, following the conviction of its former head of engineering, Daniel Mthimkhulu, on three counts of fraud. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) announced on Monday that the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court had found Mthimkhulu guilty on three counts of fraud after it was established that he had misrepresented his qualifications to get the job. The case has been remanded to late February for sentencing. Mthimkhulu claimed that he had a master's degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Doctorate in Engineering Management from the Munich Technical University in Germany. The Prasa statement advised that due to Mthimkhulu's misrepresentations of qualifications, the entity had suffered financial prejudice as his salary had been increased from R1.6 million to R2.8 million. "Prasa is currently going through a skills audit process to root out the falsification of qualifications, if any. This judgment is another milestone in Prasa’s quest to clean up the entity," the statement indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard compiled by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24
No ‘outsiders’ for school’s senior jobs, say Limpopo villagers as they prevent new appointees from starting work SowetanLive reports that parents at a village school in Limpopo are demanding that senior management posts advertised last year be given to qualified officials from the school and not to outsiders, as has been the case. They have also resolved that the Department of Basic Education must start the process to appoint a principal and two deputies for Senakwe Primary School in Senakwe village outside Modjadjiskloof from scratch. The school has 1,500 pupils. The three posts were part of six vacancies advertised last year. The unhappy parents have prevented the new appointees from starting work since the reopening of schools on 12 January. The other three posts, which are for subject heads of department, have been put on hold pending the finalisation of the disputed posts. In a letter penned by school governing body (SGB) secretary Adrian Sengwana on behalf of nearly 100 parents to the Modjadji circuit education office, they demanded as follows: “Any appointment of the senior management posts must be from our school. We are not going to accept any appointment out of our school to come and lead us.” Sengwana said the department should institute an investigation into the appointments. However, SGB chair Michael Selametsela claimed that the appointments were not yet final, but that the interview process had been done fairly. “Members of the SGB rightfully signed off the recommendations and we are satisfied with the process,” he stated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Peter Ramothwala at SowetanLive
Prasa says it may have been paying salaries to about 3,000 ghost employees EWN reports that the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) may have been paying salaries to about 3,000 ghost employees for years. The Prasa board of control, under the leadership of Leonard Ramatlakane, briefed the media on Tuesday. Ramatlakane said the agency had a workforce of about 17,000 and that a skills auditing project had found there were many people getting salaries who could not be accounted for. "The project has already revealed over 2,000 people that exist, but they can't arrive to fetch their salary, so it shows that there is a problem that we have identified." Advocate Smanga Sethene said Prasa went through a verification process wherby workers had to bring their qualifications and IDs to their supervisors. He indicated that 14,000 came forward while 3,000 did not. "It could be that they are not coming forward for all sorts of reasons; they may be ghost employees who have been in the system undetected due to the inefficiencies that we have." He said this meant the agency might have been paying ghost employees all along. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Kaylynn Palm at EWN
Suspended public works director-general hasn’t been at work since July 2020, but has 'earned' R3.3m News24 reports that public works director-general Sam Vukela, who was placed on precautionary suspension in July 2020, has "earned" a salary totalling R3.3 million while waiting for his disciplinary case to be concluded. The several court bids that Vukela has instituted against his suspension and disciplinary process are at the heart of why the matter has been dragging. He is, however, paying his own legal fees. On Tuesday officials from the Presidency briefed the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Vukela's disciplinary case. Vukela was initially placed on precautionary suspension by Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille in July 2020, pending the finalisation of his disciplinary proceedings. He was suspended after a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers implicated him in allegations of fraudulent contract management and irregular payments in the planning of the state funerals for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Zola Skweyiya and Billy Modise. It is Vukela’s contention that the disciplinary inquiry, which is presently pending, is "unauthorised and cannot proceed". Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele Gungubele told Scopa: “We need to find a different way of dispute resolution. At this point in time, everyone seems to be taking care of what the law and processes allow. At face value, 19 months of not being at work is not a good story in terms of the resources of the state. We are tied in an established process, and everyone behaves to the extent that the processes allow them. What is at stake is the resources of the state.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jason Felix at News24 Suspended vice-chancellor Dr Enoch Malaza 'parts ways' with Mangosuthu University of Technology TimesLive reports that suspended vice-chancellor Dr Enoch Malaza, who earlier this month was granted an interdict preventing Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) from ending his contract, has agreed to leave the institution. MUT announced on Monday that it had “parted ways” with Malaza and went on to indicate as follows: “Dr Malaza’s last day as an employee of the university is January 31. News of this mutually agreed upon termination of Dr Malaza’s tenure as VC was communicated by MUT chair of council Morailane Morailane. The vice-chancellor and principal will no longer be an employee of the university as of February 1. It is the view of council that this will end a period of unwelcome instability in the executive management and leadership ranks of the university.” The process to appoint Malaza's successor will start in March. Earlier this month, Malaza successfully launched an urgent court application to stop MUT from implementing the council's decision that he retire before the end of his five-year contract. The Labour Court heard that the council decided in September last year to force him to retire by 31 December as he had reached the age of 65. Malaza argued that he was employed on a five-year fixed-term contract which had not expired. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nivashni Nair at TimesLive
Court rules that Ekurhuleni sex pest, who harassed a woman when she booked her learner’s driving test and again when she wrote it, must be fired GroundUp reports that it has been a long legal battle for a woman who was sexually harrassed twice by a municipal employee, when she went to book for, and then when she went to write, her driver’s licence test. But, the Labour Appeal Court (LAC) has now finally ruled that he must be dismissed. Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality employee Justinus Mabetoa was fired after a disciplinary hearing for sexual harassment. He appealed against the ruling to the SA Local Government Bargaining Council, which found him guilty but said dismissal was too harsh. The municipality then appealed to the Labour Court, but the court ordered that Mabetoa be reinstated. The municipality appealed again, to the LAC, which has now ordered that he indeed be fired. “Sexual harassment committed by an official employed in the public sector, in the course of the provision of public services to a member of the public, constitutes serious misconduct insofar as it amounts to an abuse of a public position of authority. Where such harassment is committed more than once and directed at the same member of the public this makes it all the more serious,” Acting LAC Judge Kate Savage ruled in a recent judgment. The incidents were reported to the municipality by a woman, who in June 2015 went to the vehicle licensing centre to book her learner’s test. She wrote the test at the end of August. On that day she reported to a supervisor that Mabetoa had sexually harassed her on both occasions. She said on the first occasion, he had suggested he would take down her number, and made sexual remarks, such as “I look like I taste nice in bed”. When she returned to write her test, Mabetoa again made sexual remarks, suggesting that he would go to her home, and when he took her fingerprints he rubbed her hand in an “uncomfortable way”. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tania Broughton at GroundUp
Mitchells Plain train stations in ruins, but transport minister says Central Line will be running again by July 2022 GroundUp reports that the ongoing closure of Metrorail’s Central Line in Cape Town has left thousands of people who live along this route with very few options to get to work and school. Over the two years of lockdown, stations and infrastructure on the line have suffered devastating pillaging due to a lack of security personnel. This train line and its stations, once the busiest in the city, have become a shadow of what it was in the 2000s. According to Metrorail spokesperson Nana Zenani, the organisation is prioritising upgrades for 21 stations on the Central Line, while Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has reportedly said that Metrorail’s Central Line will be operational again by the end of July 2022. But it is unclear how over the next five months the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) plans to rebuild and replace all of its stolen infrastructure worth millions of rands like overhead cables, signal poles and station buildings. All of the buildings at the stations that GroundUp visited recently were badly vandalised, with missing doors, windows and other infrastructure. Mitchells Plain Train Station was found to be completely ransacked. The Lentegeur Train Station was in an even worse state. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ashraf Hendricks and view photos of the stations at GroundUp
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