In our Wednesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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Petrol price goes up by R1.46/l on Wednesday and South Africans must brace for even higher fuel prices in April Moneyweb reports that South Africans will need to fork out R1.46 per litre more for both 95 octane and 93 octane petrol from Wednesday and will have to brace themselves for even higher fuel prices in April. International crude oil prices spiralled above the $100 a barrel mark last week, largely because of the Russia-Ukraine war. If world oil prices stay at current levels or soar further, the petrol price in SA is likely to top a new record of R22 or even R23 per litre in April. March’s petrol price increase will see the inland price of 95 octane hitting R21.60 a litre, while for coastal provinces it will cost R20.88 per litre. “For the first time in history 95 octane petrol inland will rise above R21 a litre, and by a significant margin,” the Automobile Association (AA) said in a statement on Monday. The AA also noted that the price of 95 octane at the coast will “for the first time” breach the R20 per litre level. In addition to the hike in petrol prices, diesel is set to increase by between R1.44 and R1.48 a litre, while illuminating paraffin will increase by R1.21 per litre. The ramifications for South Africans and local businesses will go beyond just stomaching these hikes. Economists are warning that surging oil prices will further fuel inflation, which is already at the top end of the SA Reserve Bank’s target range. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Suren Naidoo at Moneyweb Solidarity to petition Parliament over excessive fuel prices Solidarity has drafted a parliamentary petition and says it will be running a huge campaign to pressure the government into deregulating the petrol price and lowering fuel prices. On Tuesday, the trade union demanded that the determination of fuel prices should be left entirely to the market so that healthy competition could prevail for the benefit of consumers. According to Solidarity, the government has a stranglehold on fuel prices which must be broken. It is the union’s contention that most other countries leave the determination of fuel prices to the market and where prices are indeed regulated, it is to keep them low. “Our research shows that in South Africa price regulation is keeping fuel prices artificially high instead. This amounts to deception because the state, which was appointed by us to look after our interests, is thus acting contrary to our interests,” said Theuns du Buisson, economics researcher at the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI). The union argued that, while there were indeed international factors that influenced fuel prices, the government “still cannot justify its own irresponsible actions”. Du Buisson stated: “We must now take action to force the government to act in the interests of South Africans and not in their own. When the price of fuel rises, almost all other products and services also become more expensive, and ordinary South Africans struggle to make ends meet.” Solidarity explained that it had no choice but to launch an extensive campaign, saying further: “We ask everyone to sign our petition that will be submitted to Parliament. If enough people make their voice heard the government cannot ignore us.” Read the full original of Solidarity’s press statement in regard to this matter and access the full petition at Solidarity News. Lees ook, Petisie by die parlement oor brandstofpryse, by Maroela Media Mantashe, Godongwana in talks over whether to review to fuel price make-up Fin24 reports that according to Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, discussions are under way with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to review the pricing methodology for petrol. The minister made the remark on the sidelines of the Africa Energy Indaba conference, which took place in Cape Town on Tuesday. During his earlier address to the conference, Mantashe noted that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine was driving up crude oil prices, translating into "severely high fuel prices" for individual countries. According to Mantashe, the fuel tax relief announced in last week's national budget was effectively "corroded" by the petrol costs. No hikes to the fuel levy or the Road Accident Fund levy were introduced for this year. "We are not responsible for the price. We are responsible for formulas. We are discussing with the minister of finance whether or not we should review how we calculate [the formula]," Mantashe said. Last week, Godongwana made an off-the-cuff remark in his budget speech that he was consulting with Mantashe. "The intention is review the structure of the petrol price going forward – to be competitive in this economy," Godongwana said. In the 2022 Budget Review, National Treasury highlighted that administered price inflation – mainly from electricity and fuel prices – increased at an annual average of 8.2% between 2011 and 2021. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lameez Omarjee at Fin24
Hospital porters who lost their jobs when new contractor was appointed, protested and blocked entrance to Groote Schuur on Tuesday GroundUp reports that the entrance to Groote Schuur hospital was blocked with burning rubbish bins and portable toilets shortly after noon on Tuesday by hospital porters who lost their jobs after a new company took over the portering contract from 1 March. A group of about 100 porters waited outside the hospital for the outcome of negotiations with hospital management which began on Monday. When a delegation from the EFF, which the porters had requested to negotiate on their behalf, announced that no progress had been made, the porters dragged plastic rubbish bins and a mobile toilet into the road and set them alight, effectively blocking ambulances from getting to the trauma unit. Signposts, paving blocks, and other material were also dragged into the road, hindering patients trying to leave the hospital parking area. Security guards idly stood by and a group of about 30 EFF members looked on. A hospital worker who attempted to bring a fire extinguisher to douse the flames was accosted by the protesters and forced to retreat. After police arrived, at least two rubber bullets were fired at the protesters. Stun grenades were also used. Deputy chairperson of the EFF in Cape Town, Ntsikilelo Tyandela, said a new tender had been awarded to a company called Zara, replacing SD, a company that had long held the contract. Tyandela said some of the porters had held their jobs for eight, and even 20 years, and had worked through the Covid-19 pandemic, but the new company had not taken them on. The provincial health department condemned the disruption. It confirmed that the new contract was concluded at the end of February. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Steve Kretzmann and Marecia Damons at GroundUp Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Irvin Jim's birthday party paid for by embattled life insurer owned by Numsa workers' trust GroundUp reports that National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim scored a R40,000 birthday party, and his daughter a laptop, thanks to a life insurance company owned by Numsa's workers' trust. These transactions were among a host with "unclear" commercial benefit in 2018 alone, according to a 2020 investigation report by auditing firm Deloitte. This report has come to light as part of the court record in a bitter tussle for control of embattled life insurer 3Sixty Life, which is wholly owned by the National Manufacturing Workers Investment Trust (Numsa Trust), albeit through three layers of umbrella companies. In December 2021, after a year of operating in an insolvent position, 3Sixty Life was placed under curatorship by order of the South Gauteng High Court, following an application by the Prudential Authority. In May 2020, Gerdus Dixon, an audit partner at Deloitte, had been appointed by the Prudential Authority as an investigator in the matter. Dixon's investigation found evidence that Numsa had been using 3Sixty Life to pay for things that had no commercial value to the company. This support included: R15,578 for laptop for Irvin Jim's daughter; R40,430 for Irvin Jim's birthday party; R114,425 for a Numsa gala dinner; R10,000 to cover transport costs, purportedly for a Numsa delegation visit to the 3Sixty Life offices; and R48,300 for a two-day event for Numsa's Wits region branch. Dixon euphemistically called the commercial benefit of these costs "unclear". Read the full original of the detailed report in the above regard by James Stent at GroundUp
Lazy bureaucrats to be in the spotlight at public service summit in March BL Premium reports that laziness and inefficiency in the public service have reached such epic proportions that the problem is expected to be the focal point of March’s public service summit. According to sources in the government, the situation is so bad President Cyril Ramaphosa has urgently tasked ministers in his executive to deal with productivity in the state. Public service minister Ayanda Dlodlo and deputy finance minister David Masondo have confirmed the matter will come into sharp focus at the summit, which will involve organised labour as well. A social contract on how to get SA working is expected to be forged at the summit. Dlodlo said performance management of public servants was now a priority. “If we generalise, we run the risk of losing complete confidence in a system that can work. What we need to look at is a performance management system and that can be achieved in the short term,” Dlodlo said. The failure of managers to fill vacancies, the abuse of sick leave and the absence of information technology systems “that talk to each other” were said to be factors too. “The issue of systems is what I am talking about when dealing with capacity of the state. Eighteen months, that is the projected timeline to fix all of that,” Dlodlo stated. Masondo concurred, saying the productivity of public servants was a “serious” issue. “What we need to measure is the performance of one home affairs office compared to another, for example, why the revenue service is able to perform optimally and other departments are not. That is an urgent task for government,” Masondo said. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Hajra Omarjee at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
State Security Agency finally gets a permanent head TimesLive reports that the State Security Agency finally has a new permanent director-general (DG), after former deputy energy minister Thembisile Majola was appointed to the post on Monday night. Majola's stint as the DG of the SSA kicked in on 1 March for a period of one year. She is the first permanent DG of the agency since Arthur Fraser left in 2018. The position was held in an acting capacity by Loyiso Jafta and Gab Msimanga in the intervening period. In a statement, President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “The appointment of Majola is an important part of our work to stabilise the country’s intelligence services. Her extensive experience in government, international relations and security makes her well placed to lead the reform and rebuilding of the State Security Agency. Her appointment is expected to give greater impetus to the implementation of the report of the SSA High Level Review Panel and the recommendations of the Expert Panel into the July 2021 unrest.” Majola’s CV on the government's website states she has a BSc in civil engineering (Camaguey, Cuba) and a Masters in civil engineering. The Presidency said her appointment came after assurances from Ramaphosa in his state of the nation address that he would fill critical vacancies in the country’s security services. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at TimesLive. Lees ook, Nóg ʼn ANC-kader aan die hoof van die SVA, by Maroela Media Other internet posting(s) in this news category
End of the runway for 200 SAA employees who opted for failed training scheme rather than severance packages Fin24 reports that about 200 staff members of state-owned South African Airways (SAA) will be let go at the end of March this year. Those employees chose not to take voluntary severance packages during SAA's business rescue process and opted insteaf to be placed on a government-run training scheme. Receiving a memorandum from protesting members of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the SA Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) on Tuesday, Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) director-general Kgathatso Tlhakudi said SAA unfortunately found itself in a dire financial situation due to state capture that was "enabled" at the airline. However, according to Numsa and Sacca, ordinary workers had to keep paying the price for corruption and mismanagement at SAA and were now facing an uncertain future. SAA resumed operations on in September 2021 after being the first state-owned enterprise to go into business rescue in December 2019. In terms of SAA's rescue plan, the workforce had to be reduced from about 4,700 to only about 1,000. The majority of employees – 3,041 – ended up opting for severance packages. Meanwhile, the training scheme never really got off the ground. According to Numsa and Sacca, their members were informed by SAA on Monday that the training programme had failed because the CCMA was unable to provide a stipend, the Transport Education Training Authority (TETA) was unable to commence with training, and SAA was not able to use most of those on the programme. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carin Smith at Fin24
City of Joburg to fire more than 100 employees who were permanently employed ’unlawfully’ IOL reports that more than 100 employees of the City of Johannesburg are facing the chop after new council bosses said their contracts were unlawfully changed to permanent positions. Just three months after the African National Congress (ANC) lost control of Johannesburg in last year’s local government elections, some workers are complaining of a witch-hunt. The outcry came after the City, which is under a Democratic Alliance (DA)-led coalition, on Monday sent out letters nullifying permanent jobs of staff accused of being unlawfully employed when the ANC was in charge. The letters also warn that the affected employees who accepted the conversion of their fixed-term contract to permanent employment could be guilty of an offence and urged them to return “financial benefit which you have solicited and or are soliciting and or likely to solicit for your permanent employment which seemingly may constitute an unlawful gratification in law.” According to Karabo Ramahuma of the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu), as many as 120 council employees have already been told their jobs were on the line. “We can also confirm that affected members are not from any specific political party. The City has sent our members notices inviting them to do representation on how to regularise the alleged irregular appointments. We are engaging in the process,” Ramahuma said. Asked if Samwu was aware that ANC members were apparently being targeted, he replied: “We are not sure of which political party members are coming from or their political beliefs and/or preferences. We represent them purely based on their employment contracts with the City of Johannesburg.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Brenda Masilela at IOL Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Part of retired public servant’s pension held back by SIU during investigation BusinessLive reports that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has obtained a preservation order to freeze a portion of a former department of public works and infrastructure official’s pension benefits. This is to allow the SIU to institute proceedings at the Special Tribunal to recover monies amounting to R510,042 lost by the department in a tender with a service provider. The SIU advised on Tuesday that the Special Tribunal order interdicted and restrained the Government Employees Pension Fund and Government Pensions Fund from paying Clive Charlton R510,024 in pension benefits. The order will operate as an interim interdict pending the final determination of action to be instituted within 30 days by the SIU in the Special Tribunal against Charlton and NECS Electrical Consulting. According to the SIU, its probe showed that Charlton allegedly failed to perform his duties with due diligence and failed to verify invoices with subcontractors. The SIU applied for the preservation order after Charlton retired on 30 September 2021 at the age of 61 and made application for his pension benefits to be paid out. “The SIU will preserve a portion of his pension benefits until the matter is finalised,” it said in a statement. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ernest Mabuza at BusinessLive. Read too, SIU freezes pension fund of retired former public works official, at IOL Other internet posting(s) in this news category
‘Angry' Winde fires Albert Fritz as Community Safety MEC after independent report confirms sexual misconduct News24 reports that Western Cape Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz has been removed from his position, following the conclusion of an independent report by advocate Jennifer Williams into allegations of sexual misconduct. The investigation report was submitted to Premier Alan Winde on Sunday evening. Winde indicated: "I have considered the content, and a meeting with [Williams] and our own legal team took place yesterday (Monday) afternoon, where we discussed it and I sought further clarity. Having gone through this report carefully, it is clear to me that Mr Fritz is not a fit and proper person to hold any position in my executive council. He has therefore been removed, in line with the powers vested in me by the Constitution." Winde added that the independent probe found "sufficient credibility"" in the allegations of sexual misconduct and alcohol abuse. "I am extremely angry at what appears to be verifiable incidences of serious sexual misconduct by him, in circumstances which in and of themselves were inappropriate," Winde stated. Read the original of the report in the above regard by Jenni Evans at News24. Lees ook, Albert Fritz afgedank, by Maroela Media. And also, Albert Fritz resigns from DA after Alan Winde fires him for sexual misconduct, at BusinessLive There is 'a political orchestration to assassinate my character', claims axed MEC Albert Fritz News24 reports that Albert Fritz believes he has been subjected to an unfair and one-sided probe, which was driven by a political agenda. Western Cape Premier Alan Winde axed Fritz from his position as community safety MEC following a damning report into allegations of sexual misconduct. Fritz subsequently resigned as a member of the DA. In a public statement, Fritz denied all the allegations on the basis "that the alleged misconduct simply did not take place". He lambasted the hearing which was chaired by advocate Jennifer Williams. The independent investigation found sufficient credibility in the allegations of sexual misconduct; credibility in the claims of alcohol abuse; and strong evidence of Fritz creating an environment conducive to sexual harassment, or alternatively, taking advantage of young women sexually. Fritz, his spokesperson, Wade Seale, the head of the community safety ministry, David Abrahams, support officer Michael Kwaaiman, and another official, Lazola Ndubela, had all been suspended pending the investigation. Regarding the fairness of the probe, Fritz commented inter alia: “I was expected to provide detailed exculpatory statements without seeing first-hand what the allegations actually were and the extent thereof. This is tantamount to me being guilty and having to prove my innocence without the courtesy of a complete charge sheet… Winde was placed in possession of a one-sided, untested version that, to this day, I have not been able to access and, therefore, defend.” Fritz said he was engaging with his lawyers about taking Williams' final report on review. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ntwaagae Seleka at News24. Read too, Axed sex-accused Albert Fritz: 'This is all very unfair', at TimesLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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