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 Friday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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Sibanye-Stillwater stops operations at SA gold mining as wage strike begins Reuters reports that Sibanye-Stillwater advised on Thursday that it had stopped operations at its gold mines in SA after two major unions began a strike over wages. The members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and the United Association of SA (UASA) all voted for a strike. Solidarity, which had been part of the labour coalition during wage negotiations, broke ranks and accepted Sibanye's pay offer. After NUM and AMCU served Sibanye with a strike notice in the week, the company proceeded to issue a lock-out notice to bar all workers from accessing the work place. "We have halted operations at all the mines and all employees except for priority services have been requested to not come to work for the duration of the strike/lockout," Sibanye spokesperson James Wellsted indicated. He said no workers had reported for work on Thursday morning. On Wednesday, Solidarity said it would take Sibanye to court over the lock-out notice, which included Solidarity members, who had accepted the company's final offer of a 5% annual pay increase. The unions which voted in favour of a strike are demanding a pay increase of R1,000 per month over the next three years. Sibanye has said it would not be revising its final offer as it could not sustain bigger wage increases. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly. Read too, Sibanye-Stillwater locks out employees from gold mines as curtain rises on painful strike, at Miningmx As pay strike starts, Sibanye-Stillwater to oppose Solidarity’s legal challenge to lockout BL Premium reports that the indefinite wage strike at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations is in full swing after members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) downed tools during the night shift on Wednesday in support of their demands for above-inflation pay increases. Sibanye responded by closing down its gold operations and implementing a lockout from 10pm on Thursday, which the company’s two smaller unions said they would challenge in court. The NUM, Amcu, Solidarity and Uasa had been negotiating with the company for nearly a year as a coalition, demanding an increase of R1,000 a month, or 6%. Solidarity, however, later accepted the company’s revised pay offer that will see category 4 to 8 employees getting a R700 pay rise and a R100 increase in the living-out allowance each year for three years, and so-called ‘artisans, miners and officials’ getting a 5% pay increase over the course of the multiyear agreement. Uasa, meanwhile, is still locked in CCMA-facilitated talks with management aimed at reaching common ground, despite Sibanye having stressed that its revised wage offer was final. On Wednesday, Solidarity and Uasa said they would mount legal action to challenge Sibanye’s lockout decision. But, Sibanye’s James Wellsted indicated on Thursday that the company would “obviously oppose that”. He said: “The fact is that the unions have been negotiating as a coalition for the last nine months. Now all of a sudden, there is an intent from them to suddenly break up the coalition. We still believe that we are negotiating with a coalition and we are treating it as such, so hence the lockout to all members of the unions that make up that coalition.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, Sibanye proceeds with lockout of workers at its gold mines, at Mining Weekly Other general posting(s) relating to mining
Staff shut down Uitenhage Provincial Hospital for several hours in protest over closure of TB hospital GroundUp reports that health workers and members of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) protested at the gates of Uitenhage Provincial Hospital on Wednesday. A few dozen people participated in the protest. This followed the closure of Orsmond TB Hospital and Empilweni TB Hospital in Gqeberha. “They want to replace Orsmond with a psychiatric hospital. We have disputed this with the Department of Health. They must bring us stats that say TB is not killing people anymore,” said Nehawu‘s Thembisa Witbooi. At midday, Nkosinathi Qilimbele from the district Department of Health arrived and convinced the protesters to stop while he met hospital management. He returned after 40 minutes and told Nehawu that the hospital was not willing to change its decision. “We understand your frustration. But the only thing we request is to allow access to the health facility because we have critical patients who need to go to hospital,” he pleaded while being booed by protesters. Eastern Cape health spokesperson Yonela Dekeda advised that the protest had been an unprotected strike and had brought some of the facility’s services to a standstill. Nehawu members met again on Thursday morning to discuss how to resolve the issue with the department and hospital management. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thamsanqa Mbovane at GroundUp Doctors and other health workers picket outside crisis-ridden Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital GroundUp reports that doctors and other health workers picketed outside the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto on Thursday, calling on the provincial department of health not to dismiss more than 800 staff members recruited during the Covid pandemic. The 819 posts will be scrapped from 31 March. The group of about 50 was joined by about 100 members of the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (Nupsaw), who were picketing against the scrapping of their contracts. They were employed at Chris Hani Baragwanath and other hospitals as part of the Extended Public Works Programme. In a statement released on Wednesday, the Chris Hani Baragwanath Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) said ending the posts would put a strain on an already under-staffed hospital. They said the increase in patients at the hospital due to Covid had been compounded by the addition of patients from Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, following a fire that broke out there last year. The posts include health workers and administrative staff. The provincial department of health has also failed to pay contractors. This has affected waste management and the feeding of patients at the hospital, prompting medical staff and members of the public to bring food for patients. One bread supplier claimed he was owed R1.5 million by the department and had not been paid for four months. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Masego Mafata at GroundUp. Read too, Gauteng health department denies food shortage at hospitals, but admits bread did run out, at TimesLive Student nurses in Eastern Cape protest to demand jobs from provincial government GroundUp reports that about 200 nurses protested on a field in Bhisho on Wednesday against the provincial Department of Health’s decision not to hire them when they complete their training at the end of March. They are among over 630 nursing students whose contracts will be terminated soon, despite a contractual agreement that they must work for the department for some four years after they qualify. The department funds the nurses’ four years of study and they are then expected to work in the provincial health service for four years. But this year the department says it does not have enough money to take them on. On Wednesday, the group of nurses handed over a memo of demands to officials. They want the provincial health department to reverse its decision to terminate their contracts. Eastern Cape Department of Health spokesperson Yonela Dekeda indicated that the department had financial constraints and was lobbying the National Department of Health for more funding. She said the department had invested in the nurses and hoped to find ways to ensure they could work. As posts became available, bursary holders would be prioritised, Dekeda advised. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Johnnie Isaac at GroundUp Other internet posting(s) in this news category
State of disaster not likely to be lifted yet despite cabinet pledge BL Premium reports that the government is considering extending the national state of disaster despite the cabinet’s promise that it would end on 15 March, because it has yet to finalise alternative legislation to manage Covid-19. The government declared a state of disaster in mid-March 2020 in response to the pandemic, using its sweeping powers to impose regulations controlling the movement of people, the size of gatherings, mask wearing in public, curfews, and periodic bans on the sale of alcohol and tobacco. While the economy has largely opened, big live sports events and large concerts are still not allowed. Meantime, increasing rates of vaccination and levels of immunity from prior infections have seen the pandemic stabilise and become less deadly. The issue of lifting the state of disaster has been high on the government’s agenda this week and was discussed at a national coronavirus command council meeting on Tuesday and by the cabinet on Wednesday. Officials and advisers were apparently divided on what restrictions should still be imposed, and on timelines for implementation. Several sources privy to the national coronavirus command council discussions confirmed that regulations to the National Health Act have been drafted, including measures for mask wearing. But apparently there was disagreement over whether these regulations should be immediately brought into effect or whether there should be public consultation. Ending the state of disaster would leave the government with less flexibility to respond to a sudden rise in Covid-19 infections. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Hajra Omarjee and Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Imminent health regulations to replace state of disaster, but no word from Phaahla on vaccine mandates News24 reports that according to Health Minister Joe Phaahla, regulations in terms of the National Health Act to bring the national Covid-19 lockdown to an end should be published in the "next few days" for public comment. In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 10 February, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the National State of Disaster would end "soon", without giving specific timelines. Indicating that various departments were working on the way forward, Phaahla said on Wednesday in parliament that his department was working on health regulations containing "protection measures" through the National Health Act and its regulations to replace the National State of Disaster instituted through the Disaster Management Act in 2020. The regulations will involve the surveillance and control of notifiable medical conditions; public health measures at points of entry; management of human remains; and environmental health. Phaahla said the National Health Act would not be amended and they were drafting regulations relating to the act. "The regulations will be made public. They will be published for public comment. It will be in the public in the next few days, in the Government Gazette,” the minister indicated. This would allow the country to "migrate from a disaster managed to a health managed pandemic". Asked whether vaccine mandates or vaccine passports would be part of the changes, Phaahla did not respond, but he did say that the level to which society was opened up would depend on how many people were vaccinated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jan Gerber at News24 Protesting KZN driving schools block N3 on Wednesday, demand share of Covid-19 relief fund TimesLive reports that KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) driving school owners took to the highway on Wednesday demanding their share of Covid-19 relief funds and demarcated spaces for training. Traffic on the N3 was backed up from Shongweni as more than 30 driving school cars were “marching” peacefully. There was an altercation between police and protesters, who also demanded that basic education minister Angie Motshekga should not "interfere" in their business. This after a proposal by the basic education department to have pupils offered driving lessons at schools. Driving at 20km/h, the protesters were on their way to Pietermaritzburg to hand over their memorandum of grievances to the office of KZN premier Sihle Zikalala. Tempers flared when police intervened and tried to stop the protest, however it was allowed to continue and the motorcade made its way to the premier's office in Pietermaritzburg. Deputy chairperson of Ubumbano Driving School Operators Association, Lunga Magudulela, said they were upset by the government's lack of recognition of the industry, which is one of the "pillars of the economy". "All job seekers and motorists have all gone through driving schools," Magudulela pointed out. He lashed out at the government for not allocating relief to the industry which was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sandile Ndlovu and Mfundo Mkhize at TimesLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
'It's unjustifiable', says healthcare workers as they push back against HPCSA's 13% annual fee hike News24 reports that healthcare workers say the Health Professions Council of SA’s (HPCSA’s) 13% increase in annual registration fees is unreasonable. They have started a petition in an effort to force the council to reverse its increase decision. Healthcare professionals have to pay registration fees to continue practising. The 2022/2023 fees are payable by 1 April, failing which practitioners will be removed from the register. Last year, fees were only increased for dentists and medical doctors, which, according to the petition, amounted to 15%. According to the new cost structure, medical doctors and dentists must pay a R3,730 registration fee, which apparently amounts to a more than 30% fee increase over two years. The petition reads: “This amounts to a more than 30% fee increase in two years. In 2021, only medical practitioners were subjected to this exorbitant raise, despite the devastating economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, which did not spare healthcare workers. It is unjustifiable to raise the registration fees by this amount once again as doctors across the country struggle for weeks and months to obtain documentation from the HPCSA." About 26,000 people have signed the petition. The SA Medical Association (SAMA), which represents doctors, said the fee increases were "unfair and not justifiable". The HPCSA's president, Simon Nemutandani, said he was aware of the healthcare workers' concerns and added: "Council is currently engaging all relevant stakeholders to ensure a common understanding of the process which was followed and the main contributors to the determination of the annual fee increase." Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tebogo Monama at News24
'Not surprising': trade unions not shocked by high inequality in SA EWN reports that trade unions on Thursday said they were not surprised by a new report from the World Bank that found South Africa was the most unequal country in the world. SA was top of the list of 164 countries in the World Bank’s global poverty database, followed by Namibia. The report found that 10% of SA’s population owned more than 80% of the country’s wealth. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said the new data was not surprising given the high unemployment rate in SA and black women were bearing the brunt. The World Bank’s report found that the sharp inequality in land ownership also contributed to perpetuating the historically high levels of income inequality. Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said government should pull up its socks and implement initiatives like a housing scheme for public servants to deal with the shortage of land ownership in the country. “Its not that a question of giving people land, it’s a question of giving them a core settlement support. If you settle people into a piece of land, you need to ensure those people have the means, the skills and the resources to work that land,” he pointed out. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mia Lindeque at EWN
Samwu says without a court order City of Joburg has no legal grounds to reverse contracts of 130 political appointees News24 reports that the SA Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) says the City of Johannesburg has no legal grounds for reversing the employment contracts of 130 employees without a court order. The battle about the fixed-term contracts of political staffers has caused a back-and-forth battle between the City of Joburg and Samwu. The original council decision taken last year while the ANC governed the City saw the contracts of 130 staffers converted to permanent. But in February, the DA-led multiparty coalition government passed a council resolution that overturned that decision. City of Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse said legal consultations had indicated that the ANC-led mayoral committee's resolution in October 2021 had been illegal. The employees concerned were sent notices requesting them to make representations about the matter. At first, Samwu and the workers had resisted making representations, citing the need to seek legal opinion. However, on 9 March, the union filed representations arguingh that “only a competent court of law has the authority to declare the validity of our members' permanent contract.” These representations came hours after acting city manager Mesuli Mlandu issued a directive confirming the reversal of the decision to convert the contract of staffers from fixed term to permanent. According to the directive, the fixed-term contracts end in April. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Zintle Mahlati at News24. Read too, City of Joburg contract saga: 'I don't have any political affiliations, this hurts', at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Deliberate sabotage of Cape rail infrastructure causes cancellations along the southern line IOL reports that Metrorail has suffered another setback as vandalism and attempted theft left commuters along the southern line stranded. It has implemented additional and immediate security interventions as well as launching an investigation into the theft and vandalism of an Eskom cable that feeds electricity to the Main Traction substation that powers the running of the trains. This comes after earlier this week the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) and Eskom technicians repaired the same line after it was deliberately cut by criminals during load shedding. Metrorail said Prasa and Eskom were working around the clock, again, to repair the same 33Kv line after it was cut and left at the scene during peak commuting services. This affected the flow of the train service. According to the acting regional manager for Metrorail, Kaparo Molefi, commuters travelling from Cape Town to Muizenberg were left stranded as trains had to be cancelled at Retreat Station due to the power supply failure at 6.30pm on Thursday. “The attempted theft and vandalism of the electrical infrastructure, on a line that has been successfully restored back to service while Metrorail works to restore the rest of the lines, points to blatant sabotage of Metrorail Services which we will not tolerate,” Molefi said. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Robin-Lee Francke at IOL
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