In our roundup of weekend news, see
summaries of our selection of South African
labour-related stories that appeared since
Friday, 18 March 2022.
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E-hailing drivers defy calls to suspend three-day strike from Tuesday TimesLive reports that thousands of e-hailing drivers will embark on a three-day shutdown from Tuesday in a bid to get government to regulate the industry. E-hailing platforms such as Uber, Uber Eats, Mr D, Bolt and InDriver are expected to be affected when between 50,000 and 70,000 drivers turn off their apps until Thursday. The drivers are demanding that government should regulate the industry to ensure fair pricing, accountability and proper vetting of drivers. The planned action prompted a call from Gauteng transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo to drivers to suspend the imminent strike. He called a meeting on Monday with the Private Public Transport Association (PPTA), which represents the interests of e-hailing drivers nationally, to discuss the ramifications. Mamabolo reportedly warned the nationwide shutdown might potentially lead to disruptions, violence and instability in the transport sector. But, PPTA founder Vhatuka Mbelengwa said the strike action would continue as planned. “There may be some drivers who will work but most of the industry will not work. We can’t force people to take part in the strike,” he noted. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Suthentira Govender at TimesLive. Read too, E-hailing service operators to strike on Tuesday, at SABC News. And also, E-hailing drivers going on three-day strike assure public shutdown will be peaceful, at EWN Other related internet posting(s)
Trucks may stand idle due to police failure to protect them from attacks by hooligans City Press reports that employers and unions in the logistics industry want to stop all the trucks in their fleets from operating in order to force the police to protect them from hooligans attacking their vehicles and offices. The national bargaining council for the road freight and logistics industry will be meeting this week and could implement the action within days. According to the council’s chairperson Jack Mazibuko, its members are extremely frustrated by the actions of the All Truck Drivers’ Forum and Allied SA (ATDFASA) and the SA National Cargo Transport Drivers’ Association (SANCTDA), which allegedly blocked roads and set fire to trucks in the past and, more recently, marched to the offices of the bargaining council. The organisations claim to represent unemployed truck drivers and want to force employers to employ South Africans, rather than foreign nationals. According to Mazibuko, the groups began their campaign against the employment of foreign nationals in 2017. He admitted some employers were guilty of employing people who were undocumented foreign nationals, but claimed they were not members of the bargaining council. Last year, an agreement was reached during wage negotiations to limit the employment of documented foreign nationals to 10% of the workforce. Undocumented workers may not be employed at all. But, the ATDFASA and the SANCTDA marched to the bargaining council’s offices two weeks ago to raise the same issue again. The council has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa asking him to condemn the actions of the ATDFASA and the SANCTDA. It has also written to Police Minister Bheki Cele to request him to ensure that the police protected the members of the bargaining council. If these requests were not granted, the council would simply have to bring the industry to a halt to be heard, warned Mazibuko. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Antoinette Slabbert at City Press (subscriber access only)
Farmworkers clash over jobs in Robertson News24 reports that on Thursday and Friday the Western Cape town of Robertson was rocked by clashes between seasonal farmworkers from Lesotho and Zimbabwe. Police are investigating cases of public violence – but, in the meantime, cautioned that photos of dead people, purportedly taken at the scene, were fake news. According to the police, a number of people sustained moderate injuries on Thursday after the two groups clashed. Billy Claasen of the Rural and Farmworkers Development Organisation blamed the farmers for hiring foreign nationals as seasonal workers. He stated: "This is what we have been warning people in the agricultural sector about all along. This must be squarely placed on the doorstep of the farmers. They are wholly responsible for the xenophobia in agriculture. All the bloodshed is on their hands. Farmers use cheap labour and import trucks, buses and taxis full of foreigners to take over the work of locals. This is a direct result of cheap, imported labour." Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jenni Evans at News24 Amid clashes over jobs, Department of Employment and Labour to probe farms in Robertson for illegal foreign employees News24 reports that the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) is to probe all farms in Robertson in the Western Cape following allegations of the employment of undocumented foreigners. Apparently, no corporate visas have been issued to allow foreign nationals to be employed on the farms in the area. Interactions were held last week between the DEL and authorities in the Cape Winelands region in an effort to forge collaboration between municipalities, local government and the national government to deal with issues related to job creation and undocumented foreign nationals, which is causing instability in the region. On Thursday, Basotho and Zimbabwean nationals clashed, apparently over competition for farm space after one group allegedly took ownership of the property of another. The Langeberg municipality reported that about 500 residents used burning tyres to block the entrance to Nkqubela in Robertson and threw rocks at vehicles to prevent contractors from loading workers onto vehicles. Reportedly, one person was hospitalised and 17 people, including two children, suffered minor injuries during the chaos. About 20 dwellings of foreign nationals were apparently broken into and some burned." Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Cebelihle Mthethwa at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Inequalities in education and health sectors exacerbated by Covid-19, says SAHRC EWN reports that the Covid-19 pandemic has compounded human rights challenges and inequality in the areas of education and health. The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Monday said the two sectors were a concern where infrastructure, staff shortages and a lack of resources in the public facilities remained a problem. The commission released its annual trends analysis report earlier this month, which provided a general overview of the handling of complaints over the financial year. Most complaints reported to the commission related to inequality. The commission's André Gaum said the pandemic had also highlighted the technological divide in education: "The state of education and public schools in South Africa remain a concern owing to dilapidating infrastructure, a lack of water and sanitation, a shortage of teachers, especially in rural provinces, and a lack of learner-teacher support material." Gaum added that another area of concern was the right to health: "Access to healthcare and water remain the top two complaints within the socio-economic rights cluster. Public hospitals are under pressure as we know, some in a state of collapse." Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Masechaba Sefularo at EWN Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Bus drivers’ strike over wage increases looming for Easter weekend SowetanLive reports that with the collapse of wage negotiations between workers and employer associations in the bus sector, a potentially crippling strike looms for the busy Easter weekend. The third round of wage negotiations in the SA Road Passenger Bargaining Council (Sarpbac) failed last week as unions demanded double digit wage increases while employers made a final 3% offer. Unions on Thursday made submissions in the council on picketing rules. A mandatory cooling off period will end on 13 April, just two days before the Easter weekend after which the strike can begin. Solomon Mahlangu of the SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) said employers have failed to come to the party in the negotiations, leaving workers with no other option but to strike. In his view, the offer from employers was an insult to workers who have for the past two years accepted increases which were below the inflation rate and did not factor in benefits and allowances. “So we already have the certificate of non-resolution which permits us to strike. The adoption of picketing rules are just logistics to ensure that the strike is manageable and peaceful,” Mahlangu indicated. He said the workers' negotiators were still available if the employers were willing to resolve the dispute but as things stood “the strike is inevitable”. The strike look set to affect 14,000 workers, mainly bus drivers, working for subsidised and non-subsidised bus services, including Putco which operates in Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Terry Murugan of the SA Bus Employers Association (Sabea) commented: “It would be premature for me to speak [about the strike] because we are committed to the cause of getting it resolved. Let us follow the process and then we will be able to give you a comment later” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Isaac Mahlangu and Penwell Dlamini at SowetanLive Government has the upper hand as unions consolidate wage demands of public servants for 2022 Business Maverick writes that public sector trade unions affiliated to labour federation Cosatu and the Public Servants Association (PSA) are still consolidating their wage adjustment demands for 2022. Apparently, some of the trade unions have proposed a wage increase equivalent to consumer inflation (currently 5.7%) plus two percentage points. Such an increase, which would work out to nearly 8%, would be for a single year (2022) only as a multi-year deal would be unlikely. There are about 10 trade unions which represent public servants and consolidating their demands will ensure that unions show a united front when they officially present them soon to the Department of Public Service and Administration and the Treasury. But it is said that wage adjustment negotiations for 2022 will be tougher than usual for several reasons and trade unions will begin wage talks without a strong bargaining position. The government has the upper hand after recently scoring a victory against trade unions at the Constitutional Court, which will fundamentally impact the collective bargaining process. The apex court’s ruling affirmed the government’s right to renege on a collective agreement on wage increases for public servants if it didn’t have money to comply with the agreement. The government will apparently inform trade unions that their public service members will not be awarded inflation-busting wage increases for the third consecutive year. Trade unions want the government to go back to how wage increases were historically structured. Over the past decade, consumer inflation has always been built into the structure of wage adjustments with up to two percentage points added on top of inflation to reach the final wage adjustment rate. But, going back to the old ways of calculating wage adjustments won’t fly for Treasury, which plans to meet the unions at the end of March to discuss their demands. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ray Mahlaka at Daily Maverick Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Seven more bodies retrieved from mine in Primrose, say Gauteng police News24 reports that Gauteng police said on Sunday that seven bodies were retrieved from a mine in Homestead, Primrose, Johannesburg, on Saturday. On 17 March 2022, the police were informed of alleged illegal miners who were trapped in the mine. Eight unidentified bodies were retrieved while it was suspected that there might still be more bodies trapped in the mine hole, Colonel Dimakatso Sello indicated. The retrieval of the seven bodies on Saturday brought the total number of bodies retrieved from the mine to 15. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Canny Maphanga at News24 Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
Vavi set to face Saftu music at NEC meeting on Thursday Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi is set to meet his accusers this week over allegations that he abused the federation’s credit card to the extent of R65,000 for his personal expenses. The allegations are expected to be tabled at the SA Federation of Trade Unions’ national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Thursday, a week after Saftu president Mac Chavalala asked Vavi to provide reasons as to why he should not be placed on precautionary suspension. While the top leadership insists that Vavi be placed on suspension, 14 affiliates of Saftu have strongly opposed the move. Vavi has also denied the allegations of abuse made against him. Chavalala came under attack for revealing to the media that Vavi allegedly failed to account for the financial misconduct, which was one of a number of reasons advanced by Chavalala and some of his top executives for seeking to place Vavi on precautionary suspension pending disciplinary action against him. “Vavi was the first to raise these matters in the media. He spoke to various radio stations and a TV station about these matters. We were merely replying to allegations he made on those platforms,” Chavalala said. But the affiliates are adamant that the top leadership should have consulted them before issuing any precautionary suspension notice to Vavi. Vusi Ntshangase, who is a Saftu NEC member, described the decision of Chavalala and three others as an attempt by a group of factionalists within Saftu tasked with dividing the federation, Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Baldwin Ndaba on page 2 of Sunday Independent of 20 March 2022. Read too, Saftu crisis: 13 unions object to move to suspend Zwelinzima Vavi, at Fin24. And also, Vavi sees hand of former ally Jim in bid to oust him, on page 4 of Sunday Times of 20 March 2022
Interest rate hikes on the cards this week, followed by higher fuel prices and rising consumer inflation BL Premium writes that consumers should brace themselves for an increase in interest rates this week — the second hike this year — as the war in Ukraine threatens higher fuel prices and rising inflation. South Africans should prepare for a 0.25% basis point increase, with more likely to follow. Experts expect the SA Reserve Bank to raise rates another three or four times in 2022 should inflation fail to cool. Higher rates mean higher monthly payments for cash-strapped consumers, who also face a record petrol price rise next month. They will also be paying more for cars, houses and credit cards. The increase is likely to further dampen confidence in the economy. Motorists are likely to pay a projected R24 a litre for petrol and R23.60 for diesel next month as a direct result of the war in Ukraine, which will also hurt the economy. Reports emerged last week that the government was considering measures to shield consumers, including the suspension of taxes and the fuel levy, which represent 30% of the pump price. “Increased debt costs converging with higher costs of food, transport and electricity are going to weigh on consumers and we expect that it will be a difficult next few months for them,” said Nolan Wapenaar of Anchor Capital. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Stats SA fieldworkers disgruntled over delayed salary payments IOL reports that disgruntled Statistics SA field workers took to social media last week to express their anger over the non-payment of their salaries. According to various reports, some of the workers had not received their full payment for the month of February. "Stats SA, we are pleading to give us our full salaries why things have to be this way," wrote Mpho Petla, a fieldworker who last week had yet to receive her payment. Recently, 45 fieldworkers working for Stats SA in the Western Cape refused to continue with their daily task of collecting information for Census 2022 and said that they would not continue with their work until they were paid. Stats SA notified the fieldworkers on 14 March that their staff "at all levels are working around the clock to ensure that payments are made" by that day. However, as of 18 March, many of the field workers had not received their payments, as promised. "Yes, we are aware, but we also know that many have been paid this morning, and the rest will get their money soon if they had returned all the organisation's tools in their possession," Stats SA head of communications Trevor Oosterwyk said. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Anita Dywaba at IOL
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