In our Wednesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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Ramaphosa announces further easing of lockdown regulations, with masks no longer required outdoors News24 reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation on Tuesday evening following a meeting with the Presidential Command Council (PCC) and announced significant changes to the Covid-19 lockdown regulations. He noted that most of the restrictions on economic activity had already been lifted – and now they were able to ease the restrictions further. Ramaphosa said the restrictions on gatherings were being significantly changed. In previous regulations, the emphasis was on placing an upper limit on the number of people who could attend a gathering. "The approach going forward is that both indoor and outdoor venues can now take up to 50 percent of their capacity, provided that the criteria for entrance is proof of vaccination or a Covid test not older than 72 hours. But where there is no provision for proof of vaccination or a Covid test, then the current upper limit will remain – of 1,000 people indoors and 2,000 people outdoors," Ramaphosa advised. He said the maximum number of people permitted at a funeral would increase from 100 to 200, however, night vigils and 'after-tears' gatherings would still be prohibited. The president announced crucial changes to the regulation on the wearing of masks. "As before, it is mandatory to wear a cloth mask or similar covering over the nose and mouth when in public indoor spaces… But we do not need to wear masks when walking in the street or in an open space, when exercising outdoors or when attending an outdoor gathering," he indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marvin Charles at News24. Read too, State of disaster to be lifted soon, relaxed level 1 regulations kick in on Wednesday, at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Compensation Fund commissioner defends plan to axe third-party administrators BL Premium reports that Compensation Fund commissioner Vuyo Mafata has defended the controversial notice gazetted in October 2021 that will effectively exclude third-party administrators from payment of claims, saying this was required by the fund’s new account-verification system. The fund, which is financed by a levy on employers, pays medical service providers such as doctors and hospitals who treat workers who are injured or made ill at work. The notice was released for public comment within 60 days, and Mafata said these were being evaluated. According to the notice, the fund would make claims payments only into bank accounts of beneficiaries, which would effectively exclude companies that collect and administer claims on behalf of employers and the medical profession. This has been especially helpful because of the administrative nightmare of dealing with the fund, which can take more than 400 days to pay a claim. Third-party administrators pay medical professionals upfront and claim from the fund. The notice caused an uproar among medical service providers. The SA Medical Association (Sama) surveyed its members on the proposed notice and said 76% of those who worked with people injured on duty would have no choice but to stop treating those patients if the rules took effect. Mafata told MPs that the notice was among the fund’s efforts to tighten internal controls, which had been highlighted as deficient by the auditor-general. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Durban bus driver shot in the head and killed by ‘passengers’ Maroela Media reports that the police are searching for five men who climbed onto a bus in Durban on Tuesday morning and allegedly shot the driver dead. They also apparently robbed the passengers of their belongings. According to Col. Thembeka Mbele, the men got onto the bus at approximately 10h00, pretending to be passengers. They took out firearms and robbed the passengers. They then allegedly shot the driver in the head. The driver was declared dead at the scene by paramedics. Leon Fourie, from Medi Response, said the murder took place between Inanda Road and Joyce Road. Read a short report in the above regard in Afrikaans at Maroela Media. Read too, KZN bus driver shot in the head for his cellphone, at IOL Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Striking e-hailing drivers demand R50 base fare and operators to stop determining prices City Press reports that thousands of e-hailing drivers took to the streets on Tuesday at the start of a three-day nationwide strike. One of the demands listed in their memorandum grievances, as drawn up by Unity in Diversity, a group representing drivers working for Uber, Bolt, Didi and InDriver, was that the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition should regulate the sector to stop operators determining prices. The memorandum was to have been handed to government officials on Tuesday, but that did not happen because the person who was supposed to have received it at the Union Buildings in Pretoria had gone home when the drivers got there. According to the document, uneconomic prices should be abolished immediately “to enhance the sustainable business of operators and owners and encourage competition and new business entry into the sector.” The drivers also demanded a round table meeting within two days with roads and transport MECs, the transport minister and e-hailing companies in order to fix the uneconomic prices. Among further demands were that the base fare should be R50; the rate per kilometre should be a minimum of R13 and dynamic pricing should kick in above that and not fall below the minimum rate per kilometer; that the commission of all e-hailing companies should be revised downwards from 25% and 26% to 10% and should be clearly displayed; and that all the companies should introduce cancellation fees on both card and cash payments. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Noxolo Majavu at City Press (subscriber access only) E-hailing drivers prepare to march on Wednesday on the offices of the Gauteng Transport MEC EWN reports that e-hailing drivers under the Unity in Diversity banner are expected to march on the offices of the Gauteng Transport MEC in Johannesburg on Wednesday, which will be the second day of their 'apps off protest'. Drivers began their three day strike on Tuesday in Pretoria where they handed their memorandum of demands to officials from the Trade and Industry Department at the Union Buildings. Drivers have called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to sign into law the National Land Transport Act Amendment Bill, which would recognise and regulate e-hailing services. Marchers have also called on Gauteng Transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo to explain why the mediation process he initiated in May last year has failed. However, he maintained while progress might have been slow, systems were in place to complete the process and issue a report in three months’ time. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Kgomotso Modise at EWN Cop in an unmarked vehicle attacked during e-hailing drivers' strike on Tuesday EWN reports that tensions were high on Tuesday when protesting e-hailing drivers attacked an unmarked police vehicle that they believed was one of their own transporting a passenger in Pretoria. The officer said he was trying to protect himself when he was assaulted and disarmed. “They were so violent and that’s why I wanted to take out my firearm just to protect myself. But they took it and I was assaulted very badly,” he indicated. Two men, one of whom matched the description given by the injured off-duty policeman, were taken into police custody. Vhatuka Mbelengwa, spokesperson for Unity in Diversity, the association representing the drivers, said: “We regret that an act of violence was carried out by individuals present at the protest. We as leaders intervened and recovered the firearm and handed the individuals involved over to law enforcement.” Mbelengwa said it had not been confirmed whether the persons involved were e-hailing operators or thieves taking advantage of the strike, but they remained “committed to a peaceful protest that respects all citizens of South Africa.” The protesting group brought traffic to a standstill in the Pretoria CBD on Tuesday afternoon as they handed over a memorandum of demands, calling on government to ensure companies in the sector were held accountable. The drivers said the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition must create a fair regulatory environment and guard against the creation of app monopolies. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Masechaba Sefularo at EWN
City of Tshwane begins termination process against Samwu affiliated workers involved in unprotected wage strike The Citizen reports that the City of Tshwane has begun the process of terminating the employment of about 19 workers associated with the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) who are engaged in an unprotected strike. Executive Mayor Randall Williams advised: “Today (Tuesday), approximately nineteen employees based at the Mayville Depot were issued with letters of intention to terminate their services for their continued involvement in the strike. They have until Thursday 24 March to provide written reasons why their services should not be terminated. The City will thereafter take a decision on whether to terminate their services or not.” Last week the workers concerned blocked streets in Centurion with rubbish, rubble and stones and set bins on fire, demanding salary increases. This after the City last year decided against salary hikes due to financial difficulties. The City has since accused the striking workers of disrupting services, with some areas in at least four of its regions experiencing prolonged power outages last week. It claimed that staffers sent to working sites have been threatened and intimidated by the striking members, making it difficult to deliver services. According to the mayor, an employee ended up in intensive care after being attacked on the weekend after supporting teams responded to power outages in Soshanguve. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siyanda Ndlovu at The Citizen. Lees ook, Tshwane-werkers wat aanhou staak dalk hul werk kwyt, by Maroela Media City of Tshwane electrician attacked on the job, lands in ICU The Citizen reports that a City of Tshwane electrician is in ICU after he was severely beaten up by community members while attending to a power outage in Soshanguve. Several areas in Tshwane have been plagued by electricity outages, which the city has blamed on an ongoing wild cat strike by members of the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu). City spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the attack happened after a team was sent out to Block DD to attend to electricity problems on Saturday. “It turned out that a cable was stolen, causing the outage. When the team arrived, one of them who is the oldest, was grabbed by members of the community and attacked. His condition is stable now, but he remains in ICU. This is the kind of criminal behaviour that will lead to employees refusing to attend to work in communities for fear of being attacked,” Bokaba said. Another team was attacked and robbed in Nelmapius last month. Samwu denied that it had called a strike in the city or that its members were intimidating other workers. The union on Friday said the staffers on strike were ‘capacity workers’ who were demanding that their contracts be changed to permanent employment. According to Samwu, the bargaining council instructed that the 89 employees be re-instated as part of the permanent staff. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Getrude Makhafola at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
NUM and Amcu members at Sibanye’s gold operations vow to continue with wage strike until demands are met BL Premium reports that members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) have vowed to continue with a strike at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations. With the strike entering its second week on Wednesday, lowest-paid employees have lost wages of R7,176 each to date, while those in a higher salary band have lost an average of R684 per day, totalling R8,892. On average, an entry-level employee receives guaranteed income of R16,036 per month, which includes basic pay, holiday leave allowance, living out allowance and provident fund. A company spokesperson advised that there were “no figures at this point” with regard to lost production output since the strike began on 9 March. NUM president Joseph Montisetse indicated: “Our strike is not based on what management is saying [regarding salary losses], it is based on the [revised] offer they have put on table. As long as management is not acceding to our demands, the strike continues. They must come up with an offer that we will consider as unions.” Sibanye has been implementing a lockout on striking workers since 10 March, and vowed to keep it in place until Amcu and NUM accepted the company’s revised wage offer, which has since been accepted by Solidarity and Uasa. Amcu and NUM, which have a combined membership of about 25,000, have not moved on their demands for an increase of R1,000 a month for the lowest-paid employees, and 6% for miners, artisans and officials. They are also demanding a R100 increase in the living-out allowance, which would take their wage demand to R1,100 each year for three years. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, Sibanye-Stillwater to lose billions of rands in prolonged gold strike – but hit to employees is worse, at Miningmx Era of foreign workers on SA mines drawing to a close, through natural attrition BL Premium reports that about 30,000 foreign migrant workers are expected to have left the mining industry through natural attrition by 2030, leaving just 5,000. This will bring the industry in line with the government’s objectives in the draft national labour migration policy, which proposes to introduce quotas for foreign workers. The draft policy, which was released for public comment recently by the Department of Employment & Labour, was formulated in the context of growing hostility to foreign nationals, who have increasingly been blamed for SA’s 35% unemployment rate. The mining industry employs more than 450,000 workers, of whom 35,000 are migrants from neighbouring countries. These are among the industry’s more skilled and experienced workers. The number of migrant workers has decreased sharply from 140,000 in 2010, but so has the total number of workers employed in the industry. Nikisi Lesufi, Minerals Council SA senior executive for environment, health and legacies, told MPs on the mineral resources & energy committee on Friday that the mining industry did not have an active programme to recruit foreign workers, who were a legacy issue for the mines. “We have agreed with our members that we should be looking at a phasing-out strategy where if there is natural attrition we replace them with local labour. Most of the foreign labour will be retiring in the next five to 10 years and by 2030 we might only have about 5,000 foreign employees who will also be phased out by natural attrition through age and retirement,” he indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
Labour Registrar says unions, employer associations are not complying with labour law EWN reports that Labour Registrar Lehlohonolo is concerned about non-compliance with financial management requirements in trade unions and employer bodies. This was the foremost issue that came up when the registrar’s office received complaints and copies of financial statements. The Labour Relations Act requires that every registered trade union and employers’ association must provide the registrar with certified auditors’ reports and financial statements on an annual basis. However, some of these bodies simply do not comply with this regulation. When they do comply, Molefe said, the state of their finances revealed several irregularities. "There seems to be a big problem with financial management. There is quite a lot of things that we feel could be done better so that management of the finances of workers’ money can be accounted for," Lehlohonolo observed. Three trade unions have been placed under administration over the past five years for failing to comply with the regulations. Now, the Registrar is facing legal challenges after taking action against trade unions for non-compliance. The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has brought an application in the Labour Court accusing Molefe of being biased against the trade union. This was after Amcu was slapped with several letters by the Registrar over failure to make financial disclosures and the need for the union to hold regular congresses. Meanwhile, leaders of the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers' Union, which was placed under administration for several transgressions, have also launched a court action against the union’s administrator. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Theto Mahlakoana at EWN
Mbalula calls Prasa’s 3,000 full-salaried ghost workers a ‘grand scam’ The Citizen reports that Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula on Tuesday told Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) that the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) has been scammed by 3,000 ghost workers. In December, Prasa became aware that it was paying full salaries to the ghost workers. The rail agency has since stopped the salary payments, but, according to the minister, nobody at Prasa has come forward to complain that they have not received their salary. Mbalula called the 3,000 ghost workers a “grand scam” and said it was uncovered during the Operation Ziveze campaign that was implemented to uncover irregularities at the state-owned entity. The transport minister said his department was determined to get Prasa moving in the right direction. He also said that said progress was being made in filling key vacancies within Prasa. A number of critical positions are currently occupied by acting incumbents, namely the posts of Group CEO, Chief Human Capital Officer, Chief Procurement Officer and Prasa Rail CEO. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Gareth Cotterell at The Citizen
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