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.
BL Premium reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa believes the grievances of the workers at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium who booed and stormed the stage when he spoke on Workers’ Day run deeper than a salary dispute.
In his assessment, they stem from a “broader level of discontent”, which reflects a weakening trust between workers and labour unions, federations, political leaders and public institutions. Ramaphosa addressed a Cosatu rally in Rustenburg in the North West on Sunday, but he was forced to abandon his address by disgruntled workers and was whisked away as they demanded he leave. Workers at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold mines have been on strike for three months and are demanding a R1,000 monthly salary increase. The disgruntled workers said they could not allow Ramaphosa to address them until he dealt with their salary concerns. He said their demand had been heard and would be addressed, but the workers would hear none of it. Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly newsletter on Tuesday that he believed the government needed the help of labour, business and society to improve the lives and working conditions of workers, grow and transform the economy and unlock long-term opportunities. “However, the workers that gathered at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium and millions of other people across our country cannot wait for the impact of these reforms to be realised,” wrote Ramaphosa. The government wants to improve the competitiveness and contribution of energy, water, telecommunications and transport industries to the economy and increase more in infrastructure, hoping it will create a “virtuous cycle” in which the economy grows and jobs are created.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nico Gous at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
- Read too, South Africa must acknowledge working class and poor are suffering, says Ramaphosa, at Engineering News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page