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 Thursday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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‘Think big’ about jobs projects, former Treasury official Andrew Donaldson urges government BL Premium reports that a former senior Treasury official has called for the government to be more ambitious about public employment projects, by balancing more spending on social grants with more spending on public employment, particularly for young people. UCT’s Andrew Donaldson, who served for many years as the Treasury’s deputy director-general in charge of the public finance and the budget offices, said the rapid scaling up of the presidential employment stimulus over the past two years showed that the government could “think big” about public employment. But such programmes should be thought of as permanent ones that SA would need for a long time, rather than as just relief programmes. The government should also be scaling up measures such as tax credits to incentivise labour-intensive private sector employment. “Relative to what government is spending on social grants, it is still spending far too little on public employment programmes,” Donaldson said on Tuesday. In the context of the extension of the R350 a month social relief of distress grant and the debate about a basic income grant, the government needed to be sure to get the balance right between income support for households and support for public and private job creation, he said. His comments come at a time when SA’s official unemployment rate has reached 35%, with an economic growth rate that is likely to come in well below 2% this year and over the next two years in a rapidly weakening global economy. Describing SA’s unemployment rate as “catastrophically high”, Donaldson said other countries usually integrated income support for work seekers as part of the unemployment benefit and employment search programmes and SA should look at doing the same. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Hilary Joffe at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, We can beat unemployment through state jobs schemes, says former Treasury official, at GroundUp Other internet posting(s) in this news category
'It is a crisis', says Minister Aaron Motsoaledi as he announces 'complete overhaul' of SA immigration system News24 reports that Department of Home Affairs Minister (DHA) Aaron Motsoaledi is determined to proceed with his planned overhaul of the "elephant in the room" that is SA’s immigration system. Delivering his department's budget vote in Parliament on Tuesday he said: "As I said earlier, another elephant in the room is the problem of immigration. I don't have to outline what is taking place in our country about this problem. It is a crisis we are all well aware of. However, if I were to start to outline it here, it [would] need its own budget speech. For today, it will suffice to say we have decided on a complete overhaul of the immigration system of the country. Complete overhaul means exactly that. Work in this regard is well under way, and we will soon unveil it". The minister spoke frankly about the mammoth difficulties his department faced. He conceded that only 13 officials dealt with an avalanche of corruption cases that were born out of immigration offences. But, he gave an assurance that 12 new staff members would be added to the department's Counter Corruption Unit, including analysts, researchers and investigators. Motsoaledi said the unit was relentlessly pursuing those who committed fraud. On Tuesday, a senior DHA official was dismissed for approving the permanent residency application of self-proclaimed prophet and fugitive Shepherd Bushiri. "Let me inform you that in the coming weeks, we will continue to arrest more and more people, both foreign nationals and South Africans, involved in passport fraud and other forms of identity theft, as well as corruption,” Motsoaledi promised. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jason Felix at News24 (subscriber access only). Read too, Dismissal of Home Affairs official involved in Bushiri’s permanent residency case not enough, says Cope, at The Star
SARS asks taxpayers to avoid its offices as wage strike gets underway Fin24 reports that the SA Revenue Service (SARS) has asked taxpayers not to come into its offices amid a national strike. The Public Servants Association (PSA) and the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) started to strike on Wednesday morning, in a dispute over pay hikes. SARS said in a statement that the first day of the strike proceeded "orderly, without incident". Due to its wide range of online services, disruption to the operations was apparently minimal, but “taxpayers are encouraged to avoid coming to a SARS office." Customs operations at ports of entry, especially borders, were reportedly operational and without major interruptions. SARS Customs said that it would rely on the support of the police and other government agencies at border posts to ensure that there were continued operations. The unions are demanding a CPI plus 7% increase, but SARS says that this is unaffordable. According to SARS, the R3 billion boost to the tax authority contained in Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's recent budget did not account for wage increases. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Fin24. Read too, 'Full-blown' national strike begins at SARS, at Fin24 Other strike postings
Western Cape trade unions march demanding plight of healthcare workers be taken seriously Cape Argus reports that National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) members, supported by labour federation Cosatu and the SA Communist Party (SACP), marched to the Western Cape legislature on Tuesday to demand that the province start taking the plight of healthcare workers seriously. A memorandum of demands called for the end of outsourcing, absorption of community healthcare workers, and protections for workers such as a “damage allowance”. The SACP’s Benson Ngqentsu said security should be provided for ambulances in the absence of danger allowances. A collaboration between the police would ensure that hospitals and clinics were provided with sufficient security, he pointed out. Nehawu’s Lucky Bobape called for the insourcing of healthcare workers, saying the following: “We are seeing that health-care workers cannot work on contracts for too long. We want them to be insourced by the government because we need them. We’ve seen in the Covid-19 pandemic, we were outnumbered.” Nehawu provincial secretary Baxolise Mali said that should the province continue to employ foreign nationals, they would take action. “At the rate in which unemployment and poverty is so high in the Western Cape you continue to employ foreign national citizens. It’s scandalous. And if it is not addressed, we’ll have a sort of Operation Dudula that is within the limits of the law,” Mali warned. Cosatu’s Andile Ngqaneka said Nehawu had its full support. Department of Health and Wellness Labour Relations deputy director Rebecca Mohamed said the memorandum would be given to its principals and they would respond to Nehawu as soon as possible. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Shakirah Thebus at Cape Argus
NUM wants mining CEOs charged for every injury or fatality Mining Weekly reports that according to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Health and Safety Committee (Nahsco), there is a reluctance from government to prosecute CEOs for their companies’ non-compliance with the Mine Health and Safety Act, while CEOs should be criminally charged for any injury or loss of life on their mines. These views were stated during the latest Nahsco quarterly meeting, where the committee reflected on the state of health and safety across all sectors where the NUM operates, such as the mining, energy, construction and metals sectors. Nahsco’s sentiments were that, if CEOs could be rewarded for good performance, they should also be held accountable for poor performance, especially when serious injury or the loss of human life was involved. Nahsco specifically expressed great concern over the increasing number of fatalities in the mining industry, observing that the mining industry had continued to record an increase in fatalities between 2020 and 2021. It accused the mining industry of normalising exorbitant CEO salaries, which the union said was sometimes more than the budget allocated for adequate fall-of-ground research and work, which could save lives. NUM national health and safety secretary Masibulele Naki also said it was worrisome that the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) had fewer inspectors than the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL). “It cannot be correct that the DMRE only employs 150 inspectors. If the government regards mining as a critical industry for the country's economic growth, the DMRE must be fully capacitated to inspect all the mines across the country,” Naki said. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly Gupta associates arrested over looting of Optimum, Koornfontein rehabilitation funds released on bail The Citizen reports that two associates of the Gupta family, arrested on Wednesday in connection with the looting of the rehabilitation funds of the Optimum and Koornfontein coal mines, have been granted bail of R20,000 each. Former Tegeta Exploration and Resources director, Ronica Ragavan, former trustee of Optimum Coal Mine, Pushpaveni Govender, and the former deputy director-general (DDG) of the Department of Mineral Resources, Joel Raphela, appeared before the Randburg Magistrate’s Court after they were arrested. The trio face charges of fraud, forgery, uttering, perjury and money laundering of R107.5 million related to mine rehabilitation funds held in the Optimum Coal Mine trust account and Koornfontein Mine trust account in 2016. The mines are linked to the controversial Gupta family who stand accused of corruption and state capture allegations. During court proceedings on Wednesday, Ragavan and Govender were each granted bail of R20,000. However, Raphela had to be rushed to hospital during proceedings for medical attention due to ill health. Raphela, as former the DDG, is accused of authorising the mine rehabilitation funds to be released from the Koornfontein Mine rehabilitation trust. Magistrate Hleziphi Mkhasibe postponed the case to 22 June 2022 for the adding of further accused. Optimum Coal Mine, Koornfontein Mines and the Guptas’ Tegeta Exploration and Resources have also been charged over the matter. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at The Citizen. Lees ook, Gupta-direkteurs vervolg oor bedrog van R107.5 miljoen, by Maroela Media Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
Other general posting(s) relating to mining
Numsa fails in attempt to take control of labour federation Saftu City Press reports that attempts by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) to use the second annual conference of the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) to wrest back control lie in tatters after the majority of delegates voted against its motion to lift the suspensions of four senior officials. The defeated motion means the federation’s general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, has prevailed against Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim, who was one of the leaders supporting the motion to uplift the suspensions. The federation went to the polls late on Tuesday night to determine whether the four officials, who include its president, Mac Chavalala, should be reinstated to their positions. But, the motion to uplift the suspension was defeated by 43 votes. The voting came after the federation failed at the beginning of the conference on Monday to reach an agreement on the fate of the four officials. After a deadlock, it was decided to put the matter on the voting roll to determine their fate. But, despite the motion then being defeated, the four officials have again been nominated to different positions, as the term of the past leadership has ended. With the nomination of the four, the federation found itself at cross-roads again as delegates were caught up in an intense debate about whether to allow them to stand for election or not. Chavalala has been nominated to retain the same position with Thabo Matsose, who was the second deputy president nominated to be the first deputy president. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Norman Masungwini at City Press. Read too, Irvin Jim 3 Zwelinzima Vavi 1: Suspended national office bearers to contest leadership positions, at TimesLive Zwelinzima Vavi re-elected as Saftu general secretary at high stakes conference Fin24 reports that SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi survived a battle for political survival and was re-elected to the position at the labour federation's second elective conference. The Electoral Commission of SA officiated the results in the early hours of Thursday morning. Other officials elected at the conference in Boksburg included newly elected president Ruth Ntlokotse and returning treasurer Lecogo Motshwari. The conference is taking place amid a brutal battle for control within the federation's leadership and involving its largest member union, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa). In the race for the position of general secretary, Vavi got 389 votes, while his opponent Moses Mautsoe got 300 votes. Motshwari got 366 votes for national treasurer, while her opponent Lepheane Moeketse got 323 votes. Out of 689 valid ballots, Ntombeko Luzipo got 357 votes for deputy general secretary, while Moleko Phakedi got 332 votes. Mosima Maredi was elected second deputy president with 399 votes, while Thabo Matsose was elected first deputy president with 372 votes. The conference also discussed critical strategic decisions behind closed doors. Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim has spearheaded a campaign to align Saftu with a political party. In contrast, Vavi has maintained that the federation must remain independent and not be beholden to any political party. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24
Brace for double-digit inflation, Tiger Brands CEO Noel Doyle warns BL Premium reports as companies grapple with a surge in commodities, energy, transport and labour costs, the CEO of SA’s largest food producer, Tiger Brands, has warned consumers to brace for double-digit inflation. Noel Doyle indicated: “We are going to face a very serious challenge over the next six months ... products like oats flour, maize bread, we [are] probably going to be looking at price increases of between 15% to 20%. We’ve run out of that cheap wheat that we had bought and we are now replacing it with costs that are 45%-50% more.” Doyle said that due to the forward buying strategy deployed by Tiger Brands, consumers were shielded to a degree from the cost push that ensued immediately after the Russia-Ukraine war started. But as stock runs out, there will be a dramatic change between first half and second half inflation. Describing the moment as a turning point for the country, the CEO bemoaned that he had never in his 20 years at Tiger witnessed such breadth of inflation while at the same time having to struggle to get hold of products. “We are in a perfect storm, but we are going to have to ride it out together,” said Doyle. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Karl Gernetzky & Michelle Gumede at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Appointment of Xolile George as new secretary to Parliament postponed News24 reports that Parliament will have to wait a little bit longer for the appointment of its new secretary after the presiding officers acceded to a request from opposition parties to postpone the motion for Xolile George's appointment. The motion had been scheduled to be considered by both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday. "The presiding officers' decision follows an engagement they had this afternoon [Wednesday] with leaders of opposition parties, where a wide range of issues … were discussed," a statement from parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo indicated. It was the first time National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula had met with the opposition leaders since she was elected to the office in August 2021. "The deferment of the consideration of the motion to a later date would afford the presiding officers and leaders of parliamentary parties sufficient opportunity to further engage on the process," said Mothapo. The position has been vacant since former secretary Gengezi Mgidlana was placed on "special leave" in June 2017 after the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) levelled allegations of corruption against him. In September 2019, Mgidlana was fired after both Houses of Parliament unanimously adopted a motion to that effect. Penelope "Baby" Tyawa has acted in the position since Mgidlana's suspension. George, currently the CEO of the SA Local Government Association, has received Nehawu's backing. Read the full original of the report in the above regard compiled by Jan Gerber at News24
More than 50 fake positions advertised on social media, warns DPSA The Mercury reports that the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has issued a warning for job-seekers to be careful of a post circulating on social media which claims to come from the department but instead advertises fake positions. In a statement on Wednesday, director-general Yoliswa Makhasi said the department had noted with concern the social media post circulating adverts for vacancies purporting to be issued by the DPSA. “The public is warned that the adverts for administrative clerks (x5) and government vacancies (x53) that are making the rounds on social media are false, fake, and the websites are not affiliated with the DPSA,” said Makhasi. She said the department advertised government jobs through the Vacancy Circular that could be found on the DPSA website and not through third party websites. “The DPSA advises the public to be aware that if they use third party websites, they might be exposed to phishing and breaches to their personal information,” Makhasi said. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Karen Singh at The Mercury
VBS bank saga: Corruption-accused former municipal official arrested in hospital bed News24 reports that a corruption-accused former municipal employee linked to the VBS Mutual Bank saga was served with a warrant of arrest while lying ill in a hospital bed. The former Dr Kenneth Kaunda Municipality employee is now under police guard while recovering in hospital. Five of his co-accused were scheduled to appear in the Orkney Magistrate's Court in North West on Wednesday. The accused were arrested in Johannesburg, Vryburg, Orkney, and Klerksdorp on Tuesday. The group is accused of fraud, corruption and money laundering to the extent of R2.5 million. According to Hawks spokesperson, Colonel Katlego Mogale, they were allegedly linked to the looting of VBS Mutual Bank after investigators noticed suspicious transactions on municipal accounts between 2017 and 2019. She said the man in hospital had since left the municipality. He is accused of routinely making payments into his wife's and brother's bank accounts. He is also accused of depositing funds into the account of a woman who lived in Johannesburg, claiming she had been awarded a tender. The woman would subsequently send the money back to him. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tebogo Monama at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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