In our roundup of weekend news, see
summaries of our selection of South African
labour-related stories that appeared since
Friday, 24 June 2022.
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With load-shedding pushed to stage 4, Eskom granted interdict to stop unprotected strike at its plants TimesLive reports that Eskom has been granted a court order stopping the unprotected strike action at nine of its power stations and facilities. Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer said on Friday the strike action and acts of intimidation against workers could increase the risk of load-shedding. Some employees went on an unprotected strike after a deadlock in wage negotiations on Tuesday. “This morning [Friday] we went to court and an interdict was granted. This is an illegal strike and should any of our employees or colleagues conduct themselves in a way that is not appropriate we will take the necessary action. We have a disciplinary process,” Oberholzer indicated. Incidents of intimidation of employees and blocking roads to power stations and facilities had occurred. As a result, load-shedding was on Friday ramped up to stage 4 and will continued throughout the weekend as Eskom tried to conserve emergency reserves. Head of generation Rhulani Mathebula said many activities at power stations had had to stop, including the manual loading of coal. He said there were attempts to force employees out of power stations on Thursday, while some employees had stayed home for their own safety. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Shonisani Tshikalange at BusinessLive. See too, Eskom granted interdict to stop strike at its plants, at BusinessLive Stage 4 power cuts to continue until Wednesday due to labour action, Eskom warns Fin24 reports that Eskom has announced that Stage 4 loadshedding will continue to be implemented until at least midnight on Wednesday. The power utility indicated in a statement on Sunday: "This is due to unlawful and unprotected labour action at a number of power stations, which has caused delays in carrying out planned maintenance and repairs. Furthermore, at a number of power stations, the full staff complement has not reported for duty. As a result, unplanned generation losses have not been reduced as planned, which has compelled Eskom to continue taking precautionary measures to conserve generation capacity and safeguard plant from damage." The utility advised that the stage of load shedding might have to change at "short notice", depending on plant performance and labour availability. Last week Eskom said it was facing protests linked to wage talks. These ranged from blocking access to some power stations to the violent intimidation of managers and other staff who reported for duty. Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said on Friday that no union had claimed responsibility for the protests. Read the original of the report in the above regard by Jan Cronje at Fin24. See too, Load-shedding to continue at stage 4 until Wednesday, or longer, at BusinessLive Labour tension rises at Eskom as wage fight tips SA into Stage 4 load shedding Fin24 writes that as Eskom grapples to arrest the impact of protests at its power stations, which plunged SA into Stage 4 load shedding on Friday morning, tensions with unions run the risk of polarising employees at the power utility too. The deadlock in its latest round of wage talks triggered protests last week at power stations. Meantime, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has vowed not to budge further from its 12% across-the-board demand. The union accused Eskom leadership of walking out of the wage talks, which the utility has denied. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has revised its wage demands to range between 8% and 10%. Khangela Baloyi said the NUM was shocked by the protests and added that they were “open to negotiations with the leadership of Eskom”. Solidarity said it was opposed to any protests that would disrupt the operations of Eskom as an essential service. The union has tabled a demand of 5.5% across the board. Eskom has given a final offer of 5.3% to unions, while stressing that the fiscus did not allow room for it to consider double-digit increases. At a briefing on Friday, Eskom chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer advised that Eskom group CEO André de Ruyter had met with a leader of union he would not name, and they had agreed that the wage dispute should not lead to any disruption of Eskom's services. Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said no union had emerged to claim responsibility for the protests. He pointed out that Eskom constituted an essential service and that its disciplinary code was clear about disrupting operations, which could lead to dismissal. Solidarity's Helgard Cronjé indicated that the union had made it clear in the last round of negotiations that it would not support protest action within Eskom as it respected the entity's status an essential service. He went on to say: "For this reason, we do not understand why they went ahead to get an interdict against our members. According to our knowledge our members do not form part of the protest and we have requested them to refrain from such action and respect the law and the processes on several occasions.” Eskom leadership indicated at Friday’s briefing that it had applied for a dispute resolution process at the CCMA in hopes of addressing the dispute over wages this week. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
Robber left dead, two guards injured in CIT robbery in Brakpan on Saturday News24 reports that a shootout between cash-in-transit (CIT) security guards and a gang of armed robbers has left one suspect dead and two G4S guards wounded. Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the robbery took place in Brakpan on Saturday. The van, with three security guards, was travelling on Lower Road when it was ambushed by the robbers. A shootout ensued. One suspect was fatally wounded whilst two security guards sustained gunshot wounds. Netshiunda said an unknown number of suspects fled the scene in multiple getaway vehicles with an undisclosed amount of money. Gauteng police have since launched a manhunt for the suspects. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Cebelihle Mthethwa at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Masks are gone, but employees can still refuse to work for fear of SARS-CoV-2 in terms of republished regulations Business Insider SA writes that SA’s last Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted, with the requirement to wear a mask in public buildings and restrictions on gatherings gone. But in terms of republished rules, any employees with reason to fear they may be infected with SARS-CoV-2 still have the right to refuse to work, and may face no repercussions for doing so,. On Friday, Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) Minister Thulas Nxesi republished a set of workplace rules first issued in February, which impose a range of special requirements on businesses when it comes to safeguarding their workers from the coronavirus. Perhaps most notable in those regulations, after the end of the general mask mandate, is the protection of the right to refuse to work. "Any employee may refuse to perform any work if circumstances arise which, with reasonable justification, appear to that employee or to a health and safety representative to pose an imminent and serious risk of their exposure to SARS-CoV-2 virus infection," one rule reads. Workers can down tools and inform their employer of the reason why after the fact. Employees may not be promised any benefit for not using their right to refuse to work, and may not "be dismissed, disciplined, prejudiced or harassed" for refusing to work. The regulations, formally known as the "Code of Good Practice: Managing Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in the Workplace", require employers to create a risk assessment plan. That plan can require certain types of employees to be vaccinated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Phillip de Wet at Business Insider SA
Sibanye-Stillwater’s Neal Froneman warns PGM wage negotiations “will not have quick outcome” Miningmx reports that Sibanye-Stillwater’s CEO, Neal Froneman doesn’t expect a speedy outcome to wage negotiations with unions at the producer’s platinum group metal (PGM) mines owing to the complexity of discussions. Wage negotiations are due to start in about a week. In an interview last week Froneman stated: “I don’t think it will be quick outcome. Positional bargaining is a process, especially if you are going to achieve an inflation-related wage increase. Maybe there’s a bit more complexity with profit share which could well be the right thing for PGMs.” Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) made relatively short work of its wage negotiations by agreeing on 26 May to a five-year wage agreement with unions that increased the total labour cost to company an average 6.6%. Northam Platinum signed a five-year wage pact last year after agreeing an average 6.5% wage increase. “There is little appetite (among union members) which doesn’t mean there won’t be a strike,” said Froneman who complained that employees “get abused” by unions owing to the absence of a secret ballot. Analysts agree that Sibanye’s negotiations with unions will take time and suggest Impala Platinum (Implats) is also at risk of a strike. The mines covered by the current wage negotiations are Implats’ Rustenburg Lease and Marula and Marikana and Rustenburg, owned by Sibanye. The mines employ 65,000 people full time and a further 22,000 contractors and account for about half of total employment in South Africa’s PGM sector. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by David McKay at Miningmx Implats contractor Triple M says Numsa not recognised, cannot bargain collectively Fin24 reports that according to Triple M Mining CEO Sipho Xipu, the company cannot negotiate wages with the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) because the union has not passed the threshold for recognition at the Impala Platinum (Implats) contractor. Numsa locked horns with three companies contracting services to Implats, namely Triple M Mining, Reagetswe Mining and Newrak, last week. The union claimed these contractor companies were paying their workers as little as R5,000 per month for work which Implats workers earned R17,000 a month. It demanded that the contractors make their wages consistent with those of Implats' permanent employees. The three contractors released a joint statement on Thursday, calling Numsa's plan to strike at their operations "regrettable". Xipu said on Friday that the contractor company had a closed shop agreement with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and that Numsa was not a recognised union at Triple M Mining. "We have a three-year agreement in place with our majority union, Amcu, and all our employees within the bargaining unit are remunerated according to this valid collective agreement," Xipu stated. He added that a union membership verification process would begin on Friday, as ordered by the CCMA. However, as things stood, Numsa did not enjoy the status of recognition at Triple M Mining, and the contractor's agreement with Amcu protected negotiations from "proliferation". Last Tuesday, Reagetswe Mining received an interim interdict from the Labour Court preventing a strike at its operations and Newrak is expected to pursue an interdict as well. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24
Latest employment equity report slams lack of transformation at top management levels Business Times reports that the government's latest workplace transformation report has found that more than a quarter of private sector employers are not investing in meaningful training and development, and more than 20% do not have clear succession plans for the advancement of African, coloured and female employees to top, senior and middle-management levels. According to the annual report of the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE), released last week, many private sector employers have yet to clear away barriers to transformation at top management levels, 24 years after the enactment of the Employment Equity Act and the Skills Development Act. White males accounted for 63.2% in top management positions, down from 64.7% a year earlier; Africans occupied 17% compared with 15.8% in 2020; Indians accounted for 10.9% from 10.6% in 2020; while coloureds made up 5.9% from 5.7% in 2020, the report indicated. White people also had the highest representation at all management levels – 51.4% – while Africans were at 25.6%, Indians at 12% and coloureds at 8%. Males dominated senior management levels at 63.6% compared with females at 36.4%. This was a slight improvement from 2020 when female representation was at 35.7%. Representation of people with disabilities remained unchanged over the past three years, at 1.3%. The CEE took issue with what it described as the “high” proportion of foreign nationals at top management level (3%) and at semi-skilled level in the private sector. “Foreign nationals at the semi-skilled level remained above 2% over the past three years; a trend which is concerning given that this is an entry occupational level that could be occupied by South African nationals, particularly graduates who are currently experiencing a high rate of unemployment,” the commission noted. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, 4.3% of entry-level employees in SA are foreign nationals, report shows, at EWN
Consortium begs Tiger Brands for extra time to raise money before closing Ashton canning facility Business Times reports that the consortium scrambling to find funding to take over Tiger Brands’ deciduous fruit business in the Western Cape is pleading for extra time, without which more than 4,000 jobs will be lost and 300 farmers face ruin. Last week Agri SA raised the alarm over the possible closure of the Langeberg & Ashton Foods (L&AF) canning facility in Ashton, which the Growers Consortium, consisting of 160 fruit farmers who supply the facility, wants to buy. The consortium's Grant Smuts said they were confident they would find an equity backer if the food producer gave them until April next year. Tiger Brands confirmed last week it had begun consultations with staff at L&AF about potentially closing, a move Agri SA said could affect more than 4,000 seasonal and permanent jobs and have a disastrous effect on the local and national economies. Smuts said the consortium was speaking to a “number of role players, and we’ve had a lot of interest”, but it needed more time to put together a financial model to make the transaction work. He said this would entail obtaining financing and possibly an equity partner for the consortium. Tiger Brands said it remained open to engaging with interested bidders, including the Growers Consortium, on a possible deal if sufficient funding was secured, but “given the urgent need to make operational decisions, the company requires a timely commitment.” The L&AF facility is one of only two fruit-canning factories in SA. The Food and Allied Workers Union’s (Fawu’s) Dominique Martin said the union planned to do “everything in its power to preserve jobs for its members”. Any retrenchments would “hit the community hard, especially in the challenging economic times we find ourselves in”, he said. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nick Wilson at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, Patel calls on Tiger Brands to halt retrenchment talks, consider options, at Business Report
Battle to place graduate teachers funded by Funza Lushaka bursary City Press reports that provincial departments of education have yet to place more than 2,000 graduate teachers funded by the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE’s) Funza Lushaka bursary. This is because too many students are leaving university without skills in demand, creating a supply vacuum and redundancy. Out of 651 graduates who need to be placed in the Eastern Cape, its education department has managed to place only 36 – just 6% of the total. This was revealed in a presentation by the DBE to the portfolio committee on higher education, science and innovation. According to the National Development Plan, the Funza Lushaka bursary programme should ensure that teaching graduates are “immediately absorbed” into public schools, and “it should not be left to graduates to find placements in schools”. The bursary was established in 2007 with the aim of producing teachers for public schools, who could give instruction in at least two priority subjects – such as mathematics and science. While it is a bursary affiliated to the DBE, it is administered by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. According to the department’s presentation, only 1,646 out of 4,184 graduates were placed by the end of last month. The presentation, which was made a fortnight ago, said placement was “ongoing”. According to the presentation, without prescribed enrolment plans at universities, there was a risk that too many teachers would be produced in areas where an oversupply already existed. It was reported last month that graduate teachers who were not funded by Funza Lushaka were also struggling to find jobs because of a DBE policy that prioritised the appointment of graduates funded by the bursary. Michelle Mathey of the department of higher education, commented: “We are not too worried about numbers. What we are worried about is the specialisation of those students coming out and [whether] they are talking to the demands of the country. Which phases have they graduated to teach in? We are concerned about that. We could have 50 000 new teachers, but, if they are not responding to the needs in the country, we do have a crisis.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bongekile Macupe at City Press (subscriber access only). Read too, Makhanda school in court bid to have more teachers appointed, at DispatchLive
Major cornerstone of NHI taken down in court action brought by Solidarity Solidarity announced on Friday that it had succeeded in “taking down one of the major cornerstones of the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI)” in that the North Gauteng High Court had declared sections 36 to 40 of the National Health Act unconstitutional. According to the trade union, the state’s goal with these sections had been to pave the way for the NHI and to compensate for the bankruptcy of the state coffers. “The government wants to change to a system in which health care is nationalised and health care practitioners become servants of the state so that the provision of all health care can be centrally controlled by the state. This victory thwarts those disastrous plans,” said Solidarity CEO Dr Dirk Hermann. Sections 36 to 40 provided that health care practitioners had to obtain a certificate of need from the Health Department before they could establish a practice in a specific area. In its court application, Solidarity argued that the requirement of a certificate of need would infringe unlawfully on the right of health practitioners to practise their profession. “In essence, these sections would have empowered the government to capture medical practices almost entirely and to manage them at will – rather than them being run at the discretion of the doctors,” Hermann explained. In Solidarity’s view, health care decisions should rather be taken by health practitioners, while ultimately more intervention from the government would harm everyone. Read Solidarity’s press statement in the above regard at Politicsweb
Tension’ with Gordhan sees Public Enterprises DG suspended City Press reports that on Thursday the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) announced that director-general Kgathatso Tlhakudi was being placed on precautionary suspension pending a disciplinary process. He is accused of overruling panel recommendations in the appointment of a security manager in the department, instead installing a candidate of his choice. But, it is said that DPE Minister Pravin Gordhan’s tendency to micromanage, and a dispute over the valuation of SAA prior to its partial sale to a private consortium, are among the reasons for the fallout between the two men who are responsible for SA’s bleeding state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The relationship between Tlhakudi and Gordhan has been described as being “rocky”, and includes claims that Gordhan liaised directly with executives, “which rendered the department and the boards ineffective”. Sources close to the process said Tlhakudi had for a long time felt undermined by Gordhan, who has previously been accused of being too involved in the day-to-day running of SA’s parastatals. “He (Tlhakudi) has been working with one hand behind his back. Every time he was away, major decisions, such as the SAA one, were taken,” said a source. Tlhakudi’s suspension comes at a time when strategic SOEs such as Transnet and Eskom are in the middle of a deep crisis, and has raised eyebrows in government over stability in the DPE and its capacity to play a role in directing the country’s economic recovery. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Setumo Stone at City Press (subscriber access only)
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