In our Wednesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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Unions sign one-year wage agreement with Eskom for 7% increase Moneyweb reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Solidarity came to an agreement with Eskom on Tuesday for a 7% wage increase, costing Eskom an extra R1 billion. Both Eskom and Numsa confirmed the signing of the one-year wage deal. The long-awaited agreement comes after a strike by essential service workers at Eskom saw the power utility having no option but to implement Stage 6 load shedding last week. Apart from the 7% wage bump, Eskom workers have also won a R400 increase in the housing allowance as well as the reinstatement of certain conditions of service. “As Numsa we are pleased to have finally resolved this round of wage talks, particularly given the difficult circumstances that we faced. The conditions of service which were unilaterally withdrawn, and which caused so much pain to our members, have been restored. We have also secured an improvement from last year, after Eskom imposed 1.5%,” the union said in a statement. Eskom has voiced expectations that workers who remained absent from their duties would return to work on Wednesday. However, the NUM’s general secretary Makgabo Mabapa said that although the union echoed the call for all members to return to work, he could not confirm when they would do so. Eskom has been requested not take disciplinary action against workers who failed to come to work. However, should Eskom decide to follow through with disciplinary action, both Numsa and NUM leaders have vowed to represent workers against such action. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Akhona Matshoba at Moneyweb. Read too, Unions sign 7% Eskom wage offer, at Engineering News. En ook, Loonooreenkoms by Eskom bereik, by Maroela Media Eskom says deal that will add R1bn to wage bill is unaffordable BL Premium reports that union leaders have signed a 7% across-the-board wage deal with Eskom. This added R1bn-plus to the salary bill of the cash-strapped state-owned company and ended a week-long wildcat strike that deepened SA’s electricity supply crisis. The pay hike agreement, which is above the headline inflation rate of 5.9% forecast by the Reserve Bank for 2022, will also see about 28,374 Eskom employees in the bargaining unit getting a R400 increase in the housing allowance. The increase can be seen as a setback for Eskom’s turnaround plans, which include containing employee costs that have soared more than 60% over the past 10 years to about R33bn. Eskom HR executive Elsie Pule commented: “I must actually put it on record that the offer that we signed today, we actually [can’t] afford as an organisation. We need to make plans to find additional money to fund this agreement. The impact that it will have on our wage bill is in excess of a billion [rand].” Eskom is in the middle of a sweeping operational overhaul that includes splitting into three units and containing costs as its recovery from state capture. Union leaders hailed the wage agreement as a victory for workers, whose finances have been squeezed by the rapidly rising cost of living. They also chastised Eskom for the manner in which it handled the wage negotiations, with Numsa’s Irvin Jim saying that if Eskom employees were essential service workers then they must be treated with respect. Solidarity’s Helgard Cronjé commented: “I think this agreement will bring some sort of stability and economic recovery. Eskom treated these negotiations in a strange way and in a disrespectful manner towards employees [by] trying to abuse the fact that they are an essential service.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, New Eskom deal with unions to add R1 billion to wage bill, at Fin24. En ook, Eskom gaan sukkel om loonooreenkoms te bekostig, by Maroela Media Eskom cautions that signing wage deal doesn't immediately end load shedding EWN reports that Eskom on Tuesday advised the conclusion of a new wage deal with workers did not mean load shedding would immediately come to an end. The utility had for weeks blamed the frequent power cuts on labour unrest as workers took part in unlawful strikes. However, the relief South Africans have been hoping for will not come about immediately. Eskom’s head of human resources Elsie Pule said the agreement would help lift some of the pressure from their maintenance backlog. But the effects won’t be immediate. “It’s also going take a bit to bring some of the units back but we believe it will contribute to stabilising our operations,” she said, adding that the disturbances from the unlawful strike action have exacerbated some of the work needed to be done on maintenance. Numsa’s Irvin Jim said the power crisis had nothing to do with workers: “We think Eskom must take full responsibility. We understand what the public has been subjected to. There has been load shedding before we got to these negotiations.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Theto Mahlakoana at EWN. Read too, It will be years, not weeks, before load shedding ends, says energy expert Chris Yelland, at The Citizen (subscriber access only) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
With 27 deaths in first three months of the year, SA Policing Union wants killing of police officers to be declared 'treason' News24 reports that the SA Policing Union (SAPU) has called on the government and the SA Police Service (SAPS) to declare the killing of officers treason. The call came after an off-duty Gugulethu police constable was shot dead in Delft, Cape Town, on Sunday morning. SAPU spokesperson Lesiba Thobakgale said the only way to deter criminals from targeting officers was to declare the killing of cops treason. He explained: “We are taking police killings seriously, but government and the SAPS are not. We want President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare the killing of a police officer as treason, because it is a crime against the state. The sentencing should be a harsher one. Without the president declaring it as treason, it will just continue to get worse.” Thobakgale added it was worrying that officers were being targeted while they were on and off duty. The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) said the killings had become a national crisis and drastic measures needed to be put in place, especially in the Western Cape. Popcru said it would urgently engage SAPS management because "this can no longer keep happening", and that "plans must be put into place to stop these killings". At least 27 police officers have been killed, either on duty or off duty, across the country in the first three months of the year, a police ministry spokesperson indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tebogo Monama & Lisalee Solomons at News24 Western Cape EMS staff looking to relocate to other provinces to escape continual attacks and violence Cape Argus reports that the brave men and women from the Western Cape’s emergency medical services (EMS) are increasingly looking to relocate to other provinces, because of the trauma of working in the province. The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) Western Cape provincial secretary Baxolise Mali confirmed that EMS staff in the metro were looking to leave due to the continual violence they experienced. “Incidents are reported to labour on a quarterly basis to the bargaining chamber … The common form of attacks are gun-pointing, hijacking, robbery and verbal abuse,” Mali indicated. EMS spokesperson Deanna February confirmed that staff have been requesting transfers to other provinces, with the majority of requests, however, motivated to be closer to their families. February said the service had not had any transfer requests specifically due to attacks on staff. “Staff will exit the services for a myriad reasons, but none has cited the staff attacks as one of them. The exits consist of retirements, resignations, absconding and dismissals,” she indicated. During the 2021/22 year, there were 68 exits and as of 1 April to date there were 11. In April, four attacks were reported and in May six. From January to date there have been 15 assaults on EMS staff. “The nature of the assaults ranges from theft, threatening behaviour, hijacking and damage to vehicles or EMS facilities,” February reported. Although most attacks did not result in serious physical injuries, essential health services were often disrupted. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Shakirah Thebus at Cape Argus
Court rules that Ramaphosa has case to answer on Marikana 'collusion', but not on murder of miners News24 reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa will have to answer to accusations he unlawfully pressurised police top brass to take action against Marikana miners, but a judge has found there was no case to show he pushed for their murders. Advocate Dali Mpofu SC, representing 349 miners who survived the police's fatal shooting of 34 of their colleagues on 16 August 2012, had argued last week in the South Gauteng High Court that, by proposing concomitant action against striking miners, Ramaphosa had, in fact, been proposing they be murdered. At the time of the massacre, Ramaphosa had been serving as a director of Lonmin (now Sibanye-Stillwater). In a ruling which evaluated both Ramaphosa’s and Sibanye's multiple exceptions to the allegations being levelled against them, Judge Fritz van Oosten disagreed with Mpofu's assessment of Ramaphosa as having had murderous intent towards the miners and dismissed that claim as far-fetched. "The argument assumes, without proffering the grounds in support thereof, that the proposal was made that the workers be murdered," he said after extensively detailing the email exchanges Mpofu had relied on to make his claims against Ramaphosa. "Having carefully read and considered the email communications, I have not been able to find any support for the inference that the murder of the workers was intended or foreseen," Van Oosten found. However, he dismissed Ramaphosa's argument the miners had failed to make a case that his direct interventions and the pressure he placed on police top brass might have led to the Marikana massacre. "As counsel for the plaintiffs was at pains to emphasise, whether the plaintiffs will be able to prove those allegations at the trial is not relevant for the present purposes. I am in agreement with counsel for the plaintiffs that the allegations, as they stand, do satisfy the test for factual causation," the judge stated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Karyn Maughan at News24 (subscriber access only). Read too, Ramaphosa denies he is liable for damages to injured mineworkers, at Moneyweb
Severe budget cuts forced Legal Aid SA to scrap over 100 posts Cape Times reports that Legal Aid SA (LASA) has scrapped more than 100 posts from its establishment due to budget cuts in 2021-22 financial year. This was revealed by Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola when responding to parliamentary questions from IFP Themba Msimang, who had noted that the justice and correctional services portfolio committee had recently been informed of the dire situation faced by LASA due to budgetary constraints. He had asked Lamola to furnish him with a detailed breakdown of the total number of vacancies that currently existed at LASA. In his written reply, Lamola said LASA had a total of 221 vacancies out of 2,669 budget positions as at 31 March. He said the number of vacancies had dropped to 176 out of 2,699 budgeted posts as at May. “This translates to 93.5% staffing level versus an annual performance plan target of 95% and 6.5% vacancy rate,” Lamola advised. However, he said LASA reduced its establishment by 119 positions – 91 legal practitioners and 28 support staff – in 2021-22. This was to cushion the budget cuts of R182m and the envisaged baseline reduction of R352,623,000 over the 2022-24 medium term expenditure framework (MTEF). “In addition, Legal Aid SA implemented various cost cutting measures to optimize available resources. This includes the reduction of employee benefits, operational and capital expenditure budget and minimal use of consultants,” Lamola said. His replies showed the positions scrapped in April 2021 by province. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mayibongwe Maqhina at Cape Times
Dlamini-Zuma proposes skills exchange between municipalities to aid poorly-performing councils News24 reports that Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has proposed a skills exchange between the worst and best-performing municipalities. Addressing a local government indaba in Durban on Tuesday, she pointed out that local government was the most important of the three spheres of government because it directly provided services to communities. It was of paramount importance to explore ways of reviving this sphere of governance which were not explored before, she noted. In her view, the "cross-pollination" or skills exchange could "work wonders" and inspire poor-performing municipalities. "The worst and the best-performing municipalities should be paired and partner up. This would lead to the sharing of knowledge and possibly, the cross-pollination of ideas and learning. We should get the municipal manager from the one to go to the other and see if this does not lead to the improvement of the outcomes we saw being delivered by the Auditor-General (AG), Tsakani Maluleke," Dlamini Zuma told delegates said. Last month, the AG reported that only 16% of SA’s 257 municipalities had a clean audit for the 2020-21 financial year, with the overall standard of financial management having regressed in the past five years. Dlaminin Zuma also encouraged underperforming municipalities to seek out Maluleke and her team before submitting financials and to "learn from her team" instead of spending millions on external financial reporting services. KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala cautioned that the "only way to turn the corner in terms of KZN municipalities' performance" is to have "serious consequence management in place". Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Juniour Khumalo at News24
Seven months on, Umgeni Water appoints yet another acting CEO Fin24 reports that it was announced on Tuesday that KwaZulu-Natal's (KZN’s) largest water board, Umgeni Water, has appointed Sipho Manana as acting CEO to replace Mboniseni Dlamini, whose contract expired at the end of June. Manana, who previously held the position of group chief shared services officer, will hold the top post until the board of the water entity finds a permanent candidate for the job. Umgeni Water has had numerous changes in its top management over the past two years. Dlamini, who has now left, was appointed in November 2021 following the resignation of former acting CEO Nomalungelo Mkhize in October 2021, who quit with immediate effect. Sandile Dube was then made acting CEO. In October 2020, the board's last permanent CEO, Thamsanqa Hlongwa, resigned with immediate effect. No reasons were given for his departure. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Sibongile Khumalo at Fin24 Most graduates want to work for the government and state institutions – but for noble reasons rather than job security Business Insider SA reports that working for the government and state institutions is where most graduates want to work. This is according to The Most Attractive Employers in South Africa 2022 report, compiled by Employer branding agency Universum Global. The report, based on a survey of 56,967 students at 27 universities in SA, found that working for the government and state institutions was their number one choice in the six categories of Business/Commerce, Engineering/Technology, Sciences, Humanities/Liberal Arts/Education, and Law. Though it might be understandable that the students who were surveyed were looking for the security of state employment in picking government jobs, that was not the case. Job security only came in as the fifth top preference on why they picked those institutions and companies. Rather, their positive views about how those organisations were led drove their preferences. That could be seen in them ranking ethical standards, professional training and development, respect for its people, and leadership opportunities, as the top four reasons for their choices. Though overall, ethical standards came in tops when it came to preference, there was notable gender divide. Those who identified as female, ranked ethical standards as the reason for their top preference. In contrast, those who identified as male, ranked leadership opportunities as the reason for their preference. Both ranked professional training and development as their second preference. Read the full original of the report in the above regard compiled by Larry Claasen at Business Insider SA
Western Cape businesses warned to brace themselves for labour inspectorate inspections Cape Argus reports that industries and businesses across the Western Cape have been warned to expect inspectors from the Department of Employment & Labour (DEL) to visit soon. The visits are part of ongoing inspections with regard to compliance with the Employment Equity Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act and National Minimum Wage Act. Lack of compliance by employers led to hundreds of prosecutions in the last financial year. Principal inspector Desmond Brown said the DEL’s Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) in the province had recovered R2.5 million, by way of fines, during inspections conducted over the 2021/2022 financial year for non-compliance with labour legislation. Brown told reporters that of the 30,252 inspections conducted, a total of 8,809 workplaces had been found to be non-compliant and of those, 804 were referred for prosecution. Brown reported with respect to inspections conducted in terms of compliance with the Unemployment Insurance Act legislation, that of 2,428 inspections, 1,195 employers were found to have been non-compliant and of those, 257 were referred for prosecution, with the inspectorate recovering R579,762.21. Meanwhile, UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping said that as a result of media reports about employers being arrested and appearing in court for Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) related fraud, more employers were now returning monies to the UIF of their own accord. He said R3.4 billion had been voluntarily returned to the fund by employers who had wrongly benefited from the Covid-19 TERS scheme. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mwangi Githahu at Cape Argus
Home Affairs fires and suspends staff over sale of SA identity documents IOL reports that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has dismissed two employees for fraud relating to selling of South African identities to foreign nationals who did not warrant the documents. “Another four officials have been suspended for similar offences. Mr Phathisani Outshiki, from the Benoni office, was found guilty of gross misconduct for processing 111 documents for undeserving foreign nationals using particulars of South African citizens for a fee of R1,000 per application,” DHA spokesperson Siya Qoza advised. He said 98 of those documents were passports and 13 were identity documents. “Mr Outshiki pleaded guilty and he was subsequently dismissed. However, he is appealing his dismissal. Mr Morena David Motsamai, from the Germiston office, was found guilty of gross misconduct in that he processed 13 passport applications for undeserving foreign nationals using particulars of South Africans,” said Qoza. Motsamai was paid between R2,500 and R5,000 per application. He pleaded guilty and did not appeal the sanction. He was subsequently dismissed. Qoza said the police were pursuing criminal charges against Outshiki and Motsamai. On Friday, the department suspended four officials at the Tzaneen office who were allegedly processing fraudulent documents. Their disciplinary hearings are scheduled to take place within 10 working days. DHA Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi warned that the ongoing intensive fight to root out corruption at the national department would continue without fear. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jonisayi Maromo at IOL
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