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 Tuesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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Numsa leadership to hold special central committee meeting on Tuesday to discuss interdicted congress Fin24 reports that the leadership of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) is set to hold a special central committee (SCC) meeting in Cape Town on Tuesday after the Labour Court in Johannesburg interdicted the union's national congress from taking place this week. According to a notice to the union's national office bearers, Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim will address the meeting. The court also declared the suspension of the second deputy president Ruth Ntlokotse and 30 other union officials "unconstitutional, invalid, and unenforceable in law". Ntlokotse had told the Labour Court in an urgent application that she was suspended as a way of sidelining her from participating in the conference and running for the position of Numsa president. The national congress that was meant to begin on Monday would have been the first congress of its kind for the union since December of 2016. Numsa is the largest private sector union in the country with over 338,000 members. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24 Confused delegates idle on Monday outside venue for interdicted Numsa congress GroundUp reports that scores of National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) delegates from across SA waited patiently outside the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Monday morning. They were unsure what to do, after their elective national congress, set to begin on Monday, was prevented from going ahead by Judge Graham Moshoana in the Johannesburg Labour Court on Saturday. Meanwhile, Numsa’s leadership will be convening a special central committee meeting on Tuesday to determine the path ahead and decide whether the congress would proceed in defiance of the interdict. But, delegates claimed that the leadership had not communicated to them what would happen after the interdict was handed down on Saturday. “We don’t know what we are going to do here. The national leadership didn’t provide delegates with guidance after the conference had been interdicted,” claimed one delegate. At about 12:30pm, delegates were called into the convention centre to be addressed by national office bearers. Numsa president Andrew Chirwa apparently railed against the Labour Court judgment and Judge Moshoana. Many delegates continued to wait outside even while others conferred inside the conference centre. One delegate said he was worried about the money Numsa had used to send delegates from across the country to an interdicted conference. “Numsa has wasted workers’ money on transporting delegates from other provinces to a conference that has been interdicted,” complained the delegate. By 4pm, despite numerous attempts to reach Numsa’s spokesperson, it could not be established whether the conference was going to to proceed. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Vincent Lali at GroundUp. Read too, Chaos looms as Numsa delegates arrive for interdicted congress, at Fin24 Law firm representing suspended officials warns Numsa not to press on with congress against Labour Court ruling Fin24 reports that the law firm representing National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) officials who successfully challenged their suspension from the union has urged the union’s leadership not to push ahead with a national congress against the interdict of the Labour Court. The court ruled last week that the union's suspension of Numsa's second deputy president, Ruth Ntlokotse, and 30 other officials was "unconstitutional, invalid, and unenforceable in law". It also interdicted the commencement of the congress, set to take place in Cape Town this week, until its concerns over the suspensions were resolved. A letter from Ahmed Gani Attorneys, penned by Yusuf Sujee, said the firm had been informed that Numsa was looking to hold the congress despite the interdict. Sujee gave the union until close of business on Monday to assure the firm and its clients that it would not undertake to hold or open the national congress this week. The letter said if Numsa pressed on with its congress, the firm’s clients would approach the court on an urgent basis to hold union leadership in contempt of court and declare the convened congress as "null and void". Asked whether the congress would go ahead and whether the suspension of union officials had been lifted, Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said on Monday that there would be no accreditation process for the media on that day, as the congress had been interdicted. Some delegates at the congress indicated that they had been told the congress would go ahead this week. They said the concerns of the Labour Court had been addressed and the suspensions had been lifted. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24
At last, Ramaphosa throws the kitchen sink at fixing load shedding Moneyweb reports that it took almost a month of intense disruptions due to load shedding for President Cyril Ramaphosa to take charge of the electricity crisis that has deepened year after year, but on Monday he eventually announced drastic steps to end load shedding, ensure the sustainability of Eskom, and transform the electricity supply industry. Ramaphosa announced steps to: improve the performance of Eskom’s power stations; accelerate procurement of generation capacity; massively increase private sector investment in generation capacity; enable businesses and households to invest in rooftop solar; and fundamentally reform the electricity supply industry and position it for future sustainability. He announced that Eskom will over the next 12 months increase its maintenance budget to increase the reliability of its power stations. Government is also cutting red tape to make it easier for Eskom to procure parts and equipment, and the power utility is recruiting skilled staff – including former Eskom staff. Over the next three months Eskom will procure additional generation capacity from various sources. Ramaphosa announced that a solution for Eskom’s R400 billion mountain of debt will be provided by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in his medium-term budget policy statement in October. He also established a national energy crisis committee, led by Director-General in The Presidency Phindile Baleni, who is a former CEO of energy regulator Nersa, with deep knowledge of the electricity sector. Also represented on the committee will be the departments of Public Enterprises, Mineral Resources and Energy, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, National Treasury, and SAPS. The relevant ministers will report to Ramaphosa directly. In early reaction, trade union Solidarity welcomed Ramaphosa’s announcements. Dr Dirk Hermann, chief executive of Solidarity, said the government’s move towards a more decentralised system for power generation was the only workable and sustainable solution to SA’s power crisis. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Moneyweb. Read too, ‘Fix Eskom’ tops Ramaphosa’s list, along with less red tape, at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). En ook, Só lyk regering se plan om ligte aan te hou, by Maroela Media Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Organised business set to reject social compact blueprint as it frets over hiring targets, job cut limits Fin24 reports that contrary to assertions by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his newsletter on Monday that talks for a social compact are on track, business is gearing up to reject the framework his ministers have proposed, claiming that its position has been repeatedly ignored. The social partners are due to provide feedback on the social compact framework document to Nedlac on Tuesday. The framework document, drafted by the government, sets out the commitments each social partner will make in broad terms. But Business Unity SA (BUSA), which represents business in Nedlac, has sought a mandate from its members over the past week to oppose both the proposed framework and the social compact methodology entirely, in which partners make "trade-offs" ostensibly for the greater good. Business has tried to persuade Ramaphosa since January that a better approach would be to configure a joint programme of work on a limited number of priority issues facing the economy, such as the energy crisis, bulk water, transport and law and order. This should be done through bilateral arrangements with government and not in a multilateral forum. Among other things, business cannot commit to investment targets, employment targets or restrictions on retrenchments. Business has also said it cannot commit member firms to localisation targets across sectors or the appointment of workers to boards. The mandate from BUSA members to reject the framework document marks a hardening of its attitude. Labour also has difficulties with some of the commitments directed towards it. Collective bargaining in the public sector, for instance, takes place in legally designated forums and cannot be agreed at a national level. Labour and government have agreed to move the engagements on labour law reform into a separate Nedlac process. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
PSA members at SARS return to their posts pending response by President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene in wage strike BL Premium reports that thousands of striking employees at the SA Revenue Service (SARS) affiliated to the Public Servants Association (PSA) have returned to work pending the outcome of their appeal to President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene. As a result, the number of SARS branches closed across the country easedf to about 30 from a high of almost 50 recorded last week. The PSA, which represents more than 5,000 of the estimated SARS workforce of 13,000, together with the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), are demanding above-inflation pay hikes of 11.5% and 12% respectively. The unions have rejected an offer by SARS which they say would amount to an increase of just 1.3% and a one-off R3,000 cash gratuity. The two unions began their industrial action in May before suspending it to give further talks a chance. They resumed it two weeks ago after parties could not reach an agreement. In a media briefing on Wednesday last week, the PSA’s Reuben Maleka called on Ramaphosa to intervene to break the wage deadlock. “We expect the president to intervene and respond by August 1. [If he fails] we will ballot members for a strike,” Maleka indicated on Monday. Meantime, Nehawu’s December Mavuso advised that the union had not taken a decision for its members to return to work in the interim, saying: “They are still in the picket lines.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Negotiation deadlock could be broken as state workers trim wage demands to 6.5% BL Premium reports that union leaders for 1.3-million public servants have trimmed their wage demands to 6.5%, raising the prospect of breaking a deadlock that threatens to shut down schools, hospitals and government departments. Labour and the government have been locked in talks for weeks after unions rejected the government’s offer of a 2% pay increase plus the extension of a R1,000 cash gratuity. They had been demanding as much as a 10% increase until last week when, according to Frikkie de Bruin of the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC), they cut it to 6.5%. The trimmed figure raises the possibility of ending a dispute that has cast doubt over finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s pledge to restrict growth in the R665bn public sector salary bill. “The parties remain optimistic in terms of finding common ground,” De Bruin indicated, while suggesting that the government might need only to convince union leaders to accept that its wage deal proposals equated to a 6.5% pay increase to get the deal over the line. The state has argued that its R1,000 after-tax cash gratuity equates to 4.5%, taking its overall pay rise offer to 6.5% when combined with a 2% cost-of-living adjustment offer. Simon Hlungwani, convener of Cosatu’s joint mandating committee, reported that the labour federation has embarked on a mandate-seeking process on the employer’s offer, which he expected would be concluded on Friday. The Public Servants Association (PSA) has described the 2% offer as “offensive to employees” who have not received increases for the past three years. De Bruin noted that the PSA had declared a mutual interest dispute to conciliation at the PSCBC on 8 July. The matter is set down for conciliation on 3 August. He said if there was no resolution at conciliation level, “the party may exercise their right” and embark on strike action. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Court evicts job-seeking protesters from Tshwane health district offices after two-week siege News24 reports that a group of about 40 job-seeking protesters has been evicted from the Tshwane health district offices in the Pretoria CBD after occupying the building illegally for two weeks and preventing workers from entering. The eviction, through a court interdict, paved the way for at least 200 employees to return to their workstations. On Friday, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria granted the Gauteng health department an order to remove the protesters. They were finally evicted on Saturday. The district office services 77 clinics in Tshwane. The department welcomed the court order, saying that the unlawful occupation affected operations negatively. With reference to the unlawful occupation, it reported that it had previously embarked on an extensive consultative process which had involved contract employees, unions and the provincial treasury. The department advised that the process, concluded in July, had led to the absorption of 8,619 community health workers who had been on contract into permanent posts. "We have noted that since the appointments were effected, following the conclusion of the verification processes, the department started receiving requests from people claiming to have been CHWs [community health workers] at some point," the department noted. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Malibongwe Dayimani at News24. Read too, Tshwane protesters out of government offices, at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Hawks nab six zama zamas in an operation to curb illegal mining networks in Mpumalanga The Citizen reports that on Friday police in Mpumalanga arrested six illegal miners, also known as zama zamas, at Matsulu C during an operation to curb illegal mining networks in the province. The six suspects, including foreign nationals from Zimbabwe and Mozambique, appeared briefly in the Kabokweni Magistrate’s Court. The suspects were arrested for the illegal possession of gold bearing materials and illegal dealing in gold. The six were remanded in custody and the case was postponed to 25 July for further investigation. The suspects were nabbed during a multidisciplinary intelligence driven operation to curb illegal mining operations in the province. The operation included Hawks Nelspruit’s Serious Organised Crime Investigation, the National Intervention Unit, the Tactical Response Team and the Department of Home Affairs. “The joint operation was aimed at disrupting illegal mining activities around Mpumalanga. During the operation two laboratories processing gold bearing materials were dismantled respectively,” said a Hawks spokesperson. Read the original of the report in the above regard at The Citizen Anglo American renews its local education programme with R510m further investment Mining Weekly reports that Anglo American has launched the second phase of its education programme in South Africa, doubling the programme's scope and commitment to improving educational outcomes. The miner will be investing an additional R510-million into the programme as it progresses. The next phase of the programme will support an additional cohort of 84 schools and about 80 early childhood development (ECD) centres in Limpopo, the Northern Cape and North West over the next five years. Of the total investment, R110-million will go toward enhancing access to quality school infrastructure for learners and teachers. Over the past four years, the education programme has improved the quality of education for 222,000 learners and 3,391 teachers at 109 schools and 110 ECD centres. This was achieved through investing more than R100-million a year. Undertaken in partnership with the Department of Basic Education (DBE), the education programme is integral to Anglo American's Sustainable Mining Plan, which commits the company to a holistic range of ambitious goals that are shaping how its stakeholders experience Anglo American’s business. These goals include how the miner creates thriving communities by focusing on better health, education and employment opportunities for communities around its operations. DBE Minister Angie Motshekga said the department recognised that partnerships were key to resolving some of the challenges SA’s education ecosystem faced as a result of its vast basic education sector. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly
Would be entry level trainees in Mpumalanga accuse police of unfair discrimination in requiring applications to be hand delivered in Mbombela News24 reports that last month the police advertised 5,000 positions nationally to recruit entry level trainees, who would be trained in all nine provinces. The applications closed on 30 June. Whereas the advertisement for recruitment in Mpumalanga stated that application forms could be hand delivered at the provincial office in Mbombela, the same advertisement stated that applications for the Free State could be hand delivered at the nearest police station, or posted to the police in Bloemfontein. The secretary of Vulamehlo Kusile Organisation, Elias Mahlangu, said his NPO had received complaints about this matter from a number of young people who had wanted to apply for the training. He claimed that many job seekers in the entire Nkangala region did not apply for the police training as they could not afford to travel to Mbombela. Areas that are in the Nkangala region include KwaMhlanga, Siyabuswa, Emalahleni and Middelburg. Ntombi Mahlangu of Vezubuhle Village in KwaMhlanga had wanted to apply for the training, but was dissuaded by the requirement that she had to hand deliver her application form in Mbombela, which is about 300km from Vezubuhle. But Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala insisted that applicants in the province were allowed to submit application forms at their local police stations. "I was there when many people submitted their application forms at KwaMhlanga and Kwaggafontein police stations," said Mohlala. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Warren Mabona at News24
Mr Price granted ‘underpaid’ CEO R33m bonus on top of his R18,8m package, taking his total annual remuneration to R56.5 million Moneyweb reports that the Mr Price Group granted CEO Mark Blair a R32.931-million bonus in the year to 2 April 2022, in the form of an allocation in its group forfeitable share plan. This took his total remuneration for the 2022 financial year to R56.5-million, an increase of 201% on the R18.8-million package in 2021. The bonus equates to his total packages for 2021 and 2020, combined. The group’s remuneration and nominations committee defended the so-called “Special share award to the CEO”, saying that the “CEO’s total reward (fixed and variable elements) was benchmarked in August 2020 against a comparator group of JSE-listed companies of similar size and industry”. It added: “The CEO’s guaranteed remuneration was between the 25th and 50th percentile of the market.” The committee further argued that: “The CEO has been in his position for three years and has an excellent track record, with the team under his leadership delivering good results under trying trading conditions that included Covid-19, lockdowns and civil unrest. Hence the expectation is that the CEO be paid in line with the market/comparator group on a total reward basis.” To remedy this, it decided to grant Blair a tranche of restricted shares that vest over a five-year period, instead of increasing his base pay. The shares will be forfeitable in increments if Blair’s employment should be terminated prior to the five-year period. CFO Mark Stirton received total remuneration of R12.593-million in 2022 (from R10 million in 2021). Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Moneyweb Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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