In our roundup of weekend news, see
summaries of our selection of South African
labour-related stories that appeared since
Friday, 4 November 2022.
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Calls for labour legislation to be “redesigned” to make better use of overloaded CCMA BL Premium reports that labour experts have come out in support of the Department of Employment & Labour’s (DEL’s) calls for SA’s labour legislation to be “redesigned” to allow for the speedy and cost-effective resolution of cases by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). The cash-strapped dispute resolution body, which processes more than 200,000 cases a year involving unfair dismissals, wage disputes and retrenchments, has had its budget of R1bn cut by R99m, with steeper cuts of R170m and R231m pencilled in over the medium term. In an advertorial penned by chief communications officer Teboho Thejane, the DEL argued that some of the solutions for the country’s labour relations lay in ensuring the CCMA was properly resourced. Thejane wrote that “redesigning” the legislation would meet the wishes of the drafters of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) that the legislation must be “easily accessible and understandable to workers”. Labour lawyer Michael Bagraim concurred: “I agree entirely with what the department is saying. When President Nelson Mandela launched the CCMA the idea was to keep it short and simple with less legalistic rules and regulations. But over the last 25 years the CCMA has become more legalistic, with parties sitting for months in arbitration, bringing legal points. I think that has bastardised the CCMA’s initial concept as envisioned by Mandela.” Bagraim said the LRA needed to be amended to deregulate the CCMA’s scope of work: “It’s time to go back to the original idea of the CCMA.” He also spoke against the budget cuts, saying they hindered the organisation from performing optimally. Labour lawyer Charles Nupen commented that there needed to be “a rethink on the priorities of the CCMA and the scope that the government sets for the CCMA through LRA.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
PSA strike over wages could disrupt key government services Sunday Times reports that the Public Servants Association (PSA) will lead its 235,000 members on a one-day stayaway on Thursday that will disrupt airports, border posts and immigration and other home affairs services. The PSA’s Claude Naiker said the stayaway would also affect the issuing of car licences and services rendered by the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Inspectors from the department of employment and labour, responsible for the enforcement of health and safety laws, are also set to down tools. “The essential service workers who are not allowed to strike will picket during lunchtime,” said Naiker. The PSA began lunchtime pickets on Thursday, standing firm on its demand for a 6.5% salary increase across the board, and the continuation of a R1,000 monthly cash gratuity that ends in March 2023. Naiker said the PSA wanted the government to continue the R1,000 cash payments until a new agreement was reached next year. However, the government decided to implement a 3% wage increase after invoking section 5 of the Public Service Act. Naiker said members were informed that the 3% wage offer would be unilaterally implemented, but there was no indication of the effective date. “At the moment it is just a notice. The unions think it is a ploy to frighten us, but this has angered us more because once you unilaterally implement there is no use negotiating,” he said. Last week, Denosa, Nehawu, Popcru and Hospersa were also issued with strike certificates. However, teachers affiliated to Sadtu will not be joining the picket lines after the union accepted the government’s offer. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at Sunday Times (subscriber access only). Read too, PSA warns government to expect disruptions as members intensify wage strike, at EWN Teachers, police officers warned not to join PSA wage strike Sunday Independent reports that government has warned its essential services employees, including police and maintenance workers, against joining a strike and pickets by public servants. The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has also notified state workers that they will not be paid if they join the strike. On Thursday, the Public Servants Association (PSA) commenced its industrial action over the government’s failure to meet its wage increase demands with pickets. Wage negotiations have deadlocked at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) over the government’s offer of a 3% pay hike and a non-pensionable cash allowance of at least R1,000 a month. Government has unilaterally implemented the increase, but the PSA said the move was ill-advised. “The employer is prepared to do everything in its power to force the offer down workers’ throats. Members need to understand that the employer is unleashing the plan to destroy unions, which will leave workers exposed and vulnerable. Public servants are not valued by this government,” the PSA claimed. In a letter to all heads of government last week, DPSA director-general Yoliswa Makhasi said PSA members had a right to take part in the strike action, but this excluded public servants rendering an essential or maintenance service, whose disputes might be dealt with through compulsory arbitration. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Loyiso Sidimba on page 5 of Sunday Independent of 6 November 2022.
Two arrested after KZN security guard killed and dumped in a manhole News24 reports that a security officer was shot and killed and his body dumped inside a manhole in Kwazulu-Natal (KZN) on Friday. The 33-year-old Reaction Unit SA (RUSA) officer was on duty in Riverhorse Valley when he was killed. According to RUSA's operations manager, Vinod Singh, a search commenced when his colleagues realised the man had not been providing reports to the operation center. "On arrival at the location, a pool of blood was detected next to the manhole. The body of the reaction officer was discovered inside. The golf cart he had been using for the patrol was located about 100km away from the sewer," Singh reported. Reaction officers canvassed the proximity, which resulted in the arrest of two suspects, one of whom was also a security officer. A firearm was recovered and the arrested officer has since been dismissed. The suspects are expected to appear in court this week. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Zandile Khumalo at News24 KZN senior traffic cop killed while approaching car wanted in robbery case News24 reports that a senior KwaDukuza traffic officer was shot and killed on Friday. Superintendent Eddie Bouventura, who worked for the KwaDukuza Local Municipality, was killed on the N2 at Blythedale Beach when he tried to approach a suspicious vehicle alleged to have been involved in the commission of a crime. Police believe the vehicle he approached matched one connected to a robbery at a local shop in the area. After shooting Bouventura, the suspects fled the scene. Bouventura had to be airlifted to hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Sipho Emmanuel Hlomuka called on police to immediately dispatch a special task team to hunt down the suspects. He described the deceased as a "brave traffic officer who died with his boots on trying to save innocent people of KZN from dangerous criminals." Hlomuka went on to say: "Superintendent Bouventura demonstrated bravery and leadership until the last minutes. He personally took it upon himself to chase dangerous and heavily armed criminals." Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lisalee Solomons at News24 Intercape bus carrying 46 passengers goes up in flames, no injuries reported News24 reports that an Intercape Sleepliner coach carrying 46 passengers caught fire while travelling from Cape Town to Johannesburg on Friday night. According to one of the passengers, they started smelling burnt wire while on the N1, three kilometres from Touws River at around 22:50. "We started seeing smoke coming from the engine, and that's when the bus driver tried to turn the bus around, trying to ensure our safety. But, unfortunately, he did not manage," the passenger said. The bus apparently stopped and would not restart. "That's when the bus started burning. Luckily all of us managed to get out of the bus without any harm," the passenger indicated. Only the luggage inside the coach was damaged as it was too dangerous to go inside the bus and retrieve it. Passengers had to wait for nearly two hours before the next bus arrived. "The cause of the fire [is] not yet determined," Intercape advised. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Cebelihle Mthethwa at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Another wave of Covid-19 but no need to panic IOL reports that SA could be in for a grim festive season as Covid-19 numbers spike across the country, dampening hopes of an economic recovery especially in the tourism sector. The Health Department says “technically” SA could already be in a sixth wave as the number of infections started increasing from September. The department warned people to remain cautious as they prepared to flock to beaches and entertainment venues over the festive period. The latest Covid-19 statistics, released last week, showed there were 5,984 active cases countrywide, including 1,874 in the Western Cape, 1,324 in Free State, 976 in KwaZulu-Natal and 922 in Gauteng. Department of Health spokesman Foster Mohale advised that the symptoms were the same as before, but milder and more easily confused with the flu and, in children, with other respiratory illnesses. He called on people not to panic, but to remember the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions did not mean the pandemic was over. Epidemiologist Professor Salim Abdool Karim pointed out there was an increase in Covid-19 cases in a number of countries, not just in SA. He advised people to stay away from poorly ventilated places and to wear a mask in crowded places, warning that the virus “is still among us”. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Wendy Jasson Da Costa, Zolani Sinxo & Genevieve Serra at IOL. Read too, Covid-19 comes in spikes now, and vaccines are still vital, SA expert says, at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
We can't let SOEs become 'zombies', says Treasury DG News24Wire reports that speaking a joint sitting of Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance and Parliament's Select Committee on Finance, National Treasury acting director-general Ismail Momoniat pointed out that the medium-term budget made allocations to struggling parastatals to supplement infrastructure investment for growth. He warned that some state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were so dysfunctional that they were close to becoming "zombies". The briefing was in response to submissions received on the Revised Fiscal Framework and Revenue Proposals. According to Select Committee on Finance chair Yunus Carrim, 10 submissions were received by the committees from various institutions, including unions, nongovernmental organisations and business lobby groups. Submissions criticised the Medium-term Budget Policy Statement's decision to take on a portion of Eskom's R400-billion debt, to allocate R2.9-billion to Transnet to return out-of-service locomotives and to allocate R23.7-billion to Sanral and R3.4-billion to Denel. They were also alarmed that no relief was provided for households facing rising costs, other than a one-year extension of the Social Relief of Distress grant (SRD) to March 2024. Momoniat said the special appropriations for SOEs like Transnet were there to get entities functioning to catalyse growth. On the issue of the SOEs taking money, Momoniat commented that “if we don't want to fund some of them, you know, we've got to take a view either some of them need to be closed down if you don't want to fund them, or you fund them so little that they become like zombie companies, they can't really do much. And that is the difficulty we face." Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Education system in crisis with 30,000 qualified teachers unemployed or doing other jobs The Citizen reports that with no budget for more teachers, thousands of qualified teachers are jobless. The Unemployed Educators’ Movement of SA (UEMSA) and Build One SA (Bosa) have formed a partnership to tackle the issue. Bosa’s spokesperson Mudzuli Rakhivhane said the partnership would see the parties working to bring national attention to the cause of unemployed qualified teachers across the country and begin a programme of action to demand tangible action. According to Department of Basic Education (DBE) Minister Angie Motshekga, there are 24,000 vacant teacher posts, while UEMSA’s database records that almost 30,000 qualified teachers are unemployed or doing other jobs. “We cannot accept this while thousands of teachers are unemployed and some overcrowded classrooms have up to 70 pupils to one teacher,” Rakhivhane stated. University of KwaZulu-Natal associate professor in education Wayne Hugo said UEMSA was responding to a real issue where teacher graduates were struggling to find employment, even with high vacancy levels. He said this was aggravated by extra resources being poured into teacher assistant programmes, rather than focusing on the more effective use of the existing teacher base in SA. “Bosa has picked a relevant problem which has a definite and obvious answer – develop more effective and efficient strategies to employ our existing qualified teacher human resource base,” Hugo commented. However, DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said they “do ot have the budget to employ all the teachers which are qualified”. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lunga Simelane at The Citizen
Tongaat Hulett meets with staff as financial woes worsen Sunday Tribune reports that sugar producer Tongaat Hulett’s business rescue practitioners (BRPs) convened an urgent meeting on Thursday with employees, who face an uncertain future as the company struggles to stay afloat. Another meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, where the livelihoods of thousands of people will be discussed, amid the company’s failure to meet its financial obligations. Among those affected are sugar cane farmers across KwaZulu-Natal, including emerging ones, who supply their crops to Tongaat. The company is under business rescue following years of poor financial results as a result of corruption committed by former executives who allegedly “cooked” the books to earn performance bonuses. While the company has been trying to recover from the scandal, the situation has not improved. After the company failed to secure funding, it missed a 31 October deadline to pay about R400-million for sugar cane deliveries made in September. Later last week, it managed to pay only small-scale sugar cane farmers. Commercial growers have not yet been paid, putting about 14,642 jobs at risk. Business rescue firm Metis confirmed that it had met with Tongaat employees as required in terms of the Companies Act. It indicated that, in line with the Labour Relations Act, employees’ rights remained protected during the business rescue process. At this stage, it is not clear whether the company will issue Section 189 letters (voluntary retrenchments). Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siboniso Mngadi at Sunday Tribune. Lees ook, Nog geen betaling van Tongaat Hulett aan kommersiële boere, by Maroela Media
GEPF to keep its domestic investment focus Business Times reports that the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), which manages R2.29-trillion in pensions and other benefits on behalf of public servants, has defended its asset allocation strategy, which predominantly exposes it to the domestic market. Speaking after a presentation of the GEPF’s 2022 integrated annual report last week, principal executive officer Musa Mabesa said the strategy had worked at absorbing economic shocks and had proven resilient in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and the pandemic. “I know there are calls for us to go into foreign investments, but we do not panic with our strategy. The home bias worked for us. We saw the global economic crisis, markets crashed globally but SA and the fund survived that. We saw a dip in our assets, but we actually survived it because of the bias towards South Africa and the way we split the asset allocation,” he indicated. In line with its mandate to make a “meaningful contribution” to the domestic economy, 53% of the GEPF’s asset allocation is in domestic equity, and domestic bonds account for 30%. International assets, domestic property and the rest of Africa makes up 9%, 4% and 2% of the portfolio respectively, while alternative assets comprise another 2%. Mabesa agreed there was a need for the fund to expand its offshore assets which are at just under 10%, having previously indicated its maximum offshore allocation was 15%. “We should be doing more, but 10% of R2.3-trillion is R230bn, which is a lot. Moving R230bn out of South Africa out has a big effect on the South African economy. We must be mindful of that,” he pointed out. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at Business Times (subscriber access only)
Social media explodes over Pretoria family’s recruitment requirements for a ‘house manager’ Saturday Star reports that last week a job advertisement by the Du Plessis family in Pretoria set Twitter ablaze and tongues wagging. The ad stated they were looking for a house manager, au pair, tutor and personal assistant. “A professional extension of our home and family. The successful candidate would have to be a graduate and must be able to drive and cook breakfast, lunch and dinner of the family, run errands and make sure that their admin is up to date. This person must also ensure that the family’ car is neat and washed every week and drive the family’s staff to mall in the afternoons. In between all of this, the successful candidate will also keep the house clean, and help the family’s 10-year-old with homework and studying,” the ad indicated. But what caused the furore was a requirement that the person must be able to bake rusks and take the Jack Russel for regular check-ups to the vet. The salary offered was R22,000 per month. The ad received 3,398 “likes” and 881 re-tweets. One follower tweeted: “Job description is very clear. Salary is very good. Call it 2nd mom or house manager whoever gets the job will be compensated well.” Another, tweeted: “To me, this reinforces how much unrecognised and unpaid labour women and caregivers actually do. Nobody flinches or acknowledges that it's work and has a monetary value that gives men the opportunity to be part of the formal economy. This is why the Basic Income Grant is a must.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Norman Cloete at Saturday Star Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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