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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City of Cape Town condemns violence by protesting taxi drivers, calls for Fikile Mbalula to step in IOL reports that the City of Cape Town has condemned the violence, intimidation and attacks directed towards public transport services by striking taxi operators on Monday. Members of the Western Cape Flying Squad were strategically deployed as the taxi industry embarked on a two-day strike across the province. The violent strike left thousands of commuters stranded and prevented from earning an income. Two buses, one belonging to Golden Arrow and the other to MyCiti, were set on fire in Khayelitsha, allegedly by striking taxi drivers. Earlier, police in Cape Town arrested three men with strong links to the taxi industry with 13 petrol bombs in Delft. The City suspended the N2 Express service in Khayelitsha due to the volatile situation, and MyCiTi bus service variations were in effect for Dunoon and the surrounding areas, as well as for Hout Bay. The City’s Mayco member Rob Quintas said they were of the view that the Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula should take the lead in devising a strategy for formalising and modernising the minibus-taxi industry and, secondly, that the department should provide the funding for such efforts where they were implemented, be it at local or provincial level. Condemning the current situation, Western Cape Minister of Mobility, Daylin Mitchell, lamented that the actions by the taxi industry had a severe impact on people travelling to and from work, on schoolchildren who were writing exams and on those who were trying to access services such as healthcare. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sibuliso Duba at IOL. Read too, Taxi strike: police confiscate 13 petrol bombs, trio arrested, at IOL Cape Town taxi strike: As violence erupts, Santaco says it won't back down News24 reports that the SA National Taxi Association (Santaco), which is spearheading a minibus taxi strike that turned violent in Cape Town on Monday, said it would not be backing down from its “stay away” action. The strike action follows the Western Cape government's decision to cancel its Blue Dot taxi project. Makhosandile Tumana, provincial Santaco spokesperson, confirmed that their members had refused to transport taxi commuters. “We, as Santaco, withheld our vans and services in the Western Cape for commuters and we have distanced ourselves and condemn any violence by any operators," Tumana indicated. He added that those who had used violence did so of their own accord. Mobility MEC Daylin Mitchell condemned the violence, saying: “We cannot allow this kind of violence and intimidation against commuters.” Meanwhile, Education MEC David Maynier said the strike had affected schools, “but initial indications suggest that there has not been widespread disruption of matric exams today (Monday).” The transport chaos left thousands of commuters stranded, and forced the City of Cape Town to withdraw the MyCiTi bus services operations in several areas. On Monday morning, three MyCiTi buses and one Golden Arrow bus were set alight. A bus transporting passengers was burnt at about 06:00 on Monday in Japhta Masemola Road, Town Two. No injuries were reported. In an incident at Oscar Mpetha Road in Kuyasa, also at about 06:00, a bus driver was shot at, and a passenger was shot and injured. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marvin Charles & Nonkululeko Lekoma at News24. Read too, Matrics, commuters hit by Cape Town taxi strike, at GroundUp Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Threat of violence due to taxi strike forces unions to call off Tuesday’s march to Parliament IOL reports that the trade union federations in the Western Cape have called off Tuesday’s march to Parliament due to the ongoing and violent protest action by minibus taxi operators in Cape Town. On Monday morning, three buses were torched, allegedly by members embarking on the taxi strike, which is expected to continue on Tuesday. In a joint statement on Monday afternoon, trade union federations Cosatu, Fedusa and Saftu in the Western Cape said they were postponing the march due to the ongoing action of the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) in the Western Cape. Last week, union federations gave notice of a nationwide shutdown on Tuesday. The unions and the government are in a deadlock over workers’ demands for a 10% salary increase, while the state has stuck to its guns with a final 3% unilateral offer. The three federations said in a statement that their leaders met on Monday to consider their options and decided to postpone a planned march in Cape Town. "The leadership of Cosatu, Fedusa, and Saftu met this morning to reflect on the violent status of the Santaco action in the province and the safety of our members and workers. After the provincial engagement with Santaco we came to the conclusion that the safety of our members will not be guaranteed should we proceed with the action," the statement indicated. The statement called on Santaco, the Western Cape government and the City of Cape Town to "find an amicable solution to the impasse". The federations also called on employers “to refrain from taking any action against workers if they can't go to work in fear of their safety.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sihle Mlambo at IOL. Read too, Public sector wage strike postponed in Western Cape due to taxi chaos, at Fin24 PSA says it will step up pressure on government over wage increases EWN reports that the Public Servants Association (PSA) will be stepping up its pressure on the government on Tuesday over wages, with thousands of workers expected to stop working to demand a better wage deal. Government services from home affairs to border posts are expected to see disruptions. Last week saw the government standing firm on its final offer, but this was met with anger from public sector unions. Three federations, namely Cosatu, Saftu and Fedusa, have joined forces to conduct a one-day strike on Tuesday. Workers in Gauteng will convene at Burgers Park in Pretoria before marching to the National Treasury’s offices. The unions are then expected to submit a memorandum of demands, including calls for a 10% wage increase on the baseline. KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free State and the Eastern Cape are expected to hold parallel marches. Meanwhile, the march in Cape Town was called off amid a two-day taxi protest in the mother city that began on Monday. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nokukhanya Mntambo at EWN. Read too, Public Service and Administration Department to adopt a 'no work, no pay' policy, at EWN Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Workers strike at RCL's Sunbake operation in Polokwane over wages Fin24 reports that after experiencing a strike at its Pieman's operations in August amid double-digit wage demands, RCL Foods is now facing a fresh and indefinite strike at its baked goods business, Sunbake. The General Industries Workers' Union of SA (Giwusa) announced a strike at Sunbake's operations in Polokwane starting on Monday. Giwusa is demanding a R600 increase in wages across the board, scrapping of the sales commission in favour of overtime, and a medical aid scheme with 50% of contributions by the employer. The union claimed in a statement that Sunbake employees worked for an average wage of R4,700 before deductions, "yet they cannot afford to regularly buy the bread they bake". The statement went on to note: "A basic food basket costs R4,800, which is more than the Sunbake RCL workers' wage before deductions." The union also demanded that all jobs be graded with the country's "high cost of living and chronic poverty" in mind. According to RCL Foods, the union's demands, which include a cash increase, overtime and transport allowances, equate to an average employee cost increase of 19%. "In the context of food businesses facing extreme inflationary pressures, ongoing load shedding and rising cost of living impacting most South Africans, including our employees, RCL Foods remains committed to ongoing engagement with our employees to reach a wage deal that will strike a balance between their interests and our duty to supply affordable food to our consumers," the company said. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24 Durban residents furious about water outage linked to labour dispute about overtime pay TimesLive reports that Durban residents are furious about a water outage that has affected large parts of the city as a result of an eThekwini municipality labour dispute that has disrupted services. This comes as residents in several areas are also faced with a power outage, which the municipality said its technicians were working to restore. On Sunday night, the municipality issued a statement informing residents of the disruption of water and sanitation services “because of an ongoing labour issue”. It is understood the labour issue relates to refusal to pay for overtime. According to Sakhile Mngadi, ward councillor for Glenwood, Umbilo and Bulwer, the areas have been without water for 41 hours. Parts of Phoenix, north of Durban, have also been hit by the water outage. A resident complained: “We are angry that this is a result of a strike. Water cuts are frequent in our area due to the lack of maintenance of the infrastructure and now we hear that it is because of striking workers. There must be another way to find a solution.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard at BusinessLive. Read too, Msunduzi municipality under fire over failing sewage infrastructure, at SowetanLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Cosatu backs ban on pit bull terriers in South Africa EWN reports that trade union federation Cosatu said that it supported the petition to ban pit bull terriers after a three-year-old was mauled to death in the Free State. The child was attacked by two pit bulls while he was playing outside with his friends at the weekend. Cosatu’s national spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla, said that this breed of canine should not be kept as a pet and that SA should ban them as pets, just as other countries had done. He noted that a number of lives had been lost in recent months after attacks by pit bulls and said that the government must take immediate action. "This issue is becoming problematic, especially because domestic workers and other workers are the ones who are most exposed to these dogs," Pamla pointed out. A six-year-old girl was mauled to death by a pit bull earlier this year in Atteridgeville and another three-year-old boy suffered the same fate in the Free State earlier this month. In Cape Town, a 13-year-old is recovering in hospital after being attacked by a pit bull over a week ago. Read the original of the report in the above regard by Alpha Ramushwana at EWN
Brace for another big interest rate hike, even as consumer inflation softens Mail & Guardian writes that Statistics SA is expected to deliver another softer consumer inflation reading this week, but that will probably not be enough to temper the SA Reserve Bank’s (SARB’s) hawkishness. Analysts have forecast a slightly lower inflation number for October, with consensus expecting it to hit 7.4% year-on-year – down from 7.5%. If they are right, it will mark the third consecutive retreat and back up the view that inflation peaked in July. But even though domestic inflation has seemingly peaked, analysts do not expect the SARB to change tack after having implemented six consecutive repo rate hikes since last November. The repo rate, which affects the cost of borrowing, is now only 25 basis points below its pre-pandemic level of 6.5%. And, with consensus forecasting another 75 basis point hike at this week’s monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting, the repo rate is set to come in at 7%. Some, including Investec’s economists, are expecting an even more aggressive 100 basis point repo rate hike this week. The rand has had a very weak run in the past three months, which will inevitably factor into the MPC’s decision-making this week. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sarah Smit at Mail & Guardian (subscriber access only)
Lack of SA Sign Language interpreters means a constant struggle for deaf community in accessing serves City Press reports that there are nine permanently employed and 20 casual SA Sign Language interpreters in all 864 courts in SA to interpret for deaf people during court proceedings. This is despite reports showing that there are approximately 4 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the country. Even though SA will soon make SA Sign Language its 12th official language, lack of interpreters at police stations, hospitals, clinics and courts continues to be a major challenge. Interviews conducted with the deaf community demonstrate that essential workers in the public sector such as police officers, doctors, nurses and court officials cannot communicate in SA Sign Language. Accordingly, deaf people have a constant struggle. Nonprofit organisations such as Neema Foundation for the Deaf, Deafinitely and DeafSA confirm that the deaf community experiences many challenges at government departments due to communication barriers. Stakeholders lament that patients and victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence are often assisted by their immediate family members, teachers, church leaders or even friends. They believe it is not advisable for such individuals to act as interpreters during court cases, as they are not equipped to handle legal matters, which could compromise victims during court proceedings. Justice department spokesperson Steve Mahlangu said they had recently collaborated with the Pan South African Language Board to embark on the training of frontline staff in basic sign language to make services easily accessible to the deaf community. This initiative will be rolled out in the current financial year. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Vicky Abraham at City Press (subscriber access only)
Nurses’ union calls on Gauteng health department not to make ’empty promises’ about re-opening of Kempton Park hospital The Citizen reports that the Young Nurses Indaba Trade Union (YNITU) has called on the MEC for Health in Gauteng, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, to refrain from making empty promises, in order to gain media attention. The union’s general secretary Lerato Mthunzi was referring to Nkomo-Ralehoko’s reply in the Gauteng Legislature that the health department intended to re-open Kempton Park hospital. The 300-bed hospital was closed down in 1997 because it was “underused”. “If the hospital were to reopen this would be a positive step because Tembisa Hospital is struggling under the strain. There is a desperate shortage of health care facilities, staff and also medicine and equipment in the health sector generally, and this puts a major strain on workers as well. It makes the task of providing quality healthcare even more difficult,” said Nkomo-Ralehoko. Mthunzi said although the announcement was welcome, YNITU was sceptical about it because of the lack of detail in the plan and because there were no timelines for when the hospital would re-open. “These PR stunts by the health department have a direct negative impact workers who are completely overburdened because we have a dire shortage of hospital beds. We call on the department of health to stop engaging in PR and to actually keep their promises for a change,” said Mthunzi. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at The Citizen
GEPF maintains problem with destitute former cop awaiting his pension could lie with Saps The Citizen reports that Police Minister Bheki Cele has been silent on the plight of a destitute ex-KwaZulu-Natal SA Police Service (Saps) former captain – owed a pension by the state for 32 years of service, including a decade as an underground Crime Intelligence agent. However, the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) on Monday undertook to probe the matter. Retired due to ill-health, the former policeman had been behind a string of successful investigations into the siphoning of public funds by corrupt officials at the SA Revenue Service (Sars). Despite highlighting the dangers of being taken out of a safe house and staying at home without bodyguards, the Saps has failed to beef up security around the former cop. Having last week promised “to find the letter” dated 7 November, 2022, addressed by the former policeman to the minister, Cele’s spokesperson could not respond to requests for comment. However, the GEPF maintained the problem could lie with the Saps. GEPF spokesperson Karabo Moiloa said: “Our payments department will follow up with the Saps. In most cases, the GEPF sends back to employers submitted forms not fully completed. The fault could lie with his former employer.” The penniless former policeman sought interventions in letters to the Public Protector, Crime Intelligence head, Saps national commissioner and Cele. In one of several letters appealing for help from government departments, he wrote: “I resigned due to severe illness, with comorbidities and according to my doctor, my life expectancy was at zero.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Brian Sokutu at The Citizen (subscriber access only). Read too, Ex-Saps employee embroiled in pension battle after 32 years of service, at The Citizen
Sexual misconduct rife in SA schools City Press reports that the safety of pupils in SA schools has come under the spotlight after it emerged that close to 100 teachers had been dismissed over the past five years for sexual misconduct. During the same period, almost 300 cases of sexual misconduct were opened against teachers in six provinces. Over the past five years, Gauteng recorded 173 cases of sexual misconduct against teachers, 87 of whom were dismissed after being found guilty. Last Monday, Gauteng Health MEC Matome Chiloane told the provincial legislature that 29 teachers had been placed on precautionary suspension during the past five years and another 86 who had been accused of sexual misconduct were still teaching. “Some of these were found guilty and, in other cases, sanctions short of dismissal were imposed,” he advised. Asked what the average duration of suspension was, Chiloane said it was 346 days and, over the past five years, that had cost the department more than R10 million. Gauteng education shadow MEC Khume Ramulifho said this was appalling and a clear indication that pupils were at risk. In October, the SA Council of Educators (Sace) said 19 teachers had been struck off the roll indefinitely between April last year and March this year. Most of these individuals had been involved in cases of sexual misconduct. While briefing Parliament on Sace’s annual report for 2021/22, the council’s CEO Ella Mokgalane said that 191 cases of sexual misconduct had been reported during the same period. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Yoliswa Sobuwa at City Press (subscriber access only)
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