In our Friday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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Stabbing of three warders at Eastern Cape prison suspected by Popcru to be revenge attack by 28s gang News24 reports that the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) suspects that this week’s attack on three prison warders could be a revenge attack by members of the 28s for the death of a gang member during clashes with guards about three years ago. The warders were stabbed by two inmates at the Eastern Cape's St Alban's Prison on Wednesday morning. Popcru's Eastern Cape secretary, Xolani Prusente, said the attack might be linked to the violent clashes on 30 August 2019 during which a guard was stabbed in the neck and an inmate was killed at the Gqeberha prison. "The attack was done by the 28s gang, who, according to other inmates, were trying to avenge an offender killed in the 2019 incident," said Prusente. During the 2019 attack, the guard was stabbed in the neck in front of his eight horrified colleagues. He survived the attack. Department of Correctional Services (DCS) spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo confirmed that all three guards in the latest attack had since been discharged from hospital. The inmates, who allegedly both belong to the 28s gang, used makeshift knives made from steel removed from their own beds to stab the three guards as breakfast was being served to the 353 inmates at the C section of the prison's medium B facility. The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services mandated an investigation into the incident, while the DCS vowed to launch a full-scale investigation into the stabbings. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Malibongwe Dayimani at News24 (subscriber access only)
Public sector workers in Western Cape set to march to parliament on Friday over wage impasse Moneyweb reports that public sector workers in the Western Cape are set to march to the parliament buildings in Cape Town on Friday over the protracted wage impasse with government. Workers in this province were meant to join the nationwide strike organised by trade union federations Cosatu, Saftu and |Fedusa on 22 November, but their plans were disrupted by SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) protests taking place in Cape Town on the same day. A memorandum of demands was handed to Public Service and Administration Minister Thulas Nxesi at a protest held outside the offices of National Treasury in Pretoria, demanding salary increases of 10%. In response, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) said it could not present a better offer than the 3% baseline salary increase and 4.5% non-pensionable increase on the current R1,000 monthly stipend paid to civil servants. The DPSA maintains that the matter is now one that belongs to the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council and further engagements should be held with that council. Cosatu spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said workers would continue lunchtime picketing during the festive season as they geared up to continue their fight going into 2023. “The festive season is here, and we would not want to have workers being disrupted. The other thing is, if we take workers on a march now, the likelihood is that government will withdraw their bonus funds,” Mamabolo said. He added: “The programme definitely continues in the coming year, because already, they’ve made the implementation of the 3% wage offer.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ntando Thukwana at Moneyweb. Read too, 'We are unshaken' - Public service unions to march in WC over continued wage deadlock, at Fin24 Cosatu, Saftu, Fedusa to lead protest to parliament on Friday over public sector wages EWN reports that trade union federations Cosatu, Saftu and Fedusa are expected to lead a protest to Parliament on Friday morning. They’re hoping to pressure government to concede to wage demands from workers in the public service. This will be the third leg of protests by the sector in less than two months. The protest looks set to be more modest this time around, with other provinces sitting it out. While hundreds are expected to turn up, the unions don't expect massive disruptions to services. Workers are expected to gather at Hanover Street in Cape Town before marching to Parliament. Two ultimatums later, workers have been unsuccessful in their bid to convince government to increase its wage offer from 3% to 10% on the baseline. The Public Servants Association’s (PSA’s) Lufuno Mulaudzi said that unions wanted policymakers in Parliament to intervene. "So far, it's like they are not listening," Mulaudzi said. Unions are threatening a national shutdown if government fails to return to the bargaining council to renegotiate the deal. Read the original of the report in the above regard by Nokukhanya Mntambo at EWN
Saccawu plans to intensify Makro wage strike by targeting Massmart group companies Fin24 reports that the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union (Saccawu) has served the Massmart Group with a seven-day notice of intention to go on strike at six of the company's subsidiaries over its ongoing wage dispute with Makro. The union said its strike would involve 15,000 workers partaking in industrial action at Game, Builders Warehouse, Rhino, Fruitspot, Shield and Jumbo in support of the union's members at Makro. The union has been at loggerheads with Makro management for much of the year over its wage demands. On Black Friday, Saccawu held nationwide marches at various Makro operations, which included a clash with police at Makro's Germiston branch, leaving union members injured. The union is demanding an across-the-board increase of R900 or 12%, whichever is the greater, a minimum wage of R8,000, an increase in sales commission payments to 20%, a 13th cheque, and a moratorium on retrenchments for the duration of the agreement. Saccawu said it would protest from 15 December through marches and pickets at Massmart operations around the country. However, Massmart’s Brian Leroni said the union was sending mixed signals regarding the strike. He said the union went from issuing a strike notice to requesting mediation at the CCMA in a matter of days. He indicated: "On Monday, [5 December] Saccawu and Massmart agreed to enter into a mediation process with the CCMA starting on Friday [9 December]. On Wednesday, [7 December] Saccawu notified Makro of a one-day strike. Today, [8 December] Saccawu withdrew the strike notification and again requested that we meet at the CCMA. It is incredibly difficult to negotiate with an organisation that appears to be stymied by internal politics and power battles." Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane & Na'ilah Ebrahim at Fin24
Shoprite truck drivers protest in Cape Town for basic salary and transport allowance GroundUp reports that about 80 Shoprite truck drivers protested outside the retailer’s distribution centre in Brackenfell, Cape Town on Thursday. The workers, affiliated to the Shosholoza Workers Union of SA (Showusa), were demanding that the company should give all drivers a fixed basic salary and transport allowance. Shop steward Siyabulela Njuku explained that drivers were paid per hour and had to work 195-hours per month to get a basic salary. He claimed drivers were forced to work overtime to compensate for hours lost while they were on leave or sick. “We want a secured basic income that we must get monthly,” he said. Njulu indicated that truck drivers also wanted Shoprite to get them transport when they worked overtime or at night. Zanekhaya Plati said they also wanted the company to introduce a fingerprint system to ensure that their working hours were logged accurately, and therefore would be paid accordingly. According to another shop steward, Simthandile Qonya, the truck drivers have been picketing intermittently outside the distribution center since Monday. “We met the bosses in July and August to discuss our demands and grievances, but they raised objections. In August we took our issues to CCMA for conciliation and arbitration, but the matter has not been resolved yet,” he stated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Vincent Lali at GroundUp
Families of buried Lily mine workers have camped outside mine gate for 1,319 days Moneyweb reports that on Tuesday this week, the families of Solomon Nyirenda, Yvonne Mnisi and Pretty Nkambule had been camped outside the Lily gold mine gate in Mpumalanga for 1,316 days – and they say they will stay there another 1,316 days if that’s what it takes to recover the bodies of their loved ones. They set up camp on 30 April 2019 to draw attention to one of the worst mining tragedies in recent SA mining history. On 5 February 2016, a key support pillar collapsed at Lily, trapping 76 miners underground. Included among them were Nyirenda, Mnisi and Nkambule, who dispensed safety equipment from a container at ground level. When the support pillar collapsed, the container and its occupants were sent crashing into the bowels of the mine, and remain there to this day. The family members want closure, and those responsible for the tragedy to be held to account. There is no doubt in their minds that the former management at Vantage Goldfields is to blame – though that is currently the subject of a magisterial inquest. Following the tragedy, three mining companies – Vantage Goldfields, Barbrook and Mimco, which owns the Lily mine – were placed under business rescue. Seven years and several court cases later, there is a glimmer of hope that matters will come to a legal resolution in the first half of 2023, allowing the mining operations to recommence. For the roughly 700 former mine workers impacted, that couldn’t come too soon. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ciaran Ryan at Moneyweb Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
Sugar industry renews call for scrapping of sugar tax BL Premium reports that SA’s struggling sugar industry has launched a fresh bid for the sugar tax to be scrapped, arguing that there is no evidence the levy has had a positive impact on obesity levels in the country. In a written submission to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, SA Canegrowers called for the sugar tax, which is due to be increased next year, to be scrapped to save the sector where 1-million livelihoods are at stake. The levy, which went into effect in April 2018, sought to reduce obesity levels, thereby decreasing the burden of diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure on the healthcare system. In February, Godongwana announced his intention to increase the health promotion levy from 2.21c to 2.31c per 100g of sugar and to lower the 4g threshold. To allow for further consultation, Godongwana suspended the implementation of the increase until 1 April 2023. In his submission, Andrew Russell of SA Canegrowers argued that to increase the sugar tax under present circumstances would further cripple the industry and lead to thousands more job losses in addition to the more than 16,000 jobs already lost because of the sugar tax. Modelling by the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy shows that maintaining the sugar tax at the current level will still cost the industry a further 15,984 seasonal and permanent jobs, Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mary Papayya at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, Sugar industry calls for scrapping of sugar tax, again, at Moneyweb
Travel industry welcomes extra public holiday on 27 December BL Premium reports that the travel industry has welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that 27 December will be a public holiday because a four-day long weekend will encourage domestic travel. International travel volumes are not yet at 2019 levels. Ramaphosa used the Public Holidays Act to declare Tuesday, 27 December a paid holiday because Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, meaning Monday should become a public holiday, but it is one already. The Act allows 12 paid public holidays a year and, before the announcement, workers would have received only 11 holidays. Hotel industry body Fedhasa’s Rosemary Anderson was delighted at the announcement: “Every holiday makes a difference and with this additional holiday, one can take four days off, without having to apply for leave, so it will definitely have an impact on more decisions to take last-minute Christmas special bookings up.” The tourism industry received very little government support during the Covid-19 pandemic and now faces constrained consumers battling rising interest rates, increased fuel and food prices and the worst load-shedding on record. Guy Stehlik, CEO of BON Hotels, said the extra holiday was a wonderful opportunity for locals to travel. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Katharine Child at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Absa beefs up transformation with appointment of new executives BusinessLive reports that Absa Bank has further beefed up its transformation scorecard by appointing two more black executives within its executive ranks. Jeanett Modise has been named new group chief people officer and Sydney Mbhele the new chief brand, marketing and corporate affairs officer. Scottish-born Johnson Idesoh was named new group chief information and technology officer, completing the trio of appointments which will be effective from January. All three will be members of the Absa executive committee, reporting directly to CEO Arrie Rautenbach. “The appointments strengthen our leadership team, adding to the bench of skill, experience and diversity appropriate to and supportive of our ambition to be a leading pan-African bank,” Absa said in a statement on Thursday. Absa was criticised earlier this year for choosing Rautenbach as its new boss after Daniel Mminele quit over apparent differences with the board over strategy. Mminele was the first black CEO in Absa’s history. The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) was particularly vocal at the time, labelling Rautenbach’s appointment as a missed opportunity at transformation. However, Absa has committed itself to transform its executive committee makeup to reflect SA’s demographics. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Andries Mahlangu at BusinessLive
People living with disabilities still marginalised – particularly at the workplace, says Free World Initiative IOL reports that the Free World Initiative says people living with disability are still marginalised by society, particularly in the workplace. This was indicated after the two-day summit on the economic empowerment of persons with disabilities on the West Rand that aimed to tackle the issues facing people living with disability in SA. Free World Initiative founder and CEO Lebogang Mudau said: “In society we are not raised to consider people with a disability as somebody who is a normal being, and that is something we need to challenge in South Africa.” In her view, society still needed an educational and work system that would strongly hold the principle of maintaining good treatment of people living with disabilities. She highlighted that the terminology and the language used to describe disabled people could be a very powerful weapon to empower and restore the human rights and dignity of the community. Mudau said the disabled community was currently approached as less capable in particular jobs, and that their active participation in the economy shouldn’t create barriers. “We do not have enough braille that is written out in terms of the workplace information, and all the books we are using have not been translated into braille. And with that we have discriminated towards them,” she pointed out. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sibuliso Duba at IOL. Read too, We will do more for people living with disabilities, Ramaphosa tells economic summit, at News24
Minibus-taxi route between Bellville and Paarl officially reopened EWN reports that after nearly eighteen months of closure, the minibus-taxi route between Mbekweni in Paarl and Bellville has officially been re-opened. Western Cape Mobility MEC Daylin Mitchell closed the route in July 2021 following the loss of lives and several incidents of violent conflict between members of rival associations over control of the route. The conflict was the subject of an arbitration process that found that both Cata's Boland Taxi Association and Codeta's Paarl Alliance Taxi Association had the right to operate. Mitchell advised that the decision to re-open the route followed the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the two associations. "Both associations have legal rights to trade on this route and the associations have agreed to co-exist and to jointly provide the service authorities through operating license," the MEC said. To minimise disruptions during the route closure, Mitchell authorised the Golden Arrow Bus Service to provide a replacement service for commuters. He indicated that that service would continue to run in parallel with the taxi services until all valid tickets had been used. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Lauren Isaacs at EWN Prasa says no religious gatherings, informal trading, gambling will be permitted on new People’s Trains IOL reports that according to the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), activities like religious gatherings, gambling and trading, which have been commonplace on commuter trains, will not be allowed on the new Prasa trains. Prasa has introduced the new rolling stock known as “The People’s Train” as part of rebuilding its infrastructure. Spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng indicated: “The current rolling stock is structured differently and has open coaches. Due to this openness of coaches and oneness of the train sets, it is important not to impose behavioural system on any of our commuters. It is also in the interest of prioritising safety.” A Passenger Service Charter outlines the service that Prasa is offering to commuters. Mofokeng said Prasa had embarked on an education campaign to teach commuters about new rules. Earlier this year, the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) granted Prasa a commercial licence to operate the new blue electric trains on Cape Town’s southern line. Mphelo said Metrorail Western Cape had been running the off-peak operations of the new electric trains on the southern line since November last year, while running the yellow/grey trains during peak times. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jonisayi Maromo at IOL Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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