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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Durban paramedics come under fire during robbery, ambulance struck by bullet News24 reports that Durban paramedics narrowly escaped injury after being trapped right in the middle of an armed robbery in the city centre, which saw a bullet strike their vehicle. Armed assailants allegedly robbed a man as he was travelling along Berea Road. The attackers encountered the ambulance, which was arriving to attend to reports of an accident scene. They then opened fire at the paramedics. ALS paramedics spokesperson, Garrith Jamieson, said that, in responding to the scene, paramedics saw men pointing firearms at the crashed vehicle. "Suspects then began shooting at our ambulance and our crews managed to evade and call for help. The staff were very lucky to escape without injury as the vehicle sustained a bullet hole entering the front cabin above the driver's head and exiting through the rear door," he reported. The car's occupant is believed to have been robbed of a large sum of cash by the assailants. No injuries were reported to any persons on scene. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kaveel Singh at News24 Joburg’s City Power pulls staff from Jeppestown after gunmen rob and assault technicians News24 reports that City Power has pulled its staff from Jeppestown in Johannesburg after a team of technicians was attacked. The four technicians were attending to outage calls and were connecting customers to overhead lines in Wolhuter and Auret streets when they were attacked by six people on Sunday morning. City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena reported: "The six men pointed [guns] at our technicians... and took phones and money from them. They also assaulted them, leaving one badly injured. All this happened in full view of the community the technicians were there to assist." City Power decided not to finish the repairs and pulled the team out of the area "until their safety is guaranteed". Last month, technicians were attacked in Hillbrow and Alexandra. One of the victims of the Hillbrow attack is still in hospital. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicole McCain at News24. Read too, City Power staff have to avoid attacks while attending to thousands of outages, at The Citizen ‘Stressed’ UCT vice-chancellor Phakeng given more 'time off' amid looming probe into mismanagement News24 reports that the University of Cape Town (UCT) Council has announced that the university's vice-chancellor, Mamokgethi Phakeng, will be given more time off after being discharged from hospital last Friday. Council chairperson Babalwa Ngonyama announced in a media statement last week that Phakeng would be placed on sick leave, following what Ngonyama called a "stressful" time. But, Phakeng was apparently left fuming at Ngonyama mentioning the matter of stress. In a further statement on Monday, Ngonyama said: "At the time of hospitalisation, while acting precautionarily and under what were then uncertain circumstances, council agreed to grant Professor Phakeng some additional time off ahead of her annual leave period, which was scheduled to commence from Friday, 16 December." Ngonyama said she had had a "cordial" in-person engagement with Phakeng, who had agreed to take up the offer of time off for the rest of the week, leading up to her scheduled annual leave. Phakeng will return to office when her annual leave ends on 9 January 2023. At a special meeting on Friday, the university council confirmed the appointment of retired Supreme Court of Appeal president Judge Lex Mpati to head a panel to investigate allegations of mismanagement against Phakeng and Ngonyama. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marvin Charles & Adriaan Basson at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
NPA concerned over asset-stripping at Gupta-linked Optimum mine and NUM’s stance EWN reports that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has fears about the stripping of assets at the Gupta-owned Optimum coal mine in Mpumalanga amid ongoing attempts to stop the state from seizing control over it. The NPA told Parliament's Justice Committee on Monday that it was also disappointed by the role of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in trying to block attempts to seize the proceeds of corruption. The NPA was granted am order freezing the assets of the Gupta-owned mine in March. But the next step in the process to recover assets linked to state capture is apparently being thwarted by the business rescue practitioners (BRPs) who have controlled the mine since 2018. Head of the Asset Forfeiture Unit, Ouma Rabaji-Rasethaba, said the NUM was also stalling matters. "For them to now turn back and oppose the application, it's not in accordance with the initial stance they've taken. This matter is something that can be flagged with Congress of South African Trade Unions in terms of these contradictory positions that we find," he told MPs. Rabaji-Rasethaba said small pit mining at the mine impacted the curator's ability to preserve the assets at the operation. "We are headed for a full-blown fight with the BRPs because we are now concerned with the erosion of value," he stated. It's estimated that small pit operators have earned R6 billion from contract mining. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lindsay Dentlinger at EWN. Read too, NPA gearing up for fight over contract miners at former Gupta-owned mine Optimum, at News24. And also, Optimum Coal Mine’s value is being eroded, NPA says, at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Somkhele coal mine in KZN gets critical community consent as it works to restart operations Fin24 reports that the Somkhele coal mine in rural KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is readying to restart mining after obtaining critical consent from two affected communities, by way of a secret ballot. The mine, which is majority-owned by Petmin's Tendele Coal Mining, stopped operating mid-year 2022 when it ran out of coal. An appeal of the permissions to expand the mine was kicked back to the mining and energy minister by a May 2022 court judgment which found the public participation process to be deficient and declared the decisions granting the mining rights and approving the environmental management programme (EMPR) to be invalid. The expansion has been particularly contentious as it necessitates the relocation of families. The coal mining is also the primary economic activity in the area and supports 1,600 jobs. It's been a source of boiling tensions in the community, culminating in 2020 when 65-year-old local environmental activist Fikile Ntshangase was gunned down in her home. According to Tendele, it has obtained critical consent to commence with mining in some areas, in accordance with the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act (IPILRA). Tendele said the Mpukunyoni Traditional Council had advised that a secret ballot was recently conducted in the two mining-affected areas of Emalahleni and Ophondweni in KZN where 394 families, or 94%, voted in favour of Tendele commencing with its mining activities. Consent in terms of IPILRA is still required for the Mahujini area. But, environmental activists are deeply concerned about the developments. According to All Rise's Kirsten Youens, the Traditional Council's involvement is problematic, as it has intimidated those opposed to coal mining in the area. She claimed MCEJO members were "deliberately excluded" from the IPILRA consent process by failing to communicate with them or All Rise to ensure they were part of it. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lisa Steyn at Fin24 (subscriber access only) Other general posting(s) relating to mining
Despite energy crisis, Cyril Ramaphosa upbeat about exports and jobs BL Premium reports that on the eve of the ANC’s 55th elective conference, President Cyril Ramaphosa in his weekly letter on Monday addressed many of the challenges facing SA. The report painted a picture of hope and opportunity against the backdrop of the deteriorating electricity crisis crippling the economy, job losses, the sharply escalating cost of living and corruption. , Ramaphosa said that despite the electricity challenges, the economy was recording growth, exports have increased by 4.2% and new jobs were being created. He wrote: “While we haven’t recovered all the jobs lost to the pandemic about 1.5-million new jobs were created in the last year. A few months ago, the Presidential Employment Stimulus, reached a 1-million participants. More than 3-million youth are registered on the innovative SAYouth.mobi platform that connects them with prospective employers. We are revitalising the National Youth Service to create work opportunities for 50,000 young people.” Acknowledging that several challenges have yet to be resolved, the president opined as follows: “But we have good reason to believe things are getting better. Our great country will rise above adversity, as it has done so many times in the past. The road to recovery and to building a better SA will be a long one. But we will get there if we act decisively, and we act together. We will overcome our current challenges as surely as we did the pandemic that threatened to lay waste to our nation.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mary Papayya at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, ‘We face the New Year with confidence and determination’, at Moneyweb
Eskom tariff hike of more than 20% unlikely, analyst reckons BL Premium reports that South Africans who have this year already endured multiple interest rate increases, persistent high inflation in essentials such as food and fuel, and the worst load-shedding in Eskom’s history, must prepare for another cost-of-living shock when next year’s electricity tariff increase is announced on Wednesday. The National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) is expected to announce a “draft” decision on Eskom’s revenue application for the next two years at an energy regulator meeting. After revising its tariff application for 2023/2024 and 2024/2025, which was part of Eskom’s fifth multiyear price determination (MYPD5) originally submitted in June 2021, the state-owned power utility is now seeking annual standard tariff increases of about 32% in 2023 and 9% in 2024. Nersa approved a 9.6% increase in the standard electricity tariff for 2022/2023 (the first year of the MYPD5), which came into effect in April. The increase was about half of what Eskom requested. Independent energy analyst Clyde Mallinson advised that it was unlikely that Nersa would approve a tariff increase in excess of 20%. But, what the tariff increase would ultimately decide was the size of the bailout Eskom would need from the government, given that it had argued at the public hearings that even if electricity rates were to increase by 32% next year, the tariff would still not be cost-reflective. “A larger increase [in the tariff] will mean Eskom will need a smaller bailout, and a smaller increase will mean they will ask for a larger bailout,” Mallinson pointed out. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Denene Erasmus at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
SA audit firms experiencing "unusually high" staff turnover at supervisory and managerial levels Fin24 reports that according to the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA), the local auditing profession is bleeding from the "great resignation" trend, which poses a risk to SA's audit quality in the long run. These findings were part of IRBA's 2022 Audit Quality Indicators Report based on data collected from JSE-accredited audit firms from 2018 to the end of 2021. When looking at turnover trends, the IRBA included only staff who had left local auditing firms but excluded those whose training contracts ended during the periods under review. Four of the firms recorded partner turnover of at least 20% in 2019. In 2020, only one firm had a partner turnover of nearly 20%. At supervisor and managerial level, staff left in droves. Five of the 13 firms in the report had between 50% and 70% supervisor turnover. At managerial level, nine firms recorded at least 20% manager turnover in 2021, with one approaching the 50% mark. Managerial turnover was also high in 2019, with some firms reporting between 40% and 55% staff turnover. IRBA CEO, Imre Nagy said talent leaving the country due to emigration was increasing, with young families leaving to seek out more attractive and lucrative opportunities in other countries. Nagy added that growth in remote working opportunities amid a talent shortage in Western economies had seen many auditors take up foreign-based assignments, even if they still lived in SA. "The pulling of talent with lucrative offers that tap into these trends is a growing pain point for South African audit firms as firms need to find innovative ways to support new partners and their engagement teams to ensure continuity in high audit quality," Nagy noted. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Londiwe Buthelezi at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
ANC’s Free State staff facing hospitalisation, homelessness after six months with no pay The Citizen reports that while staffers in other provinces have been paid so far, African National Congress (ANC) employees in the Free State face another bleak Christmas. And they are expected to prepare for the party’s January 8 celebrations scheduled to be held in Bloemfontein next month without a pay cheque in sight. According to employees at Kaizer Sebothelo provincial office, who receive payments directly from Luthuli House, they were always ill because of stress. ANC staffers across the country have, for more than a year, fought for their salaries and benefits through pickets and court action. The financially struggling governing party, which plans to host over 6,000 delegates for the December elective conference, has unpaid debts running into millions of Rands. The workers’ representative at head office, Mvusi Mdlala, said the Free State workers’ issue came out during a meeting of managers last week. “They paid owed salaries to eight provinces so far, but haven’t paid UIF or the provident fund. Treasurer-general [Paul Mashatile] had an arrangement with provinces that they should, in the meantime, pay workers. We were against this as they abdicated their responsibilities. What the ANC subjects its workers to is very sad. This issue of owed salaries has affected employees. It’s a crisis that won’t die,” Mdala said. Free State ANC spokesperson Oupa Khoabane said the province had fulfilled Mashatile’s request and did not owe anyone so far. “Those who are owed monies are actually owed by head office, not us. The rest, who are paid by the province, are not owed any salaries at all. “So, it is Luthuli House that has an outstanding debt to the workers,” he claimed. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Getrude Makhafola at The Citizen (subscriber access only)
“Bizarre” conviction case reveals that magistrates in maintenance and family courts lack training GroundUp reports that a “bizarre” case in which a maintenance defaulter was found guilty and sentenced when charges were never put to him and he never pleaded has highlighted an embarrassing lack of training of magistrates in maintenance and family courts. “Mistakes such as this have a potential to bring the judiciary into disrepute and can cause grave injustice to members of the public with serious repercussions to judicial officers,” Judge Takalani Ratshibvumo said in a review judgment in the Mbombela High Court. He set aside the conviction and sentencing of Samora Mashaba by an unnamed magistrate at the Nkomazi District Court in July this year and directed that the judgment be sent to the Chief Magistrate in the province “so that she is able to identify areas of need when it comes to training judicial officers, not limited to the one who presided over this case”. The matter came before the court as a special review, referred by the magistrate herself. The judge said a trial not preceded by a charge being put and the accused pleading was a “mistrial, a gross irregularity and a misdirection on the part of the presiding officer”. He added that the case “signifies the need to have well-trained and experienced magistrates in family and maintenance courts. For too long these courts have been neglected alongside the traffic courts, as courts where only the inexperienced magistrates would be allocated.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tania Broughton at GroundUp
SA's healthcare sector faces collapse if government fails to implement NHI, warns WHO expert News24 writes that South Africans are among the biggest purchasers of voluntary health insurance in the world, and an expert has warned that this has the potential to derail the public healthcare system. Around 15% of South Africans are covered by voluntary healthcare insurance – but this group accounts for more than 40% of the spending on healthcare. According to the World Health Organisation's (WHO’s) coordinator for health financing policy, Joe Kutzin, if this trajectory doesn't change soon, SA may see itself trapped in an expensive healthcare system characterised by inefficiencies and bogged down with administrative costs. Speaking on Monday at a joint event between the WHO and the national Department of Health to commemorate International Universal Health Coverage Day, Kutzen warned that SA would need to embrace universal healthcare if it hoped to change the trajectory of its healthcare system. He said the amount South Africans spent on private healthcare had a significant impact on the entire healthcare system, which drove up prices and influenced the availability of resources. He added that the government was contributing to the problem by subsidising private medical aid schemes for civil servants. "If the direction of the healthcare system doesn't change, South Africa could be in trouble," Kutzin warned. In an address at the event, Health Minister Joe Phaahla echoed Kutzin's sentiments, adding that the top private healthcare companies were wealthier than many mining, manufacturing and agriculture companies. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicole McCain at News24 (subscriber access only)
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