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 Wednesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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Legal action taken against Ramaphosa over inaction on energy law and energy planning BL Premium reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing a legal challenge over his failure to implement legislation directing energy planning. Two civil society organisations, namely The Green Connection and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute, have initiated legal action against him to bring section 6 of the National Energy Act into operation, and for the Department of Mineral Resources & Energy (DMRE) Minister to develop an integrated energy plan in terms of that law. The organisations said that while there was a strong call to sue the government and Eskom for load-shedding, they were “going straight to the source” in a bid to hold Ramaphosa to account for not bringing this “critical piece” of legislation into operation. Kholwani Simelane of The Green Connection pointed out that Section 6 of the Act required the DMRE to develop and then, on an annual basis, to review and publish the integrated energy plan. “How can we even try to solve this problem of energy supply, including providing electricity to the people of this country, people who have no other option but to rely on what government supplies, without a plan that has been developed in terms of energy legislation?” Simelane asked. Eskom, the national energy regulator and the minister of public enterprises also face multiple court challenges from opposition parties, organised labour and business owners, who have turned to the courts to launch legal action to demand clear and transparent plans to end to load-shedding, a freeze on the implementation of an 18.65% increase in electricity tariffs, and greater transparency in the approvals processes for new renewable energy projects. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Denene Erasmus & Hajra Omarjee at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Lees ook, Eskom voor hof gedaag deur AfriForum oor diensverskaffers kontrakte, by Maroela Media. En verder, DA op pad hof toe oor Eskom-kragtarief, by Maroela Media Legal action to stop load shedding a ‘futile exercise’, say experts The Citizen writes that while there is wide enthusiasm and hope pinned on pending legal action to force Eskom and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to end load shedding, legal experts aren’t hopeful, saying it is likely to be a practically futile exercise. Seven law firms acting on behalf of several organisations, political parties and individuals, have issued a letter of demand, in the first step of a legal battle meant to see load shedding stopped with immediate effect or provision of a full explanation of why government cannot stop it. But according to Dr Llewelyn Curlewis of the University of Pretoria’s Department of Procedural Law, unless the applicants can provide suggestions on how Eskom could end load shedding, the order would not be enforceable. He explained that the principle in law was that a judgment could only be handed down if the court could ensure effective implementation of the order. Curlewis said in theory the court could grant the application, but the problem would be ensuring that government complied with the order to stop load shedding. “Obviously the only remedy in this situation in civil litigation is contempt of court, by asking [Gordhan] or Eskom [CEO Andre De Ruyter] to come and explain to the court why they should not be held accountable and in contempt of court,” he noted. But, Curlewis said Gordhan and De Ruyter were acting in their official capacities, on behalf of their respective institutions, and that no court would throw them in jail because there was nothing they could personally do about the situation. Constitutional law expert Deborah Mutemwa-Tumbo commented that, if the application was successful, “…the implications would be that load shedding must be stopped by government. This, however, would not be immediate because, say the courts find in favour of the applicants, the courts usually give respondents time to implement alternatives. So even if successful, the application would not have an immediate effect.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sipho Mabena at The Citizen (subscriber access only) This is how National Energy Crisis Committee plans to get more power to the people Bloomberg reports that the National Energy Crisis Committee, a body run by the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa, expects record power outages to ease as measures — including a new law to fast-track plant development — take effect. The committee, of which several cabinet ministers are members, told business and labour leaders on Monday that a range of interventions are being made at a time when South Africans were enduring blackouts of as many as 12 hours a day. “As these measures take effect, the supply of electricity will significantly improve,” the committee, known as Necom, opined. The measures that Necom said might ease the crisis include the following: The first of more than 100 privately owned power plants being developed will connect to the grid by the end of 2023; emergency legislation is being developed to allow the faster approval and development of power plants; contracts for the construction of plants that will produce 2,800MW of renewable energy for the grid have been signed and construction will soon begin; as much as 1,000MW may be imported this year from neighbouring countries and Eskom will buy 1,000MW of excess energy from private producers who already have facilities; six of Eskom’s 14 coal-fired power plants have been “identified for particular focus” in a bid to get them to perform more reliably; efforts to finish incomplete plants and maintenance of other major units are being made; and the time to complete regulatory processes for new plants has been reduced. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Antony Sguazzin at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Ramaphosa says Eskom must be cautious in implementing tariff increases BL Premium reports that according to the Presidency, President Cyril Ramaphosa believes Eskom has to be cautious and considerate in applying the recently-approved electricity tariff increase as South Africans are already under severe financial pressure. This as Ramaphosa met with various stakeholders about the load-shedding crisis. He is apparently “deeply concerned” about the 18.65% tariff increase the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) granted to Eskom from 1 April. “While the president fully appreciates that Eskom needs additional funding, he is equally sympathetic to anger and frustration that is being felt by consumers and households with regard to paying more for power that is intermittent,” presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya indicated. “It is vital that Eskom and municipalities consider a balance that needs to be maintained in the application of this tariff increase. Households are already reeling under the high cost of living. Electricity costs need to match the availability of megawatts and the electricity that people are receiving,” Magwenya quoted Ramaphosa as opining. The President acknowledged that “we are in a crisis”. He told stakeholders that Eskom was “too big to fail”, Magwenya said, and all steps must be taken to ensure the power utility was fixed with the full support of the government. Ramaphosa cancelled his trip to the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Switzerland, this week “due to the ongoing energy crisis”. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kgothatso Madisa at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Load shedding: ‘We are in big trouble with food prices’, economist warns The Citizen reports that Prof Jannie Rossouw of the Wits Business School is extremely worried about the impact of the current bout of load shedding on food prices. He says farmers cannot produce enough food, which will lead to higher food prices, which will in turn push up inflation and see South Africans paying higher interest for longer. Bennie van Zyl of agricultural organisation TLU SA agrees that less production will cause food prices to increase, which will in turn push up inflation. Load shedding poses the biggest problem for farmers who use irrigation and for those who have to keep their products in the cold chain. “Agriculture is a complex and diverse industry. Farmers who use irrigation cannot have load shedding interrupt irrigation cycles as this interferes with the biological growth phase which cannot be caught up later,” Van Zyl pointed out. Farmers who cannot keep up the cold chain also suffer because they have to discard produce, such as fruit, vegetables, milk and meat that are not kept at a cold enough temperature. In addition, farmers have to irrigate fields where they grow feed for winter. Van Zyl says all this means that there will not be enough food and that the market forces of supply and demand will cause food prices to increase, which will lead to an increase in inflation. “Consumer food price inflation is already elevated, estimated to have averaged around 9% in 2022 (from 6.5% in 2021), driven mainly by global agricultural commodity challenges.” Wandile Sihlobo of the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) says there is probably no issue more urgent than the worsening energy crisis for SA’s agriculture and agribusinesses. There are also concerns about food security as the effect of load shedding will probably show in the volumes of products to be harvested or produced later in the coming months due to the time lag in agricultural production stages. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ina Opperman at The Citizen (subscriber access only). Read too, Chicken crisis: 10 million chicks culled in six weeks due to load shedding, at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
KZN cop killer shot dead in shoot-out with police TimesLive reports that a suspect who was being sought for the murder of a KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police officer was shot dead when he attempted to kill more police officers during a shoot-out in Inanda on Tuesday morning. The incident took place at the suspect’s hideout. Const Lindokuhle Gift Goba, 40, was shot and killed on Saturday on Quarry Road in Mayville. He was also robbed of his service pistol. Investigations led the police to a hospital where two suspects had been privately taken with gunshot wounds from the shoot-out with the fallen police officer. It emerged that the one suspect had succumbed to his injuries in hospital, while the other suspect had discharged himself and escaped. “Thorough investigation by the police identified a house in Inanda, where the suspect was cornered. After the police had introduced and identified themselves as men of law, the suspect responded with a hail of bullets and a shoot-out ensued,” said a provincial police spokesperson. The suspect was fatally wounded. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) was informed for further investigations. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sakhiseni Nxumalo at TimesLive Police killer sentenced to life imprisonment for 2019 murder of KZN detective IOL reports that the Mtubatuba High Court has sentenced 24-year-old Phumowakhe Ndwandwe to life imprisonment for the murder of Detective Sergeant Sakhile Nsibande, who was fatally shot in the line of duty in 2019. KwaMbonambi SAPS detectives had conducted a raid at Cinci Reserve to look for Ndwandwe, who was sought on house robbery and rape charges. “Ndwandwe’s house was identified and surrounded by police. When Ndwandwe noticed that he was cornered he allegedly fired shots through the window and escaped. After that it was discovered that Sergeant Nsibande was shot he was rushed to hospital where he was declared dead on arrival,” police spokesperson, Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo, recalled. “Ndwandwe was arrested in the Kwamsane area and found in possession of an unlicensed firearm. His bail application was successfully opposed and he remained in custody until he was convicted in December last year. Ndwandwe was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, 15 years’ imprisonment for house robbery, 15 years’ imprisonment for rape and 15 years’ imprisonment for possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. His sentences will run concurrently. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sibuliso Duba at IOL. Lees ook, Lewenslank ná verdagte polisieman doodskiet, by Maroela Media Other internet posting(s) in this news category
NUM Highveld Region concerned about effects load shedding in Mpumalanga The Star reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Highveld Region says Mpumalanga – where the majority of Eskom power stations are located – and the ongoing rollout of load shedding is unsustainable for the economies of most local communities and may result in more unemployment and poverty. According to the union, load shedding could have been avoided if the government had moved with greater speed to implement the commitments of the Eskom Social Compact. “As the NUM we are concerned that there seems to not be a willingness to resolve the load shedding that is engulfing the entire country,” the NUM claimed. The union noted it was organising at Eskom and upon engaging with its members on the ground about the causes of the national crisis, the response was that load shedding would continue to be unavoidable because of power stations such as Kendal, Matla and Tutuka that were not operating at full capacity. “The challenges to these power stations is known. It is in fact disturbing that the Tutuka power station, in particular, is a failure yet the general manager is still occupying the position,” NUM Highveld’s Thapelo Malekutu stated. The union called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to consider engaging with the union and to stop listening or considering reports from Minister Pravin Gordan who is said to have brought “so-called retired engineers” into the system. “Eskom does not need old engineers; it requires young and energetic engineers. When a person is old he or she tend to forget easily and practically they even tend to confuse the names of their own grandchildren. How can such an old and retired engineer remember the plant components?” the union asked in very ageist terms. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lehlohonolo Mashigo at The Star Other general posting(s) relating to mining
Neasa to approach Constitutional Court over extension of MEIBC Main Agreement to nonparties Engineering News reports that following dismissals by the Labour Court (LC) and the Labour Appeal Court (LAC) of the National Employers Association of SA’s (Neasa’s) applications for interdicting the extension of the Main Agreement in the metals and engineering industry, the employer’s association plans to file a petition at the Constitutional Court (ConCourt). The original LC judgment dismissed Neasa’s application to interdict the extension of the Main Agreement to nonparties pending a review of the Metals and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council’s (MEIBC’s) decision to request Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi to so extend the agreement. According to Neasa, the court dismissed the association’s review grounds despite the fact that “the review was not before the court to consider.” The ConCourt petition will seek to appeal the judgment of the LC so that the review grounds can be heard afresh. “The review application was neither ripe for hearing, not set down for hearing by any party, nor allocated to the judge for hearing, nor argued before the judge,” Neasa pointed out. The association is of the view that the LC and LAC rulings constitute a breach of Neasa’s right of access to courts, in terms of Section 34 of the Constitution. Nxesi gazetted the extension of the Main Agreement to nonparties on 7 October last year, making it legally binding on all employers in the industry to pay a minimum wage to metalworkers, among other conditions. The agreement was supported by five of the biggest trade unions in the industry, along with 18 independent employer organisations, as well as the Consolidated Employers Organisation. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News
Second senior finance official at defence department leaves under cloud BL Premium reports that a top finance official in the Department of Defence has quietly resigned, becoming the second senior bureaucrat to leave the ministry in recent months as it grapples with a shrinking budget and heightened scrutiny by the auditor-general of its bookkeeping practices. The abrupt departure with immediate effect in December of Sonto Kudjoe, whose role as the secretary of defence made her the chief accounting officer of the department, was confirmed by a spokesperson who cited “health reasons” for Kudjoe’s exit. Thobekile Gamede, chief of defence policy, strategy & planning has taken the reins temporarily. CFO Eric Sokhela quit in June 2022. However, he agreed to stay on in his post until the end of January. His exit will leave the department financially rudderless amid severe cost cuts. Sokhela resigned after auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke exposed about R1.5bn that was unaccounted for in the department’s 2020/2021 financial year as well as R10.5bn in unnecessary spending. According to sources, Defence Minister Thandi Modise and Kudjoe were at loggerheads because of Kudjoe’s lack of action to curb defence spending and to act against those responsible for fraudulent financial decisions. Kudjoe joined the department in 2020, four years after she left the State Security Agency (SSA) where she had served as director-general. In 2021, the SSA lodged a criminal case against her over alleged theft and/or corruption involving as much as R150m in temporary advances for operations sourced by her office before she left. In the meantime, the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigating Directorate has taken over the investigation against her from the Hawks. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Erika Gibson at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
ANC staffers called out for failing to pitch up for daily duty TimesLive reports that ANC staff members have been called out for failing to report for duty daily as per their employment contracts. In an internal letter, the governing party notes the poor attendance that has come to its attention and staff have to report to the office from Monday and sign the attendance register. “The letter to all ANC staff of December 9 referred, in which we indicated the closing of offices and all staff are required to report physically when offices opened on January 10. “We have since given an exemption to staff who worked on the January 8 [celebrations] and January 5 conference to take off last week,” the letter issued by ANC general manager Febe Potgieter read. Seemingly, staffers have not stuck to the timelines, resulting in the warning to return to work as expected. “Failure to sign the attendance register will be assumed that you have found other employment or as desertion, in line with the ANC personnel policy manual disciplinary code and procedures,” Potgieter warned. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sisanda Mbolekwa at SowetanLive
eThekwini municipal truck driver arrested for alleged theft over five years of diesel TimesLive reports that an eThekwini municipal truck driver was arrested on Monday for allegedly stealing diesel over five years. Durban metro police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Boysie Zungu said the estimated value of the stolen fuel for just November and December was more than R200,000. “Last Tuesday, the joint infrastructure task team, made up of Durban metro police service and South African Police Service, was tasked to assist in investigating the allegations of municipality diesel theft by one of the truck drivers. The investigation led to an arrest,” he reported. The employee was arrested in KwaMakhutha, southwest of Durban. “The investigation revealed that the suspect has been stealing diesel for five years,” said Zungu. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Nivashni Nair at TimesLive
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