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 roundup of weekend news, see
summaries of our selection of South African
labour-related stories that appeared since
Friday, 27 January 2023.
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Ending loadshedding is SA’s most pressing challenge, Ramaphosa tells ANC lekgotla TimesLive reports that ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday that interventions to end loadshedding would take a while to have an effect and power cuts would be with the country for some time. Presenting a political overview to the ANC NEC lekgotla in Ekurhuleni, Ramaphosa said resolving the energy crisis and putting an end to loadshedding was one of the country’s “most immediate and pressing challenges”. He advised that there were several areas of progress in implementing the July 2022 energy action plan and outlined the work under way in that regard. Agreements had been signed with independent power producers for 26 renewable energy projects, which together would generate around 2,800MW. An additional 300MW had been imported through the Southern African power pool, and negotiations were under way to secure a potential 1,000MW from neighbouring countries. Eskom had also launched a programme to purchase up to 1,000MW of power from companies with existing generation capacity. “We have cut red tape and streamlined regulatory processes, reducing the time frame for environmental authorisations, registration of new projects and grid connection approvals,” Ramaphosa pointed out. A team of independent experts had been established to work closely with Eskom to diagnose the problems and take action to improve plant performance, particularly at the six power stations with the most breakdowns, he said. “These interventions will take some time to have an effect and we must be honest with the people that loadshedding — in one form or another — will be with us for some time. Our objective is to lower the stages of load-shedding to the lower levels while we address the overall challenge of ensuring security of energy supply,” Ramaphosa indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ernest Mabuza at BusinessLive. Read too, We’re aiming to lower load shedding by year's end, Ramaphosa tells ANC leaders at lekgotla, at News24. And also, ANC says load-shedding could lead to increased civil unrest, at BusinessLive Ramaphosa expected to announce emergency energy support package plan soon BusinessLive reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa will soon announce an emergency government package that will cushion consumers and businesses against the worsening electricity crisis, which is expected to slash SA’s growth by as much as 2 percentage points in 2023. ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula advised that the interventions were expected to be announced before the biannual planning meeting scheduled for the first week of February, but were unlikely to be equivalent to the size of the government’s R500bn Covid-19 relief package. “There have been calls from many groups and business that this [load-shedding] is a crisis and we are in an emergency... so an emergency package will be announced by government,” Mbalula confirmed on Friday on the sidelines of a two-day ANC national executive committee meeting. Mbalula reported that Ramaphosa told the party’s top brass about government’s plans during his opening political report. Ramaphosa is expected to expand on how government will help mitigate against power outages that have left large parts of the country without power for as much as 10 hours a day. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at BusinessLive. Read too, Plea of SMMEs to government: Subsidise us with generators amid load shedding, at EWN Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry warns of food security crisis due to loadshedding TimesLive reports that the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) has warned of a looming food crisis if the causes of the rolling blackouts, which threaten an already fragile economy, are not urgently resolved. Farmers were unable to water some of their crops because the irrigation systems depend on the power grid, the chamber pointed out on Friday. The CCCI called for immediate steps to avoid a food security crisis due to loadshedding. “Reports from the agriculture sector suggest many commercial crops are not receiving the necessary irrigation due to power supply challenges. This affects the Western Cape, a winter rainfall area, as much as it does other provinces where commercial farmers require intensive pivot irrigation,” it said. The chamber went on to indicate: “Power outages also affect cooling facilities needed during the fruit packaging process, which is of particular concern to the Western Cape where 200,000 people work in the agricultural sector. The province also handles 53% of SA’s agricultural exports, making power supply a critical factor across the value chain.” The CCCI said there were reports that up to 25% of SA’s staple food harvest, maize, was wilting in the fields due to power disruptions in the northern parts of the country. “Other crucial crops such as potato, soya, fruit and nuts, all largely dependent on irrigation, are similarly affected,” according to Free State Agriculture which issued an SOS to the government last week. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Philani Nombembe at BusinessLive North West farmers rejoice over suspension of loadshedding IOL reports that farmers are celebrating the suspension of loadshedding in various farming areas in the North West. Loadshedding has had a devastating impact on farmers who have lost tons of produce due to the limited use of water pumps cause by the ongoing load shedding. A farmer from the Keimoes area in the KaiGarib metro, Dave Verster, who works on a legacy farm, expressed his relief over loadshedding being a thing of the past as it threatened the livelihoods of all farmers in the metro, including himself. Verster said: “What happened during load shedding was very frustrating and beyond our control as farmers. It impacted all our farmers. Farmers are heavily dependent on water from the Orange River, however, we could not pump our allotted quotas of water for the much-needed irrigation of the vineyard; grapes need water until they have attained the correct "sugar" levels to be harvested but they were not receiving the amount of water needed and we therefore lost huge amounts of grapes.” As farmers tried to tackle the impact of loadshedding they were also met with challenges posed by the high temperatures in the province, which caused more strain to their farming processes as it became hard to work outside during usual hours, thus slowing down production and severely damaging produce. “Most of us farmers use electricity supplied by Eskom for our pumps and everything else. The load shedding and heat together were causing some farmers to go through difficult times, with dire financial impact,” said Verster. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sisipho Bhuta at IOL. See too, FF Plus says government should exempt farmers from load shedding, at EWN Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Four severely injured in Western Cape factory fall on Friday TimesLive reports that four men suffered severe injuries after falling from a height while working at a factory in Burgundy Estate in Cape Town. The incident, according to ER24, took place late on Friday afternoon. Paramedics found the men lying near a scissor lift. “Medics assessed the men and found three were in critical condition while the fourth was in a serious condition. Medics treated the patients and provided them with advanced life support interventions before they were transported to provincial hospitals for urgent care. The exact details surrounding this incident are unknown, but local authorities were on the scene for further investigations,” said ER24. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Suthentira Govender at SowetanLive Parolee arrested for allegedly robbing Gauteng deputy police commissioner at gunpoint News24 reports that a parolee has been arrested in connection with the robbery of Gauteng deputy police commissioner Major-General Tommy Mthombeni. The suspect was arrested on the M1 South, Joe Slovo Drive, on Friday. According to police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili, the suspect's car, which belongs to his girlfriend and is believed to have been fitted with false registration numbers and used during the robbery, was traced to Johannesburg. Mthombeni was robbed of his service firearm and personal belongings in a brazen armed robbery while visiting a store in Midrand on Thursday. He was with a friend at the Link shopping centre, when he was accosted by two people who demanded that he hand over his belongings. The gunmen reportedly stole a state-owned iPhone, a privately owned iPhone, a R3,000 watch, R2,100 in cash, a black Gucci bag and a leather belt. They also stole Mthombeni’s passport, ID, Mercedes-Benz key, firearm and ammunition. "The 39-year-old suspect is currently on parole for robbery which was committed in Sandringham in 2007. He was released from prison in 2018," said Muridili. He is expected to appear in court on Monday. The police are still searching for his two accomplices. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Cebelihle Mthethwa at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
As loadshedding crisis unfolds, SA gold miners at most risk of early closures, job losses Miningmx reports that while Eskom loadshedding hurts all mining activity in SA, it’s the marginal businesses such as gold mining where the damage is the greatest. That’s the view of analysts, who reckon that gold miners with depleting resources are most affected. SA’s gold mines are deeper, labour intensive, and therefore more expensive to run. James Wellsted, spokesman for Sibanye-Stillwater which mines gold and platinum group metals (PGMs), says curtailments have the effect of lowering volumes which is “a kicker to unit costs” and speeds up closures. “Prolonged stage 4 loadshedding isn’t something we ordinarily expected,” said Jared Coetzer, spokesman for Harmony Gold. “We can management intermittent (cuts) but it will be tricky to manage a permanent cut in demand.” For PGMs, the negative impact of loadshedding might be “over-emphasised” as there was “no evidence of declining grid consumption” in the PGM sector, UBS analyst Steven Friedman noted. “We can only assume that they either have sufficient flexibility with their baseload capacity to offset the negative impact of loadshedding or the curtailments have not been severe.” He said. Still, PGM production will be further compromised by loadshedding if it continues at its current clip. Of the PGM miners, Royal Bafokeng Platinum, Sibanye-Stillwater and Northam Platinum are the most vulnerable as they have about 90% reliance for their energy on the national grid. Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum have 70% exposure to Eskom. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by David McKay at Miningmx Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
Employment equity fines on cards for non-compliant JSE-listed companies BL Premium reports that the government intends to penalise JSE-listed companies not complying with employment equity targets with a minimum fine of R1.5m. On Friday, the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) said it had started inspections of JSE-listed companies. According to the DEL’s chief director for statutory and advocacy services, Fikiswa Mncanca-Bede, the government will inspect these companies in the first quarter of the year to monitor compliance with the Employment Equity Act (EEA). In 2018 the department gave local, publicly traded businesses an opportunity to rectify their employment equity plans. This followed a review by the director-general to test compliance with the EEA. After the review, an agreement was reached with organisations for the department to come back and assess and review compliance at a later stage. Government has its focus on larger companies after an amendment to the EEA in 2022, which now excludes employers who employ fewer than 50 employees, regardless of their annual turnover. According to Aggy Moiloa, deputy director-general for the DEL’s inspection and enforcement service, 24 years later there is little to show in terms of transformation in the workplace. She reported that in the 2021/2022 financial year, level of compliance and noncompliance in terms of the EEA were at 6% for compliance and 96% for noncompliance. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mudiwa Gavaza at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Eskom claims it has no plans to get rid of some 500 white maintenance staffers, but Solidarity remains unconvinced Fin24 reports that state-owned power utility Eskom said on Friday that it had "neither plans nor decision to retrench any employees, whatever their gender or race." This followed claims by Solidarity that the state-owned power company "wants to get rid of another 500 white maintenance staff". According to the trade union, this was part of Eskom's latest Employment Equity plan for 2023-2025. Solidarity also reported that it had issued a legal letter to Eskom calling for a halt to race-based appointments at the utility while the country was in the grip of an ongoing power crisis. Eskom responded by saying that the employment equity document in question was for internal discussion and there were no retrenchment plans in place. It said that, on the contrary, it wanted to bolster skills to tackle the power crisis. But Solidarity was not convinced. "We do not see in the plan that Eskom is making plans to address its skills challenges. This plan is all about skin colour at the various job levels," Solidarity chief executive Dirk Hermann said on Thursday. In a further statement on Sunday, Solidarity noted that the current number of white men at Eskom totaled 1,873. “According to Eskom’s targets, it wants to reduce this number to 1,379. Eskom therefore wants to get rid of 494 white men. This is the group that is mainly responsible for maintenance work at Eskom. Those are the employees with the skills that now need to be protected and preserved at all costs”, the union stated. Noting that Eskom had elaborated that it was not going to retrench people, Solidarity commented: “No one, and certainly not Solidarity, said people were going to be retrenched. Retrenchment as a means to achieve race targets is unlawful. Employers make use of appointments, promotion and attrition to reach their targets. Eskom must explain how it wants to get to its absurd targets.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marelise van der Merwe at Fin24. Lees ook, Eskom sê oor afleggings, by Maroela Media. En verder, Solidariteit vat Eskom aan oor sy teikens, by Maroela Media
SA pension funds intend to move towards greater sustainable development investment Engineering News reports that South African pension funds remain at relatively low levels of sustainable development investment, with only 16% of the about 1,000 pension funds investing in green, social or sustainability bonds and only 3% of their policy investment statements being aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, 52% of funds have indicated a willingness to increase their investments in green and climate-focused investments and 57% are interested in investing to generate a positive social impact. This has been highlighted by Olano Makhubela of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) retirement funds supervision division. Independent sustainability consultant Corli le Roux concurred, noting that ten years after the launch of the Code for Responsible Investing in SA (Crisa) by the JSE, responsible investment in the industry had grown significantly, but had not yet reached a tipping point. She commented: "There remains a gap in terms of a core of passionate people who want to see a change in the investment industry and a lack of understanding in the industry on how to do it and what the benefits are. We are still learning, even after ten years, and there remain questions about the value of environmental, social and governance (ESG). However, we are starting to see deeper engagement with these issues and, while the conversations with industry stakeholders remain broadly similar, each time it is discussed, the cohort of participants is larger." The movements are small, but there is momentum. ESG considerations are increasingly part of the core conversations held by pension funds and their stakeholders. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News
Police officers facing disciplinary action after cables stolen right in front of Reiger Park police station The Citizen reports that the Ekurhuleni police district management taking disciplinary action against officers who did nothing to stop cables from being stolen in Reiger Park. Several videos circulating on social media showed suspects allegedly uprooting and stealing copper cables in Reiger Park, right in front of the local police station, on Wednesday. The non-action on the part of officers has caused outrage among the community, who urged the authorities to be proactive in their fight to stop the scourge of cable theft in the area. “The Station management has initiated a departmental disciplinary action against the members seen on one of the videos standing and watching while crime was being committed. The District Commissioner has deployed extra forces to Reiger Park Police Station following the incident,” Arrive Alive reported. Commenting on the incident, Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo said the group of men ran in different directions when officers and Public Order Policing members arrived at the scene. However, Pastor Andrew Lee, a member of the Reiger Park steering committee, said officers did very little about the cable theft outside their station. He claimed: “They lie to you if they say the people ran away. The police stood on the spot while they were digging next to the station. They could have arrested at least the guys that were actually extracting the cable. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Faizel Patel at The Citizen
Three senior officials at Limpopo agriculture department hauled to court for alleged R2m flood fund fraud SowetanLive reports that three senior officials employed by the Limpopo department of agriculture and four farmers are set to appear in court for allegedly defrauding the department of R2m. On Friday, Hawks spokesperson Matimba Maluleke said the nine were summonsed after a probe revealed the officials allegedly connived with the farmers to submit bogus invoices to the department to benefit from funds meant for farmers affected by floods about 10 years ago. Maluleke reported as follows: “In 2013 and 2014, the department of agriculture set aside a budget to assist small farmers affected by the floods in the Vhembe district. The affected farmers were required to submit their invoices to the department to be reimbursed. It is alleged the officials from the department connived with the farmers to submit fictitious invoices. As a result, they were successfully processed and the money was paid out. The farmers would withdraw the money and share it with the officials.” The department’s forensic investigators uncovered the “shenanigans” in 2020. The officials – a chief director, director and assistant director – and the farmers are set to appear in the Polokwane specialised commercial crimes court on 2 March. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Philani Nombembe at SowetanLive
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