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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Mixed reaction to ANC’s proposal that a state of disaster be declared over Eskom’s power crisis Business Report writes that business and other leaders have been left divided over the proposal by the governing ANC that the government should declare a national state of disaster in a bid to end the ongoing energy crisis. President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday said there was clear direction from the recent ANC national executive committee lekgotla that the government must resolve the immediate task of load shedding within a much shorter time-frame than projected. A declaration under the Disaster Management Act of 2002 would allow the national executive to direct and co-ordinate the activities of all government agencies and also allocate government resources as necessary to respond to the crisis. Andrew Bahlmann of Deal Leaders International pointed out on Tuesday that whether or not a declaration would be effective depended almost entirely on whom government placed in charge of managing the disaster, and it should not be somebody involved in politics. “Talk of a state of disaster is an admission that the government has thoroughly mismanaged Eskom. It signifies complete desperation and panic ahead of a general election – but asking the people who got us into this mess to now resolve it is wishful thinking,” Bahlmann said. Trade union Solidarity also expressed fierce criticism against the idea of declaring a state of disaster, saying that this would do more harm than good. Head of the Solidarity Research Institute Connie Mulder said it was rather the government’s inability to use their current power that led to the crisis, and a state of disaster would once again open the door to large-scale corruption and fraud. “The ANC government declaring a state of disaster to deal with load shedding is like trying to put out a fire with petrol,” Mulder said. However, Old Mutual Wealth investment strategist Izak Odendaal had the following view: “It should not have come to this, but it does at least signal that the government is serious about the issue, after years of broken promises.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siphelele Dludla at Business Report. See too, A national state of disaster over load shedding? The public's not so sure, at EWN. Read Solidarity’s press statement on this matter at Solidarity News
With police killings on the rise, there is growing concern that officers are being targeted The Mercury writes that police officers are said to have targets on their backs and have to constantly be vigilant to prevent attacks on themselves and their families. This is the view of a police officer who spoke anonymously to the newspaper on Monday. He was commenting after Police Minister Bheki Cele raised his concerns on Saturday about the recent attacks on officers and called on them to defend themselves. Last week, Port Edward Warrant Officer Roger Mavundla was shot dead along with his wife and two children. A third child is still in hospital. The officer said threats came as a result of the police doing their jobs and explained as follows: “The unfortunate thing is that by doing your duty and shooting somebody who is involved in a serious crime, you can become a victim where you are targeted in revenge attacks. You have to fear for your life at home and for your family.” He added that being based at a police station close to home meant criminals could easily find out where a particular officer lived. Nthabeleng Molefe of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) said unions agreed with Cele that police had to defend themselves when they came under attack, but added that the unions and the government needed to come up with ways to prevent police killings. “We need Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act to be revisited so police have more protection when using firearms. We also want those responsible for killing officers to be charged with treason and face the full might of the law,” he opined. Mpho Kwinika of the Independent Policing Union of SA (Ipusa) said they were also concerned about the attacks. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Yogashen Pillay at The Mercury Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Saccawu threatens to take Makro wage strike to other Massmart stores IOL reports that the SA Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (Saccawu) has threatened to extend its strike at Makro stores to more Massmart operations as the company is ignoring its demands, which include a wage hike and a freeze on retrenchments. Thousands of Makro workers downed tools and kicked off their protest to demand salary increases and better working conditions nationwide last week. Saccawu’s Sithembele Tshwete said Makro was negotiating in bad faith and claimed the temporary staff brought in was not up to standard. “The last time we had met they had gone back to renew their mandate and we came with an offer from 7.5 % to 12%, then the company came back to the negotiation table and they were still offering the very same 4,5% which is conditional. Some of these conditions are ridiculous, (namely) that we need to dissolve the bargaining unit at their store and workers (can) take the 4.5% only if they resign from the union. They have been saying that thousands of workers have already resigned from the union,” Tshwete commented. Massmart’s Brian Leroni said: “Notwithstanding that the 2022 Makro negotiation cycle has closed, Saccawu has tabled new demands, including a two-year moratorium on retrenchments. This is in addition to their primary demands for a 12% wage increase and doubling of sales commission from 10% to 20%.” He went on to indicate: “Because we have closed the 2022 negotiation cycle, all these demands will now be handled in the 2023 wage negotiation cycle which begins in March.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sibuliso Duba at IOL Strike action looms at VUT over shortened contracts for temporary workers The Citizen reports on discontent among staff members at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), south of Johannesburg. This after the VUT management issued letters to some staff members that their contracts would come to an end within the next two to six months. The VUT also took a decision last year to permanently shut down its satellite campuses in Secunda, Ekurhuleni and Upington. On Monday morning, disgruntled staff members were seen standing outside the university entrance waiting to be addressed by their union leadership about the way forward, after VUT obtained a court interdict against their industrial action, which was initially scheduled to commence that day. Joseph Radebe from the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) reported that they had already obtained a certificate to strike over a number of concerns. He indicated further: “Among the issues workers are not happy about include the fact that employees have not had a salary increase since 2021, and it was only last year when management decided to give workers a once-off payment citing financial difficulties at the university. All contracts for contract workers have over the years always been renewed on a three-year basis, but that has since changed when contract workers were told by management that they now only have between two and six months left and that their contracts will not be renewed.” According to Radebe, the university currently has about 850 contract workers, out of which about 160 are going to be affected by management’s decision not to renew the contracts. “Workers will definitely embark on the strike action before the end of this week. We are just busy finalising all the logistics and making sure that the industrial action is done under the confines of the labour laws,” Radebe said. Responding to the concerns raised by workers, VUT said employees were expected to heed the interdict and not participate in the strike. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Stephen Tau at The Citizen (subscriber access only)
Mining industry recorded record-low deaths in 2022, while serious injuries also decreased BusinessLive reports that in an otherwise challenging year for SA’s mining sector amid a worsening power crisis and rail failures, the sector reduced worker deaths in 2022 to a record low. The 2022 Mine Health and Safety Statistics show that 49 mineworkers died on the job in 2022 compared with 74 in 2021 and 60 in 2020. At the release of the report on Tuesday, Department of Mineral Resources & Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe lauded the “milestone” improvement but said the target should be zero deaths. “There is a desire for zero harm, the way to that is through zero fatality. People must go to work and come back home safely,” he said. Over the past three years there have been no major mine disasters or accidents involving deaths of at least five people. Mines reported 1,946 serious injuries in 2022, down from 2,123 in 2021. While these statistics were encouraging, Mantashe said the safety of women working in mines was a concern. About 62,000 women work in the sector. As this number rises, “it raises new challenges in health and safety” on mines, Mantashe stated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Denene Erasmus at BusinessLive Occupational diseases in mining in 2021 a ‘mixed picture’ Mining Weekly reports that according to the Minerals Council SA, the Mine Health and Safety Statistics report, which was released on Tuesday, showed a “mixed picture” in respect of performance in respect of occupational diseases, with improvements in some areas but stagnation and deterioration in others. Nonetheless, the domestic mining industry recorded its lowest figure on record of 1,924 occupational diseases in 2021, which represented a 4.42% reduction year-on-year. Silicosis cases declined by 11.4% year-on-year, to 240 cases in 2021. The gold sector experienced a 3.4% decline in silicosis cases to 225 in 2021, while the platinum group metals (PGMs) sector recorded a 67% reduction in silicosis cases, with 11 in 2021. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy noted that in the PGMs sector silicosis was largely owing to a significant number of former gold miners finding work in the PGM sector, thereby bringing with them gold mining-related illnesses, such as silicosis. Tuberculosis cases in 2021 totalled 225 cases, the lowest rate to date. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly (scroll down) Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
Petrol increase of 28c/l from Wednesday, but a mixed bag for diesel prices The Department of Mineral Resources & Energy announced a 28c/l increase on the retail prices of both 93 and 95 unleaded petrol grades from midnight on 31 January. Diesel drivers were spared a big increase, however, with a rise of 9c/l in the wholesale price of diesel with 0.05% sulphur content, while 0.005% diesel decreased by 1c/l. The wholesale price of illuminating paraffin rose by 58c/l, while liquefied petroleum gas decreased by R1.40/kg. The latest price hikes pushed Gauteng petrol to R21.68 a litre, from R20.14 a year ago. Gauteng diesel climbed to as much as R21.32 a litre, from R18.04 in February 2022. Earlier this month, the Automobile Association (AA) warned government against hiking fuel levies in Finance Minister Enoch Godongwane's budget speech in Parliament this month. "Consumers can simply not afford any more price shocks, and considering the impending 18.65% increase to electricity rates [which will take effect in April], an increase to the levies will deal a massive blow to personal finances," the AA said. Based on reports at BusinessLive and Fin24
City of Tshwane says it needs more skilled artisans to address water and electricity problems SowetanLive reports that City of Tshwane mayor Randall Williams says more skilled artisans, especially plumbers and electricians, are needed to improve service delivery in the city. This was indicated after Soshanguve, Mooikloof, Grootfontein and Laudium grappled for days with little or no water. According to the city, ongoing load-shedding has resulted in reservoirs not filling to sufficient levels, which affected the pressure in the distribution pipe network. The city experiences water losses of about 40%, largely due to old pipes. Williams said the city was working on increasing the training of artisans such as plumbers to address the crisis. He advised that the city had more than 300 students training in plumbing, electrical, welding and boilermaking. “All our artisan training programmes are accredited, and we want to expand the plumbing trade to take more so we can have skilled plumbers to fight water leaks,” said Williams. Annually, Tshwane takes on 120 students for a three-year artisan skills training programme. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Unathi Nkanjeni at SowetanLive
SA’s corruption levels perceived as ‘average’, even if a little less clean than a year ago Moneyweb reports that surprisingly SA slipped only one point on the latest corruption perceptions index (CPI) released by Transparency International. This despite the spate of alleged corruption exposed by the Zondo Report into state capture and other entities last year. The Corruption Perceptions Index 2022 report shows that SA had a CPI score of 43 in 2022, compared with 44 in 2021. The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople. It relies on 13 independent data sources and uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. SA’s score of 43 is the average score for the 180 countries and territories featured in the latest version of the index. However, SA’s score is 11 index points better than that of the sub-Saharan region, which had an average score of 32. The report indicates that corruption, exclusion and outright discrimination increase the risk of outbreaks of violence and make them harder to control once they erupt. Diverting public resources away from the common good to benefit special interest groups can cause popular discontent. The resulting grievances are particularly likely to lead to conflict when they coincide with disparities in the distribution of political and economic power along ethnic or other group lines. SA was hit by a wave of civil unrest in July 2021 in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, marked by rioting and looting and allegedly sparked by the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma for contempt of court. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Roy Cokayne at Moneyweb. Read too, Public sector corruption remains a serious problem, says Corruption Watch, at Engineering News University of Fort Hare presses on with anticorruption efforts, despite killings TimesLive reports that despite University of Fort Hare (UFH) management staff increasingly being intimidated and threatened with violence, according to the institution's council a corruption clean-up project will not be halted. That was indicated after the murders of two staff members. UFH council chair Bishop Ivan Abrahams said the killings of vice-chancellor Prof Sakhela Buhlungu’s bodyguard, Mboneli Vesele, and fleet manager Petrus Roets could be “inextricably” linked to corruption investigations at the university. Roets was gunned down in a suspected hit in May 2022. President Cyril Ramaphosa previously authorised the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to look into allegations of corruption and maladministration at UFH. SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the investigations concerned maladministration in the awarding of honours degrees, mismanagement of funds and a probe into four 2012 tenders. These included cleaning and gardening contracts, student accommodation tenders, maintenance and repair of air conditioning tenders and collusion. Abrahams said Vesele’s murder had been a direct threat to Buhlungu. He added that the council would support management despite the attacks that were occurring against the backdrop of internal investigations and the SIU’s probe. The police ministry said a multidisciplinary team had been established to investigate threats on the lives of the institution's staff members, but no arrests had yet been made. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sinesipho Schrieber at BusinessLive
Tshwane bus operations suspended on Tuesday due to fuel shortages IOL reports that the City of Tshwane on Tuesday morning temporarily suspended its bus operations due to fuel shortages. City spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said all three fuel stations were empty due to non-delivery of fuel by service providers. He indicated that it was not clear when operations would resume, however, the City was engaging service providers with the hope of returning bus operations to full capacity as soon as possible. The City advised commuters to make alternative transport arrangements. Meanwhile in Cape Town, several MyCiTi stations remain non-functional after being destroyed during protests. The City said three of the non-functional stations, namely Dunoon, Phoenix, and Usazaza, were expected to be repaired by 2024, while the fourth one in Woodstock would be fixed early this year. The anticipated repairs of four severely damaged buses, as well as stations destroyed by angry mobs in 2022, would cost around R11 million. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Brenda Masilela at IOL
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