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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PSA wants 12.5% increase for its public sector members for 2023/24 wage round BL Premium reports that the Public Servants Association (PSA) is demanding an above-inflation wage increase of 12.5% for 2023/24 for its more than 235,000 members on the basis that public servants have not received any real increases over the past four years. In a statement on Sunday, the PSA said that during a special Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) meeting on Friday, the government proposed a 4.7% pay hike on a sliding scale in year one, with increases in line with the consumer price index in the second and third years. A coalition of disgruntled public service unions, including Nehawu, Sapu, Popcru and Denosa, indicated on Thursday that they would not be participating in the PSCBC process. They want the 2022/2023 wage impasse resolved first before entering into talks on pay for 2023/2024. They are still angry after the government unilaterally implemented a 3% pay hike for public servants in 2022. Three teachers’ unions – Sadtu, Naptosa and Satu – broke ranks and accepted the 3% increase, which included an extension of a R1,000 after-tax cash gratuity. The disgruntled unions, which are demanding a 10% increase, said they would serve the government with a seven-day strike notice on 22 February in support of their demands for higher wages for 2022/2023. On Friday, the PSA’s Reuben Maleka commented: “We must negotiate for the 2023/2024 financial year because we are in a state where our members have not received any real increase, so we won’t stand outside the ring. We must be part of this process because if we don’t, it’s our members that will suffer. We need to improve their conditions.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, PSA encounters new hurdle in pay talks as state tables 4.7% offer, at Moneyweb
SA edges closer towards stage eight load-shedding Mail & Guardian reports that despite fears that Eskom would plunge the country into stage eight load-shedding from the current stage six, outgoing chief executive Andre de Ruyter has given reassurance that the situation does not warrant escalating the rolling power cuts. During a media briefing on Monday, De Ruyter said that the utility was in the process of reviewing its documentation and schedules that governed stages of load-shedding, “forming contingencies for if the country hits stage eight”. He stated: “We do have contingency plans should there be a further loss in generation capacity. I can give the country the assurance that we are doing everything in our power to ensure that we do not end up in a situation where we go beyond that.” Eskom’s head of generation, Thomas Conradie, told journalists that if the current rains eased, the situation at the Lethabo power station could normalise. “There is a coal stockpile at Lethabo. It is just very wet,” Conradie indicated. In a statement on Sunday, the power utility announced stage six load-shedding, saying it had lost 59% of its generation capacity due to heavy rains which had prevented coal delivery from the New Vaal mine to Lethabo. Eskom reported breakdowns amounting to nearly half of its installed capacity of 48,000MW, which is the amount of electricity it can produce. It said over 3,500MW were also out of service for maintenance, meaning that, in total, more than half of the capacity was offline. This has raised fears of the country hitting stage eight load-shedding and an outright blackout. Energy analyst Clyde Mallinson commented: “We are moving from preventing load-shedding to mitigating load-shedding. The possibility of stage eight is very much apparent now.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mandisa Nyathi & Ozayr Patel at Mail & Guardian (subscriber access only). Read too, Amid renewed fears of even higher stages of loadshedding, Eskom confirms review of current framework, at Mining Weekly Ramaphosa, Mantashe to oppose legal challenge over lack of energy planning Fin24 reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa and Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) Minister Gwede Mantashe intend opposing a legal challenge against them over energy planning. In January, two civil society organisations – Green Connection and the Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute (SAFCEI) – filed an application to seek the development of the Integrated Energy Plan (IEP). They are of the view that the delayed enforcement of the plan is behind the country's power crisis. Ramaphosa is in charge of bringing into operation section six of the National Energy Act – which will enable the development of the IEP by Mantashe. The IEP is then supposed to be reviewed on an annual basis. Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for the Presidency, and the DMRE confirmed that the legal challenge would be opposed. The two civil society organisations noted in a joint statement that section six of the National Energy Act was passed by Parliament in 2008, but it had not been brought into operation by the president. As a result, decision-makers had been carrying out energy planning without the "proper legal framework", they claimed. "Lack of effective energy planning is the reason we are in this mess, and as long as we continue without a plan for meeting our energy requirements, for dealing with load shedding and unaffordable electricity prices, increases will continue,” said SAFCEI’s Francesca de Gasparis. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lameez Omarjee at Fin24 Foot soldiers arrested, but crime bosses remain elusive, says Eskom CEO De Ruyter BL Premium reports that Eskom will struggle to achieve the improvement it is hoping for in the performance of its power stations by the end of its financial year in March. But the efforts of its management to fight crime and corruption in its supply chains are starting to deliver results. According to CEO André de Ruyter, who was accused in 2022 by mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe of acting too much like a policeman, Eskom has begun to make progress in the “battle against crime”. He has often spoken out about high levels of corruption in Eskom’s coal supply chain, especially in Mpumalanga, and how this was contributing to the unreliability of electricity supply from coal-fired power stations. De Ruyter told journalists on Monday that, aided by intelligence provided by Eskom, the SA Police Service had so far been able to make 48 arrests of people thought to be “actively involved in criminal activity throughout Eskom”. He added, however, that the arrests so far had been of “the foot soldiers” of the criminal networks behind the crime and corruption that stretched deep into Eskom. This was not going to stop the corruption as the “upper echelons” needed to be targeted, De Ruyter indicated. He said Eskom was also continuing to “go after” its own employees who were suspected of involvement in “untoward” activity. But, some employees resign in the face of disciplinary action” which makes these cases difficult to pursue. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Denene Erasmus at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Lees ook, Duur motors, gholfkarretjie gevat oor Eskom-korrupsie, by Maroela Media Other internet posting(s) in this news category
City Power pulls plug on night shifts due to safety concerns and to maximise resources TimesLive reports that Johannesburg's City Power has changed its staff shift system and has cut out night shifts due to safety concerns and to maximise resources. City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena advised: “We have cut out night-shift work and the new model is based on 'four days in and four days out' cycle.” He said the new system would cut wastage because there was little work to do at night and added: “The night-shift staff did not deal with as much demand as the day shift, resulting in strained resources and poor response during the day. The number of attacks on personnel was heightened at night. The organisation also took a strategic decision to focus on medium- and high-voltage (i.e. area outages and mini-substation issues) at night.” However, City Power will still run a 24-hour essential service and subcontractors only leave work when they finish the job at hand, not necessarily at 6pm. Ward 89 councillor Leah Knott said though she partly understood City Power's decision to cut night-shift staff due to safety concerns, she believed the issue could be resolved by asking for assistance from the police, community policing forums (CPFs) and metro police. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Belinda Pheto at TimesLive
‘Little to show for the big bucks top earners rake in’ Remuneration expert Ann Crotty notes that it’s just over 20 years since listed companies were required to disclose the remuneration of their executive directors. In that time initial hopes that the bright lights of public exposure would act as a moderating influence have been extinguished. In no time the public exposure that was expected to moderate the generosity of remuneration packages was used in benchmarking surveys to inflate those packages. Now, decades later, what are the chances that remuneration consultants and remuneration committee members are trawling through all the available corporate data to get a feel for what actually worked — and, with all this interrogated data, are now devising much more effective remuneration packages? Crotty says that the sad but unsurprising news is that, on the basis of a few informal chats with key players in the remuneration industry, there’s no chance at all that reality will be allowed to intervene in the remuneration process. She says the industry and the executives who benefit from it are determined to ensure the system remains unchanged. They want to stick with the “forward-looking” system that assumes an easy causal relationship: pay executives truckloads of money (including share-based awards) and the company and its shareholders will do extremely well. Nobody is asking these questions, though surely these are issues that go to the very heart of an efficient free market system. Read Ann Crotty’s thought provoking article in full at Financial Mail
Repo rate likely to increase at least one more time this year The Citizen reports that according to Nedbank Group Economic Unit’s economist Liandra da Silva, South Africans will likely see at least one more repo rate increase this year. Speaking on Monday, Da Silva said that the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) – which hiked the repo rate quite aggressively in 2022 – could likely increase it one more time this year by 25 basis points, before easing up again. “With inflation close to 7%, the Reserve Bank will push through one more rate hike,” she reckoned. Da Silva said that thereafter the repo rate would probably remain in that range. This is bad news for South Africans, who were hoping that the hikes would cease after the last one in January this year, when Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago delivered the first monetary policy committee (MPC) decision for the year. Last year, the SA Reserve Bank hiked rates by 75 basis points over three consecutive meetings. The repo rate is currently at 7.25%, making the prime lending rate in the country at 10.75%. The MPC meets every second month to assess the interest rate and is due to meet again in March. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Devina Haripersad at The Citizen
Prasa board strikes back against lifting of whistleblower’s suspension GroundUp reports that the legal battle between the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) and Prasa’s suspended head of legal, Martha Ngoye, continues. Prasa’s chairperson Leonard Ramatlakane approached the Johannesburg Labour Court on 9 February to take an arbitration award that made findings in whistleblower Ngoye’s favour on review, and to stay the award. He argued that the arbitrator “reached a decision that another decision maker could not have reasonably reached.” Since Ramatlakane took over as chairperson of Prasa in October 2020, he has been doggedly attempting to sack, suspend and sue Ngoye, and Prasa has repeatedly lost in court. The arbitration had been agreed to by both Prasa and Ngoye as a means of resolving the three-year impasse, and to clarify accusations of misconduct against Ngoye that Prasa was using to motivate her suspension. With the decision of the arbitrator, Ngoye expected to be allowed to return to work. On 16 February, Ngoye filed a notice to oppose Prasa’s review application, and asked the court to certify the arbitration award and find Prasa in contempt of court. Ngoye also asked De Swardt Myambo Hlahla Attorneys, which filed the application for Prasa, to satisfy the Labour Court that they were permitted to act on the rail agency’s behalf as the firm did not appear to be on Prasa’s list of legal providers. Ngoye moreover argued that Prasa’s board was not quorate (properly constituted) and could not take decisions on the company’s behalf. As head of legal at Prasa, Ngoye led the charge against companies that took advantage of former Prasa CEO Lucky Montana’s venal leadership. While suspended by Ramatlakane, Ngoye testified about state capture at Prasa during Montana’s time in charge. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by James Stent at GroundUp VUT vice-chancellor to pursue legal action against employer for ‘dismissal’ The Citizen reports that the vice-chancellor and principal of the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), Professor Dan Kgwadi, has vowed to take the institution to the labour court. He claims he was “dismissed” last Friday for taking sick leave. Kgwadi said he was informed telephonically by the university council’s chair, Professor Mandla Radebe, that he was being placed on special leave pending a letter to be written to him on the matter. “I don’t know the reason, there was nothing in writing, just a call from the council chair. Nothing was discussed with me except that I was being put on special leave and that I must wait for a letter. I don’t know, I can only speculate,” Kgwadi said. He posted about his situation on Facebook on Friday: “I have just been dismissed at work due to a 14 day sick leave (five days hospitalisation). Apparently that contributed to my lack of performance and probation issues. Going for a labour court race.” He told The Citizen he had a doctor’s certificate and the university was aware of his situation. He said he was surprised to be dismissed. A communique from the VUT council, issued following its special meeting last Friday, informed the university community of its resolution to place Kgwadi on special leave and said registrar Dr Dan Mokoena would serve as acting vice-chancellor and principal with immediate effect. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Eric Naki at The Citizen (subscriber access only) UCT chair says council will hold meeting ‘soon’ about vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng BL Premium reports that University of Cape Town (UCT) council chair Babalwa Ngonyama has written to the UCT community, saying the council will meet about vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng soon and report its decisions by the end of the week. She acknowledged the institution had experienced a tumultuous start to the year. Ngonyama wrote: We have scheduled a meeting ... to thoroughly and thoughtfully consider options and potential resolutions, after which we will report back to you with the way forward. We do not want to pre-empt any outcome.” Media reports on Friday indicated that the council had voted to suspend Phakeng imminently, giving her 48 hours to state why she shouldn't be suspended. This followed a council meeting on 9 February, at which the university leadership body took legal advice on whether suspension and a disciplinary hearing could run concurrently as the panel is already investigating issues around executive resignations. The panel, chaired by retired judge Lex Mpati, is interrogating whether Phakeng and the council chair misled it about the resignation of the former deputy vice-chancellor of teaching and learning, Lis Lange. The panel is also investigating a string of executive resignations and concerns about Phakeng’s management of senior staff. Lawyers advised the council that a suspension could take place if the panel's terms of reference were updated to include a disciplinary hearing. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Katharine Child at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
'Look how drunk this policeman is': Northern Cape cop arrested after crashing van News24 reports that a seemingly drunk police officer from De Aar in the Northern Cape has been arrested after he was involved in an accident on Saturday. In a video widely shared on social media on Sunday, the officer – in civilian clothing – is seen lying behind the police van, which is parked in the middle of the road. The van earlier collided head-on with a Volkswagen Polo. "Look how drunk this policeman is," a woman is heard saying. After struggling to get back on his feet, the officer makes his way to the police van and gets in behind the steering wheel before a man is seen rushing to attack him through the window. A second man appears and removes the officer from the vehicle. Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Sergio Kock said: "The SAPS management is aware of the unfortunate incident in De Aar currently trending on social media platforms. The implicated police official has been arrested. An internal investigation has also been initiated against the SAPS member." Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Iavan Pijoos at News24
KZN teacher fired for allegedly asking to test if pupil was a virgin and other instances of sexual misconduct News24 reports that a KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) teacher accused of sexually harassing some of his pupils has been axed from his job. Dumisane Jabulani Thanjekwayo was also found to have stated that he was willing to pay one of his pupils to "test" if she was still a virgin. The Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) found that Thanjekwayo, who had taught Natural Sciences, should never be allowed to work with children in the future. The ruling, penned by senior ELRC arbitrator Raj Shanker, details the instances of sexual misconduct committed by Thanjekwayo between February and March 2022. The pupils who testified denied that they had plotted with anyone to give their evidence. Female teachers also spoke about how Thanjekwayo would comment about their bodies. Thanjekwayo was suspended following the allegations. During his testimony, he denied the allegations. He also claimed that he only complimented his colleagues to show how "easy going person" he was. He claimed that the school's deputy principal did not want him at the school because of allegations that he had touched the "bums and breasts of female teachers". Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jeanette Chabalala at News24 (subscriber access only)
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