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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Unemployment rate dropped to 32.9% in fourth quarter, but remained above pre-Covid level BL Premium reports that SA’s unemployment rate fell slightly in the fourth quarter, reaching the lowest level in two years, but at 32.7% the country’s jobless rate remained well above pre-pandemic levels. Stats SA’s quarterly labour force survey released on Tuesday showed a slight moderation in the jobless rate from the third quarter’s 32.9%. The unemployment rate according to the expanded definition, which included people who were available for work but not looking for a job, stood at 42.6% from 43.1% previously. While the latest jobs report offered some good news, it did not detract from the country’s sky-high unemployment rate. SA’s labour market is 594,000 jobs below the peak employment level achieved in 2018’s fourth quarter, and 448,000 jobs below the employment level that prevailed before the pandemic. The numbers are worse for youth unemployment, which was measured at 61% in the fourth quarter. The power situation is said to be severely affecting economic growth and jobs. According to PwC, power cuts reduced potential real GDP growth by five percentage points in 2022, costing the country about 600,000 potential jobs. But there were some employment gains. Stats SA said the number of employed people rose by 169,000 during the fourth quarter. The performances of the various industries during the quarter and the year were mixed. The finance, private households, trade and transport industries recorded the largest job gains while the largest losses were in community and social services, agriculture and construction. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thuletho Zwane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, Unemployment rate eases slightly despite record load shedding, at Fin24. En ook, Effe minder werkloosheid in SA, by Maroela Media Very high youth unemployment highlights gravity of SA unemployment The Citizen writes that the high youth unemployment figures for January clearly show how bad unemployment in SA is, with 61% of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 and 39.9% of people between the ages of 25 and 34 years unemployed. Economic research group, Oxford Economics Africa, observed: “The latest jobs report offers some good news but does not detract from South Africa’s sky-high unemployment rate, which has consistently remained above 20% for more than two decades now. What’s more, concerns about weak economic growth over the medium-term risk the unemployment rate becoming entrenched at current lofty levels.” According to Statistics SA’s Q4 2022 Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), released on Tuesday, the number of unemployed people stood at roughly 7.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, a slight increase from the third quarter. The number of employed individuals increased by 1.1% compared to the third quarter, thanks to an uptick in formal sector employment. Meanwhile, the labour force participation and absorption rates increased marginally in the fourth quarter and although South Africa’s unemployment rate dipped by 0.2 percentage points, it remained concerningly high at 32.7%. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ina Opperman at The Citizen (subscriber access only) Cosatu warns Reserve Bank not to use lower unemployment numbers to increase interest rates SowetanLive reports that trade union federation Cosatu says the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) should not be encouraged by the latest dip in the unemployment rate to hike interest rates. Cosatu’s spokesperson Sizwe Pamla warned that if the central bank raised the cost of credit at its Monetary Policy Committee meeting later next month – based on the slight increase of the employment rate – this could reverse the gains. Figures released by Statistics SA on Tuesday showed that the official unemployment rate decreased to 32.7% in the fourth quarter from 32.9% in the third quarter. Unemployment under the expanded definition of unemployment decreased from 43.1% previously to 42.6%. Pamla said an additional interest rate increase would result in lower demand for goods and services. Many manufacturers would struggle to service their debt and they might need to retrench staff in order to survive or be more profitable. He warned that SA’s unemployment rate remained extremely high and he encouraged the government to move with speed to fix the obstacles hindering economic growth. Agri SA bemoaned that the agricultural sector lost 12,000 jobs. Johan Wege of the organisation’s Centre for Excellence on Labour commented: "Though the loss of jobs is marginal for now, it points to the increasingly challenging environment in which farmers operate. The sector has shown itself to be remarkably resilient and was counted among the best performing sectors even at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the tide is turning for one of the country’s most labour intensive sectors – rising input costs, endemic load shedding, and crumbling infrastructure is placing severe strain on the agricultural sector." Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mpho Sibanyoni at SowetanLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Ramaphosa commits to engaging with security cluster over safety concerns at tertiary institutions Cape Times reports that University of Fort Hare (UFH) executives finally got the meeting they had been calling for with President Cyril Ramaphosa to address safety and security concerns at the institution. UFH vice-chancellor and principal Professor Sakhela Buhlungu, chancellor, Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, and deputy chair of its council Dr Siphokazi Koyana met Ramaphosa in Cape Town last Thursday. This happened nearly three months after publicly calling for a meeting with Ramaphosa to assist with providing protection and support. Last month, Buhlungu’s executive protection officer Mboneli Vesele was shot dead outside the professor’s house, in an alleged hit on Buhlungu. Menatime, police have yet to make arrests in the assassination of fleet manager Petrus Roets. Ramaphosa committed to engaging with the security cluster to explore security measures in efforts to deal with safety and criminal elements in the higher education sector. “The president received a briefing on matters of safety and security affecting the higher education sector and was encouraged by the impetus that’s been added to criminal investigations related to the University of Fort Hare. Obviously, more still needs to be done to ensure the protection of staff and students at all tertiary institutions, including Fort Hare,” Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said. He confirmed that Ramaphosa committed to further discussions with the security cluster. Higher Education and Training, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande also attended the meeting. His department said it was committed to dealing with the issues of safety and security at UFH. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Okuhle Hlati at Cape Times
National state of disaster regulations for energy crisis published in Government Gazette TimesLive reports that national state of disaster regulations published on Tuesday allow government to grant exemptions from load-shedding “where technically feasible” to essential infrastructure – if such exemptions will not result in an increased risk of higher stages of load-shedding. The regulations list “essential infrastructure” as health infrastructure, including military health facilities; water infrastructure, including water treatment plants; rail and port infrastructure; food production and food storage facilities, where feasible; and critical electronic communications and broadcasting infrastructure. The regulations came into force as soon as they were published in the government gazette on Tuesday morning. The regulations also allow for the “streamlining” of applications and the decision-making process when it comes to environmental authorisations, waste management licences and atmospheric emission licences. They allow the government to bypass the National Environmental Management Act or other environmental laws – when it comes to upgrades, refurbishments, and repairs of existing energy infrastructure and existing generation, transmission and distribution facilities. Once exemptions or authorisations have been granted, they endure beyond the end of the state of disaster. The regulations also allow for directions for measures that would “remove impediments” to the construction of new generation capacity and for “streamlining and expediting” of applications and decision-making concerning energy generating projects. The regulations put in place oversight mechanisms to prevent corruption. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Franny Rabkin at TimesLive. Read too, State of disaster: Government finalises regulations to 'minimise impact of load shedding', at News24. En ook, Nuwe rampregulasies ‘niksseggend’, by Maroela Media Solidarity says gazetted regulations reinforce its case against energy state of disaster In a press statement on Tuesday, Solidarity said the regulations proclaimed by the Minister of Cooperative Development, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, reinforced its case brought against the government against the declaration of a state of disaster to deal with the energy crisis. According to the trade union, all the measures contained in the regulations could, and should, already have been implemented by using existing legislation. “These regulations and the state of disaster are much rather a step back in the fight against the energy crisis. This also confirms our initial position that everything the government wants to achieve with the state of disaster could have been done long ago by using existing instruments at its disposal,” Solidarity Chief Executive Dr Dirk Hermann argued. Solidarity further pointed out that the regulations did not pave the way for sound management of the crisis at all, and that the relaxation of oversight measures drastically increased the risk of poor management. In the union’s view, the amount of power conferred on Dlamini-Zuma was extremely worrying. “The underlying ideas include a mixture of bad, very bad and meaningless regulations. And even if there were good ones, the fact that in terms of these regulations practically all control over the management of the crisis will fall under Minister Dlamini-Zuma would undo even that,” Hermann observed. Read Solidarity’s press statement in the above regard at Solidarity News. Lees ook, Regulasies versterk saak teen ramptoestand, by Maroela Media Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Sibanye-Stillwater counts the cost of three-month wage strike at its SA gold mines BusinessLive reports that Sibanye-Stillwater is counting the cost of the debilitating three-month strike last year at its SA gold operations, which resulted in billions of rand in lost earnings. The group on Tuesday said its profit for 2022 halved to R19bn from R33.8bn reported in 2021. The plunge in profit saw the company slash its final dividend from R7.37bn to R3.5bn. Sibanye said the industrial action in SA and floods at its Nevada operations in the US “resulted in significantly reduced production from the SA gold and US PGM [platinum group metals] operations during 2022, with a concomitant increase in unit costs”. The company advised further: “The phased resumption and build-up of safe production after these operational stoppages also negatively impacted production and costs during the second half of the year, resulting in group revenue declining by 20% to R138.3bn for 2022 compared with R172.2bn for 2021.” It also reported a 40% decline in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to R41bn, but this was still its third highest since listing on the JSE in 2013. The plunge in earnings was attributed to the SA gold operations recording a R3.5bn loss in adjusted earnings against a positive R5.1bn contribution in 2021. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kabelo Khumalo at BusinessLive. Read too, Strikes, floods and other headwinds cause Sibanye-Stillwater's profits to dive, at Fin24
South Africans’ average take-home pay down 7.5% in January compared to a year ago The Citizen reports that the average nominal take-home pay for South Africans of R14,305 in January declined by 7.5% compared to the same period last year, when it had been R15,467. The average take-home pay for January was also somewhat lower than the R14,684 recorded in December. The average take-home salary in real terms in January 2023, compared to a year earlier, showed a notable 13.7% decline. This latest data taken from the BankservAfrica Take-Home Pay Index (BTPI) is said to show that the challenging SA economy is continuing to take a toll on salary payments. The BTPI reflects the trend in almost 4 million monthly salary payments, which represents about 37% of all non-farm employees in the SA labour market. “The constant load shedding, high production costs due to high fuel prices and rising wage demands, as well as elevated interest rates and moderating demand are all contributing to the dismal growth prospects faced by companies,” commented BankservAfrica’s Shergeran Naidoo. Many companies are redirecting their capital earmarked for investment towards self-sufficiency and becoming less dependent on Eskom, which makes it more likely that employment growth and salary increases are affected. “Adjusted for weekly payments, BankservAfrica’s data suggests that 606,500 fewer salaries were paid into South Africans’ bank accounts in January 2023, compared to the previous month,” independent economist Elize Kruger pointed out, adding that 60% of those job losses occurred in salary categories for people earning less than R5,000 per month. This confirmed that it was most likely a reversal of temporary jobs created for the annual festive season in December, Kruger noted. The BankservAfrica Private Pensions Index (BPPI) in nominal term remained flat compared to December. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ina Opperman at The Citizen (subscriber access only) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Outgoing UCT vice-chancellor Phakeng put on leave with ‘immediate effect’ TimesLive reports that amid an information war still raging at the University of Cape Town (UCT), outgoing vice-chancellor Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng has been placed on leave “with immediate effect”. Her role officially ends on 3 March, but internal communications reveal an ongoing struggle – between her and the university council headed by Babalwa Ngonyama – over the narrative framing her exit from the university. Earlier this week, Phakeng sent a message on an internal platform confirming that as of 3 March she would be “standing down as vice-chancellor”. She said she had first turned down a settlement for standing down but had “come to realise that [her] position is now untenable”, which was why, “with reluctance, [she] had agreed to early retirement”. She will apparently receive a settlement of about R12m. Phakeng lashed out at Ngonyama, saying: “In her confidential message to the university, the chair of council reports that we have failed to agree on a mutually acceptable statement” after the special council meeting last week where the settlement was agreed upon. This, according to Phakeng, was because the chair “refuses to acknowledge publicly that no disciplinary charges have been laid against me”. Then on Tuesday, Ngonyama messaged as follows: “As you know, Prof Phakeng will retire early from the position of vice-chancellor, and this will take effect as from the end of Friday, March 3. In order to give effect to the necessary transition arrangements, please note that Prof Phakeng will be on leave with immediate effect.” Deputy vice-chancellor Sue Harrison will act as vice-chancellor until an interim replacement has been appointed. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tanya Farber & Philani Nombembe at BusinessLive
Basic Education asks for approval for an additional 16,000 teacher posts Cape Times reports that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has approached Cabinet requesting funding for the hiring of an additional 16,000 teachers. This was revealed by DBE Minister Angie Motshekga in response to parliamentary questions from IFP MP Siphosethu Ngcobo. He had asked about the measures the department had put in place to address the employment of fewer graduates to curtail teacher salaries that had increase at a faster rate than the department’s budget. Ngcobo had also enquired about the looming retirement of 17,300 teachers by 2029. In her response, Motshekga said the process aimed at increasing the number of posts in schools was informed by a number of factors, including the number of pupils and introduction of curriculum reforms that required additional teachers. “The department has in this regard approached the Cabinet to request support to add about 16,000 educator posts in schools focusing on the reduction of teacher learner ratios both in public ordinary schools and special schools, and address additional needs due to curriculum reforms. Cabinet has since referred the request to the minister’s committee on the budget to process,” Motshekga advised. The minister also indicated that the department had taken note of the high retirement wave expected in the next 10 or more years. University output was on a sound trajectory, and should be able to deal with a demand for a larger workforce, she opined. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mayibongwe Maqhina at Cape Times. Read too, DBE wants to add 16,000 new posts in schools to improve teacher-pupil ratios, at Cape Times Other internet posting(s) in this news category
‘No question’ that Floyd Brink qualifies for role as city manager, asserts Joburg MMC TimesLive reports that Johannesburg group corporate and shared services member of the mayoral committee (MMC) Loyiso Masuku has defended the decision to approve the recommendation to appoint Floyd Brink as city manager. This was in response to an allegation by the Democratic Alliance (DA) that the council’s decision to appoint Brink, the second preferred candidate, instead of Johan Mettler, the first preferred candidate, was “done to placate the EFF, who played a key role in the ANC staying in power in Joburg”. DA caucus leader and former mayor Mpho Phalatse indicated: “During the recruitment of a city manager, as approved by council, the panel was apprised that Brink did not meet the minimum requirements of the job specifications, as advertised on August 12 2022, which mandated 10 years’ senior management experience – in this sense a senior manager as per co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) regulations.” The DA alleged Brink only had four years’ experience as COO within the City of Johannesburg. While his CV listed his status as a “senior manager” for positions in Limpopo, it was discovered these did not equate to the same level as per Cogta requirements and he should not have qualified for the COO position. But, Masuku said the recommendation was as per the outcomes of a recruitment process, interview and selection panel chaired by Phalatse together with Leah Knott (DA) and coalition partners Funzi Ngobeni (ActionSA) and Michael Harris (ACDP) two weeks ago. “The panel made a clear recommendation that should the first preferred candidate not be available to take up the position, the second preferred candidate, in this case Mr Brink, must be engaged and processes followed to appoint him as city manager,” she advised. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sisanda Mbolekwa at BusinessLive KZN municipality refutes questions about qualifications, appoints acting municipal manager 'permanently' News24 reports that a KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) municipality is forging ahead with plans to place an acting municipal manager on a permanent contract, despite controversy surrounding her academic qualifications. It was reported earlier this week that Umdoni Local Municipality's acting manager, Thabisile Ndlela, produced proof that she had completed a B-Tech degree from the Durban University of Technology (DUT) in 2009, but there were questions around her undergraduate qualifications and the timeline. She claimed to have completed a special operations programme certificate, also at DUT, in 2013/2014. On Tuesday, Mayor Sibongile Khathi told journalists that they were satisfied Ndlela was qualified for the position and her qualifications were in order. She indicated Ndlela had furnished the local municipality with proof of all her qualifications prior to her appointment in 2021. She advised that the municipality had contacted the DUT for confirmation of Ndlela's qualifications and they were furnished with evidence. Kgathi added it was not the first time Ndlela had been appointed by the municipality, having served in other roles before. Despite complaints that there was poor service delivery during Ndlela's tenure, she said they were satisfied with her performance. "As soon as her three month's short-term contract comes to an end, Mrs Ndlela will be appointed permanently to the role of municipal manager for a five-year term. We have already given her an offer of employment and she has accepted," Khathi added. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nkosikhona Duma at News24
Msunduzi Municipality concludes investigation into workers sleeping on graves The Mercury reports that Msunduzi Municipality workers who were caught on camera sleeping and resting on top of graves at one of the cemeteries will soon know their punishment. The workers’ actions saw the struggling municipality making the news for the wrong reasons, prompting calls for tough sanctions against the employees. Last week, city manager Lulamile Mapholoba condemned the workers’ conduct, and ordered an investigation into the incident. On Monday, municipal spokesperson Ntobeko Mkhize confirmed that steps were being taken against the employees. “The investigation into the matter has been concluded. The disciplinary procedure is currently unfolding,” she indicated. The spokesperson would not divulge the nature of the disciplinary procedures. The incident sparked wide-ranging public discussion on radio and social media, with some people siding with the workers, saying they worked under difficult conditions, while others condemned their action saying they should respect their work, and show greater respect to the dead. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sibusiso Mboto at The Mercury
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