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, 3 March 2023.
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Public sector wage strike set to commence on Monday interdicted BL Premium reports that an intended strike by thousands of public servants demanding higher wages hangs in limbo after the Department of Public Service & Administration (DPSA) said it had successfully interdicted the planned work stoppage. Members of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) were set to down tools and embark on an indefinite strike from Monday. A strike notice delivered to the DPSA on 23 February warned that government employees would strike if the government did not accede to workers’ demands for a 10% wage increase. “Our members throughout the country will begin the strike action at 6am on March 6 and the strike will continue until all our demands are met,” Nehawu general secretary Zola Saphetha indicated in the notice. However, in a statement on Saturday the DPSA said it had interdicted the indefinite strike Nehawu had planned to embark on from Monday. “Government believes that matters of mutual interest can still be resolved through orderly collective bargaining at the appropriate forum established for such purpose. Government will continue to call on all the trade unions to go back to the bargaining chamber to negotiate and resolve matters through dialogue,” the statement explained. Disgruntled unions, representing thousands of the more than 1.3-million public servants, have refused to take part in the 2023/2024 wage talks which began at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) in February until the wage dispute arising from the 2022/2023 negotiations is addressed. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Nehawu public service strike to still commence on Monday as interdict has been appealed TimesLive reports that the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) public sector strike is set to go ahead as planned on Monday. The union explained on Sunday evening that it had applied for leave to appeal an interdict to halt its action, thus allowing its members to go on strike as planned. It stated: “Nehawu is highly disappointed with the ruling of the labour court, interdicting the public service strike action which was to commence from March 6. The court ruling follows an urgent application by the department of public service and administration (DPSA) heard in the Johannesburg labour court on March 4, after being postponed from March 3. The court decided to grant the interdict to DPSA, though the judge never provided any substantial reasons for his judgment, as he advised he shall only deliver his reasons on Monday. Nehawu is shocked by this decision to interdict us with no reason provided.” The union filed its leave to appeal at 3.30pm “to give a go ahead to our strike commencing tomorrow morning, March 6 until the leave to appeal is determined.” Nehawu explained further: “This means that, by implication, Section 18 of the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013 kicks in, which automatically suspends operation of the court order until the leave to appeal is determined. Therefore our strike continues on March 6 as planned.” On 24 February, the union served its notice go on an indefinite strike from Monday. Nehawu has been locked in a long-standing battle against government over wages. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nivashni Nair at TimesLive
Eastern Cape Denosa condemns brutal attack on nurse inside Cradock Hospital IOL reports that nursing union Denosa in the Eastern Cape has condemned a brutal attack on a nurse, allegedly by her husband, at the Cradock Hospital. Denosa said it was concerned about the gender-based violence incident which took place the hospital last Monday. It is alleged that the victim’s husband forcefully entered the hospital and carried out the attack inside the facility premises. The perpetrator was reportedly also injured by the security guard at the hospital who had come to assist. Denosa provincial secretary in the Eastern Cape, Veli Sinqana, said the culprit was later apprehended, but was granted bail after appearing at the Cradock Magistrate's Court on Friday. Sinqana said the incident was similar to many other incidents that took place inside healthcare facilities, adding that it highlighted the continuing poor state of safety at the hands of the Department of Health “with no consequences at all”. "We are consulting the legal department for possible action over the negligence by the department and total disregard of Occupational Health and Safety Act,” he indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sibuliso Duba at IOL Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Striking guards block Fort Beaufort office entrance, trapping government workers for hours GroundUp reports that at least 30 staff members at the departments of education and health in Fort Beaufort, Eastern Cape, were trapped for three hours inside their shared offices by protesting security guards on Thursday. The protesters, employed by Whispers Security Company to guard health facilities, blocked the gates to the departments’ shared offices on Thursday, demanding they be paid bonuses. They set alight trees and tyres to block the entrance, preventing anyone from leaving. The security guards had been protesting since Monday. They said a supervisor told them that they won’t get bonuses because the company had not been paid by the Department of Health. Police arrived after hours had passed and removed the protesters from the entrance. According to protestor Thotyelwa Gomi, they first held a two-day strike in May last year over the issue of bonuses and reached an agreement with management that they would be paid by March this year. “But last week our rude supervisors from the East London branch issued us with leave forms and told us to sign them. They also said that the company has no money. We will only get our bonuses in November,” she indicated. Oupa Tumaeletsi of Whispers Security Company condemned the workers’ “illegal” strike. “We have asked the workers to take leave from 1 March. Their bonuses will follow. But they don’t want to listen. We even sent our legal representative to warn them about this illegal action,” he stated. Tumaeletsi rubbished claims that they had not yet been paid by the department. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mkhuseli Sizani at GroundUp
Ditsobotla municipality pays workers’ February salaries seven days late IOL reports that municipal workers at the cash-strapped Ditsobotla local municipality in North West have now been paid their February salaries. The SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) confirmed that the municipality had paid workers their salaries on Friday. "Following the intervention by the union, the municipality has today (Friday) paid workers’ salaries, seven days later than the pay date. The municipality has further made a commitment that in the next few days, monies owed to third parties will be gradually paid, to ensure that all these accounts are settled,” Samwu’s Dumisane Magagula said. He went on to indicate: "We are aware that this is not the first time that the municipality has failed to pay workers’ salaries on time in the last few months. We will therefore continue monitoring the situation to ensure that, moving forward, the municipality pays workers their salaries on time and that third parties’ arrears are settled." Magagula said the municipality had also been deducting from workers’ salaries money supposedly for pension funds and medical aid, but had failed to pay those deductions over to the intended recipients. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Molaole Montsho at IOL
Crime syndicates stop at nothing to rob Richards Bay Minerals Sunday Times writes that a top mining operation that employs 5,000 people and pays more than R1bn a year in taxes is fighting a life-and-death battle to save itself and staff from a deadly wave of criminality and fraud that has claimed 11 lives without a single criminal conviction. Executives at Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) and its parent, multinational Rio Tinto, described last week the extraordinary measures RBM has had to put in place as it battles ruthless criminals who plunder its commodities with near-impunity. At stake is a share of annual revenue of about R18.2bn generated by extraction of titanium slag, zircon, rutile and high-purity iron. If the company should be forced to close, the fallout would devastate the northern KwaZulu-Natal regional economy, but RBM says the government has been of little help. A police task force established to tackle the problems is hopelessly understaffed and underfunded. The company has hired two additional private investigators. According to Rio Tinto’s Werner Duvenhage, senior executives travel under armed guard in armour-plated cars after the roadside murder in May 2021 of general manager of operations Nico Swart while he was driving to work. That hit followed the murder of Ronnie Nzimande, general manager for human resources, who was shot in his driveway as he arrived home from work. Another nine people have been killed, almost certainly because they stood in the way of those who were creaming off substantial amounts from RMB’s operations. A source close to the police investigation noted: “Anybody who stands in the way of one of the syndicates is a target.” Apparently, the task team has identified a man “in his 30s” with local business interests in connection with some of the murders. Duvenhage said the company had no intention of giving up on SA, but the battle was taking a toll on staff. Read the full original of the detailed report in the above regard by Hendrik Hancke & Orrin Singh at Sunday Times (subscriber access only)
Limpopo lumber mill implements 90-day layoff period because of load shedding Moneyweb reports that Stevens Lumber Mills (SLM) in Limpopo has implemented a 90-day temporary layoff period because it is unable to operate sustainably due to Eskom’s load shedding and the short supply of logs. Sawmilling SA’s Roy Southey confirmed on Friday he was aware of SLM’s temporary layoff. He stressed that it was not unexpected that some mills were suffering because of the load shedding schedule and resource constraints. Southey said the saw milling industry employed about 350,000 people and confirmed that “lots of saw millers right now” were experiencing cash flow problems. “They are all finding it very difficult if you consider that the power shedding is one of the major constraints and then you have resource availability issues for some mills, the cost of diesel that has accelerated incredibly over the last period, and the wage demands. All of these things are placing huge pressure on the forests sector in general but more specifically on saw milling,” Southey pointed out. A letter written by SLM CEO Monika Smith on 24 February to the company’s major customers advised that the temporary layoff period would commence effective from 1 March. “The layoff will also give us time to explore, discuss and negotiate the best way forward for the continued operation of the mill. There is full commitment to this end,” she indicated. Smith said the company has applied to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to cover the salaries of SLM’s employees for the three-month period and while it sought an investor to come into the business. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Roy Cokayne at Moneyweb
Eskom, De Ruyter served with court papers for making corruption allegations against ANC 'without any shred of evidence' News24 reports that according to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, the political party has served court papers on Eskom and its former CEO, André de Ruyter, regarding bombshell comments on the alleged involvement of senior ANC members in corruption at the power utility. Addressing the media on Friday, Mbalula said: "We did follow up on De Ruyter and served court papers on Eskom and the former CEO this week. We think that there is something illegal committed by De Ruyter. The ANC is a political party that has not instructed anyone to go to Eskom and mess things up." He was adamant that De Ruyter had made the allegations "without any shred of evidence". Mbalula stated: "He just uttered and said the ANC is corrupt. We must accept that? No, we can't accept such.” He said the ANC would again give De Ruyter seven days to respond to court papers – and, should he fail to do so, the party would take further steps. During a recent interview on e.tv's My Guest Tonight with Annika Larsen, the former CEO made wide-ranging claims regarding ANC leaders, accusing at least two of being involved in corruption at Eskom. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Juniour Khumalo at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
North West teacher fired for leaking exam paper to pupils News24 reports that a North West school teacher lost his job after allegedly giving Grade 11 pupils at Tlotlang Thuto Secondary School a Life Orientation exam paper. The provincial Department of Education fired Motsamai Blondie Maake following a disciplinary hearing, after he allegedly handed over the paper on 29 June 2021, a day before the midyear examination was written. The disciplinary hearing found him guilty of violating the examination rules. However, Maake referred his dismissal to the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC), which has now also found against him. The ELRC's Ntjatja Klaas Aphane accused Maake of "arrogance" after he admitted that he had refused to discuss the exam leak with the head of department and the principal without a representative from the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) being present. Aphane said it was Maake's responsibility to notify and invite his union representative and not make that the principal's responsibility. Aphane said Maake’s refusal to provide his version had been misplaced and misguided and, while it was his constitutionally entrenched right to be represented by any union of his choice, “it was his responsibility to brief and ensure attendance of that union representative." Aphane found in favour of the department and ruled that Maake was not entitled to any reinstatement as the relationship between the department and Maake “is beyond repair, based on the totality of [the] evidence presented." Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jeanette Chabalala at News24
SA Human Rights commission suspends acting CEO pending probe into alleged racial remarks News24 reports that the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has suspended its acting CEO, Chantal Kisoon, pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations that she directed racial remarks at fellow staff members. Kisoon allegedly referred to senior managers at the commission as "black babies" during an operational planning meeting on 23 February. In a statement, the SAHRC said that commissioners met and consulted with both the senior managers and Kisoon, "to acquaint themselves better with the facts and the context in which the alleged offensive conduct took place." It added: "Noting the egregious nature of the allegation against the Acting CEO, Commissioners resolved to immediately initiate an investigation into the incident, to be conducted by an independent person who will report back to the Commissioners with findings and recommendations. The process of drafting the terms of reference for appointing such an independent person have started and it is expected that the person will be appointed soon. Commissioners have resolved to place the Acting CEO on precautionary suspension in terms of the rules of the Commission, pending the investigation." Acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Lorinda Lynn has been appointed to act as CEO in the interim. Meantime, the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers was quoted as saying it was "highly disturbed that a high-ranking official, an acting CEO not least, of an institution whose mandate is the protection of human rights and dignity, holds these views about black people". Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Zandile Khumalo at News24
Cosatu takes on Massmart over dismissals for unlawful conduct during strike Business Times reports that labour federation Cosatu demanded last week that Massmart must reinstate about 400 Makro employees that the company said were dismissed for unlawful conduct during a strike by the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu). According to Massmart, their dismissals followed a fair disciplinary procedure after certain employees participated in unlawful picketing action late last year. But Cosatu and Saccawu last week accused Makro of underhanded tactics aimed at undermining collective bargaining. In a letter, they demanded the unconditional reinstatement of all dismissed workers and that negotiations be reopened to discuss demands submitted by Saccawu. The letter claimed that Makro was attempting to liquidate Saccawu by offering incentives to workers if they terminated their membership. But, Massmart’s Brian Leroni said on Thursday that Cosatu’s allegation that the company was incentivising employees to leave the union was “uninformed and untrue” as more than 1,000 Makro staff left the union by personal choice to accept the company’s wage offer. Saccawu held a strike at Makro in January after the company did not meet the union's demands for a R900 a month or 12% wage increase, whichever was greater, a minimum wage of R8,000 a month and a 13th cheque. The strike is ongoing. The company advised in January it had implemented a 4.5% wage increase late last year. Cosatu said last week that Massmart’s conduct left it with no option but to mobilise members at Makro and other sectors to embark on "solidarity mobilisation" against “the violation of workers’ rights and against the repressive attitude to trade unionism”. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Business Times (subscriber access only)
Education departments agree to pay cost of sex pest vetting for teachers Sunday Times reports that education departments have agreed to pay the cost of vetting teachers against the national register for sex offenders (NRSO) after teachers objected to paying the fees themselves. Four unions that are part of the Combined Teacher Unions (CTU) wrote to basic education director-general Mathanzima Mweli in December to say there was no agreement between themselves and the department that teachers should pay for their own vetting. There are more than 447,000 teachers at almost 25,000 public schools. The cost of fingerprint reports, which have to be requested from the police, is about R75 per teacher. Initially, provincial education departments issued circulars informing schools that teachers had to pay for the fingerprint reports. The Western Cape provincial education department was alone among provinces which indicated that it was willing to foot the bill for its schools. Basil Manuel of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA said his union supported the vetting of teachers, but objected to them having to pay for it. He reported that Mweli told him on Friday that the employers would pay. “I believe that pressure from the unions could have possibly had a role to play in the departments' agreeing to foot the bill,” Manuel opined. Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga confirmed that they and the provincial education departments had agreed to pay for the vetting of teachers and other public employees in the sector. The process will start with teachers and staff in special schools and hostels and then in primary and secondary schools. “It cannot be done all at once since there is not sufficient capacity to do so given the number of employees in the education sector,” he said. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Prega Govender at Sunday Times (subscriber access only) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Man who defrauded over 300 young people with promises of learnerships gets R60,000 fine or three year jail time IOL reports that the Bushbuckridge Magistrate’s Court sentenced a 31-year-old man for fraud and money laundering after he defrauded over 300 youths by promising them learnerships at his unregistered company. Bongani Sibuyi was sentenced to three years in prison or a fine of R60 000, half of which was suspended. Hawks Mpumalanga spokesperson Captain Dineo Sekgotodi reported that Sibuyi started an entrepreneurship programme at the Bushbuckridge municipality, where he invited unemployed people to be part of the programme and charged them R250 each. “The probe revealed that over the period between 2017 and 2018, he recruited unemployed youth from poor rural areas of Bushbuckridge to be part of a skills development learnership programme. More than 300 youths registered for the project and they were informed to pay an administration fee of R250 each into a company account,” said Sekgotodi. Sibuyi promised his victims a stipend of R3500 a month. The money deposited was not used for the purpose it was intended for. A few months after the commencement of the project, learners embarked on a strike due to non-payment of the stipend as promised. According to Sekgotodi, It was found that the company was not registered with Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) and was also not accredited by the Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta). Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Brenda Masilela at IOL
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