In our Wednesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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Most hospitals returned to regular service on Tuesday, as Nehawu continued strike in other sectors TimesLive reports that most hospitals across the country were operating normally on Tuesday as the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) appeared to have complied with the order of the Labour Appeal Court (LAC) interdicting it and its members in essential service from continuing with the public sector strike at health centres. The strike, which began the previous Monday, saw a number of health facilities unable to provide full services to patients after some workers faced intimidation. The Gauteng provincial health department said a preliminary report on Tuesday morning indicated that most of its facilities were operating as expected. In the Free State, a health department spokesperson said all seemed to be back to normal on Tuesday morning. Nehawu spokesperson Lwazi Nkolonzi pointed out that the interdict did not bar the union from continuing with the strike in the public service but was limited to workers in essential service and at the Special Investigating Unit, the SA Social Security Agency and the SA National Biodiversity Institute. “The rest of the other departments not covered by the interdict are continuing with the strike, including at home affairs and agriculture. Our leaders are addressing them today. We are intensifying the strike,” he indicated. Nkolonzi added that the union was engaged in a Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council-facilitated process in an effort to resolve the dispute. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ernest Mabuza at BusinessLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
EFF warns businesses to close on day of national shutdown next Monday to avoid possible looting TimesLive reports that the EFF has warned businesses to close their doors next Monday or risk being looted. The opposition party is planning the “mother of all shutdowns” to call for President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign. In a video circulating online, EFF members can be heard announcing the shutdown over a loudspeaker: “We are saying to you close down all your businesses to avoid the looting. Close down all your shops to avoid the looting. Close down all your factories to avoid the looting. Close down everything. Nothing will be operating on that day. We are avoiding the looting. We are saying to you come and join the march, my brother. Come and join the march, my sister.” Meantime, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to police minister Bheki Cele calling for his assurance that the police will ensure the protests do not turn violent. “The national shutdown being organised and promoted by the EFF for March 20 presents a very clear and present threat to the economy, the safety and rights of citizens as well as to public and private infrastructure,” said DA MP Andrew Whitfield. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Unathi Nkanjeni at TimesLive. Lees ook, Landwye betoging: Wees eerder voorbereid, by Maroela Media
NUM opposes ‘migration’ by Anglo Platinum of some operations from MHSA to OHSA Mining Weekly reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has condemned Anglo American Platinum’s (Amplats’) “migration” from the Mine Health & Safety Act (MHSA) to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) at some of its operations, calling it unlawful. According to the union, Amplats began the migration process last year, seeking to exclude the Waterval Smelter, Anglo Converter Plant, Precious Refinery, Rustenburg Base Metal Refinery and Mortimer Smelter from the regulatory regime of the MHSA by moving them under the regulatory regime of the OHSA. These operations were previously under the regulatory regime of the MHSA. Amplats commented: “When Anglo American sold its mines in Rustenburg to Sibanye-Stillwater in 2016 and Siyanda in 2018, we also ceased owning any of these mining rights. However, we do still own processing operations there and, as these aren’t associated with a mining right, the applicable health and safety laws governing these operations is now the OHSA and not the MHSA.” The NUM has argued that, regardless of who owned the mining rights, the refineries and smelters remained part of mining activities as defined in the MHSA. Amplats, however, said the migration was being effected to ensure better health and safety standards. Yet, the NUM has accused Amplats of inventing the “migration process” – a concept the union claims does not exist in law. Since Amplats has not acceded to the NUM's demand to halt the migration, the union has launched an interdict application in the High Court in the hope that the migration will be declared unlawful. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly Five suspected illegal miners found shot dead at Free State mine News24 reports that five suspected illegal miners were shot and killed in Virginia, the Free State. The men, found at Central Plant Mine, had gunshot wounds at the backs of their heads. The matter was reported to the police on Tuesday afternoon. Police spokesperson Captain Stephen Thakeng said authorities suspected that unknown killers shot the men elsewhere before dumping their bodies at the mine. He explained that a local shepherd informed a man who was looking for his brother about the five bodies dumped at the mine. One of the men, who was identified by his brother who lives in Thabong, Welkom, was a foreign national. Police have not yet made any arrests. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Cebelihle Bhengu at News24 Other general posting(s) relating to mining
De Ruyter goes to ground, while Eskom is denied more time to respond to ANC demands on corruption allegations News24Wire reports that Eskom says it has to launch an investigation into allegations that the ANC is involved in corruption at the power utility before it can respond to a demand for an apology and retraction of comments made by former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter. De Ruyter has apparently gone to ground in the aftermath of a television interview in which he said the power utility had become a feeding trough for the ANC. He was asked by the Eskom board to leave the utility immediately in the days after the interview was aired. In a letter addressed to Eskom board chairperson Mpho Makwana on 28 February, the ANC demanded a retraction of the comments as well as clarity on whether De Ruyter had spoken for Eskom. Eskom requested and was granted a seven-day extension. The party's attorney, Krish Naidoo advised that Eskom responded again on Tuesday – requesting even more time. Eskom's group executive for legal and compliance, Mel Govender, indicated that as soon as Eskom was in a position to speak about the allegations, it would inform the ANC. Govender also confirmed that letters for De Ruyter's attention had been delivered to his last known address. Naidoo replied to Eskom to indicate that ANC's request was for a decision on one issue only, namely “whether the public utility confirms or disassociates itself from the defamatory utterance of Mr De Ruyter pertaining to the ANC." He advised that the ANC was not prepared to grant any further indulgence as to the deadline for a response. Naidoo also raised concerns about the lack of response from De Ruyter on the letter that Eskom had helped the ANC deliver. "Kindly advise if Eskom has been able to establish whether Mr De Ruyter still occupies the premises?" he asked. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Home Affairs commits to reducing backlog on residence permits BusinessLive reports that the Department of Home Affairs is giving attention to clearing the backlog of applications for permanent and temporary residence permits that date back to 2016, and which cause immense frustration to people wanting to settle in the country. But it only expects to have cleared the backlog in 15 months’ time. Acting director of immigration services Yusuf Simons told MPs on Tuesday that measures to address the backlogs included bringing in more adjudicators, the use of overtime and reducing the number of layers of adjudication that an application has to go through before being considered by the director-general. At present, it takes eight months to process a permanent residence permit application because it has to go through six processes. Simons said the priority was to deal with applications for critical skills, business and work visas as those had an effect on economic growth and job creation, but doing that led to backlogs in other areas. The 3,090 previously outstanding business-related applications had been processed and most of the business- and work-related visas were not part of the backlog. Simons also noted that the department was compiling draft regulations to give effect to the recommendations of Vulindlela, a project in the presidency aimed at introducing economic reforms to accelerate growth. The Vulindlela team made recommendations about improving the processing of applications including a reduction in the number of documents that applicants have to submit; a time period for police clearance certificates of five years instead of the current requirement of every six months that a person has been in the country; radiology report; and for the departments of trade, industry and competition and labour to assist the DHA with the verification of documents. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor at BusinessLive
Outcry over performance bonuses at eThekwini Municipality The Mercury reports that opposition councillors in the eThekwini Municipality are outraged following revelations that more than R60 million meant for service delivery had been diverted to pay performance bonuses to some of the City’s workers. They said it was hard to justify such payments in light of the poor service delivery in the City, which has left ratepayers fuming. A budget adjustment report tabled recently showed that the City had set aside R66 million to pay performance bonuses. It was not immediately clear whether the bonuses had already been paid. The latest developments came shortly after the municipality allocated R71 million to pay performance bonuses to staff to avoid a wildcat strike by employees in December last year. A report on those bonuses had called on the council to approve the re-prioritisation of R71 million from the overtime budget to cater for the payment of performance rewards for the 2020/21 financial years. The “new” bonuses are also for the 2020/21 financial year. DA councillor Andre Beetge said the latest figure was shocking, with “the most controversial (in the budget adjustment) being the allocation of funding of R66.6 million towards performance bonuses for lower salaried staff.” He said there was no performance deserving of these performance bonuses. Beetge pointed out that departments had complained about the lack of resources, such as chains for saws, backfill materials, fuel for machines and access to parts. “Yet, despite this obvious lack in resources and the funding thereto, the City finds it appropriate to extend employees a further ‘performance bonus’ when in fact, the same employees complain that they are unable to work, as they lack these resources.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thami Magubane at The Mercury
Ramaphosa keeps mum as Minister Noxolo Kiviet implicated in qualifications scandal Cape Argus reports that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is probing new Public Service and Administration Minister Noxolo Kiviet after Fort Hare University officials implicated her in the institution’s qualifications fraud scandal. After matric, Kiviet allegedly skipped undergraduate studies, registered and obtained an Honours degree in administration and a Master’s degree in public administration, and had a non-credit-bearing shortcourse certificate with hand-written results. Disgraced former Fort Hare professor Edwin Ijeoma was allegedly at the centre of a qualifications scam that operated at the university. In August 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a proclamation allowing the SIU to probe allegations of corruption and maladministration at the university. It authorised the SIU to focus on the alleged qualifications scam, which encompassed that Ijeoma allegedly recruiting politicians and public servants for registration for post-graduate degrees in public management and administration without “students” having gone through undergraduate programmes. The SIU confirmed the investigation into Kiviet, but added that the unit did not issue updates on ongoing investigations. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwanya didn’t respond to queries. DA spokesperson on public service and administration, Dr Leon Schreiber, is preparing a request in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to obtain proof that Kiviet committed “degree fraud” at the university. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Soyiso Maliti at Cape Argus
Seven family members arrested, including UIF employee, over alleged claims swindle News24 report that an Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) insider is among seven family members arrested last week for allegedly ripping off the UIF fund. Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said a UIF staffer discovered that three claimants did not work for Kasam Services, a pool cleaning company registered with the department as a UIF contributor. She questioned a batch of payments. The trail then led to the wife of one of the claimants, who works at the UIF in Cape Town. Three of the claimants had already received part of the UIF benefits to the value of just more than R108,000, while four other claims were placed on hold when it came to the attention of the Department of Labour that the claims were fraudulent. The implicated UIF employee is employed as a client service officer, and is alleged to have ensured that the claims were processed. The suspects face 18 charges of fraud, forgery, uttering and one charge of corruption for allegedly defrauding the fund. They appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court last Thursday and were each granted R2,500 bail. They have to return to court on 15 May. Read the full original of the report in the above regard compiled by Jenni Evans at News24
Former employee arrested for allegedly defrauding Volkswagen of more than R12m News24 reports that last week the Hawks arrested a former Volkswagen (VW) employee for allegedly defrauding the car manufacturer of more than R12 million. Christo de Jager, 59, was arrested on numerous fraud and corruption charges. He had worked as a fleet manager for VW at Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape. Gqeberha Hawks spokesperson, Captain Yolisa Mgolodela, said that between January 2013 and April 2021, De Jager allegedly became part of a defrauding scam with an employee of Autotrust, which was contracted to do auto body repair work. De Jager was allegedly being paid monthly to orchestrate payments based on fraudulent invoices. Mgolodela reported: “A whistle was blown, and the matter was reported to the Hawks for extensive investigations. [The] investigations revealed that during the eight years of the commission of the offence, 572 fraudulent invoices were submitted and paid for, thus prejudicing VWSA of more than R12 million for services not rendered.” De Jager appeared in the Gqeberha New Law Court and was released on a warning. He will return to court on 23 March. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tshepiso Motloung at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Health ombud recommends disciplinary action against CEO of Rahima Moosa Hospital The Citizen reports that Health Ombudsman Malegapuru Makgoba has recommended that Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital should get a new CEO. This after an investigation was launched into the hospital following reports that pregnant patients had to sleep on the floor. The report recommended that a new CEO should be appointed within three months. The ombud’s team interviewed more than 30 people during its investigation. It also used video footage and the contribution of paediatrician Dr Tim de Maayer, who previously wrote an open letter criticising the state of health care provided at the hospital. He was suspended for blowing the whistle on the poor conditions at the hospital. Revealing the outcome of his report on Tuesday, Makgoba confirmed that the well-being of patients and healthcare practitioners at the hospital was severely compromised. The report found that the CEO had neglected her duties because she was not working full-time at the hospital. Makgoba said the CEO, Dr Nozuko Mkabayi, was not at work for 27 days in 2021 and 72 days in 2022. Mkabayi now works at the Gauteng Health Department’s offices. The Health Ombud recommended that disciplinary proceedings should take place against Mkabayi. Among other issues, he found that security was not up to scratch, with staff being having been mugged on the hospital grounds. Responding to the report, the Gauteng Department of Health said it welcomed the findings and would look at “consolidating an implementation plan to address the issues”. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at The Citizen. Lees ook, Gru-bewerings oor hospitaal toe die waarheid, by Maroela Media Health ombud finds that lax standards in appointing Gauteng hospital CEOs EWN reports that according to Health Ombudsman Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, Gauteng is the only province that has lowered its standards for candidates fit to be a hospital CEO. Makgoba delivered a report yesterday into the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital. Complaints about hygiene, infrastructure and lack of beds at the facility had been lodged, resulting in an investigation by the ombud last year. Some of the complaints were from a paediatrician, Tim de Maayer, who wrote an open letter detailing the lack of machinery, and water and sanitation, which he claimed contributed to the deaths of children. On Tuesday, the ombud recommended a disciplinary inquiry into hospital CEO, Dr Nozuko Mkabayi, who has been moved to the Gauteng Health Department's provincial office where Makgoba said that she should be stablised and supported. While reflecting on Mkabayi’s performance, Malegapuru Makgoba said that it seemed that the standards of appointing hospital CEOs in Gauteng were rather lax. "What was even worse was that when we looked at the choices of the CEOs, the selection committee and the employer didn't even seem to read what the referees' report had said, the competency tests had said, they just seemed to ignore that to chose somebody." He added that it seemed that the province had a problem in choosing CEOs. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kgomotso Modise at EWN
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