In our Tuesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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Unions representing a majority of public servants signal acceptance of state’s 7.5% pay hike offer BL Premium reports that public service unions representing a majority of SA’s more than 1.3-million public servants seem about to accept a 7.5% sweetened pay hike deal. The unions, which had demanded an 8% wage increase, embarked on a mandate-seeking process that ended on Friday, after the state had raised its offer. “We are busy consolidating the data and crunching the numbers. But preliminary results show that members are accepting the 7.5% offer,” Reuben Maleka of the Public Servants Association (PSA) indicated on Monday. He said the unions concerned, including Sadtu, Naptosa, Satu and Hospersa, would like to wrap up the process by the end of the week. According to Maleka, the signing of a wage agreement would allow the 7.5% pay hike to be implemented on 1 April. The proposal includes a pensionable cash gratuity. A separate agreement was being negotiated on housing allowances, while medical insurance was not part of the current round of talks, Maleka said. The 7.5% wage offer is set to increase the R690bn compensation spending by the state to more than R741bn, so raising concerns about the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts as the Treasury had pencilled in an average annual growth rate of 1.6% in government employee salaries for 2023/2024. The Treasury would need to explain how the final public sector wage agreement outcome will affect the planned fiscal metrics and sustainability path as outlined in the budget, noted North-West University Business School economics professor Raymond Parsons. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, SA civil servants signal acceptance of state pay hike, at Fin24
‘We are sick, tired of contract renewals’, say Gauteng health workers as they march to demand permanent jobs The Citizen reports that the Gauteng Department of Health workers has been accused of exploiting its contract workers by refusing to employ them on a permanent basis. Members of the Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union (Haitu) and the Independent Liberation and Allied Workers Union (Ilawu) marched to the provincial health department and Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi’s offices in Johannesburg on Monday, to hand over a memorandum of demands. The unions demanded the permanent employment of all contract workers, as they were facing the prospect of being out of jobs at the end of the financial year. According to the unions, the rights of Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers have been abused, as they have been working for the department on a contractual basis for more than 15 years. The unions also demanded that the department rehire the workers whose contracts ended in February 2023, allegedly without notice. Ilawu’s Siphamandla Masemola asserted that the EPWP workers have been the “pillar” of the healthcare system in the province yet they remained outside of the system and were still not recognised permanently. The unions called on Lesufi to intervene and address their demands within seven days. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Molefe Seeletsa at The Citizen. Read too, Unions want Gauteng health department to retain healthcare workers hired during Covid, at EWN
NUM says Ramokgopa wrong to blame technical issues at Eskom and not corruption for energy crisis BusinessLive reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which is the largest union at Eskom, is at loggerheads with newly appointed electricity minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa over his claim that the infrastructure breakdowns at the power utility are due to technical issues and not corruption. Ramokgopa, who is on a two-week tour of Eskom's power stations said last week at the Tutuka station that most of the issues faced at power stations were technical and not necessarily due to graft. Ramokgopa changed his tune slightly during his visit to Medupi power station on Monday, conceding to workers that there were rotten apples in the entity “who thrive in conditions that makes it possible for them to steal.” On Monday, NUM criticised Ramokgopa’s comments on graft at the power utility, laying the blame for SA’s energy crisis on corruption at Eskom. Bizzah Motubatse, chair of the union’s Highveld Branch, said: “The reasons behind the tripping of units is because of the substandard spares that are being bought with prices that are colluded and inflated. Some of the spares are paid and never arrive at the power stations or are immediately removed from sites through corrupt activities.” He went on to assert: “Load-shedding is implemented as a result of the power stations that are not performing due to trips and half loads. But as the NUM highveld region we are categorically and emphatically disagreeing with the minister’s version that corruption in Eskom does not play any role towards persistent load-shedding.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at BusinessLive. Read too, New electricity minister’s past raises concerns of corruption, at BizNews Loadshedding destroying production, growth, jobs in the metals and engineering sector, Seifsa warns Engineering News reports that according to the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa), companies in the metals and engineering sector have seen production decline by 34.2% over the past year, with production in the sector estimated to contract by 5.3% this year. Seifsa undertook a loadshedding impact survey of its members to measure the impact of the energy crisis on them between February 2022 and February this year. Employment in the sector has mirrored the production trends, contracting by 1.1% over the year and contributing to the country’s unemployment crisis. “The employment losses over the period indicate some very concerning trends, although these losses are mostly attributable to companies responding to the energy crisis over the year period,” Seifsa indicated. Specifically, one-quarter of companies indicated that they had had to reduce headcount in response to the electricity crisis, some by as much as one-quarter of their employment, equating to 9,432 people. One-third of the respondents indicated that they were working short-time owing to the electricity crisis. “An even more concerning outcome is the fact that half of the companies that are implementing short-time have already reduced headcount. We assign the status of vulnerable to these companies because, while the other half of companies have not reduced headcount, short-time is a good leading indicator to track for potential future job losses,” Seifsa highlighted. Furthermore, 42.6% of the companies that responded have cancelled investment and/or expansion plans, owing to the uncertainty presented by the electricity crisis. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News Eskom says Stage 6 unlikely this winter, but analyst warns to expect worse Fin24 reports that the outlook for load shedding this winter is bleak, but Eskom believes it very likely will not be as intense as it has been in the first three months of this year and will not reach Stage 6. But this projection is not shared by independent analyst Clyde Mallinson, who has modelled the expected load shedding outlook based on historical winter load profile data and foresees much higher stages of load shedding, depending on how much diesel is burned. Eskom's expectations are based on much lower maintenance during winter and slightly better plant performance in the colder months. Eskom's chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer says load shedding will not likely exceed Stage 4 but given the unpredictability of the coal fleet this cannot be absolutely guaranteed. He indicated: “It's going to be difficult. The outlook is not positive. We will try our best not to exceed Stage 4 and hopefully never to go to Stage 6, but the risk is there.” Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has a similar message about the months ahead. Speaking while on a visit to Koeberg on Friday, he said he wanted to give the SA public the assurance that “I don't foresee us moving to higher stages of load shedding, that is beyond Stage 6. When we get there, we will run our diesel peaking stations." Mallinson foresees average load shedding varying between Stage 2 and Stage 3 over winter when running the diesel open cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) in an unconstrained fashion, and two levels above that when factoring in financial and logistics constraints on diesel burn. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton at Fin24 (subscriber access only) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Samwu to challenge legislative ban on municipal workers holding political posts BL Premium reports that the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) is set to approach the Constitutional Court to challenge controversial legislation banning all municipal workers from holding political party positions. The Municipal Systems Amendment Act was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2022 and is said to be in contravention of clauses in the Bill of Rights. Samwu is an affiliate of labour federation Cosatu, a key ally of the ANC. Samwu members are, by and large, ANC supporters and members. The legislation the union wants to challenge means municipal workers cannot hold political positions at branch, regional, provincial and national levels. Cosatu national spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said the legislation was “fundamentally flawed and simply unconstitutional” and the labour federation supported Samwu’s decision to challenge its constitutionality. Samwu general secretary Dumisane Magagula said several municipalities had written to their workers, giving them an ultimatum to resign as political office bearers or municipal employees. Samwu has called on its members to “ignore the ultimatum” as the union, along with Cosatu, “are in the process of challenging the amendments”. Labour lawyer Michael Bagraim commented: “I personally think that, in law, Cosatu is correct. You can’t stop a person joining an association – a political party is an association. It doesn’t make sense at all. I think it’s an infringement on the right to work and association. I would agree with Cosatu on this one, I don’t know why the ANC is doing that.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
With Sasol CEO’s term set to end in 2024, succession plan in place Bloomberg reports that Sasol has a plan in place to find a successor for CEO Fleetwood Grobler, whose term of running SA’s biggest publicly traded company by revenue will end next year. The board’s nomination and governance committee started a “process to identify a suitable successor” to Grobler in 2022, chairperson Sipho Nkosi indicated. The company will announce the new CEO in the first half of 2024. Grobler’s five-year term ends in December next year and “the board has got a well thought through succession plan,” the CEO said in an interview at the company’s Johannesburg headquarters. “They’ve really actively engaged to make sure that it’s going to be the outcome that they want to see,” he added. Grobler, 61, started at Sasol in 1984 and has worked throughout its global operations. He took over as head of the company in October 2019. Sasol “is on a good pathway” to increase diversity in leadership at the company, Grobler commented. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly
PSA demands details of 'secretive' court settlement between PIC and Ayo TimesLive reports that the Public Servants Association (PSA) says it rejects the secretive deal between the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and Ayo Technology Solutions and has demanded transparency about the settlement. On Friday, the PIC announced it had reached a settlement regarding the proceedings it had instituted in the Western Cape High Court, where it was seeking to recover a R4.3bn investment in Ayo. The details of the settlement, which was made an order of the court, were not revealed by the PIC. The union called on the PIC to provide the details of the settlement with Ayo, failing which it would have no other option than to consider litigation. “The PSA represents more than 237,000 public-sector employees and raised serious concerns with (this) investment as far back as 2020,” the union pointed out, adding that it represented a significant number of employees belonging to the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) and had a significant and direct interest in how GEPF assets were invested by the PIC. The PSA said the Ayo investment was another indication that the PIC’s strategy was not in line with its own mandate and alleged that reckless investments were compromising the GEPF and its members. The PSA said it would leave no stone unturned to obtain the facts in the Ayo matter. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ernest Mabuza at TimesLive
SAHRC's investigation into former acting CEO continues amid appointment of new head News24 reports that while the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) announced Vusimuzi Mkhize as its new CEO on Monday, it said its investigation into former acting CEO Chantal Kisoon was continuing. Spokesperson Wisani Baloyi explained that the commission's COO was never appointed permanently to the CEO position and therefore the new appointment did not affect the proceedings against her. Kisoon came under fire after senior managers at the commission accused her of referring to them as "black babies" at an operational planning meeting in February. Baloyi said the commission took allegations of racism and discrimination seriously. The commission suspended Kisoon earlier this month following consultations with the senior managers to gather relevant facts and the context in which she allegedly made the comments. "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 SAHRC indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Cebelihle Bhengu at News24
DA turns to its lawyers after failing several times to serve Cllr Malusi Booi with suspension letter News24 reports that the DA in the Western Cape has been unable to serve a suspension letter on axed City of Cape Town councillor Malusi Booi. The DA convened an urgent meeting last week after Booi was removed from Cape Town's mayoral committee following a police raid at his offices. Earlier, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis advised that he had received a briefing from the police regarding an investigation and, on that basis, had decided to remove Booi from his position immediately. Police raided Booi's offices as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of fraud and tender irregularities. The police apparently seized documents, Booi's phone, and staff members' electronic devices. No one was arrested. The DA’s provincial leader Tertuis Simmers reported that following the DA's provincial executive committee meeting on Thursday, several attempts to serve intention to suspend papers on Booi had been unsuccessful. Simmers said the party held two telephone conversations with Booi alerting him to his suspension. "He was alerted to the need to serve the documents on him and on one occasion Councillor Booi did not honour a meeting agreed on," Simmers indicated, adding that the matter was now with the DA's lawyers and the sheriff of the court would serve the letter on him. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marvin Charles at News24
Increase in reported sexual misconduct cases in schools, but few dismissals TimesLive reports that the DA is concerned that of the 191 cases of sexual misconduct reported to the SA Council of Educators (Sace) in the 2021/22 period, only 23 disciplinary proceedings were instituted and only four educators were struck off the roll. The political party noted that the number of cases of sexual misconduct reported to Sace had risen dramatically from 92 in 2019/20 and 169 in 2020/21. Basic education minister Angie Motshekga revealed these figures in an answer to a written parliamentary question by the DA. The DA’s Desiree van der Walt said: “The DA finds it very concerning that Sace only instituted 23 disciplinary proceedings last year – a mere 12% of the reported cases of sexual misconduct. Of these, 19 educators were found guilty of sexual misconduct, yet only four were struck off the roll indefinitely.” According to Sace, some of the cases were closed due to lack of evidence to substantiate the allegations, deliberate unavailability of complainants to assist with the investigation or disciplinary proceedings, and witnesses refusing to co-operate with the council. “The complainants’ reluctance to co-operate with Sace in investigating and disciplining their alleged abusers indicates a perceived bias against the victims of abuse. Sace must take responsibility for this perception and ensure that disciplinary hearings are environments where alleged victims and witnesses feel safe, are protected from further trauma, and where evidence and testimony from both parties are examined in an objective and sensitive manner,” Van der Walt stated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ernest Mabuza at TimesLive. Lees ook, 191 onderwysers van seksuele oortredings beskuldig, by Maroela Media Three Eastern Cape teachers suspended for alleged sexual misconduct, with one of the victims having attempted suicide and another having shaved her head The Citizen reports that the Eastern Cape department of education has suspended three Alfred Nzo East district teachers for alleged sexual misconduct. This followed a report by DispatchLive alleging that one of the pupils had shaved her head bald “to make herself unattractive” to a teacher who was allegedly making sexual advances towards her. Another pupil reportedly complained that one of the accused teachers “grabbed her bottom on school premises and punished her for refusing to visit him at his home”. On Monday, the Eastern Cape department of education announced that the teachers had been suspended following a preliminary investigation conducted by the district. The investigation apparently confirmed some of the allegations against the teachers. The investigation is continuing. The department indicated further that a team of psycho-social support had been activated and last week started counselling and debriefing the pupils concerned as one of them had left school and attempted suicide. “Both the provincial and district offices are monitoring the situation and providing necessary support to avert any loss of life due to this incident,” the department assured. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at The Citizen
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