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.
|
SA’s average pay fell than one-tenth in one year, Household Financial Resilience Index reveals BL Premium reports the average pay of South Africans declined more than a tenth over the past year, according to the latest data from the Altron Fintech Household Financial Resilience Index (Afhri). The figures for the last quarter of 2022, released on Monday, showed the average monthly remuneration in the formal and informal sectors declined from R18,470 to R16,370 year-on-year in real terms, namely accounting for inflation. This was in part because 1.4-million new jobs were created in 2022 in lower-paying sectors such as hospitality and tourism, which was recovering from the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic as tourists returned to SA. “The other reason is Covid scared people who temporarily lost their jobs, or maybe even permanently, and they now shy away from asking for a raise in the private sector. They are just too glad to have a job,” economist Roelof Botha, who compiles the index for Altron Fintech, observed. The latest reading of the index, which gauges the finances of households and their ability to cope with debt, was 111.5. This was slightly higher than the 109.9 in the third quarter, but lower than the score of 112.7 a year ago, showing mounting pressure on households, largely because of high inflation and interest rate hikes. “Given the 2014 base level of 100, this means that the average household’s financial disposition has improved by 11.5% in real terms over nine years. However, the average annual improvement since 2014 is only 1.2%, which serves as a clear indication of the economy’s underperformance,” Botha indicated. One of the biggest boosts to households for dealing with their short-term debt was the surrendering of long-term insurance, which propped up the index. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nico Gous at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Top public officials in line for 3.8% salary increase, even though finance ministry 'pleaded' for 1.5% Fin24 reports that the Presidency on Friday published the annual recommendation of the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office-bearers, which must by law consider a range of factors, then give President Cyril Ramaphosa a recommendation. He was advised that the top echelon of SA’s public servants – including cabinet ministers, MPs, judges, and traditional leaders – should get salary increases of 3.8%. This was even though finance minister Enoch Godongwana wanted to see a much lower number. Ramaphosa is ultimately responsible for deciding the pay of those office bearers, and he has a track record of coming in below the commission's recommendation. The commission reported that during its consultations, Godongwana "pleaded with the commission to consider the prevailing adverse economic conditions and the extent to which the general population is affected by the low economic state in which the country finds itself." Godongwana recommended 1.5%, plus a once-off cash payment. The Lower Courts Remuneration Committee, which effectively represents 1,620 magistrates, argued for nothing lower than a 7% increase. Meanwhile, the Heads of Court Committee on Judges Remuneration, speaking for 237 judges, submitted numbers on the "inflationary erosion of judges' salaries" in terms of which they earned an effective 20.6% less than they did seven years ago. However, justice minister Ronald Lamola supported a 3.8% recommendation for both the judiciary and state institutions supporting democracy, such as the Public Protector. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Phillip de Wet at Fin24. Read too, Treasury warns proposed 3.8% pay hike for public office bearers is ‘tone-deaf’, at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Sibanye-Stillwater CEO’s pay cut R111m to R189m in 2022 financial year BL Premium reports that Sibanye-Stillwater’s annual report showed on Monday that the precious metals producer’s CEO Neal Froneman received a total pay package of R189m in the 2022 financial year, down from R300m the year before. His total pay fell after the world’s largest producer of platinum group metals (PGMs) posted a drop in profit as commodity prices came off the boil. Its profit fell to R19bn from R33.8bn in the year. But Froneman has delivered enormous value to shareholders since the company was unbundled from Gold Fields in 2013. “Over the period of 10 years, even as the company stands now after a difficult period, you still almost quadrupled your money. It does not really matter how much a person who is doing the job gets paid,” commented Petri Redelinghuys of Herenya Capital Advisors. Asief Mohamed of Aeon Investment Management remarked: “Froneman will either succeed or fail based on the fortunes of the PGM prices and the gold price. Of concern is the increasing fatality trend at certain Sibanye-Stillwater mines.” Four contractor employees died in an accident at its Burnstone project near Balfour in Mpumalanga two weeks ago. The incident happened after the collapse of a newly constructed surface waste rock conveyor. In the latest annual report, Sibanye also announced it was reviewing the board’s composition. The review will look at diversity policy, tenure policy, the rotation policy and monitoring the independence of nonexecutive directors. The group’s ageing board is chaired by Vincent Maphai, 71. Six of Sibanye board members are 65 or older. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Andries Mahlangu at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Other general posting(s) relating to mining
Load-shedding will still be in place come December, electricity minister warns in U-turn TimesLive reports that Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has seemingly made a U-turn on his energy plan to see the country free of load-shedding by December. Speaking at the ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Boksburg at the weekend, Ramokgopa said it was not possible to end load-shedding by the end of 2023. “I want to sit here and tell the country load-shedding will end tomorrow. Unfortunately, that’s not possible. It is also not technically possible to end load-shedding by the end of the calendar year 2023, and that’s why we are at pains to illustrate the kind of steps we are taking,” said Ramokgopa. He went on to indicate: “The long and short of it is that load-shedding will still be with us by the end of this calendar year, but we will do everything possible to ensure its intensity is not as severe, so we get the economy going.” The minister had previously warned of a dark and cold winter if Eskom's grid remained constrained. According to him, Eskom needs about 6,000MW to bridge the gap between demand and supply. Ramokgopa said with energy demand expected to grow in winter, the gap could increase to 10,000MW, which might result in higher stages of load-shedding. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Unathi Nkanjeni at BusinessLive. Read too, Nothing to see here: Ramokgopa offers same list of load shedding ‘solutions’, at The Citizen Government legal teams still trying to figure out what the electricity minister's job should be News24 report that discussions between legal teams from the Presidency, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) are the last stumbling block before President Cyril Ramaphosa proclaims powers to aid his electricity minister in his mammoth task of solving SA’s load shedding problems. While reports have suggested that the holdup in Ramaphosa not assigning powers to Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa have been caused by Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan refusing to relinquish some of their responsibilities, the ANC has asserted that such delays were more of a legal nature. Explaining the situation on Saturday at the ANC national executive committee meeting, the party's economic transformation subcommittee chairperson Mmamoloko Kubayi said the snag was now at the level of legal teams from the Presidency, the DMRE and the DPE, which were locked in engagements. The engagements, according to Kubayi, were to iron out which legislative frameworks need to be transferred from the energy and public enterprises departments and housed under the minister of electricity, and what the legal implications of doing that would be. She said such far-reaching decisions were being taken with the understanding that Ramokgopa’s role was temporary and would come to an end once the load shedding crisis was addressed, meaning that reinstating those powers to the two departments also needed to be factored in. Kubayi added that Ramaphosa also wanted Ramokgopa to assess for himself what powers he would need to address the energy crisis, and give input. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Juniour Khumalo at News24 (subscriber access only). Read too, Ramokgopa and Gordhan a no-show at ‘energy demand’ indaba, at Moneyweb Electricity Minister wins battle to delay shutdown of Eskom coal-fired power stations BL Premium reports that on Monday, the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) endorsed a proposal to delay the shutdown of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations, signifying a political victory for electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa that has the potential to throw a spanner in the works for SA’s climate change commitments. The NEC rallied behind Ramokgopa at its four-day strategy meeting. The committee’s decisions are traditionally converted into government policy. “As we prioritise ending load-shedding, we will need to revisit our decommissioning schedule to balance energy security and our climate commitments,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is under pressure to end rolling power cuts. Without mentioning how the shutdown schedule would be revised, he justified the decision in his closing remarks to the NEC, saying that other countries that have faced similar energy supply challenges either recommissioned or extended the lifespan of their coal power plants. The proposal to extend the life of Eskom’s coal-fired plants has been championed by Ramokgopa, who presented his long and short-term plans to manage the power crisis to the ANC’s national working committee and the cabinet. However, the cabinet did not endorse the plan and rather referred Ramokgopa to the national energy crisis committee – a body set up in 2022 by Ramaphosa to tackle load-shedding – for concurrence. Extending the lifespan of the Eskom plants could jeopardise SA’s ability to secure financing for its just energy transition (JET) programme. Eskom’s coal plants are poorly maintained and prone to breakdown, forcing the utility to impose various levels of load-shedding within a short period of time and with short notice. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Five candidates shortlisted for appointment as Eskom CEO Fin24 reports that Eskom has compiled a shortlist consisting of five candidates to take on the role of CEO of the embattled utility. Delivering a keynote address at the National Demand Side Management Indaba in Johannesburg on Monday, Eskom board chairperson Mpho Makwana said the utility was progressing in its search for a new CEO: "We've been quite advanced in the shortlisting process for the next new chief executive of Eskom, such that we now have a small shortlist of five candidates." He advised that that he would be attending a meeting later on Monday related to the appointment. Former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter, who joined the utility in late 2019, departed from his post earlier than anticipated. He resigned in December last year and was supposed to have stayed on until April, but left the utility abruptly in February. This followed an explosive interview, in which De Ruyter accused a "senior politician" of being involved in corruption at Eskom. After 30 years of service at the utility, Eskom Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer will also leave the company when he retires this month. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lisa Steyn at Fin24
Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES) has been a huge success, but it isn’t a priority GroundUp writes that the Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES), launched by Cyril Ramaphosa in response to the Covid pandemic, has pulled more than 1 million people into jobs or supported their livelihoods since it was launched. Since 2020, 1.1 million people have directly benefited from the programme, which has cost R32.6-billion over the three years (about R30,000 per direct beneficiary). Many more people’s lives have been improved because of the additional household income. Some 800,000 mostly short-term jobs, mostly for young people, and aimed at serving the common good, have been created so far. Yet the National Treasury’s spending projections for the next three years, found in this year’s budget, do not account for the stimulus from next year. The Presidency indicated that the PES would continue in some form. Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said: “There is no intention to terminate the programme. The Presidency will be engaging through the budget process for further allocations that will cover 2024/25 and beyond.” But there is no budget allocated to it for the years to come and each year since 2020 has seen a drop in its funding. With no budget, planning for the future of the PES is said to be incredibly difficult. By far the largest and most impressive component of the PES, responsible for 75% of all jobs created, has been the schools programme, called the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI). The next largest jobs component of the PES has been the Social Employment Programme. For Kate Philip, Programme Lead for the PES, the Social Employment Programme could be the most exciting way to develop the jobs programme further. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by James Stent at GroundUp
Eastcape Midlands TVET College campus at Graaff-Reinet closed by student protest over NSFAS allowance GroundUp reports that Eastcape Midlands College was closed on Monday at the Graaff-Reinet campus as students protested about delays in the payment of their National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) allowances. On Friday, exams were supposed to have started at the campus, but protests disrupted the exams. Students who were already inside classrooms came out and joined the protest. On Monday, students sitting outside the gates of the campus were watched by a few police officers. NSFAS spokesperson Tsholofelo Zweni indicated that they had not received any official information about the protest at the Graaff-Reinet campus. “However, we have confirmed with the main campus that there was a strike on Tuesday, 18 April. NSFAS is working with the college to resolve the issues as quickly as possible. NSFAS pays colleges based on registration data received for NSFAS qualifying students and since the year has started, NSFAS has already made three payments of college student allowances,” said Zweni. College Student Support Services Manager Sive Gumenge said students would not get allowances unless they had been confirmed as funded by NFSAS and proof of registration had been confirmed. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Loyiso Dyongman at GroundUp
Teacher ‘who sat in her car most of the time’ loses appeal against dismissal Sunday Times Daily reports that when a principal and her deputy approached a teacher seated in her car at school and asked her to come to the office because a circuit manager wanted to see her, she blatantly refused. Instead, she got out of her car and went to a class. Arabang Semunza’s failure to obey “reasonable instructions” cost her a job at Connie Minchin Primary School in Mahikeng in North West after she was dismissed on 13 January last year for misconduct. She was found guilty on eight charges, including corporal punishment; failing to sign the staff register; refusing to attend a meeting in the principal’s office; refusing to undergo Covid-19 screening; and failing to submit grades 4 and 6 life skills files for monitoring in terms one and two in 2021. Semunza then lodged a dispute with the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC). On Thursday, arbitrator Thobela Ncetezo found that Semunza’s dismissal had been procedurally and substantively fair. The arbitrator was told that the Semunza would stay in her car, not the staffroom, and leave without seeking permission from the principal, even though the rules stated that a teacher must be in the staffroom when they were not in class. The applicant never signed the attendance register because she was apparently always late for work. Ncetezo indicated in his award that it was evident that Semunza “showed disrespect to her seniors, including a senior official who visited the school to address her conduct”. He commented: “The demeanour of the applicant [Semunza] gave the impression of a lack of remorse and understanding of the consequences of her actions.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Prega Govender at Sunday Times Daily (subscriber access only)
Emfuleni council has spent over R1.6m on suspended CFO and over R6m in legal fees SowetanLive reports that the Emfuleni local municipality has spent more than R1.6m on its chief financial officer (CFO) Andile Dyakala, who has been suspended for more than a year. The municipality has also spent more than R6m in legal fees in relation to the suspended CFO’s case. This was revealed by Gauteng MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs Mzi Khumalo in a written reply to questions from the DA in the provincial legislature. Since his suspension in March last year, Dyakala has been on the payroll of the municipality and the institution has paid him R1,614,747 in remuneration while he sat at home. Khumalo also confirmed that the municipality had spent R6,479,606 in legal fees for Dyakala’s case. But, Khumalo reported that R450,570 was recovered from Dyakala during the legal battle process. Dyakala was suspended after facing allegations of unlawful extension of contracts of employees in political offices, financial misconduct amounting to wasteful and fruitless expenditure, and derogatory statements on social media about senior political leaders. DA MPL Kingsol Chabalala said it was unacceptable that the municipality had spent millions on Dyakala at the expense of provision of basic service delivery. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mpho Koka at SowetanLive
SCOPA chair says Prasa’s decision to cancel railway security contracts had been “reckless and irresponsible” GroundUp reports that the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) briefed MPs on Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on Thursday. Committee members conducted an oversight visit to inspect train infrastructure along the line, from Nyanga train station to the Netreg and Bonteheuwel stations. Prasa staff pointed out to MPs that the route had been severely damaged and vandalised. SCOPA chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said they want to assess whether progress has been made since the committee’s visit to the Western Cape’s railways in March 2022. He noted: “A few years back the [previous] Board of Prasa took an erroneous decision to cancel a security contract, therefore leaving the entire Prasa railway infrastructure vulnerable and susceptible to criminality. The pandemic escalated the problem because there was vandalism of the structure throughout the country. We were here in March 2022 with the view to check on the extent of the problem in order to hold Prasa accountable.” He added that they were still waiting on Prasa to present SCOPA with a detailed security plan. “Ultimately what collapsed the infrastructure and made it vulnerable was the absence of security, not just here in the Cape, but throughout the country. We have visited Gauteng as well as part of the oversight. Our assessment is that the decision to cancel the security contract was reckless, irresponsible, and inconsistent with the financial management. But that sadly is a reality that needs to be corrected. What we need to assess now is whether that correction is done with necessary speed, urgency and within the budget. The committee will return in January 2024,” Hlengwa advised. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tariro Washinyira at GroundUp
|
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page