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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Unions reject Eskom’s revised 4.5% wage offer, leaving parties far apart BL Premium reports that Eskom revised a wage offer from 3.75% to 4.5%, effective 1 July 2023, during the third and final round of wage talks at the central bargaining forum on Tuesday. Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena indicated that the unions rejected the revised offer. Earlier the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) lowered its wage demands from 12% down to 11%, while the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) revised its wage demand down to 12%. Solidarity deputy general secretary Helgard Cronje said the union’s wage demand of CPI (which advanced to 7.1% in March from 7% in February) plus 3% had not changed. “We are hoping other unions can come down so we could have a consolidated labour representation,” Cronje said. If parties do not reach a wage deal by Thursday, the last day of the final round of talks, they could agree to an extended negotiation programme or they could declare a dispute and refer the matter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). “Parties are still committed to try and seek a settlement. The progress has been very good,” Cronje commented. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, Unions reject Eskom's revised wage offer, at EWN Eskom to get new CEO within a month or so, Pravin Gordhan tells MPs BL Premium reports that according to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, the process of appointing a new Eskom CEO to replace André de Ruyter is nearing completion. The power utility’s CFO, Calib Cassim, was appointed as interim CEO in February after the abrupt departure of De Ruyter. “The board is on course identifying and appointing a group CEO … and within the next month or so there should be some announcements,” Gordhan said during the tabling of the public enterprises budget for 2022/23 in parliament. Eskom is at the heart of the country’s energy crisis, as it implements ever higher stages of load-shedding, often at short notice. The energy crisis is unlikely to wane in 2023, with Gordhan telling the portfolio committee on public enterprises on Tuesday that SA will have to “settle for load-shedding of a significant order until end of the year at least”. He added: “Determined efforts are being made by the government to ensure that the generation capacity of Eskom is being complemented by the introduction of new capacity to end load-shedding.” As part of the overhaul of the power utility, a separate transmission company would be operational by November followed by the corporatisation of the separate distribution company in December, Gordhan indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Police Ministry claims progress in dealing with Eskom-related crime BL Premium reports that the SA Police Service (SAPS) has taken several measures to address the crime at Eskom that former CEO André de Ruyter says is crippling the power utility. In his book Truth to Power, De Ruyter claims that high-quality coal meant for delivery to Eskom power stations is diverted for criminal purposes and replaced with low-quality coal or rocks. Deputy police minister Cassel Mathale reported in his police budget vote speech in the National Assembly on Tuesday that 461 Eskom case dockets had been opened related to illegal and unregulated coal and fuel. Fuel has also been stolen. Mathale also said that the SAPS organised crime unit and the Hawks had jointly reported a total of 120 dockets that were registered, which had resulted in 98 arrests from January this year to date. Mathale did not say what progress had been made in investigating these cases and how many of them had resulted in prosecutions. According to De Ruyter, some members of the police and some magistrates in Mpumalanga – where several Eskom power stations are located – appeared to be working in cahoots with the crime syndicates which were looting billions of rand at Eskom. Mathale advised that the government had implemented the establishment of a SAPS-led priority committee for energy security and a 24-hour mission area joint operational centre at Eskom’s head office at Megawatt Park, as well as planned operations and executed actions. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, Welcome to Eskom, ‘SA’s largest organised crime network’, at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Saftu to protest outside DPE on Friday over decision to appeal load-shedding court ruling The Star reports that the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) intends to protest outside the offices of Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) on Friday. The trade union federation said it was not pleased with DPE Minister Pravin Gordhan’s decision to appeal a court ruling exempting police stations, hospitals and schools from load-shedding. The case had been brought by a number of civil society organisations that argued that the government should be able to supply strategic institutions such as hospitals and schools with constant electricity. But the DPE argued that complying with the ruling would be challenging for Eskom. Saftu spokesperson Trevor Shaku said the federation was of the view that the DPE was taking an arrogant posture in a situation that impacted the lives of all South Africans, especially those in hospitals and schools. ‘’The minister must channel the resources to ensure that they restore Eskom to stability and provide uninterrupted electricity supply to our people. To actualise our opposition to Minister Gordhan's appeal, Saftu will picket outside DPE,’’ Shaku indicated. Gordhan’s decision to appeal the court ruling has received wide attention and condemnation from many civil groups. His department has defended the decision, saying that the minister was acting pragmatically to ensure that the national grid did not collapse. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Itumeleng Mafisa at The Star Other internet posting(s) in this news category
SAPS recruiting retired detectives to boost crime intelligence, says Cele News24 reports that according to Police Minister Bheki Cele, the SA Police Service (SAPS) is recruiting retired detectives "in good standing" to Crime Intelligence to increase its capacity to deal with crime. Speaking in parliament during his budget vote presentation on Tuesday, the Minister Cele said the retired detectives would undergo a three-month training programme before formal recruitment. He added that Crime Intelligence and tackling cybercrime were among key priority areas. Among measures announced in the fight against crime, Cele said SAPS had enrolled 10,000 police trainees for the 2023/24 financial year and that this would continue for the next two years. Cele also advised that "R70 million is allocated to the provinces to support community police forums in terms of resource requirements. This funding is assisting the CPFs with resources such as vehicles, laptops, torches, reflective jackets and other tools of the trade." Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Andrew Whitfield said the government had failed in its fight against crime and that by not mentioning the loss of experienced officers to mass resignations, the minister had not reflect the true state of SAPS. He added: “Our detectives are overworked, with every detective I speak to telling me they have over 200 dockets on their desks at every given time. We are losing valuable experience in detective services because these workers don't feel valued or supported.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Cebelihle Bhengu at News24 Sacked Hawks Western Cape head must be reinstated, with R1.9m backpay News24 reports that an arbitration panel has ordered the reinstatement of the former head of the Hawks in the Western Cape after she was fired for an alleged breach of security and dishonesty. Nombuso Khoza was fired in 2021, but challenged it, with the help of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), in arbitration at the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council. The chairperson of the council has now ordered a full retrospective reinstatement, with backpay of R1.9 million, from the time Khoza was fired on 29 September 2021. As Western Cape head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Khoza had earned over R102,000 a month. She has not worked since she was fired. Khoza was, on 28 January 2019, accused of letting an outsider (‘the mystery man’), sit within earshot of an Auditor General meeting at the DPCI office in Cape Town, which was considered a breach of security, as well as misconduct. The second charge, of dishonesty, came about when, at the February 2019 State of the Nation Address (SONA), Khoza presented an accreditation card containing the mystery man's photo. She was not allowed in, but returned later with another card, this time with no photo on it, which restricted her to the outer perimeter. All the unit knew about the mystery man was that he was Andrew Gumede and had a conviction for shoplifting. When they asked Khoza about him, she described him as her "stakeholder". During the arbitration, Khoza said Gumede was her brother from KwaZulu-Natal. The arbitrator cleared Khoza on both charges, and declared her dismissal "substantively unfair". Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mbambo said the Hawks would file an appeal with the Labour Court. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jenni Evans at News24 (subscriber access only) Senior cops at Tshwane Academy redeployed over Bheki Cele’s demand to be served a grilled pork meal Sunday World reports that top police officers at the SAPS Tshwane Academy were unceremoniously removed from their posts after defying instruction to prepare grilled pork for Police Minister Bheki Cele’s lunch. This after the cops argued that the facility was Halaal-accredited. The academy’s long-serving training commander Brigadier Paulus Mphenyeke and support services manager Colonel Freddie Bakker were redeployed with immediate effect to the national office by National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola for their recalcitrance. Mphenyeke and his team were given Cele’s menu three days in advance of his visit by his chief of staff Nonkululeko Phokane so they could have sufficient time to prepare the food. On the list of 25 menu items required for breakfast, lunch, and dessert, the word “compulsory” was written in bold letters next to the item “grilled pork”. Ahead of Cele’s meeting, the commanders at the academy voiced their disapproval of the pork order because the facility was Halaal accredited, which enabled SAPS to have a diverse pool of recruits to choose from. When Masemola arrived at the academy and found that the pork was not on the menu as demanded, he immediately removed the two senior cops from their posts. Mphenyeke was told that he would be expected to go write curricula for police training at the national office. Bakker, who had managed the academy’s more than R200-million procurement budget, will now be in charge of writing international memos. Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe this week said: “The SAPS does not discuss its internal matters, which include the transfer or redeployment of members, in the public domain.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Setumo Stone at Sunday World
Hospitals considering legal action over critical skills shortage in South Africa Bloomberg reports that SA is facing a critical shortage of nurses as private hospitals are restricted from training more caregivers, according to the country’s largest private healthcare network. Although most SA hospitals have their own nursing colleges, only designated institutions can issue professional nursing qualifications. This is despite the fact that the country has an estimated shortage of between 26,000 and 62,000 nurses, as well as a large proportion of health workers due to retire by 2030. Richard Friedland, CEO of Netcare, said on Monday: “The tragedy is we’ve got tens of thousands of people applying to become nurses every year, and in a country that is beset by such a skill shortage, by such rampant unemployment, it’s almost inexplicable that government isn’t opening the doors to allow the private sector to train.” Netcare has the capacity to train more than 3,500 nurses a year, but has only been accredited to take about 10% of that. Friedland said the company was collaborating with the government and other bodies to try and make better use of excess nursing college capacity. “The private sector, through the Hospital Association of South Africa, is galvanized at the moment. We’re exploring all of our options in this regard, and we’re not excluding taking legal action,” Friedland indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at BusinessTech. Read too, South Africa’s nursing shortage: An unsolvable crisis? at BizNews Crisis looms as South Africa bleeds veterinarians Mail & Guardian reports that a potential crises in animal health and food safety and security is looming because of a shortage of vets in the country, with the SA Veterinary Council (SAVC) concerned that the situation has been exacerbated by the removal of vets from SA’s critical skills list in 2022. Reinstating vets on the list would help the country retain qualified vets and aid foreign veterinarians who want to practise here. To that end, the SAVC has been liaising with the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development, and both are engaging with the department of home affairs. Alarming recent statistics show high numbers of vets leaving the country. A recent survey by the SA Veterinary Association found that a fifth of vets aged 25 to 29 polled intended to emigrate. The situation is raising alarm in a country that only has 60 to 70 vets per million citizens, far below the international norm of 200 to 400 vets per million. Already, there is anecdotal evidence that some veterinary positions, in both the private and public sectors, cannot be filled. Such a shortage could have an adverse effect on the availability and provision of veterinary services, especially to rural communities, with a devastating impact on livestock health and food safety. One solution to fill the skills gap is to encourage overseas-trained vets to come to work here. However, the removal of vets and veterinary nurses from the critical skills list in February 2022 made it harder, if not impossible, for foreign vets to obtain a work visa for SA. Furthermore, foreign students who qualify as vets at the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Pretoria are not able to complete the year of community service that would entitle them to work here. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nandipha Ndudane at Mail & Guardian
Western Cape rail network security guards demand their salaries after not being paid for two months Cape Argus reports that security workers from Chippa Training Academy (CTA), a company owned by soccer club boss Chippa Mpengesi, held a protest on Monday outside Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) offices at Cape Town train station and handed over a memorandum with their grievances. The emotional security guards gathered outside the offices after their March and April salaries were not paid. The company is contracted to Prasa (Western Cape) for the provision of security services in the Cape Town Metropole rail network. Shop steward Thobela Nkone said the last payment was in February and, after not being paid for two months, they decided to down tools on 3 May. “There’s over 200 of us who have not been paid for both March and April. We tried almost everything to negotiate with both parties – CTA and Prasa – so we can get our salaries. Prasa is not willing to come on board. They claim they have given the much needed money to Chippa.” A Prasa spokesperson said they were in no position to comment on the affairs of a third party, but payments had been made to the company according to the invoices submitted. CTA’s spokesperson Themba Yawa said: “Prasa has since May 2019 failed to honour its contractual obligations in terms of the contract entered into with CTA by not applying yearly increment on invoice of the company owing more than R20 million in arrears”. He added that Prasa continuously imposed drastic penalties on CTA, but the company was still committed to honouring the contract. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siviwe Melapi at Cape Argus
Officials from KZN premier’s office in court over R24 million catering tender fraud Daily News reports that officials from the Office of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Premier, including the Chief Financial Officer, who were arrested in 2020 for fraud, corruption and money laundering, appeared in the Durban High Court on Tuesday. Ziphathe Cibane, as well as the head of supply chain management Nonhlanhla Hlongwa and seven others accused, face charges in relation to a R24 million tender. Of the nine accused, five were from the Office of the Premier (OTP) and they are alleged to have disregarded supply chain procedures by colluding with service providers in securing catering tenders. The other OTP officials are personal assistant Nomusa Zakwe, administration clerk Njabulo Makhathini and senior administration clerk Sithembiso Msomi, who are out on R5,000 bail each. Cibane is out on R10,000 bail, while Hlongwa is out on R5,000. Seven companies are further accused in the matter bringing the total number of accused in the matter to 16. Cibane and Hlongwane are alleged to have received bribes from some of the accused companies in return for tendering contracts. Juniors under Cibane were allegedly instructed to process paperwork for such in return for bribes. A date for a pretrial in the matter was set for August. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Anelisa Kubheka at Daily News Police officer among two women arrested in Durban with R6m worth of pure cocaine Daily News reports that a police officer was one of two women arrested for being in possession of pure cocaine with a street value of R6 million in Durban on Monday. Durban Metro Police Service (DMPS) spokesperson Colonel Boysie Zungu said that members of the DMPS Drug Team received information about drugs stored in a flat on Gillespie Street in the Point area. Members conducted surveillance to confirm the information and a search warrant was obtained and executed at Hawaii flats. “A substantial amount of suspected pure cocaine, with a street value of R6,000,000, was recovered. Two women (aged 49 and 52) were arrested, one of which is a policewoman,” Zungu reported. Both suspects were processed at Point SAPS. Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed the incident and said the suspects were arrested for dealing in drugs. They were due to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thobeka Ngema at Daily News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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