In our Tuesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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Samwu engages with members about way forward with Tshwane strike BusinessLive reports that the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu), which is behind an illegal wage strike in Tshwane, engaged with its members on Monday about the way forward, after the metro filed an application to be exempted from implementing a pay deal reached by parties in the bargaining council in 2021. The industrial action, which has been declared unlawful and illegal by the Labour Court, will enter its third week on Wednesday. It began with a march by Samwu members to Tshwane House on 26 July during which they demanded that the city should implement a 5.4% pay increase reached in the SA Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) in 2021. The Tshwane metro, which is run by a DA-led multiparty coalition, has argued that it does not have funds to implement the agreement. Samwu general secretary Dumisane Magagula indicated that a statement would be released after it had held discussions. The city has dismissed 93 employees for taking part in the illegal strike and “more dismissal letters are in the process of being issued” to striking workers. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive City of Tshwane approaches bargaining council over refusal to grant salary increases News24 reports that City of Tshwane employee salaries will come under the spotlight at the bargaining council next week after the City decided that it would not grant increases due to the City's poor financial state and the unfunded budget the council approved this year. The City filed a salary and wage increase exemption application with the SA Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) on Thursday and will meet the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) and SA Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) on 23 August. In July, a meeting between Mayor Cilliers Brink and Samwu turned violent when Brink announced that the City could not afford increases. He told workers that the City could not afford the R600 million that the 3.5% and 5.4% salary increases would cost. Fifteen people were arrested during the violence. The City approached the Labour Court and secured an interim interdict on 28 July, which declared the workers' strike unlawful and unprotected. Meanwhile, on Sunday, the City issued a statement saying that its SALGBC application was "anchored on irrefutable evidence of its financial position". Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Alex Patrick at News24. Read too, Broke Tshwane makes case for wage freeze, at SowetanLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Santaco fumes over latest taxi impoundments in Cape Town, but allays fears of further protests News24 reports that taxi bosses under the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) were locked in talks throughout Monday to discuss the latest impoundments of minibus taxis in Cape Town over the weekend. However, Santaco released a statement on Monday afternoon allaying fears of possible further strike action and dismissing any claims of a protest as "fake news". Eight taxis were impounded on Friday, while six more were seized on Saturday. According to City, the taxis were impounded in accordance with the National Land Transport Act (NLTA). Insider sources advised that Santaco would not be part of the taxi task-team discussions with the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape government set for Tuesday. Santaco requested a postponement, and the full task team will likely only meet on Thursday. The task team will seek agreement on what would be regarded as major impoundable offences and minor infringements, and the appropriate penalty for the latter. This will inform a standard operating procedure to guide law enforcement personnel's actions as per the NLTA and operating licence conditions. Santaco staged an eight-day strike earlier this month after the City impounded dozens of vehicles for a range of infractions, including number plates not being displayed. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marvin Charles & Lisalee Solomons at News24. Read too, City of Cape Town confirms impounding 14 minibus taxis over last few days, at EWN Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Sadtu blames education department’s inaction for the murder of senior official SowetanLive reports that according to the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), the assassination of labour relations officer Siza Mbhalati was well-orchestrated and he was executed to "protect corrupt officials in the department of education". Union secretary Mungwena Maluleke on Sunday claimed that if the Department of Education did not do anything about reports that some of the union’s members were receiving threats due to their line of work, more lives would be lost. Deputy chief education specialist from the Johannesburg south district, Mbhalati, died in a hail of bullets while sitting in his car outside his home in Protea Glen, Soweto, on Thursday. Mbhalati worked for the labour relations unit in the Johannesburg south district and was responsible for facilitating labour related disputes at schools in the district.” “This is not a robbery or hijack gone wrong. This was a target. Our people have been receiving threats and we have been reporting these threats to the department [of education] and nothing is being done about it,” Maluleke said. He advised that the union had reported three cases to the department since 2020 in Gauteng alone. “Our people, especially district directors, now live in fear. How long will this take and whose head is next before the department addresses this issue and deals with corrupt individuals who want to control the department,” Maluleke added. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Herman Moloi at SowetanLive Yet another farmworker killed in truck accident, this time in Citrusdal Cape Times reports that the transportation of farmworkers has yet again come under the spotlight after a 24-year-old was crushed to death under a trailer in Citrusdal. According to reports, the farmworker was on the trailer attached to a tractor travelling on a tarred road, when the driver swerved to avoid a pothole on 8 August. The worker then fell off and his head got caught under the trailer wheel, killing him instantly. Executive director of the Rural and Farm Workers Development Organisation, Billy Claasen, said the accident “could have been prevented if the necessary safety measures” had been taken. Allegedly, the driver of the tractor did not have the necessary documentation to operate the tractor on a public road. There were approximately 54 workers on the trailer. The Black Association of the Wine and Spirits Industry president, Nosey Pieterse, called for measures to be implemented to ensure the safety of farmworkers. “This is very horrible and we have raised the issue time and time again, but it has fallen on deaf ears. Farmworkers’ lives are as important and we need competent structures to oversee the transporting of farmworkers, because these are people’s lives. It’s not something new,” he stated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Athandile Siyo at Cape Times Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Embattled packaging group Nampak appoints Phil Roux as permanent CEO BL Premium reports that embattled packaging group Nampak has appointed Phil Roux, who was acting CEO since April after previous incumbent Erik Smuts resigned from the company, as its permanent CEO. The company also advised that its lenders had agreed to refinance its debt, which enabled it to proceed with sweeping changes to secure its future. In a market update on Monday, the debt-laden packaging group outlined concrete steps it had taken to deal with its debt issue. Analyst Anthony Clark commented that the full-time appointment of Roux “is a very solid move because his track record and pedigree in turning about companies, cutting costs and making companies operationally efficient moving back to profit is extremely well known.” As part of its turnaround plan, Nampak is merging BevCan and DivFood into one entity. Roux has said potential job cuts were imminent. “Positive progress is being made by the group on numerous transformational workstreams, rightsizing initiatives and the company’s proposed asset disposal programme,” the company said on Monday, without giving more details. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Michelle Gumede & Andries Mahlangu at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Insourcing of eThekwini security personnel on the table as parties tally the cost of private companies TimesLIVE reports that parties in the eThekwini council have expressed mixed views about insourcing safety and security personnel ahead of Tuesday’s council meeting to consider the matter. The motion, proposed by ActionSA, will top the agenda of the delayed council meeting which was to have been be held in June. ActionSA KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Zwakele Mncwango said private security companies were costing the city a lot of money to guard municipal property and assets while “exploiting” their workers who sometimes went months without pay. In his view, the success of the motion would be win-win for the city, which would save money while the workers would be able to work under “respectable” conditions. “This is an opportunity for political parties to stop the exploitation of security personnel and if they truly care for the wellbeing and the restoration of the dignity of our security guards, while saving large sums of money for the municipality, which can be channelled to better service delivery. Insourcing will eliminate the need to strike for better wages, unemployment insurance benefits and medical aid cover,” Mncwango argued. Though other parties in council have expressed support for insourcing, they have also raised concerns about the practicality in certain situations. ANC spokesperson Mlondi Mkhize said they supported insourcing in areas and circumstances where it would be sustainable. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lwazi Hlangu at TimesLIVE
Experts welcome recall of retired engineers to eThekwini The Mercury reports that the decision by the eThekwini Municipality to call retired engineers to rejoin the City’s employ has been welcomed by experts who said it would professionalise decision-making, boost the maintenance of infrastructure and ensure that projects being undertaken were completed on time and were operational. Organisations representing engineering disciplines and professionals, in reaction to the City’s call, noted that municipalities across the country had realised that expertise was sorely lacking, which undermined their operations, especially maintenance. The eThekwini Metro recently issued an Expression of Interest call for retired professional engineers and technologists to supplement water and sanitation engineering capacity and to provide support to engineering mentorship programmes. The programme was spearheaded by the Water and Sanitation Unit and sought to draw from the expertise of retired engineers and technologists in civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering skills, the municipality explained. The retired professionals, it said, would be required to provide their expertise in strategic initiatives and projects, while others would provide support to the City’s engineering mentorship programmes. Steven Kaplan of the SA Institute of Civil Engineering (Saice) welcomed the move and said that research had shown that since 2005 the numbers of professionally registered individuals (highly skilled and registered engineers) had dropped significantly, while the number of young engineers (in need of mentoring and not registered) had increased dramatically over the years. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thami Magubane at The Mercury
Overworked, unpaid, candidate attorneys struggle and feel ‘ill-equipped’ BL Premium reports that more than 10% of surveyed attorneys do not pay their candidate attorneys anything, while a similar percentage do not even offer them leave. This was among the findings of the Legal Practice Council (LPC) after it attempted to survey the landscape towards the end of 2022. Before becoming attorneys, law graduates complete mandatory training, between one and two years, with a law firm. This is commonly known as “articles” and is administrated by the LPC. However, candidate attorneys experience difficult conditions, such as 12-hour days, being forced to use their own vehicles and fuel, receiving no guidance or training, and no job security. Almost all past or current candidate attorneys interviewed said some attorneys made them feel like “they’re doing you a favour by giving you articles”. Many said they did not have any contract of employment. In an advisory in July, the LPC said it had attempted to obtain information in 2022 to help it decide on, among other things, “whether a minimum amount should be set for remuneration of candidate attorneys” that firms would have to pay. Unfortunately, there was a “poor” response from attorneys and candidate attorneys. Regarding the minimum remuneration the LPC would propose, it noted there was a difficult balance to strike. If the minimum remuneration was too low, then candidate attorneys would naturally suffer low pay; but a too high minimum amount “would result in fewer them being employed” as firms could not afford to pay them. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tauriq Moosa at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Military Ombud resolved 82% of complaints received Cape Times reports that according to Military Ombud Vusumuzi Masondo, his office resolved 82% of complaints that were received, surpassing the target set in the annual performance plan (APP) for the 2022-23 financial year. In his annual report tabled in Parliament, Masondo reported that the Office of the Military Ombud had had a case load of 408, which consisted of 350 new complaints received in the year under review and 58 complaints carried over from the previous financial year. A total of 335 complaints were finalised. “This represents an 82% resolution rate. Achieving 82% resolution is a key highlight in the performance of the office this financial year,” Masondo advised. He added: “The annual performance target of 75% resolution rate was exceeded by 7%. This should be viewed in light of the fact that the APP target increased from 73% to 75% for financial year 2022/23.” The Office of the Military Ombud is mandated to investigate complaints received from serving and former members of the SANDF concerning their conditions of service. It also investigates complaints from members of the public regarding the official conduct of soldiers. Masondo pointed out that pop-up offices had been introduced to empower people and receive complaints. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mayibongwe Maqhina at Cape Times
Accountant who embezzled R537m from employer splashed R5m on gambling in one night, court hears News24 reports that a woman convicted of embezzling R537 million from her employer splashed out R5 million on gambling in one night, the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court heard on Monday. Hildegard Steenkamp spent most of the money she stole on gambling and a lavish lifestyle, according to the testimony of a forensic investigator, Graeme Dawes, who was called to testify in aggravation of sentence. Steenkamp pleaded guilty to 336 charges related to the theft of R537 million from pharmaceutical company Medtronic Africa, where she was employed as an accountant, over a 13-year period. According to Dawes' testimony, an analysis of bank statements showed the money was spent on maintaining a good life. "The significant amount was spent on overseas travel, while massive amounts went to gambling, jewellery and fashion items," Dawes told the court. He testified that Steenkamp duplicated payments and transferred money into her late husband's bank account. In one month, Steenkamp stole more than R20 million. Steenkamp handed herself over to authorities in 2018 and was granted bail. She will be sentenced this week. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Belinda Pheto at News24. Read too, Accountant found guilty of stealing R500m from former employer, at The Citizen
Eastern Cape Hawks get forfeiture order against two cops who allegedly sold double murder case docket for R20,000 TimesLIVE reports that the Gqeberha High Court has granted the Hawks Eastern Cape's priority crime specialised investigation (PCSI) unit a forfeiture order worth R158,000 in a bribery matter involving two police officers. In December 2022, the East London-based Hawks’ serious corruption investigation unit received a tip-off about a police officer. Hawks spokesperson Capt Yolisa Mgolodela explained: “W/O Richard Ntokozo Zungu, stationed at New Brighton police station detectives’ section, was allegedly going to sell a double police murder case docket for R20,000 and allegedly did so. Due to the quick action of the investigation team, the accused was caught and arrested in possession of the cash in his vehicle, a white Toyota Corolla worth R138,000, which was used during the crime and was seized during the operation. His co-accused, Sgt Luyanda Innocent Maneli, attached at Swartkops police station, was later arrested after a preliminary investigation, which alleged that the duo connived to commit crime.” The matter was referred to the PCSI in Gqeberha for an asset forfeiture investigation and a preservation order was granted through the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit last Tuesday. This was for “cash accrued through criminal activities worth R20,000 and a vehicle used as instrumentality worth R138,000”. Zungu and Maneli have since been suspended from the police service and their salaries stopped. They have been remanded in custody since their arrest and are expected back in court on 22 August. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khanyisile Ngcobo at BusinessLive Immigration officer remains suspended after caught in TV exposé ‘selling IDs for R50k’ TimesLIVE reports that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has poured cold water on claims that a suspended immigration officer was back at work. The officer, identified as “Elizabeth” from North West, was suspended amid allegations she was selling identity documents for R50,000. Her alleged activities were exposed during an episode of the Sizokthola on Moja Love show, which focuses on drugs and addiction and their effects on society, among other problems. DHA spokesperson Siya Qoza said they had taken action against the official and placed her on precautionary suspension last Tuesday pending an investigation. On the show, the official was accused of allegedly working with drug dealers in the province and also allegedly selling identity documents. During the “exposé”, she was found with screenshots of official home affairs documents on her phone and multiple IDs, including some allegedly belonging to her, her daughters and her husband. Last year the DHA dismissed two employees for selling identity documents to foreigners. Another four officials were suspended for similar offences. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Unathi Nkanjeni at SowetanLive
Northern Cape maths teacher fired for ‘inserting his tongue’ inside pregnant pupil’s mouth TimesLIVE Premium reports that a Northern Cape maths and science teacher has been fired for allegedly kissing a pregnant pupil. Mziwamadoda Ngubo lost his fight to keep his job this month. He had been teaching at the Northern Cape school since 1998. Ngubo faced three charges – for allegedly sexually assaulting a pupil by “inserting his tongue in the mouth” of the grade 12 pupil, contravening the Educators Act and conducting himself in an improper and unacceptable manner. The incident allegedly happened on 3 March 2022 in Ngubo’s office. The deputy principal corroborated the pupil’s version. Ngubo was convicted in criminal court proceedings in February 2023. At the Education Labour Relations Council proceedings, he pleaded not guilty, but on 5 August the arbitrator, advocate David Pietersen, found him guilty on the three charges and recommended his dismissal with immediate effect. “The mandatory sanction of dismissal is imposed with immediate effect on Mr Mziwamadoda Theodore Ngubo. The general secretary of the Education Labour Relations Council is directed to serve this award on the South African Council of Educators,” Pietersen ruled. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Philani Nombembe at TimesLIVE Premium (subscriber access only)
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