In our Tuesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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Man who allegedly set Pretoria school alight was dismissed shortly before incident, court hears News24 reports that a man accused of setting alight the Zodwa Special School was dismissed by the contractor hired to do construction work at the school in Atteridgeville. Moloko Calvin Ramogwadi, 34, appeared in the Atteridgeville Magistrate's Court on Monday facing two counts of murder and three of attempted murder. According to Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, the contractor fired Ramogwadi last Tuesday. He returned to the school on Wednesday when he allegedly set it alight. The employee who replaced Ramogwadi asked him why he was on the premises, to which he replied he wanted to collect his tools. However, Ramogwadi allegedly caused an explosion by throwing an open gas cylinder into a mobile classroom and setting it on fire while workers were inside. The fire claimed the lives of Paballo Lefata and Lebo Malepe, who were employed by a contractor hired to repair two mobile classrooms. Three other workers sustained burn wounds. The school caters for children with mental and physical disabilities. Ramogwadi will appear in court again on 1 September for a possible bail application. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Cebelihle Bhengu at News24. Read too, Fired construction worker returns to Atteridgeville site and allegedly started fire which killed his two colleagues, at IOL. En ook, Afgedankte werker stig glo brand by skool wat twee eis, by Maroela Media Hijacked truck driver found tied up in his truck The Witness reports that a truck driver who was hijacked while driving from Johannesburg to KwaZulu-Natal was found tied up in his truck in Phoenix on Saturday afternoon. Prem Balram of Reaction Unit SA (Rusa) said they were contacted by a pedestrian around noon on Saturday after he saw a white Scania truck parked on the side of the road. The caller said he could hear someone calling out for help from inside the truck and that he was afraid to approach the vehicle. When reaction officers arrived, they found a man in the bunk behind the driver’s seat. “His hands and legs were bound with cellphone chargers. Officers freed him of his restraints,” Balram reported. The truck driver was not injured. He explained that he had stopped to purchase lunch at a service station and was confronted by two armed suspects as he returned to his truck. The men forced him into the vehicle and bound his hands. The hijackers drove the truck to an unknown location where they unhitched the trailer, which was loaded with boxes of chips. They then drove to Phoenix, where they abandoned the truck and the truck driver. Read the original of the report in the above regard at The Witness KZN security guard accused of killing his crèche boss and assistant, abandons bail bid News24 reports that a 60-year-old security guard accused of killing Ethembeni crèche owner Moni Sophia Xulu, 71, and her assistant, Zanele Doris Mbuso, 61, has abandoned his bail bid. The two women, who were last seen entering an e-hailing car outside the crèche in Durban, were reported missing on Women's Day. Their bodies were recovered about a week later from a shallow grave next to the crèche. The motive for their killing is unclear but Thokozani Mhlongo, who worked for Xulu as a security guard, faces two counts of murder. On Monday, he made his second appearance in the Umbumbulu Magistrate's Court. Mhlongo abandoned his bid for bail via his legal aid attorney. The court was packed with mostly women and crèche owners from Umgababa and surrounding areas. The case was postponed to 27 September. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nkosikhona Duma at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Makhado municipal workers protest over CFO appointment process GroundUp reports that over a hundred Makhado municipality workers protested outside the mayor’s office on Monday, demanding answers about the appointment of a new chief financial officer (CFO). They gathered under the banners of the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu). Earlier this month, workers brought the municipality’s offices to a standstill, saying that the appointment process for a new CFO must be fair, transparent and without political interference. According to the unions, the municipality’s CFO position has been vacant for almost five years. The current acting CFO, Godfrey Raliphada, was appointed in September 2022. According to the unions, interviews were held in March this year, but they believe that the municipality has delayed making the acting CFO permanent because politicians want their preferred candidate, who came second in the interview score sheets, to be appointed. On Monday, Samwu and Imatu members vowed to continue gathering at the Makhado offices until the municipality addressed them on the CFO appointment issue. The municipality offices remained closed and no public services were rendered to residents. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bernard Chiguvare at GroundUp Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Sactwu in court to get R300m back from Iqbal Survé-linked Sekunjalo Independent Media Fin24 reports that a decade after the investment arm of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu) loaned Sekunjalo Independent Media (SIM) R150 million, its case to have its loan and interest repaid has finally reached the Western Cape High Court. SIM used the funds it received from the Sactwu Investment Group (SIG) in August 2013 to pay off a portion of its debt to the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). The PIC had helped finance the media group's acquisition of Independent Media from its Irish owners. But SIM never paid the R150 million loan back. SIG now wants the media group to pay it around R300 million – the original loan, plus interest that has accrued. SIM, a subsidiary of Iqbal Survé's Sekunjalo Investment Holdings, is the majority owner of the Independent Media group. It denies owing the union anything, arguing that the R150 million loan was swapped out for shares in another company in 2017. If the court were to find that the loan was not swapped out, SIM has produced a subordination agreement signed by Sactwu general secretary André Kriel in late 2017. The agreement states that the R150 million loan will only be paid back when SIM's assets exceed its liabilities. The subordination agreement essentially freezes SIG's claim to its loan until the struggling media group's finances improve. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jan Cronje at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
UIF partners with IDC to establish R5bn jobs fund BL Premium reports that the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has partnered with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to establish a R5bn fund to provide finance to firms that support job creation and retention. The UIF II Fund will be co-managed by state-owned asset manager the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). The fund, which provides loans to qualifying entities, has so far approved R3.8bn in finance to qualifying firms in various industries, including agriculture, transport, industrial infrastructure, pharmaceuticals and mining. So far, the fund has provided finance for six investments of R311m in firms with 26% youth ownership that are expected to create 560 and preserve 68 jobs; 24 investments of R1.032bn for companies owned and managed by women (expected to create 4,602 and preserve 7,293 jobs); and funding of R1.712bn to 36 start-ups that are expected to create 6,856 new jobs. The UIF II Fund has also provided funding of R2.452bn to 50 firms in the IDC’s black industrialist programme that are expected to generate 9,428 new jobs and preserve 17,833. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, UIF investment portfolio grows to R135bn, at Moneyweb Presidential Youth Employment Intervention seeks funds to keep going BL Premium reports that the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI), launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020 to combat youth unemployment, could be terminated if the R5bn required to keep it going beyond March next year is not secured. The programme, which has so far helped over 1-million young people secure temporary employment, needed additional funding to scale up its efforts and to ensure its continuity, deputy minister in the presidency Kenny Morolong advised. More than 4-million young people who are not in any higher education training or employment have signed up for the programme. “We will require over R5bn over the medium term which means over the next three years to have it fully funded,” Morolong indicated on Monday. The PYEI includes programmes such as the Presidential Employment Stimulus, the revitalised National Youth Service and private sector efforts such as the Youth Employment Service. The National Treasury’s budget projections for the next three years do not make provision for continuation of the programme. Termination of the programme would jeopardise the government’s stated objective of reducing the high rate of youth unemployment. According to Stats SA, youth unemployment came in at 60.7% in the second quarter of this year and at 70.1% when using the expanded definition. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
SA Institute of Chartered Accountants appoints new CEO Fin24 reports that the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) has appointed Patricia Stock as its new CEO. Stock, who previously served as CEO of accounting and auditing company MGI RAS, will start in December this year when the four-year term of the current CEO, Freeman Nomvalo, comes to an end. The new CEO has a master's degree in international accounting from the University of Johannesburg and is a former board member of SAICA. She was previously a partner and head of transformation for the group of companies under BDO SA. She also worked in various auditing positions at the Auditor General of SA. In a statement, Stock said she wanted to "champion excellence, innovation, and transformation" at Saica. SAICA chairperson, Vincent Motholo, praised Stock's "transformative" appointment as the organisation's first black woman CEO. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Na'ilah Ebrahim at Fin24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
High Court halts Nzimande’s move to place Unisa under administration TimesLIVE Premium reports that the North Gauteng High Court has ordered Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande not to act on the recommendations of an independent assessor’s report into the affairs of the University of SA (Unisa) until two separate applications challenging the report are finalised. Independent assessor Prof Themba Mosia had recommended in his 31 March report that the institution be placed under administration. The chair of Unisa’s council, James Maboa, brought an urgent application earlier this month seeking an order to interdict Nzimande from appointing an administrator. In a separate application, vice-chancellor Prof Puleng LenkaBula launched an application for an order to review and set aside Mosia’s report. In a third application brought on 20 June, former Unisa registrar Prof Mothata Steward asked the court to declare that the university’s council was no longer “properly constituted” and sought an order directing Nzimande to appoint an administrator for Unisa. Last Thursday, Judge Leicester Adams adjourned all three applications to a hearing on 7 September. Maboa asserted the following in his court papers: “The university is functioning properly and fully and has been doing so for many years before. The university has not collapsed nor is it about to collapse.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Prega Govender at TimesLIVE Premium (subscriber access only)
Sanral suspends two top officials amid procurement battle Fin24 reports that the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) has suspended its chief financial officer and its head of supply chain management amid ongoing tussles between management and the board over procurement policy. The two officials, namely Inge Mulder (CFO) and Inba Thumbiran (head of supply chain management), are experienced career civil servants with impeccable credentials. Their suspensions come in the context of ongoing conflict between Sanral officials and the board, which, under Themba Mhambi, has made radical changes to procurement policies. In the latest development, the board has summarily changed the preferential procurement rules. As a result, two construction firms have taken Sanral to court to have the new rules overturned. Preferential procurement is a system by which previously disadvantaged groups can earn extra points in the scoring of tenders. In a previous dispute between Mhambi and management, procurement officials were lambasted for not following a board policy that, in tenders of more than R1 billion, the design engineer and the contracting engineer must be unrelated, a practice which is not the norm in either the private or public sector. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
Woman held to have been ‘unfairly fired’ for not being able to keep up with pressure of the job Pretoria News reports that a skincare manufacturing company has to pay one of its employees two months’ salary after she was fired because of poor performance. She had struggled to cope with the work and its deadlines. The employee turned to the CCMA as she felt her dismissal was unfair. She said it had not been a question of not wanting to do her job, but she had genuinely struggled with the demands and simply could not cope with what was expected of her. But, the company said another employee, who was appointed around the same time as the complainant, managed just fine. However, the CCMA commissioner, Winnie Everett, said it was simply life that one person might cope better than another. The woman was employed in March 2021 as a brand manager at the company, earning a monthly salary of R59,500. Eleven months later, she was informed of a disciplinary hearing against her on three allegations of misconduct. She was found guilty of gross negligence and fired. This was, among others, because her work was “riddled with mistakes, resulting in work needing to be redone to get the project completed”. But Everett said there was a difference between dismissals for misconduct and those for incapacity due to poor performance. She concluded that simply dismissing the employee, rather than providing further training, was not the answer. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Zelda Venter at Pretoria News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
‘One of the best’ Western Cape maths teachers fired for tickling primary school pupils under breasts TimesLIVE Premium reports that a maths and science teacher with more than 30 years’ experience has been fired for sexually violating four primary school pupils in the Western Cape. The 56-year-old teacher, described as a “competent mathematics teacher and one of the best educators”, was fired this month after admitting to sexual misconduct. The teacher was brought before the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) after the provincial education department approached the council to appoint an arbitrator to test the allegations. The teacher faced five charges for contravening the Employment of Educators Act by tickling four pupils under their breasts and touching one on her upper arm while he was on duty. All the victims were in grade 7. In a ruling handed down by the ELRC last Tuesday, commissioner, Jacques Buitendag, indicated: “I cannot accept that a male educator could have ever considered touching or tickling 13-year-old female leaners underneath or at the side of their breasts would be OK. [The teacher] has admitted, by pleading guilty, that his conduct was improper, disgraceful or unacceptable. I find his conduct being far removed from acting in the best interest of the learners. It was also not an isolated incident as it happened to four female learners and on four separate occasions between January and February 2023.” Buitendag found dismissal to be the only appropriate sanction. He ordered that a copy of the ruling be sent to the SA Council for Educators for it to consider revoking the teacher’s certificate. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Philani Nombembe at TimesLIVE Premium (subscriber access only)
City of Cape Town to sue Santaco for damages incurred in taxi stayaway News24 reports that the City of Cape Town plans to sue the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) for damages incurred during the eight-day stayaway earlier this month. All departments have been requested to provide an estimate of the damage. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis indicated: "The City is busy assessing and quantifying the full cost of damages to its vehicles and infrastructure, and the cost of additional policing over those days of unacceptable violence. We have every intention of pursuing civil action to recover these costs and to make sure those responsible for the violence and damage are held both criminally and financially liable." Santaco staged an eight-day strike earlier this month after the City impounded dozens of vehicles for a range of infractions. Santaco's Ryno Saaiers said they were aware of the City's intentions. He commented: “We dispute the City's allegations that our members caused disruptive behaviour during the stayaway. We instructed our members from the beginning of the stayaway to not engage in violent activities. Our members were told to park their vehicles, and we do not take responsibility for the damages caused.” On Monday, a joint taxi task team met for the start of a three-day imbizo to thrash out issues affecting the taxi industry in the Western Cape. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lisalee Solomons and Marvin Charles at News24. See too, Taxi task team meeting 'progressing well', says Santaco Western Cape, at EWN Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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