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 Thursday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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Two persons arrested after top West Rand cop caught on video in altercation with security guard TimesLIVE reports that two suspects, one of whom is seen in a video on social media in an altercation with two policemen, have been charged with attempted robbery, assault, malicious damage to property and crimen injuria. Gauteng police management on Wednesday said it was aware of the video, which seemingly depicted two officers assaulting a person who appeared to be resisting arrest. "The district commissioner of West Rand Maj-Gen Fred Kekana was visiting a member residing in an estate at Ext 10 Westonaria on September 4 when he was denied entrance through a 'makeshift' boom gate to the estate by an alleged ‘security officer'," police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Nevhiuhulwi indicated. She said the security officer reportedly insulted Kekana, who was dressed in full uniform, which resulted in an altercation. Nevhiuhulwi added that the security officer was not cooperating with the police officers and it was later established that the person was not a qualified security officer. The two suspects appeared in the Westonaria Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. The case was postponed until 29 September and both suspects were released on bail of R1,000 each. In July, eight SA Police Service VIP protectors of Deputy President Paul Mashatile were also caught on camera assaulting civilians on the N1 highway in Johannesburg. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ernest Mabuza and watch the video at TimesLIVE. See too, Security officers arrested after video of police assault goes viral, at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Harmony Gold reports two fatalities at Kusasalethu mine Fin24 writes that Harmony Gold reported on Wednesday that two employees lost their lives at its Kusasalethu mine, following a fall of ground incident caused by a seismic event on Tuesday in Carletonville, Gauteng. The group said the work area had since been temporarily closed pending an investigation. "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleagues. Harmony continues its focus on embedding its risk management practice to create a more engaged and proactive safety culture," CEO Peter Steenkamp said in a statement. In August, the miner had reported that six people lost their lives in mine-related incidents in the course of its year to end-June. The loss of life injury frequency rate improved to 0.06 per million hours worked in 2023 compared to 0.13 per million hours worked for 2022. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Karl Gernetzky at Fin24 Amplats appoints Sayurie Naidoo as acting CFO Mining Weekly reports that platinum group metals (PGMs) miner Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has appointed Sayurie Naidoo acting CFO, with effect from 1 September. This follows the appointment of Craig Miller as Amplats CEO, with effect from 1 October. Naidoo has been with the Anglo American Group for over 15 years and is a registered CA(SA). She has held various financial roles within Anglo American and is currently the financial controller responsible for financial reporting, performance reporting, corporate cost control activities, governance and controls, as well as finance systems. She holds directorships and trusteeships at various subsidiary companies and trusts. The process to identify a suitable candidate for the executive FD role at Amplats is progressing, the PGMs miner indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly Seven houses, 51 vehicles attached in case linked to unwrought gold dealing TimesLIVE reports that the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) and the Hawks have secured three preservation orders for 51 vehicles and five properties belonging to 14 people and a company in Khutsong and Carletonville. The orders issued by the Pretoria High Court on 31 July, 7 August and 30 August are intended to preserve the alleged proceeds of the unlawful activities of a syndicate dealing in unwrought gold in the area. Hawks investigations last year led to the arrest of six people who are alleged to be illegal mining kingpins. Five of the six are still in custody, but Dumisani Moyo was granted bail on appeal. They face seven counts of unlawful dealing in precious metals and three counts of fraud and money laundering. The seven houses are in Potchefstroom, Krugersdorp, Carletonville and Khutsong. Vehicle assets include an Audi Q3, a number of Nissan bakkies, a Range Rover and a Toyota Land Cruiser. Read the original of the report in the above regard by Ernest Mabuza at SowetanLive. Read too, Zama zamas crackdown: Illegal mining kingpins face asset seizure, at The Citizen
Saftu says no to austerity measures as they will further suffocate social services and worsen infrastructure backlogs IOL reports that the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) says it is against any new austerity measures, as they would further weaken social services and worsen SA’s infrastructure backlogs. This was in response to a widely circulated memo by the National Treasury to provinces and national government departments that receive their funding allocation directly from the national fiscus. In the memo, Treasury said the country’s finances were strained and, as a result, departments should freeze hiring of new staff where a letter of offer had not been issued, and all mega infrastructure projects should be halted. Treasury added that the same measures would soon be applied to municipalities after a meeting with the SA Local Government Association (Salga). Saftu is having none of it, saying the civil services needs to hire more teachers, nurses and police officers, as they are currently understaffed. In its view, the number of public servants in relation to the size of the population does not warrant any freezes, let alone reductions. “The more than 80% of the population that depends on social services deserves quality services. And such low levels of employment, including vacancy freezes, combined with mismanagement and maladministration, have increasingly denied the overwhelming majority such quality services,” it asserted. Furthermore, the labour federation said the backlog in public infrastructure did not warrant any austerity measures. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sihle Mavuso at IOL Minister fights to protect social grants against austerity cuts BL Premium reports that Department of Social Development (DSD) Minister Lindiwe Zulu has pleaded that social grants be protected as the Treasury imposes austerity measures on government departments in the context of shrinking tax revenue. She was replying to a question in the National Assembly on Wednesday on access to the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant, which was created to address the challenges stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. There are a range of other grants the government provides, such as the old age, disability and child support grants. An amount of R35.7bn was budgeted this year for the SRD grant, which has been extended twice, and R253.8bn for all social grants. Zulu said her department was asking for a further extension of the SRD grant, which could form the basis of a basic income grant. She told MPs: “We are saying to SA and to our own government that we cannot afford hunger, we cannot afford poverty, we cannot afford to have people who cannot even have the basics. While we are appreciative of the constraints on government and the constraints of budget, we know we can squeeze from other places ... where the value is not felt by our people.” The Treasury has made it clear that there has to be a clampdown on government spending. It recently instructed departments and provinces to freeze the hiring of new employees. It has also frozen advertising for new procurement contracts for all infrastructure projects unless approved by the Treasury. It has furthermore instructed that drastic cuts be made to spending on travel, catering, conferences and workshops. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Only EFF and ActionSA vote against salary increases for Joburg city councillors The Citizen reports that despite all the challenges faced by Johannesburg residents, the majority of councillors in the Johannesburg council on Tuesday approved a motion to increase their salaries. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and ActionSA were the only two parties who voted against the motion during an extraordinary council sitting. It was, however, unclear how much the councillors wanted. “We can’t be wanting to increase our salaries while other people are still earning peanuts. We must wait for them to adjust so that we can move together and that is why we rejected the upper limits,” said EFF regional chair Sepetlele Raseruthe. ActionSA caucus leader Nobuhle Mthembu said that at a time when residents were suffering from above-inflation rate increases and service delivery failures, councillors should not be rewarded with salary increases. “These kinds of increases would never have been entertained in the private sector with any entity mirroring the level of performance of the Joburg council and they should not be entertained in Joburg today,” she stated. But, city manager Floyd Brink said the relevant adjustments and budgeting had taken place and “we are in a position to afford that adjustment.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lunga Mzangwe at The Citizen
Cabinet to weigh centralised ownership model for SOEs BL Premium reports that the implementation of a centralised ownership model for state-owned entities (SOEs) and development finance institutions (DFIs) is expected to feature high on the agenda at the next cabinet meeting as the government moves to streamline and improve the functioning of SOEs. Last week, there was a meeting between President Cyril Ramaphosa and the CEOs and board chairpersons of SOEs at which there was “overwhelming support for the establishment of a holding company to centralise ownership of strategic SOEs”. SOEs remain in a dire state and are a drain on the country’s finances, prompting calls for them either to be privatised or closed down. The National Treasury also regards SOEs as a major risk to the fiscal framework. The government has already introduced a strategic equity partner into SAA, enabled private generation of electricity and is planning private participation in the freight rail sector to increase competition, boost efficiency and reliability and reduce costs for customers. The newly proposed holding company would have budgetary and managerial independence, according to the departmental presentation. This differs from the current ownership model, in which government departments oversee the functioning of their respective agencies, often leading to political interference. A holding company would “enabling better co-ordination, resource allocation and oversight”. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Transnet looks to disposals to raise R50bn for rail infrastructure maintenance BL Premium reports that state logistics company Transnet may dispose of some of its assets to raise the R50bn that is required to finance its rail infrastructure maintenance. In its integrated report for the year ended 31 March, Transnet said it planned to spend R84.9bn in the next five years on infrastructure at Transnet Freight Rail, which is the entity’s largest operating division. However, with the company battling a R130bn debt pile and paying R1bn a month in interest, Transnet is overstretched in terms of its ability to raise cash, board chair Andile Sangqu told members of parliament’s public enterprises portfolio committee on Wednesday. The proposal to dispose of assets to raise cash to fund the maintenance backlog is likely to feature in a turnaround plan that the newly appointed board is preparing on the instruction of public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan. The plan, Gordhan said, should include a report on how the board planned to restructure the entity for it to effectively deliver on its mandate, curb superfluous expenses prevent corruption. The minister gave the board three weeks from last Friday to produce the plan. Industry body African Rail Industry Association said Transnet had no other option but to turn to the private sector for assistance because “the biggest challenge facing Transnet Freight Rail is the collapsing physical track and signalling infrastructure.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Accusations fly after Mkhwebane blocked from entering public protector’s office TimesLIVE reports that suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who had planned to return to work on Tuesday, has blamed her deputy, Kholeka Gcaleka, after being refused entry to the public protector’s office. Mkhwebane stood outside the Hillcrest Office Park and addressed the media instead of entering the office as planned. In a statement issued on the eve of Mkhwebane’s planned return to the office, public protector spokesperson Ndili Msoki said Mkhwebane’s suspension remained in effect and she could not return until President Cyril Ramaphosa, who suspended her last year, advised otherwise. Mkhwebane said she did not enter the premises as her protection unit had been suspended for the day. She criticised Gcaleka for the office’s pushback and said: “They should have kept quiet. I think the deputy public protector [Gcaleka] exposed herself. She has also exposed what I was saying, that [it is] as if she is working with these persecutors. She should have allowed the president to deal with this matter.” The National Assembly is expected to vote next week on parliament’s section 194 inquiry report which recommended Mkhwebane’s removal after probing her fitness to hold office. Mkhwebane echoed the accusations of opposition political parties that Gcaleka was Ramaphosa’s “protector”. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sinesipho Schrieber at BusinessLive
Islamic Medical Association speaks out against proposed dress code policy for nurses EWN reports that the Islamic Medical Association (IMA) said it felt as if the Islamic religion was under attack by the Health Department's proposed dress code policy for nurses. In July, provincial heads of departments received communication from the Health Department's director-general that outlined some of the changes to nurses' uniforms countrywide. One of those changes is a ban on headscarves for nurses while on duty. The IMA’s nursing director Haniefa Allee said the proposed changes did not take into account the cultural and religious significance of the head scarves. She pointed out that the nursing profession thrived on diversity by embracing broad cultural and religious backgrounds of its practitioners. "So we would ask that, and actually state categorically, that our cultural beliefs need to be understood." In a similar case a few years ago, the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) was forced to amend its dress policy to accommodate the wearing of headscarves with military uniform. This after Major Fatima Isaacs' legal team took the matter to court when she was told that the wearing of the scarf was against the SANDF's dress policy. The Health Department said the policy was being reviewed to accommodate all inputs, including religious considerations. Read the original of the report in the above regard by Ntuthuzelo Nene at EWN
Putco has no plans for fuel-related fare hikes; Santaco eyes future increases EWN reports that public transport commuters countrywide will be relieved to learn that this month's massive fuel price increases won't burn any holes in their pockets, at least not for now. Motorists are now forking out R1.71 more for a litre of petrol and R2.76 more for diesel. According to Rebecca Phala, national spokesperson for taxi umbrella body Santaco, although taxi fare prices were a prerogative of different taxi associations, no decision had been taken by any of them to hike prices anytime soon. However, Phala added that future increases were currently being discussed. Putco Bus Company spokesperson Lindokuhle Xulu said their ticket prices would only be reviewed in January next year. "Putco has no plans to increase bus ticket prices for fuel-related reasons, despite the recent hike in fuel prices. Putco will always notify passengers beforehand of any fare-related changes," Xulu indicated Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ntuthuzelo Nene at EWN ‘Secessionist’ City of Cape Town set to declare dispute with government over devolution of rail service News24 reports that the City of Cape Town is gearing up to launch an intergovernmental dispute over the devolution of the passenger rail service in the metro. According to Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, the City is in the process of briefing its lawyers over the issue. This after President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the City, labelling talks on devolving powers from the national government as "secessionist". Ramaphosa made the remarks in the National Assembly in response to questions from DA leader John Steenhuisen on whether he would make a policy decision to support and expedite the devolution of passenger rail to competent metros, in light of the taxi strike that occurred last month. Ramaphosa indicated that the white paper on national rail policy approved by Cabinet in March last year specified certain implementations, priorities and time frames in the devolution of passenger rail. "There are certain short-term objectives to be achieved by 2024. The development of a devolution strategy is one of the short-term interventions which is to be completed by 2024," he stated. But, Hill-Lewis said the City had been unable to secure a working committee on devolution, despite Ramaphosa's previous commitment to respond to their requests. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marvin Charles at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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