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 Friday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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Transnet Freight Rail boss Siza Mzimela resigns, joins leadership exodus at state logistics company BL Premium reports that the leadership crisis at state logistics company Transnet has deepened, with the head of the rail division, Siza Mzimela, tendering her resignation on Thursday. This came days after the abrupt departure of CEO Portia Derby and CFO Nonkululeko Dlamini last week. The exit of the trio comes as the drive to reform the organisation gains momentum and as the board prepares to present a performance turnaround strategy to public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan at the end of October. The turnaround plan will include a review of skills and management. The state-owned company has faced myriad crises, including inefficiencies, theft, vandalism and a deteriorating financial performance, with a devastating effect on the economy. Under Mzimela, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has been blamed for an unreliable rail network, which has forced big business to divert the transport of goods to the more expensive road network. The high-profile resignations at Transnet have been broadly welcomed, particularly by big business, which has long been lobbying for an overhaul of its management. The Minerals Council SA, the Durban Chamber of Commerce and labour unions have all called for the dismissal of the company’s executives. The Transnet board apparently held high-level meetings this week to chart a way forward. Transnet has appointed Russell Baatjies to take over from Mzimela as acting CEO from 1 November. Michelle Phillips, CEO of Transnet Pipelines, will replace Derby in an acting capacity until a permanent replacement is found, while Hlengiwe Makhathini will act as CFO in Dlamini’s place. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Hajra Omarjee, Denene Erasmus & Thando Maeko at BusinessLive. Read too, Transnet Freight Rail chief Mzimela tells mining industry quitting was a 'personal choice', at Fin24. And also, Transnet Freight Rail boss resigns and hopes ‘current warzone will return to normality’, at The Citizen While other Transnet executives exit, Ports Authority CEO Pepi Silinga holds firm BL Premium reports that Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) CEO Pepi Silinga has resisted the winds of change at the state-owned logistics company, despite calls for him to fall on his sword along with other executives at the entity. In the past five days, Transnet has seen the resignations of CEO Portia Derby, CFO Nonkululeko Dlamini and, more recently, Siza Mzimela, head of Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), who tendered her resignation on Thursday. The trio leave after pressure from business lobby groups and labour unions for the executives to be fired amid a continued deterioration of the entity’s operational and financial position. They also step down as the board prepares a turnaround plan for public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan. However, Silinga remains in his position, saying the rumours of his resignation have been peddled by his detractors. “I am advised that some unnamed sources are peddling rumours in the media of my apparent resignation. There is no truth to the rumour, save to possibly betray the wishes of the detractors. The myth has [been] dispelled [through] the appropriate Transnet authorities,” he wrote in a text to staff at TNPA. When questioned on the possibility of Silinga’s departure, Transnet said: “Pepi Silinga has not tendered a resignation. The rumours are false and unfounded.” Read the original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Simba factory workers down tools over “unfair” transport deductions GroundUp reports that tension remained high on Thursday at Simba’s factories in Isando and Elandsfontein, Gauteng, after workers downed tools and were briefly prevented from protesting outside on Wednesday. Most of the workers returned to work on Thursday. On Thursday afternoon, Simba approached the Labour Court in Braamfontein for an urgent interdict against workers, the Simunye Workers’ Forum and the Casual Workers’ Advice Office to stop them from striking. According to Simunye, 217 labour broker workers were absorbed as permanent workers by Simba in 2018. Part of a settlement agreement made at the CCMA was that workers would get transport, paid for by Simba, to and from pick-up points. “Workers later discovered that Simba was deducting R16 per day from each worker for the transport, instead of providing it for free. These deductions were not even listed on the payslip. The workers have been in a long-standing battle to have this money returned and free transport reinstated,” Simunye claimed in a statement on Wednesday. Apparently other employees who became permanent before 2018 were not paying for transport, which caused division and unhappiness. More than 200 workers then decided this week to down tools after Simba had cancelled the transport. In April during negotiations, Simba apparently offered a once-off payment of R30,000 if workers agreed to accept this as a full and final settlement as backpay and for any future transport costs. Jacob Potlaki, from the Casual Workers Advice Office, said: “We refuse to take this [once-off offer of R30,000] because workers are owed up to R140,000 each for the deductions. We have tried to negotiate for a better amount than the R30,000 being offered without success. That is why we decided to down tools.” While waiting for the CCMA to set a date to hear the matter, more than 200 workers at Simba’s Isando factory workers refused to work on Wednesday morning. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kimberly Mutandiro at GroundUp
Amid financial crisis, Tshwane faces criticism over ‘ill-advised’ move to appoint seven senior managers The Citizen reports that the City of Tshwane’s intent to appoint seven new senior managers to help it to get out of its financial woes has received mixed reactions from experts. It surfaced this week that Tshwane was one of the metros battling to pay Eskom its R3.2 billion debt. Mayor Cilliers Brink said it was no secret that the city was in financial distress and was behind on payments to Eskom. But, he said that was why the approval of the appointment of qualified and fit-for-purpose senior managers in the city was an important development. “The senior Section 56 managers will help to change the organisational culture to one of high performance and professionalism,” he argued. The selected candidates will occupy the roles of chief of police, chief of emergency services, chief financial officer, chief operations officer, chief audit executive, group head: strategy and management support and governance and support officer in the city, and will report to the city manager. Transformation Alliance leader Abel Tau said it was an ill-advised move considering the city’s intention to also fill the vacancies left by dismissed striking workers. “It reeks of arrogance and is provocative,” he said. Tau called on the city to reconsider its decision to replace the employees: “We understand that the dismissed workers are appealing the city’s decision to fire them, thus making this matter subjudice. Therefore, any move to replace the dismissed workers would be illegal.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marizka Coetzer at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Closing some coal plants may be put off to 2030 under new decommissioning timeline, says Eskom BL Premium reports that Eskom says it is not considering extending the lives of old coal-fired power stations due for decommission – but it is exploring options to delay shutdowns of those plants. Leaders at the state-owned power utility and electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said early this year that decommissioning of coal plants would be delayed as Eskom grappled with improving performance of its generation fleet. Eskom says it will now pursue a new decommissioning timeline that will delay imminent plant shutdowns to 2030, pending the outcome of appeals that would force the utility to shut down some stations to comply with minimum emissions standards. Delaying the shutdown of plants such as Camden and Hendrina – due to shut down in 2023 and 2026 respectively – will keep the power they generate online for longer, giving Eskom and independent power producers more time to add sufficient renewable capacity to replace the megawatts that will be lost when these plants are decommissioned. Vikesh Rajpaul, who leads Eskom’s just transition office, said at a mining conference in Johannesburg on Thursday that they were “exploring options beyond decommissioning”. They have also decided to “decouple station decommissioning from repurposing and repowering” at stations due for shutdown. “The intention is for us to have continued economic activity [at stations that will be decommissioned] so that we don’t have a repetition of what happened at Komati. We should have acted much sooner at Komati. We are now taking lessons from that to have continued economic activity at power stations to support a smoother and easier transition,” said Rajpaul. Komati power station in Mpumalanga, which was shut down last year, was the first of Eskom’s coal-fired fleet to shut down and is seen as the prototype for testing its just energy transition plans. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Denene Erasmus at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Anger mounts over UIF chaos as business, labour call for action Fin24 reports that both business and organised labour on Wednesday called for the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to be placed under administration and its investments investigated independently. This as the fund sinks deeper into dysfunction, and suspicion of corruption grows. The UIF is an employer- and employee-funded social security fund collected through a payroll tax on all formal sector workers. It is administered by the Department of Labour and Employment and has investments of about R130 billion. Cosatu, which added its voice to a statement released by Business Unity SA (BUSA) earlier on Wednesday, now wants all UIF employees subjected to lifestyle audits. BUSA had called for the UIF to be put under immediate administration due to "systemic dysfunction", corruption, and ineptitude. Several of its UIF's investments in unlisted entities have gone bad and have been tainted by corruption. The latest scheme under scrutiny is a R5 billion "job creation scheme" in which the fund provided a grant to Thuja Capital Fund. Apart from the corruption allegations, business and labour are angry at the serious dysfunction of the UIF and the lack of action taken to fix it. Cosatu said: “Workers struggle to submit their claims and receive their payments. There are perennial queues at UIF offices across the country where workers wait in vain for days on end to have their claims processed […] the issues range from an IT system that is routinely offline, to understaffed offices, overstretched employees, user-unfriendly and confusing forms and applications systems, as well as delinquent employers who pickpocket workers' contributions and fail to hand them over to the UIF.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
Administrative constraints at labour courts in spotlight TimesLIVE Premium reports that on Wednesday the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) held its interview for the long-vacated position of the deputy judge president of the Labour Court (LC) and Labour Appeal Court. Johannesburg high court judge Edwin Molahlehi was the only candidate interviewed for the position that has not been filled for seven years. Chief justice Raymond Zondo asked Molahlehi to identify issues plaguing the LC and what could be done to address those concerns. Molahlehi noted major issues with facilities and said the facilities for the Johannesburg node of the LC, situated in Braamfontein, were “very congested”. He also highlighted a huge backlog of cases. As judicial watchdog Judges Matter has raised, there are no available trial dates at the LC for the entirety of 2024. Molahlehi said he has engaged a range of groups and members from the legal profession to help reduce the backlog and a lot could be done by finalising some matters before they got to judges. Another issue was that there were only 13 labour court judges for the entire country, which was far “below” what was needed. Labour court president Basheer Waglay noted that Molahlehi had been central in the high court in expediting and implementing modern digital systems to deal with administrative issues and wondered if Molahlehi would implement the same at the LC. He replied that he would want to implement similar systems at the LC, because missing files were a major problem there. By having files digitised, no-one could “walk out” with a file or document, and thus delay finalisation of matters. This would also be in line with the CCMA, which has digitised its records. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tauriq Moosa at TimesLIVE Premium (subscriber access only)
Blade Nzimande issues Unisa with notice of intention to place it under administration News24 reports that Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande has notified the University of SA (Unisa) of his intention to place it under administration. He will announce his decision on the matter on Friday. This will come after the Unisa Council failed to present written representations to Nzimande on the matter by a 4 September deadline. "Being mindful of the administrative requirements, the minister awaited the response of the Unisa Council, and nothing of substance happened for more than a month. Instead, the council is going about its business as if there is no pending decision to be taken. As a result, the minister cannot wait indefinitely without taking a decision," Nzimande’s department indicated. Nzimande reiterated his satisfaction with a report released by Professor Themba Mosia, an independent assessor appointed to investigate Unisa's affairs. In a scathing report, Mosia recommended that Unisa be placed under administration. Nzimande pointed out that in addition to the assessor's report, the Ministerial Task Team (MTT) had investigated the impact of the fourth industrial revolution on the institution’s operations and the implications of "mission drift," namely a concerning transition of Unisa into a full-time institution from a part-time, long-distance learning institution. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Cebelihle Bhengu at News24
Two bogus teachers arrested after presenting fake qualifications at SACE's Centurion offices IOL News reports that the SA Council for Educators (SACE) has warned teaching professionals with fraudulent qualifications not to come near its headquarters. This after the Lyttelton SA Police Service (SAPS) arrested two people at SACE’s headquarters in Centurion, Tshwane, for allegedly presenting fake certificates. The 34-year-old woman and a 32-year-old male, who reside in Johannesburg, allegedly attempted to apply for professional registration certificates with fake Unisa Bachelor of Education (BED) degrees. “The two suspects are charged with the submission of fraudulent qualifications and will appear in court soon,” the council indicated in a statement. The council sternly warned people who were in possession of fake qualifications to never come anywhere near its premises or schools because there were measures in place and they would be arrested on the spot. The council further cautioned teachers who were teaching with fraudulent qualifications to leave the profession immediately, as the SACE was coming for them because teaching with fraudulent qualifications was a criminal offence. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sibuliso Duba at IOL News
Axed crime intelligence officer arrested in Eastern Cape for string of offences News24 reports that an ongoing investigation into the kidnapping of foreign businesspeople for ransom in the Eastern Cape took a shocking turn when the Hawks arrested a former Crime Intelligence officer for a string of offences including attempted kidnapping, armed robbery, and hijacking. Axed Warrant Officer Geswindt Eugene Godwin, 35, appeared in the East London Magistrate's Court on Wednesday after the Hawks' Kidnapping Task Team arrested him on Monday after finding him in possession of a stolen vehicle and illegal ammunition. Godwin was fired from the police for misconduct in July this year after 13 years of service. He worked at Crime Intelligence's headquarters in Zwelitsha until his sacking. A Toyota Hilux bakkie, which was found in his possession, was hijacked at gunpoint from a foreign national by five suspects in Mdantsane, East London. According to a source, there is strong evidence Godwin was part of a five-member crew that was involved in the botched kidnapping of a Mdantsane spaza shop owner. "The assailants managed to flee with the bakkie belonging to the foreign national. The bakkie was later found in the house owned by Godwin in Gonubie. The arrest was part of our ongoing efforts to root out extortion targeting businesspeople," the source indicated. Eastern Cape Hawks spokesperson Yolisa Mgolodela confirmed that a number of items believed to have been used in the commission of a crime were recovered. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Malibongwe Dayimani at News24. Read too, Ex-Crime Intelligence officer in court on attempted kidnapping charges, at Cape Times
Mossel Bay primary school teacher in court for allegedly sexually grooming, raping pupils in his class IOL News reports that a 43-year-old Mossel Bay teacher accused of sexually assaulting pupils has been arrested. The man, who cannot be named until he pleads because he faces a charge of rape, made an appearance for bail in the Mossel Bay Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. The Grade 7 teacher was arrested at his place of work, which is a primary school, on 20 September. The matter was adjourned to 19 October and the teacher remains in police custody. The state intends to oppose his bail application. According to the provincial National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the teacher faces a total of 19 charges which include sexual grooming of children, sexual assault, rape, exposing children to pornography and using a child to procure child pornography. It is alleged that all the victims were in his class. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Jolene Marriah-Maharaj at IOL News
Prasa reopens rail line affected by Joburg bridge collapse News24 reports that the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) has reopened its Germiston-Joburg line, which was affected by the collapse of a bridge on Wednesday. The agency's spokesperson, Andiswa Makanda, said teams worked into Thursday morning's early hours to remove debris and to repair infrastructure. The cause of the collapse is being investigated. The 50-year-old bridge collapsed while people were crossing it. A woman sustained soft-tissue injuries, according to paramedics who responded to the scene. Meantime, a man who sustained severe injuries to his ankle may have to undergo an amputation due to the severity of the injuries he sustained. According to the City of Johannesburg's MMC for Public Safety, Mgcini Tshwaku, who has a background in engineering, the bridge had recently begun to tilt. He noted that the collapse would have been tragic had it occurred during peak hours. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Cebelihle Bhengu at News24 Sixteen injured in horrifying Durban accident as truck crushes bus, taxis Sunday World reports that at least 16 people were injured in a horrific road accident in Durban on Thursday morning involving a fully loaded truck, a bus and two minibus taxis. According to Arrive Alive, the accident took place on Old Dutch Road after the driver of the truck allegedly lost control of the vehicle. The truck was reportedly heading eastward towards Durban Central Business District (CBD) and unexpectedly plummeted off the N3 overpass and landed directly on top of a bus in the market area of Durban. Two minibus taxis were also impacted. One male passenger from the rear of the bus was found severely entrapped in the wreckage. The Durban Fire Department used the Jaws of Life and other hydraulic equipment to free him. Approximately 15 other patients sustained moderate to serious injuries and were stabilised on the scene before being transported to various hospitals for further treatment. Meantime in a separate incident, just before 6am on Thursday, paramedics responded to a minibus accident scene on the corner of Che Guevara Road (Moore Road) and Williams Road in the Berea area. ALS paramedics said that 15 people sustained injuries which ranged from moderate to serious. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Coceka Magubeni at Sunday World. Read too, Carnage on Durban roads leaves over 30 injured, at IOL News. En ook, Chaos toe trok deur bus, taxi’s ploeg, by Maroela Media Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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