In our roundup of weekend news, see
summaries of our selection of South African
labour-related stories that appeared since
Friday, 6 October 2023.
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Nissan SA to cut 400 jobs at Rosslyn plant Moneyweb reports that Nissan South Africa plans to retrench 25% of its employees – about 400 of its total 1,600 workforce – as part of an employee reduction plan because of its inability to secure a replacement model for its NP200 bakkie for production at its Rosslyn plant in Pretoria. Production of the Nissan NP200 bakkie is scheduled to end in March 2024 at the end of the model’s extended lifecycle. Nissan SA announced on Friday that its Rosslyn plant continued to build its flagship Navara pickup, with model upgrades to come and export destinations set to increase, but was preparing to end production of the iconic NP200. Nissan SA added on Friday: “In line with our African strategy, securing a second model for production in South Africa is a priority, and a study into an alternative vehicle is already progressing. Until our future plans are confirmed, the business will be operating at reduced production volumes and needs to act responsibly to maintain its long-term competitiveness and be ready to secure future opportunities.” Nissan SA confirmed it had entered into a formal consultation phase to restructure the business. “During the consultation phase, we will work with our employees, their representatives, and our partners to minimise the impact on our people and investigate other opportunities for them and for the business to ensure a sustainable future for the brand in South Africa,” it said. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Roy Cokayne at Moneyweb
Army names of six soldiers killed in the Northern Cape training camp blaze News24 reports that the SA Army has released the names of six soldiers who lost their lives in a fire that swept through the SA Army's Combat Training Centre in Lohatla in the Northern Cape on Friday. The soldiers who died were Staff Sergeant Abraham Desember Morajane, Staff Sergeant Sipho Berrington Cele, Corporal Sithembiso Wiseman Ndwalane, Corporal Noxolo Faith Ngubane, Lance Corporal Prince Michael Mthethwa and Lance Corporal Londiwe Purity Zulu. Three soldiers also sustained second degree burns, while others sustained minor injuries. Strong winds spread the fire that destroyed the camp, vehicles, shelter and personal belongings of 1,300 military personnel. Gift of the Givers announced its teams were preparing an aid package in response to requests from the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) to assist soldiers who lost everything in the devastating fire. The SA National Defence Union (SANDU) called on (SANDF) to launch an inquiry to establish the cause of the incident. Experts have blamed military budget cuts for the tragedies that have befallen the army in recent weeks. On 20 September, crew members of the SA Navy submarine SAS Manthatisi were swept out to sea and three lives were lost. Hours later, four soldiers were killed in a vehicle accident on the outskirts of Upington in the Northern Cape. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Malibongwe Dayimani at News24. Read too, President Cyril Ramaphosa saddened by death of six soldiers after a fire at Lohatla, at IOL News
Budget cuts hit defence force, with promotions of colonels and navy captains suspended indefinitely City Press reports that the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) announced in a letter last week that the promotions of colonels and navy captains was being put on hold indefinitely as budget cuts hit the defence force. In a brief letter, Major General Nomsa Mkhize, chief director of HR management in the SANDF, stated that the seminar where these promotions were usually conferred annually had been postponed indefinitely. However, in January this year, the promotion of senior generals continued without restrictions. A colonel who has served in this rank for more than 20 years said it was a bitter pill to swallow and commented: “One understands that cost savings are necessary, but not without a proper plan or structure. It’s the same with the almost 1,500 senior soldiers who left with voluntary packages this year. These guys, ones you don’t really want to lose, take packages and go – and the dead wood you want to get out of the system, well, it just stays. The generals are unaffected, but the promotions of the colonels who handle all the management are now being sacrificed.” The military’s financial predicament became clearer last week, following its 2022/23 annual report and a presentation before the parliamentary committee on defence. Apart from the fact that the SANDF overspent about R3 billion on its budget this financial year, it is the defendant in several court cases in which the total claims amount to about R8.26 billion. The claims are for medical negligence, shooting incidents, injuries at the workplace and labour issues. Yet, as part of its medium-term budget savings, the Treasury has said that the defence force must cut an additional R1.9 billion from somewhere. A former senior officer pointed out: “Withholding promotions is an ineffective way of trying to save costs. The entire defence force must be made smaller and this can only be done if units are closed. The biggest expenses are rations, logistics and maintenance – not just a bunch of colonels,” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Erika Gibson at City Press (subscriber access only) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Cosatu march turns rowdy preventing Tshwane city manager from accepting memo of demands News24 reports that trade union federation Cosatu's march to demand that City of Tshwane employees be paid wage increases turned sour on Friday afternoon because the City Manager could not accept a memorandum due to an unruly crowd. Around 1,000 Cosatu and affiliate union members marched to both the National Treasury and Tshwane House. At Treasury, the union handed over a memorandum addressing budget cuts in public spending. Once the marchers arrived at Tshwane House, they sought to hand over a memorandum to the mayor of Tshwane, Cilliers Brink, demanding salary increases and that that employees who were dismissed because of the recent strike be reinstated. Brink, however, did not come out to accept the memorandum. According to his spokesperson, Brink had been ready to accept the memo at 12:00, as had been arranged with Cosatu, but “by 13:20, the march still had not arrived at Tshwane House, and the mayor had to leave to attend to another prearranged engagement." The City manager, Johann Mettler, was then tasked to accept the memo. But he abandoned the task after the police nyala he arrived in was stormed by a group of marchers. Cosatu management then calmed the crowd down, read out the memo of demands and claimed that Brink did not respect "black workers". Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Alex Mitchley at News24 City of Tshwane vows not to bow to Cosatu pressure to pay wage increases News24 reports that the City of Tshwane has remained resolute that it cannot afford to pay its employees wage increases because of its dire financial position. Since the end of July, the capital city has faced backlash over its decision not to pay a 5.4% wage increase agreed upon at the SA Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC), which would cost around R600 million. The decision has led to protests, marches and an illegal strike that has seen the crippling of service delivery. There have also been also acts of criminality, with city infrastructure having been torched and employees intimidated. Despite the chaos that unfolded, the city stood firm and applied to SALGBC for an exemption from paying the increases, which was dismissed. The city is taking the council's decision on review. On Friday, some 1,000 Cosatu members marched to Tshwane House. In their memorandum, they demanded the following: Workers dismissed because of the strike to be reinstated; the city to honour the agreement to pay the wage increases; the city to reverse its intention to review the bargaining council's ruling on the exemption application; and the city to engage with organised labour to resolve the "impasse". In response to the march and Cosatu's demands, Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink was unwavering in the city's stance. His spokesperson Sipho Stuurman said: "The city is committed to maintaining relations with organised labour, and the executive as well as the management of the city will apply its mind to Cosatu's inputs." However, he added that Tshwane was in financial distress, and the city council had had to make difficult decisions in the interest of the community, including employees of the city. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Alex Mitchley at News24 (subscriber access only)
Seifsa president Elias Monage confident crippling wage strike can be avoided BL Premium reports that the newly re-elected president of the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) is confident the metals and engineering sector can avert another crippling strike like the one of October 2021 that lasted nearly three weeks. In next year’s wage negotiations, the national employer federation will represent 18 independent employer associations with a combined membership of more than 1,000 companies employing over 170,000 people. Speaking after the Seifsa AGM unanimously re-elected him as president on Friday, Elias Monage was buoyant about a positive collective bargaining outcome. The leadership of both the employers and unions recognised what was at stake, he noted. Monage went on to say: “I don’t think we will have a strike next year. We have leadership from both sides that see the bigger picture in terms of policy certainty and considerations and stability of the industry. We are looking at doing things differently and that’s why I am saying I don’t think we will have a strike next year, depending on how both sides manage our affairs.” Monage said the sector was looking at having “a pre-bargaining” round early next year, before the expiry of the present agreement on 30 June 2024. The purpose of pre-bargaining with the unions and other entities was to understand the industry’s economic outlook, outline what the challenges were, and explore how the sector could deal with them, he explained. But, tough negotiations lie ahead as workers are facing harsh economic conditions as the costs of transport, food and shelter have risen sharply. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Michelle Gumede at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Harmony Gold reports fatality at Tshepong North in the Free State Fin24 reports that Harmony Gold said on Friday that an employee was killed during an early morning fall-of-ground (FOG) incident at the Tshepong North mine near Odendaalrus in the Free State. It added that the family and relevant authorities had been informed, with the affected area closed while investigations were under way. The death at Tshepong North came a month after Harmony reported two employees lost their lives at its Kusasalethu mine following a fall of ground incident caused by a seismic event in Carletonville, Gauteng. 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
Eskom to get a new CEO by year-end, says Pravin Gordhan Bloomberg News reports that according to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, a chief executive officer for beleaguered power utility Eskom will be named by the end of the year. Eskom has been without a full-time head for more than seven months. Meanwhile, the CEO of Transnet said she would leave the state-owned logistics company by the end of October. Finding the new head for Transnet would take longer, Gordhan said. He indicated in an interview with Bloomberg TV: "Both the entities will have CEOs shortly. Finding the right person is a difficult challenge in the southern African context." SA has been struggling in its bid to revive the two state monopolies. Inefficiencies at Transnet might have cost the country R150 billion in exports last year, according to the Minerals Council SA. Glencore and Seriti Resources over the past two weeks started talks to cut hundreds of jobs because their ability to export coal had been stymied. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jennifer Zabasajja at Fin24 Transport union Untu calls on government to appoint competent candidates to country's strategic positions EWN reports that the United National Transport Union (Untu) has called on the government to appoint competent candidates to the country's strategic positions. This after Transnet Freight Rail CEO Siza Mzimela’s resignation last week. Mzimela’s departure came amid the ongoing underperformance of the parastatal. Untu spokesperson Atenkosi Plaatjie said this was an opportunity to appoint an experienced candidate with an understanding of the rail industry. "Although the exodus of Transnet executives is concerning, it presents an opportunity for the government and the Transnet board to break the cycle of political appointments and cadre deployment," Plaatjie pointed out. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Melikhaya Zagagana at EWN Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Midnight scramble to sign off on ‘irregular’ R5bn UIF deal Sunday Times reports that senior officials of the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) and its Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) scrambled on a Sunday night and into the early hours of Monday morning last December to nail down an “irregular” deal that would have seen R5bn in UIF funds being channelled towards an untested job-creation initiative. The department has since pulled the plug on the deal and axed the chair of Productivity SA, Mthunzi Mdwaba, whose hastily established company, Thuja Holdings, was registered just 10 days before the deal with it was signed. News of the scandal broke in a report last December which revealed that senior officials who devised the scheme admitted it was an “untested thing” designed to create jobs. The outcome of a forensic investigation into the matter now shows how the scheme went from rejected to signed in just a few days. It has also emerged that, were it not for three officials at the UIF and the DEL who pushed back against the scheme, it may well have gone ahead. E-mails submitted to investigators by officials reveal how DEL director-general Thobile Lamati and UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping were determined to push the deal through by year-end, though it is unclear what the rush was for. These revelations have come as DEL Minister Thulas Nxesi and the UIF are under pressure from business and labour for the UIF to be placed under administration. Last week, Business Unity SA said: “Systemic issues at the UIF have been publicly revealed recently by news [which indicate] that questionable investments have put at risk billions of rand that should be allocated to workers in distress.” Mentime, Lamati’s fate lies in the hands of President Cyril Ramaphosa, who hires and fires directors-general. It is unclear what action, if any, Lamati has taken against Maruping, who reports to him. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sabelo Skiti at Sunday Times (subscriber access only). Read too, Public Interest SA calls for full probe into ‘irregular’ R5bn UIF deal, at BusinessLive
Parliament CEO Xolile George’s 70% pay increase shocker Sunday Times reports that parliament has quietly handed its CEO, Xolile George, a salary hike of almost 70%, taking his remuneration to a whopping R4.4m. This despite insisting last year he would be earning much less than he had been as head of another government agency. Even as National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and NCOP chair Amos Masondo publicly agreed in June last year that George would be paid R2.6m a year, a caveat was added indicating that his salary would be reviewed within four months. At the time, Mapisa-Nqakula and Masondo told political parties and the public that George was happy to take a pay cut from his previous job as CEO of the SA Local Government Association (Salga) where he was paid more than R5m a year. However, within seven months, Mapisa-Nqakula and Masondo increased George’s salary to R4.4m a year, almost 70% more than the offer he accepted. It is not clear where the additional R1.8m came from as parliament did not respond to questions last week. George was appointed in June 2022 on a five-year fixed term contract. The position was advertised in March 2022 with a remuneration package of R2,604,661 a year, after the 2021 recruitment process was abandoned because parliament felt it couldn’t afford him. News of the salary hike has drawn sharp commentary from political parties and commentators, who have made the point that parliament symbolises accountability and is meant to enforce it throughout the public sphere. DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube described the salary revelations as “shocking” and said that, if true, they “prove that the speaker misled parliament — a deeply serious offence.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Andisiwe Makinana at Sunday Times (subscriber access only)
High Court stops Blade Nzimande from placing Unisa under administration Mail & Guardian reports that the North Gauteng High Court has ordered Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande to withdraw his notice of intention to place the University of South Africa (Unisa) under administration. Judge Harshila Kooverjie ruled on Friday that Nzimande’s notice of intention was “in breach” of another order issued by Pretoria High Court Judge Leicester Adams in August 2023 and ordered that Nzimande should immediately stop any steps to publish and implement the notice or to take any decision of whatever nature to implement the notice. In August Nzimande had given Unisa’s council seven days to respond to a letter stating that he planned to place the distance learning institution under administration. This was after reports by independent assessor Professor Themba Mosia and a ministerial task team chaired by Dr Vincent Maphai flagged poor financial controls, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, and mismanagement. A statement from the higher education department on Thursday said the minister had delayed making his decision by mutual agreement, giving the council an extension to 4 September to respond. “The minister awaited the response of the Unisa council and nothing of substance happened 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,” the statement indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mandisa Ndlovu at Mail & Guardian (subscriber access only). Read too, Court orders Nzimande to withdraw notice to place Unisa under administration, at News24
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