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 Wednesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of South African
labour-related reports.
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Health Minister Joe Phaahla says money has been found to hire unemployed doctors BL Premium reports that Health Minister Joe Phaahla moved on Tuesday to assure unemployed doctors that the state has found the money to hire them, with details to be announced in the Finance Minister’s budget speech next week. Newly qualified doctors have been protesting for the past two months over the state’s inability to provide them with posts in the public sector, which the minister said last week was due to budget constraints. The state would hire them if it could, but it just didn’t have the money, he said at the time. But in a surprise turn of events, Phaahla announced on Tuesday that a plan had been made to fund more posts. “Our national team is working with National Treasury to thrash out the details and working with provincial health department[s] to speed up the process so that by April 1 all those who will not be already in posts can start. I am confident that with this certainty, provinces will be able to start giving appointment letters even before April 1 2024. The measures we are working on with the minister of finance will give us sufficient breathing space while we are working on long-term solutions,”Phaahla told MPs without elaborating. The health department was not focusing solely on doctors, and was doing everything it could to retain as many other healthcare professionals as it could in the public sector, he added. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, Government will find funds to employ jobless doctors by April, says Joe Phaahla, at TimesLIVE
Police search for killers of senior procurement executive at Foskor News24 reports that police are on the hunt for gunmen, who shot dead a senior procurement executive at fertiliser and chemicals producer Foskor, in Meerensee, Richards Bay, on Monday. The victim, Sifiso Mncube, sustained multiple gunshot wounds when unknown gunmen opened fire, before fleeing in a silver Hyundai iX35. Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said officers responded to reports of a shooting in the suburb and found the 50-year-old man dead inside his vehicle. The motive for the murder is not yet known. Henk van Niekerk of the Meerensee community policing forum said Mncube was "clearly targeted". "According to information at our disposal, the vehicle used in the killing is not from the area and the gunmen appeared to have studied his movements. They shot at him 25 times, but they did not steal anything," he noted. A union official at Foskor said the incident was being investigated, and they would comment later on Tuesday. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nkosikhona Duma at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Waive “no work no pay” principle, striking UCT workers insist GroundUp reports that workers from the University of Cape Town Employees Union (UCTEU) did not report for duty all day on Tuesday. This after wage negotiations with the university management broke down over the weekend. About 150 employees marched from Sarah Baartman Hall to Bremner Building to picket outside UCT’s administrative offices. Professional, administrative and support service (PASS) staff have been on strike since Thursday. The union is demanding a 1.5% increase to 2023 salaries and a 7.5% increase to 2024 salaries. The union also wants the immediate payment for performance awards for June 2022 to May 2023. It further wants the university to implement a unified bargaining forum, among other demands. The employees are technical and scientific officers, and administrative employees working in a wide range of pay classes. According to the union’s Tsebo Litabe, the university had backtracked when it made changes to the draft agreement sent to the union executive on Sunday evening. The union is waiting to meet with the university again, he said. Litabe said that they’ve asked the university to waive the “no work no pay” principle, but it refused. Updating its members on Monday, the union said that this was a “non-negotiable” point and it would only sign an agreement once this was resolved. UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola said: “The engagements continue, and good progress has been made. Details will be communicated to the UCT community on resolution of the issues.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Liezl Human at GroundUp uShaka Marine World staff to down tools on Wednesday over wages East Coast Radio reports that uShaka Marine World staff members belonging to the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) will down tools over pay on Wednesday. The Durban theme park closed its doors on Monday after wage negotiations between workers and eThekwini Municipality deadlocked. The municipal union is asking for a 15% pay hike, claiming that the city failed to implement salary adjustments recommended by an audit firm eight years ago. The employer has proposed 7%, with the CCMA having tried to resolve the dispute. The union's Xolani Dube said a march would be held outside uShaka Marine World from 8 am. "The biggest issue that is in dispute is the payscale, where the employer commissioned a grading report in 2016, but that report to regrade all positions in uShaka was only implemented partially. That means only corporate employees were beneficiaries in the report, particularly the senior level. Between grades 17 and 10 were not included in the structure so they did not benefit," Dube explained. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Noxolo Miya at ECR. Read too, uShaka Sea World’s animals will not be affected by strike, at Southlands Sun
Water Research Commission study lays out worrying effects of closing coal mines BL Premium reports that research funded by the Water Research Commission has found that more than 6-million people in SA who live in mining areas will be affected socially and economically by mine closures, with communities in the coal belt and gold-mining areas likely to be the most affected. The study, conducted by UCT academic Megan Cole, calls for government and companies to think about the social risks that will accompany the closure of coal mines as new investments in the sector dry up while the country ramps up investments into cleaner energy. “Numerous coal mines are expected to close in the near future as the coal fields in Mpumalanga are depleted and climate change limits coal investment; there is significant domestic and international pressure for a ‘just transition’ to clean energy that ensures that the mineworkers and host communities are not left behind,” the study points out. Cole’s research has identified about 69 mines in Mpumalanga’s coal fields as being at high risk of closure. The research also shows that most of the gold mines and a few chrome mines on the Western Limb of the Bushveld Complex in the North West are also in the high-risk category. “Analysis of job prospects for coal mineworkers in SA leaving mining show the majority are not employable or have low employability prospects. Similarly, the financial and human resource capacity of the local government authority affects its ability to cope with mine closures, and the resulting loss of revenue and analysis of audit reports in SA show most municipalities will struggle to cope,” the study finds. The study’s findings illustrate the need for a just transition framework that lays out a shared vision and policy areas for achieving an equitable zero-carbon economy. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kabelo Khumalo at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Economists predict a VAT increase in next week’s budget speech The Citizen reports that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will deliver his 2024 budget speech in Parliament next week and as South Africa await to hear how he plans to sail through the economic storm, expert predictions suggest a likely increase in VAT. In last year’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), National Treasury proposed tax increases amounting to R15 billion. PwC said raising this amount would require a 0.5% increase in tax rates across all tax bands – including Value-Added Tax (VAT). “The most economically efficient and least harmful way to raise the additional tax revenues of R15 billion that National Treasury indicated would be introduced in Budget 2024, would be by way of a 0.5% increase in the Vat rate to 15.5%,” said PwC’s Kyle Mandy. PwC believes government’s extension of the SRD grant, the need to fund it and the possibility to make it permanent, could justify a VAT increase. “When viewed together, an increase in VAT in order to fund social spending, particularly in the form of a means tested grant, is highly progressive in aggregate,” PwC said. Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu recently said increasing VAT was a likely option to fund a basic income grant (BIG). Over the last year, rising living costs amid record-high inflation have left many South African households financially overstretched. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Vukosi Maluleke at The Citizen
PetroSA replaces acting CEO with a new acting CEO BusinessLive reports that state-owned oil and gas company PetroSA announced on Monday that it has replaced its acting CEO Sandisiwe Ncemane, who will return to the Central Energy Fund, with Sesakho Magadla, who will also serve in an acting capacity until a permanent appointment is made. According to the PetroSA board, the acting appointments “are interim, pending the official appointment of a [CEO] by the shareholder”. Magadla has been with PetroSA for 16 years, most recently in the role of acting COO. Bloomberg has reported that a new CEO has already been selected and the name submitted to cabinet for approval by mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe. PetroSA has faced much scrutiny over a controversial decision to select Russia’s Gazprombank Africa as the preferred investment partner to restart operations at its gas-to-liquid refinery in Mossel Bay. The deal is still dependent on the final investment decision and terms and conditions that are expected to be finalised in April, but cabinet has already endorsed PetroSA’s decision. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Denene Erasmus at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, PetroSA readies new CEO as Gazprom deal nears, at Moneyweb Other internet posting(s) in this news category
ANC Youth League’s Malatji tells private sector to scrap experience from entry-level jobs TimesLIVE reports that ANC Youth League president Collen Malatji says the private sector should remove work experience as a requirement for entry-level jobs to address the high unemployment rate. In September last year, the government advised that previous work experience would no longer be a requirement for entry-level government jobs and it has since advertised junior-level vacancies that require no previous work exposure. President Cyril Ramaphosa has repeatedly called on companies to get rid of work experience as a must for young people applying for entry-level positions at their firms. Malatji was speaking in parliament on Tuesday as political parties gathered to debate last week’s state of the nation address by Ramaphosa. He focused on unemployment and programmes for youth development and called on the private sector to follow the president’s instruction to scrap work experience. Unemployment figures, excluding those who gave up job-hunting, indicate at least 31.9% of citizens are jobless. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Bulelani Nonyukela at TimesLIVE
Office of Public Protector tells Busisiwe Mkhwebane she is not entitled to gratuity of some R10m, TimesLIVE reports that impeached former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is expected to be at loggerheads with her former employer over a whopping payout believed to be in the region of R10m. The Office of the Public Protector (OPP) has apparently determined that Mkhwebane does not qualify for the payment because of how she left office. Mkhwebane was impeached by parliament in September 2023, rendering her unqualified to receive the payout, the OPP claims. President Cyril Ramaphosa officially removed her weeks later. Mkhwebane has since joined the EFF as an MP. Apparently the OPP communicated its decision about the gratuity to Mkhwebane this week. Some of the reasons are said to be that the law entitles only those who have left the post of the public protector of their own volition or at the end of their term, to receive the payment, and not when they have been removed. The OPP is said to have told Mkhwebane that it could not find a law in either the constitution or the Public Protector Act under which it could justify making the payment. Mkhwebane’s predecessor, Thuli Madonsela, was paid R7.6m in gratuity at the end of her nonrenewable seven-year term. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kgothatso Madisa at BusinessLive
Eskom senior technician in court on fraud and corruption charges TimesLIVE reports that a senior Eskom technician who is a shareholder in a company which allegedly did business with Eskom appeared in the Middelburg specialised commercial crimes court on Tuesday to face fraud, corruption and money-laundering charges. It is alleged that during August 2022, Nkhetheni Percy Ramaru misrepresented to Eskom that he was not conducting business with the power utility. A probe by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) revealed that he was a shareholder at a company called MXO Logistics CC, which was conducting business with Eskom. “This was discovered on the declaration forms and tender documents submitted by MXO Logistics CC to Eskom. As a result Eskom suffered an actual loss of R14,940,” Hawks spokesperson Capt Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi indicated. The case was postponed to next Monday Read the original of the short report in the above regard at TimesLIVE Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Former St Mary's DSG teacher accused of rape, sexual assault and grooming released on R10,000 bail News24 reports that a 34-year-old former teacher from St Mary's Diocesan School for Girls in Pretoria was granted R10,000 bail by the Pretoria Magistrate's Court at Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre on Tuesday. The former teacher is facing charges of rape, sexual assault and sexual grooming, which he denies. The matter was postponed to 27 March for further investigations. According to an affidavit by the investigating officer, the complainant accused the teacher of inappropriately touching her and giving her special attention at a camp. After the camp, the minor alleged, she was sexually assaulted by the teacher during extra science lessons, when it was just the two of them in class. The girl also accused the man of raping her in the changing rooms of a swimming pool after school. The sexual assault allegedly continued throughout 2017 and stopped after the first term of 2018, when she was in Grade 6. The girl was aged between 10 and 11 at the time of the alleged incidents. She apparently only realised that what was done to her was wrong after she attended sexual offence classes in 2019. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kaveel Singh at News24. Lees ook, Borgtog vir onderwyser wat glo verkrag, by Maroela Media Teacher fired for sexually assaulting pupils at special needs school in Eastern Cape TimesLIVE reports that the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) has ordered the dismissal of a teacher it found guilty of sexually assaulting seven pupils at a special needs school by forcefully kissing them and touching their buttocks, thighs and rib cages without their consent. The arbitrator was called upon to decide whether Njabulo Siphesihle Mbeje was guilty of the charges proffered against him by the Eastern Cape education department and to make an appropriate award or sanction. Mbeje is employed by the department as an educator at Sive Special School in Cedarville in the Alfred Nzo district municipality, where he teaches computer application technology in grades 10 to 12. The department called two witnesses (details of their evidence given in TimesLIVE report). The commissioner found that the teacher had conducted himself in an improper, disgraceful and unacceptable manner, thus contravening the Employment of Educators Act. Mbeje was also found unsuitable to work with children. The general secretary of the ELRC was directed to notify the social development department to enter his name on the national child protection register. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ernest Mabuza at TimesLIVE
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