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 roundup of weekend and recent reports,
see summaries of our selection of South African
labour-related stories that recently appeared.
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Ramaphosa officially proclaims 29 May as election day and declares date a public holiday News24 reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially proclaimed 29 May as the general election date. The proclamation was published in a gazette on Friday morning. In a statement on Friday afternoon, the Presidency also announced that Ramaphosa had proclaimed the day of the election a public holiday. Ramaphosa noted that the elections would coincide with South Africa's celebration of 30 years of freedom and democracy. Through his spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, Ramaphosa urged South Africans to head to the polls in their numbers. “I call on all South Africans to exercise their democratic right to vote and for those who will be campaigning, to do so peacefully within the full observance of the law,” Ramaphosa told citizens. Read the full original of a report in the above regard by Amanda Khoza at News24. Lees ook, Dag van verkiesing amptelik ʼn vakansiedag, by Maroela Media
Study reveals that magistrates face danger at work Sunday Independent reports that a study has found the safety of magistrates at courts is at stake. The study’s results were released recently and indicate that many magistrates have been threatened, harmed and sexually harassed. The study was conducted by the Democratic Governance and Rights Unit (DGRU) of the University of Cape Town (UCT). About 230 magistrates were surveyed across the country and factors such as safety, security, perceptions of corruption and the impact of Covid-19 were examined. Almost a quarter (23%) of magistrates said they had been personally threatened or harmed because of their work. This happened once or twice, but 10% said this had happened a few times. The report concluded: “These two figures combined mean that a third had been threatened or harmed in the last year. In the Western Cape, this was as high as 39% (4 in 10). Such a degree of direct harm and threat to magistrates is of serious concern and is a reflection of deteriorating control by the state of safety in South Africa.” Many of the threats were related to the outcome of a matter that the magistrate presided over. Others received threats when dealing with gang-related cases. The DGRU said it was deeply concerning that magistrates were exposed to physical harm and threats as a result of their work. Over the past few years, the country has witnessed the killing of some magistrates. Among them was Cape Town’s Romay van Rooyen who was killed in 2022 and a Kwazulu-Natal magistrate who was shot by a group of men during an suspected hijacking. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Manyane Manyane at Sunday Independent Suspect arrested after shooting and injuring three police officers and friend during East Rand domestic hostage drama News24 reports that a 38-year-old suspect who took his wife, children and a family friend hostage on Sunday has been arrested after he allegedly shot and injured three police officers who had arrived on the scene. According to police spokesperson, Captain Mavela Masondo, they received a complaint about a woman and her children who were being held hostage by the woman's husband in Klopperpark on Gauteng's East Rand at about 07:00. "As the police arrived at the house, the suspect fired shots at them and also shot the family friend who was in the house," Masondo said. When the police's hostage negotiator and task team arrived at the scene, the suspect released all the hostages and surrendered to police. He was arrested and will be charged with four counts of attempted murder, kidnapping and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The injured police officers and the family friend were taken to a medical facility where they are in a serious but stable condition. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Cebelihle Mthethwa at News24. Read too, Man arrested after 'holding wife, children hostage and wounding three cops' in Bedfordview, at TimesLIVE Other internet posting(s) in this news category
DA warns that KZN faces R4bn budget deficit because of national public sector wage agreement Mail & Guardian reports that KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) faces a more than R4 billion budget deficit, with provincial departments struggling to find funds to meet the additional expense of the national government’s wage agreement for public sector workers. This was the warning from outgoing Democratic Alliance (DA) provincial leader Francois Rodgers at a media briefing on Friday where he outlined the state of the province and the party’s election offering. This was ahead of KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube’s official state of the province address next week. “If you look at the situation, at the closure of our budgets, we would be budgeting a deficit of R9 billion. That deficit comes about because the national government could not fund the negotiated wage agreement and has only funded a small portion of it. It funded R3.7 billion, which means our province still faces an over R4 billion deficit,” Rodgers indicated. The majority of trade unions representing public sector workers agreed to a two-year wage agreement, which encompassed a 7.5% increase in 2023-24 and an inflation-linked increase in 2024-25, according to a statement issued by the treasury at the time of the settlement last year. The cost of the agreement is estimated to be R37.4 billion in 2023-24, with carry-through effects applicable to subsequent financial years. Nationally, the public sector wage bill will cost R421 billion or 34.9% of the total R1.206 trillion social wage bill allocated in the 2024-24 budget, a treasury spokesperson said on Friday. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lyse Comins at Mail & Guardian
Gauteng health department moves to rein in overtime expenditure BL Premium reports that the Gauteng Department of Health (DOH) has assured healthcare professionals that it is not scrapping overtime payments for doctors in their entirety but simply reviewing its policy to ensure it sticks within its budget. Acting head of department Lesiba Malotana wrote to public health facility CEOs and senior managers on 15 February announcing the withdrawal of their authority to approve commuted overtime payments from 1 April, pending a policy review. All overtime payments will henceforth have to be signed off by head office. Commuted overtime is a requirement of the job designed to ensure hospitals can operate round the clock. The hours can be considerable, and constitute up to a third of many doctors’ salaries, according to SA Medical Association’s Mark Human. The DOH’s move was intended to bring its annual expenditure on commuted overtime back within its allocated budget of about R2.2bn, said spokesperson Motalatale Modiba. He was unable to specify the extent of the overspending but said it ran to “millions” and had been flagged by the auditor-general as an area of concern. The Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union (Haitu) issued a statement on Friday condemning the department’s “decision to cancel overtime” for doctors, saying it would put patients’ lives at risk. Solidarity’s network co-ordinator for doctors, Pierru Marx, said the move would add a new burden to a system “known for administration nightmares” and was likely to prove frustrating for doctors, who were contracted to work commuted overtime. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Gold Fields acts on workplace bullying following independent review Business Times reports that gold producer Gold Fields is implementing the recommendations of a consultancy firm that found widespread workplace bullying at the company last year. In its independent review into workplace culture at Gold Fields operations around the world, Elizabeth Broderick & Co found that half of the participants at the company were bullied, 23% of women and 7% of men had been sexually harassed, and 15% had experienced racism. The research followed a similar exercise at Rio Tinto in Western Australia a year earlier. Gold Fields' CEO Mike Fraser said it was a shock when the report was presented. “Clearly when the findings were released it was deeply disappointing that people were experiencing that kind of harassment and behaviour in the workplace. Change starts with leadership and the mining industry has its work cut out to address workplace behaviour. Tragically this is not a Gold Fields problem, it is a problem in our industry, and it is something that we have to stamp out if we truly want to be respected as an industry,” he commented. Delivering Gold Fields' financial results, Fraser also said the focus at the company’s South Deep operation was on ramping up safely and sustainably. He added that problems at South Deep were compounded by a shortage of key skills. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at Business Times (subscriber access only) Sibanye concludes restructuring talks at PGM mines with 852 employees and contractors to be retrenched Miningmx reports that Sibanye-Stillwater is to retrench 852 full time employees and contractors at its South African platinum group metals (PGM) mines, it announced on Friday. This follows the conclusion of Section 189 negotiations held in terms of the Labour Relations Act with unions and other affected parties. Sibanye indicated in October that up to 4,905 employees were potentially affected by restructuring in the face of steep PGM price declines. Sibanye reported that it would close its mined out Simunye shaft while the Rowland and Siphumelele shafts at Marikana section have been “repositioned”. All in all 47 full time employees and 805 contractors will be retrenched, with a further 1,281 employees granted voluntary separation or early retirement packages. Natural attrition between the start of the negotiations and the present accounted for 467 less retrenched employees. A total of 351 employees accepted transfers to other shafts to fill vacancies. Other retrenchments could follow as the miner agreed to keep a marginal shaft, known as 4B, open provided there were no net losses on a monthly basis. This shaft has 1,496 employees and 54 contractors. “Should this not be sustained and subject to certain conditions the shaft will be closed,” the company indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by David McKay at Miningmx. Read too, Sibanye concludes restructuring negotiations at its South African PGM operations, at Mining Weekly
Solidarity submits PAIA application to Legal Practice Council over phasing out of Afrikaans as exam language medium Trade union Solidarity reported on Friday that it had submitted an application to the Legal Practice Council (LPC) in terms of the Promotion of Access of Information Act (PAIA) for information related to the council’s decision to phase out Afrikaans as language medium for examinations. In January, the Solidarity Law Network addressed several letters about the matter to the LPC. According to Riaan Visser, head of the Law Network, the LPC has not responded to any correspondence from the network apart from having acknowledged receipt. In terms of the PAIA application, Solidarity has requested, among other things, all documentation related to the matter, including records, minutes, agendas of meetings as well as a comprehensive list of stakeholders consulted during the process of phasing out Afrikaans. “The Solidarity Law Network wishes to determine the grounds on which the LPC based its decision-making. This includes, among other things, how many legal practitioners wrote the exam in Afrikaans last year, how the Council monitors the language policy and also what the Council does to ensure and expand language diversity,” Visser explained. “The ultimate goal of this PAIA application is to develop a joint strategy that addresses the interests of all parties involved, while promoting the constitutional principles of language diversity and access to rights,” Visser emphasised. Read Solidarity’s press statement regarding the above at Politicsweb
Godongwana’s admits mistake in allowing pension funds to increase their offshore holdings Business Times reports that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has admitted that the National Treasury made a mistake when it allowed pension funds and other asset managers to increase their offshore holdings. The amendment of regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act — introduced in 2022 to “externalise savings” of SA’s collective investment schemes industry in other markets — drew sharp criticism from a portfolio manager at a post-budget event in Cape Town on Thursday. Ntobeko Stampu of All Weather Capital asked if the government had any plans to reverse the regulation, which allows up to half of the assets held by retirement funds, long-term insurers and others to be invested offshore. “We have shot ourselves in the foot by doing that. We need more savings invested in the country to fund its infrastructure projects, to get our economy to grow at a faster pace so we can create real jobs. But we’ve taken our money we’ve given it to foreigners where there’s actually no reciprocal benefit to us,” said Stampu. “That money is managed by offshore companies, being invested in their own country for their own infrastructure. Are there any thoughts from Treasury to reverse this policy? It’s hurting the asset management industry, it’s shrinking the JSE,” Stampu added. Godongwana accepted that it had been a mistake to extend the threshold, but said reversing the decision would be difficult. “I think we agreed that it was a grave mistake. But the question is, is it easy to undo? The answer is ‘no’, as there are people we are working with. We are debating in Treasury. There is a lot of disagreement on it. I’m guilty because my signature is attached to it,” Godongwana stated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Business Times (subscriber access only) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
G4S officials at Mangaung prison amid probe following Thabo Bester escape Sunday World reports that an internal observation report has revealed that seven G4S officials, who were facing a probe, have jumped ship, and five more are on suspension, with one official having been dismissed. At least 13 officials from the scandal-ridden private prison, Mangaung Correctional Centre, from which Thabo Bester escaped, are facing the music for “improper dealings with inmates”. A Department of Correctional Services (DCS) interim management team has taken over the running of Mangaung facility after the G4S was found implicated in Bester’s escape. An internal observation report by the DCS paints an ugly picture of the facility. The report alleges that the department’s officials, along with G4S members, are running syndicates within the centre which include a sex ring, where female officials “render sexual services to offenders for a fee averaging R1,000 to R1,500 per encounter”. The report also alleges that the selling of drugs in the facility is rife, especially dagga, which the report describes as “a rare commodity which is in demand and is lucrative in revenue”. The observation report focuses on matters that occurred on 22-25 May 2023, and claims the G4S intelligence officers “are well-heeled into the syndicate of activities at the Mangaung Correctional Centre”. The G4S is a multinational security company that is running the centre on behalf of the government for a R44-million fee a month. Mangaung, along with Kutama Sinthumule Correctional facility in Makhado, Limpopo, are the only two private prisons in the country. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mzilikazi wa Afrika at Sunday World
SA Air Force commanding officer arrested for kidnapping and theft of more than 200,000 City Press reports that a commanding officer in the SA Air Force (SAAF) is behind bars after he allegedly kidnapped a couple as part of a syndicate, threatened to shoot the woman and emptied their bank accounts. Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Blie (47) and seven other men allegedly stole R253,000 from Anil Jugmalian’s account – partly with electronic transfers to Blie’s personal bank account. Jugmalian and his girlfriend were kidnapped and robbed after they were lured to Winterveldt, Pretoria, by an advertisement for music equipment on Facebook Marketplace. Blie was arrested about two weeks ago at the air force headquarters in Pretoria, by detectives from Gauteng. More charges are likely to be added to the case because the investigation against the suspects continues unabated. The current charges include cyber fraud, kidnapping and armed robbery. According to Henry Mamothame, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority in North West, several firearms were used in the robbery, however, they were not military weapons. Some of the evidence against the men apparently includes footage taken at ATMs where money was withdrawn with the stolen cards. Some of the suspects are also linked to a cash-in-transit and other armed robberies in the area. Blie was described by some of his colleagues as an excellent officer whose work gave evidence of a good education. The four suspects are currently in custody in Ga-Rankuwa, where they will appear in court early in March again for their bail application. Blie’s criminal record shows that has two previous lesser convictions against him for theft and for damaging property. According to Mamothame, Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Erika Gibson at City Press (subscriber access only)
Reserve Bank governor’s wife fights casino group’s ‘gender, racial discrimination’ Sunday Independent reports that business executive Zibusiso Kganyago, who is the SA Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago’s wife, is demanding substantial redress from Tsogo Sun for unfairly discriminating against her on the basis of gender and race in its compensation scheme. At the centre of the dispute between Kganyago and Africa's biggest casino operator is the company’s decision to pay other executives sizeable amounts of money when they left, while she never received the same treatment despite having served in the group executive committee (GEC). Kganyago, who was Tsogo Sun's group development director until December 2020, has complained that her former white male colleagues who were retired due to the impact of Covid-19 received millions of rand and were rewarded handsomely for their service, unlike her. The Tsogo Sun Casino Management Company terminated Kganyago’s employment in December 2020 in terms of the Labour Relations Act (LRA), which determines the process to be followed when employers with more than 50 employees dismiss a part of their workforce based on operational requirements. Despite her request for an ex gratia payment on termination of her employment commensurate with her status as a senior executive as was received by other employees who fell within the category of senior executives, Tsogo Sun Casino Management Company and Tsogo Sun Gaming Limited refused to do so. Kganyago then referred a dispute concerning whether there was a fair reason for the dismissal to the Labour Court. She told the Labour Court that Tsogo Sun’s conduct was grossly unfair and rendered her retrenchment substantively unfair. The matter is still awaiting a trial date. Kganyago's lawyer was unable to indicate when the trial would be held. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Loyiso Sidimba at Sunday Independent
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