In our Friday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of South African
labour-related reports.
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Nxesi outlines plan to inject R23bn for training and job opportunities in various sectors and industries TimesLIVE reports that Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) Minister Thulas Nxesi says his department will allocate R23bn to the Unemployment Insurance (UIF) labour activation programme (LAP). Nxesi announced the LAP programme on Thursday, which will provide training for employment and entrepreneurship programmes. The programme will be launched at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Gauteng on Saturday together with the provincial government and will be rolled out to other provinces in April. Nxesi advised that after much consultation and contemplation, it had been decided to invest in partnerships with the private sector to create thousands of employment opportunities. He indicated further: “The sectors and industries that will contribute to the creation of these opportunities include economic growth and in-demand sectors such as agriculture, ICT, construction, engineering, manufacturing, education, transport and mining. An amount of R23.8bn will be allocated to implement this plan. Opportunities will run between 12 and 36 months. The money invested in the plan will be recouped by the UIF through contributions and revenue generated from investments as has been the sustainability model of the fund.” Nationally, 333 recommended projects will provide training, small enterprise support and employment opportunities to 704,000 people. The programme will be launched over the coming weeks, starting with 55 projects in phase 1 for Gauteng on Saturday. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Phathu Luvhengo at TimesLIVE
Harmony Gold strikes historic five-year wage deal with all unions BL Premium reports that in a historic wage agreement that guarantees mining labour stability, Harmony Gold has signed a multiyear, above-inflation pay deal. The gold producer and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), Solidarity and the United Association of SA (Uasa) signed the agreement on Thursday after months of talks. Mineworkers will get raises of R1,200 in the first year, R1,250 in the second, R1,300 in the third, R1,450 in the fourth and R1,500 in the final year. Inflation rose to an annualised 5.6% in February and the SA Reserve Bank expects it to fall to 4.5% only in the fourth quarter of 2025. Harmony Gold said the deal would result in an increase of about 6% a year over the five years, “which is within our planning parameters”. In addition to the basic wage increases, the monthly housing allowance will increase to R3,360 in the first year, rising to R4,020 in the final year, while the living-out allowance will increase to R2,800 in the first year, rising to R3,350 in the final year of the wage deal. Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis said the agreement was a victory for collective bargaining and noted that it was reached without deadlocks or a dispute process. “It has also been the first time that a five-year agreement has been reached in the gold sector,” he pointed out. Uasa’s Abigail Moyo said the union was pleased to be a part of “rewarding negotiations given the current economic challenges many companies face, especially in mining. The cost of living has workers on edge.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Restructured Post Office will be ‘lean, agile and cost effective’, says Gungubele Business Report writes that Minister of Communications Mondli Gungubele says the restructured SA Post Office (Sapo) will be “lean, agile and cost effective”. Speaking at a briefing on Thursday, he said the business rescue process currently being carried out was a costly exercise, but way better than liquidation of the entity. In his 2023 budget, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana allocated a R2.4 billion bail-out to Sapo. Gungubele said government’s aim was to save the entity and ensure it continued as a business. In this regard, turning Sapo into an effective, innovative and financially viable entity remained the foremost priority of government. As part of a restructuring process, 235 post offices were due to close across the country. Gungubele indicated: “The BRPs (business rescue practitioners) continue to engage labour representatives to ensure a seamless process on all labour related issues.” The BRPs on Thursday confirmed that some 4,700 retrenchment letters had been issued to staff to date. They said retrenchment payments would be made over eight months, in four tranches. Though the job cuts will reduce the headcount from 11,083 to 6,383 workers, the losses will be less than the 6,000 jobs estimated to be at risk when the Sapo’s business rescue plan was adopted by more than the required 75% of creditors in December last year. Gungubele said he preferred to leave the issue of the number of jobs to be cut to be addressed by the BRPs themselves. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siphelele Dludla at Business Report
PIC appoints a new CFO, despite CCMA ruling that predecessor should be reinstated Moneyweb reports that the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has announced the permanent appointment of Batandwa Damoyi as its new chief financial officer (CFO). She is succeeding Brian Mavuka, who served as the acting CFO since 2021 when the PIC terminated Matshepo More’s contract following a disciplinary hearing regarding her involvement in irregularities related to the PIC’s R4.3 billion investment in Ayo Technology Solutions. However, in 2022 the CCMA ruled in favour of More, ordering her reinstatement to her former position. A statement released by the corporation on 3 April 2024 noted that Damoyi is a chartered accountant with over 16 years of experience in corporate finance. She also completed a strategic leadership programme at the Gordon Institute of Business Science. Between 2012 and 2019 she was the executive director and CFO of the state-owned African Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation as well as BAIC Automotive SA. She founded Libana Consulting in 2019. PIC CEO Abel Sithole welcomed Damoyi’s appointment, saying the PIC must build upon its track record of unqualified audit reports, robust internal controls, and prudent investments. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Terri-Ann Brouwers at Moneyweb
New points-based work visa system to replace controversial critical skills list BL Premium reports that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has at last issued new work visa regulations that will make it easier for skilled foreigners to come and work in SA. The regulations, gazetted on 28 March, introduce new remote work visas for foreigners earning more than R1m a year who want to relocate to SA. They introduce a points system to replace the controversial critical skills list. The DHA minister has to publish a notice outlining the points system criteria, promised for end-April. This approach will provide more flexibility for skilled visa applicants than the existing system, enabling foreigners with appropriate qualifications and experience earning above a threshold to seek work in SA, rather than targeting particular skills or professions. This was one of the recommendations of a 2023 review for the Presidency led by former DHA director-general Mavuso Msimang. The review recommended a new “trusted employer” system to fast-track skilled work visa applications by large companies that needed foreign expertise and were accredited by the department. That was introduced, and more than 100 employers are accredited. The new work visa regulations will make it easier to get work visas for skilled foreigners such as film crew, academics, journalists and teachers at international schools who need to work in SA. They streamline lengthy requirements to get foreign qualifications accredited by local bodies and rules requiring applicants to submit X-rays and police clearance certificates. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Hilary Joffe at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) Zimbabweans complain of Home Affairs incompetence with waiver applications GroundUp reports that when government announced the scrapping of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP), permit holders were told to apply for waivers of the usual immigration requirements and to seek alternative visas if they wished to remain in SA legally. A waiver would allow ZEP holders to continue in their jobs without having to go through an immigration process from scratch with the Department of Employment and Labour, for instance to prove that the job was advertised and no South African applied for or was qualified for the position. Successful waiver applicants could then apply for a general work visa. In December 2023, Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Minister Aaron Motsoaledi advised that just over 78,000 Zimbabweans had applied for waivers and about 10,000 for alternative visas. But a number of waiver applicants say they have found themselves facing a new dilemma. Their waiver applications have been successful, but the letters have errors – names, job descriptions and the companies employing them are incorrect. There are so many cases of this posted on social media that some Zimbabweans believe it is being done on purpose by the DHA. It means they are legally in the country but with incorrect papers. The waiver letters are according to a format stating the regulations as well as the applicant’s ZEP number, name, employer and position of employment. They are signed by Motsoaledi. James Chapman of the Scalabrini Center explained that if a waiver had errors, it would make it “very difficult to get a visa because VFS verifies the information on the waiver certificate and if it’s not correctly reflecting, then there are high chances of the application getting rejected”. He said visa applications were routinely dismissed even if there was a minor error. The visa fee of R1,550 is not refunded. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Joseph Chirume at GroundUp
We don’t foresee situation where we unable to pay salaries, says SABC CEO SABC News reports that with the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) facing liquidity constraints, group CEO Nomsa Chabeli says the organisation doesn’t foresee the possibility of staff salaries being at risk. The public broadcaster has been battling cash flow challenges in recent years amid an increasingly competitive broadcasting space in the digital era. This as the SABC Bill, which proposes reforms in the funding model, has yet to be approved. Chabeli said a strategy had been put in place to ensure broadcasting continues. She indicated: “I think what we need to look at is that we’ve been very stable at prioritising and ensuring that our wages are settled month in, month out, we haven’t had that challenge and it’s something we are committed to because we believe that SABC employees are the engine of this organization. Without them, we don’t have a SABC. Like I’m saying everything is at risk but with our stability plan, we don’t foresee a situation where we are unable to pay salaries.” Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Viola May at SABC News
Sun International works on gender pay gap, but issue lingers BL Premium reports that Sun International’s (SI’s) latest annual report reveals that despite it having taken measures to close the disparity in pay between men and women for doing the same job, the pay gap still lingers. SI conducted a gender pay gap analysis for the period August 2022 until July 2023, which found men fared much better than women in terms of remuneration. The group’s annual report shows that women in junior management on average earned 97c for every rand earned by their male counterparts, while females in middle management earned 93c for every rand paid to males. The gap got even wider when it came to senior management, where on average for every R1 paid to men, women got paid 85c. The company said that to close the disparity in pay between genders despite doing the same job, it had identified employees whose pay was misaligned with the market benchmarks or who were paid more than their peers performing the same or similar roles and functions and they received zero total cost to company increases in the 2023 financial year. Alternative interventions were implemented to ensure the ongoing motivation and retention of those employees. The report indicated: “The committee is satisfied that it has made significant progress in terms of addressing equal pay for work of equal value across the group and will continue to monitor and where appropriate make the necessary adjustments to affected employees’ remuneration packages as may be identified from time to time.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kabelo Khumalo at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
CCMA confirms dismissal of five Unisa staffers who disrupted graduation ceremonies News24 reports that the dismissals of five members of the branch committee at Unisa of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) were confirmed following an arbitration hearing by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) that ended in February. The branch general secretary Tshembani Valoyi, was among those who were dismissed. The other dismissed union officials were Lunathi Hontoti, Julia Mahlangu, Crystal Adams and Tebogo Msabala. The five were fired on 6 May 2022 after a string of complaints were levelled against them, including insolence for publicly disrespecting, humiliating, and insulting the vice-chancellor, Professor Puleng LenkaBula. They were also accused of disrupting the autumn graduation ceremonies in March 2022, and "violating the integrity of the academic programme which resulted in bringing the name of the university into disrepute". CCMA commissioner AA Breedt found the dismissal of the five to have been substantively fair but procedurally unfair. He found that the five chose to ignore the negative impact their conduct had on graduates and the university as an entity and were instrumental in bringing the university to a complete standstill during the period 15 to 26 March 2022. As a result of the procedurally unfair dismissals, Unisa was ordered to pay compensation to the applicants. The institution had until 15 March to pay R683,840 to the five. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Prega Govender at News24
Eskom head of security still suspended on full pay, nine months later Fin24 reports that the head of security at Eskom, Karen Pillay, has been on suspension on full pay for more than nine months as the company continues to "investigate" a single contract awarded during her tenure in July 2022. Pillay, an advocate and a former investigator at the Directorate for Special Operations, was suspended in June last year over an emergency contract awarded to Fidelity Services to investigate coal theft at Eskom's 12 coal power stations. Eskom has not yet initiated a disciplinary hearing against Pillay. The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) allows contracts to be awarded without a competitive tender process, where circumstances require an immediate procurement. The contract to Fidelity was signed off by former chief executive André de Ruyter and chief operations officer Jan Oberholzer. It was also approved by Eskom's board of generation and executive committee. The need for an "emergency" procurement arose after explosive reports on the threat posed to Eskom by organised crime, revealed in "intelligence reports" by a private investigating firm. At the time, De Ruyter and Oberholzer believed that Eskom faced an existential threat from the syndicates. The intelligence reports were later partially discredited. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton at Fin24
Decision incorrect, says defence lawyers after court rules it has jurisdiction in Fort Hare corruption case News24 reports that the legal representatives of 12 of the accused in the University of Fort Hare (UFH) criminal case could challenge Thursday's ruling that the Alice Magistrate's Court has jurisdiction to hear the case. On Wednesday, the defence teams argued that the court, sitting in Dimbaza, had no jurisdiction to handle the alleged fraud and corruption case. They argued their clients' warrants of arrest stated they needed to appear in the East London Magistrate's Court, and not in Alice or Dimbaza. They indicated that the case should be struck off the role, pending the finalisation of the jurisdiction matter. Fifteen suspects were arrested last weekend by the police's national task team. They are accused of defrauding the institution of R171 million in a string of allegations of fraud and corruption incidents. On Thursday, magistrate Nontuthuzelo Sontlaba dismissed an application for the case to be struck off the roll. She pointed out that when the accused appeared before her earlier this week, none raised the unlawfulness of their arrests or jurisdiction. But, attorney William Booth said they were considering taking Sontlaba's ruling on review. "Her decision is incorrect. However, I'll wait for instruction from my client," he indicated. The 12 accused are set to appear again on 11 and 12 April for a formal bail application. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sithandiwe Velaphi at News24 KPMG staffer’s lavish lifestyle revealed after R16.5m fraud arrest The Citizen reports that social media platform X was abuzz on Thursday as users revisited the lavish lifestyle of KPMG employee, Fidelis Moema, after he was charged by the Hawks for allegedly diverting more than R16 million in bursary funds to his own pockets. Moema, employed as a bursary specialist at the auditing firm, appeared in the Commercial Crimes Court at Palm Ridge on Tuesday. Users on X dug out posts by Moema’s purported girlfriend and influencer Sthe Bhengu depicting the lavish overseas holidays and extravagant gifts the two enjoyed. These included a black Range Rover SUV “push gift” he allegedly gifted Bhengu when she was pregnant in 2022. Another post showed videos and photographs taken during holidays, including one in Greece. For the baby’s gender reveal, a helicopter was hired to blow out pink smoke, signalling that the baby was female. Bhengu has since deleted pictures depicting the luxury lifestyle from her social media accounts. The 32-year-old Moema handed himself over to the Hawks in Johannesburg on Tuesday. He faces charges of fraud and money laundering. The case was postponed to next week for a bail application. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Getrude Makhafola at The Citizen
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