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.
Business Report writes that workers representatives have called for tighter legislation, through the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), to govern employee share ownership schemes (Esops) in SA mining companies.
This came as the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) on Monday held an inaugural conference to provide a platform for advocacy for Esops by celebrating their successes, raising awareness and exploring possible collaborative solutions. Seipati Malema of the National Union of Mineworkers said they wanted to see the rules of what companies were required to do to empower workers governed by legislation. In September 2021, the Gauteng High Court delivered a judgment declaring that the Mining Charter III was simply policy and not legislation. According to Malema, in the absence of Esops being legislated in the MPRDA, then they will just be a policy and not a law. According to the DTIC, there are 125 Esops currently, with 98 having already been established and 27 in the process, benefiting 551,000 workers. At least 31% of these Esops are in the mining industry, 21% in food and beverages companies, 14.5% in retail, and 14.3% in finance and banks. President Cyril Ramaphosa praised Esops as important to economic transformation. Trade union Solidarity reiterated that Esops should benefit all employees as there were no grounds to exclude white employees from them. Solidarity’s Gideon du Plessis said they were encouraged by the many calls made at the conference requesting that the funding models for Esops be revisited so that Esops costs were not recovered from employees’ dividends, and that tax relief for participating employers be investigated. He noted that it was the case that employers were widely requested to implement Esops, where it was practically possible, in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for Esops, which would hopefully be released soon.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siphelele Dludla at Business Report
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page