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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Motsoaledi opens door for new consultations on NHI with 'massive roadshow' on the cards Fin24 reports that Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says he will embark on a "massive roadshow" on the National Health Insurance (NHI) to meet all stakeholders to understand their concerns and learn what kind of universal health coverage they would find acceptable. At the same time, he will begin implementing Section 57 of the NHI Act, which deals with transitional mechanisms that the NHI will require. Motsoaledi's announcement that he will now consult widely on the NHI Act is a major change in his stance. There had been extensive consultation in the lead-up to the NHI Act becoming law, including public hearings by both houses of Parliament and intense lobbying by stakeholders, including the SA Medical Association, the Board of Healthcare Funders, and Business Unity SA. But despite all this, the ANC had refused to make significant changes during the lawmaking process. This resulted in some stakeholders lodging court papers for a review of the Act. Briefing journalists following the ANC's three-day policy lekgotla, Motsoaledi said: “[Despite] the war raging about NHI, you will never hear anyone say they are against universal health coverage (UHC). They all say they accept UHC, but then there is a big but, and they will say they don't support it in the form [of the NHI Act]. So, our job is to find out in what form they want it. What is it that if it was on the table, they will go for it?” The concession also follows an undertaking by President Cyril Ramaphosa to his government of national unity (GNU) partners to review the areas of disagreement on the NHI, to find consensus. The NHI Act, although signed by Ramaphosa, has not yet been promulgated. It is possible to promulgate sections of the Act at a time. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton at Fin24 (free trial access) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Four Koelenhof farmworkers die after drinking ‘expired alcohol’ suspected to have been poisoned Cape Argus reports that the farming community of Koelenhof in Stellenbosch is mourning four farmworkers who died after drinking ‘expired alcohol’. Juanita Hull, Megan Heynes, Wilhemina Snyder, Elton Greene and Monecia Alckers were among a group of five drinking together on 26 July. Days later, an ambulance was dispatched to fetch three of them. Monecia’s sister, Jestine Alckers said: “They took the gin from Joubert Family Wine farm that Friday morning. Apparently, there was a 25-litre bucket and they only got 1.5 litres. It was a very strong drink, which they chased with a cool drink. It looked like water, I understand that it was expired but I don’t know if they knew that it was.” Monecia is the only farmworker still alive. Jestine explained this was not the first time they had consumed the drink. A month earlier a 25-litre bucket with the alcohol was taken and nothing happened. “They were reportedly told by someone at the farm that if they drank the alcohol again, then they will go blind and die. And that is what happened. On Friday and Saturday they had no problems. On Sunday they first complained about their eyesight and then they said they were nauseous and throwing up,” Jestine reported. She went on to say: “We thought they ate something but we are now convinced that they were poisoned by what they all drank.” A Joubert Family Wine farm manager said they would not comment on the incident and were waiting for the detectives to investigate. Post-mortems will be conducted to determine the causes of death. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mandilakhe Tshwete at Cape Argus Former Popcru boss and GEMS chair Nkosinathi Theledi found murdered in his car in Mpumalanga IOL News reports that Mpumalanga police are investigating the murder of former police union executive member, Nkosinathi Theledi. His bruised body was found in his car, in the Mbombela area over five days ago. Theledi was a former executive member of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) and also a former chairperson of the board of the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS). Provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Donald Mdhluli, said Theledi left his house in Gauteng on 31 July on his way to Standerton. Concerned family members attempted to contact him but were unsuccessful. Subsequently, he was reported missing at Norkem Park in Gauteng. The family sought assistance from a car tracker service provider, which led to the location of the victim's vehicle in Sundra. Theledi's two cellphones, watch and shoes were found to have been stolen. Mdhluli said of particular interest to investigators was the apparent cleaning of the vehicle, the motive for which remained unknown. No suspects have been apprehended yet. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Se-Anne Rall at IOL News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
SABS wage strike ends, amid claims of backlogs in condom testing and food and water sampling Fin24 reports that the National Education, Health, and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) has ended its strike at the SA Bureau of Standards (SABS) after reaching an agreement on salary increases on Friday. The strike of two weeks came after the union accused the bureau of implementing changes to the workers' payment and employment structure, and their conditions of employment, without consultation. The strike involved more than 200 workers. Zanele Sabela, spokesperson for union federation Cosatu, of which Nehawu is an affiliate, advised that a salary increase agreement was reached on a sliding scale of 4% to 5.8%, backdated to 1 April 2024. According to the salary agreement, employees will also be eligible for a once-off gratuitous payment of R25,000 and a R5,000 gratuitous payment for interns as of 1 April. Housing allowances will also increase for employees eligible for the benefit from R1,400 to R1,500. The salary dispute arose after Nehawu wanted all new employees to be included in fringe benefits in addition to the normal cost to company (CTC) remuneration structure and for such benefits to be included in designing the new pay scale. Since 2013, workers at SABS have received additional benefits such as housing allowances and medical aid subsidies. However, changes in the structure had threatened the removal of such benefits. Nehawu's SABS chairperson, Mohola Maremela, said workers had taken to the streets after the SABS had "undermined" the collective bargaining process and was not honest about changing the payment structure for its workers. According to Maremela, the strike had caused "huge disruptions" and a backlog in the work of the SABS, including the testing of condoms, and sampling in the food and water laboratories. This was denied by the bureau. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Na'ilah Ebrahim at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
Nedbank slashes half its office space as work from home takes hold Moneyweb reports that Nedbank has cut the amount of office space it utilises across SA and the rest of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region by more than half since 2016 as it moved to ‘consolidate’ and ‘standardise’ its own buildings. It has reduced 52% of its office space in the last seven-and-a-half years. Most corporate staff use ‘hot desks’ in open plan areas, and its shift to a hybrid work-from-home model in 2020 and 2021 helped drive the reduction. It also has remote working arrangements in place for certain staff across the bank. Only 60% of its staff will be on campus on any given day. This means it has a desk ‘utilisation’ rate of well over 100%. Nedbank hasn’t only reduced office space. It has cut approximately one third of branch floor space since 2020. Currently, four of every five branches are digitally and sales-focused. This will be rolled out to all branches in the next two years. Nedbank says that “by the end of 2025, 57% of branches will be smaller than 200 m², which is a significant shift from our current branch mix”. It currently has 549 retail outlets. The decrease in floor space overall has to be seen in the context of an ‘only’ 9% reduction in the number of employees across the group since 2020 (it now has just under 26,000, which includes nearly 300 ‘new’ staff as part of the acquisition of Eqstra). This means it is using its space far more efficiently than ever. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Moneyweb
Ventersdorp school principal and circuit manager in court for allegedly selling teaching jobs The Citizen reports that a school principal from Ventersdorp is in the hot seat after being charged with five counts of corruption. Lydia Masiu was joined by fellow accused, circuit manager Petrus Mokobe, at the Ventersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday after allegedly selling teaching posts at local schools. Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Tinyiko Mathebula said the pair were arrested in Klerksdorp and Ventersdorp on Monday after an investigation into allegations of corruption in the appointment of school teachers in Ventersdorp. “Investigations revealed that Masiu, the school principal in Ventersdorp, and Mokobe, the circuit manager in Ventersdorp, allegedly solicited gratification from the complainants in exchange for teacher posts in the local schools,” Mathebula indicated. Two complainants reportedly paid the accused amounts adding up to R15,000 in instalments of between R2,000 and R5,000. Following an investigation, a warrant of arrest was issued and executed for the pair. They appeared in court and were granted bail of R8,000 each. Their case was postponed to 6 September 2024 for further investigation. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicholas Zaal at The Citizen
Covid PPE supplier Pro Secure must face the music, Special Tribunal rules GroundUp reports that a company accused of unlawfully benefitting from a multi-million rand contract to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) during the Covid pandemic has failed in a bid to quash a summons issued against it by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to recover the money. Pro Secure raised several objections to the formulation of the case against it. But Special Tribunal Judge Kate Pillay has dismissed the company’s objections and ordered it to pay costs. The SIU investigation uncovered irregularities in the Limpopo Department of Health’s appointment of service providers, including Pro Secure, Clinipro and Ndia Business Trading, which resulted in about R182 million in irregular and wasteful expenditure. The SIU initiated action against Pro Secure, alleging the company had made “secret profits”, and also instituted civil proceedings against the former head of health in the province, Dr Thokozani Florence Mhlongo. In October 2022, the SIU secured an order from the Special Tribunal, effectively freezing Mhlongo’s pension fund pending the outcome of the civil action against her. Mhlongo resigned in June that year while facing disciplinary charges. In its application to the tribunal, Pro Secure challenged the SIU’s legal standing and the fact that the Limpopo health department was not a party to the SIU action. Pro Secure also claimed that there was no allegation that its bid for the contract was not lawful. Judge Pillay found there was no substance to any of the company’s arguments. SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago reacted: “This ruling supports the SIU’s stance on the irregular procurement of PPE by the Limpopo Department of Health during the pandemic.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tania Broughton at Moneyweb ‘We will get you’, Nzuza warns Home Affairs officials who provide illegal foreigners with SA IDs The Citizen reports that Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Deputy Minister of Njabulo Nzuza has sent a stern warning to officials who collude with undocumented foreigners to give them SA identity documents. This was said following the sentencing of former DHA official Judy Zuma, who was slapped with an effective 12-year imprisonment for being part of a syndicate that provided fraudulent passports to foreign nationals who did not qualify for the documents. Zuma operated with foreign nations in a syndicate colluding with SA citizens to assist foreign nationals from Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “The foreign nationals fraudulently replaced the owner’s photos with theirs and assumed the names of the South African citizens,” Colonel Katlego Mogale reported. They paid Zama R4,000 for each passport. She issued about 192 passports between May and June 2021. Nzuza said this was not the only case the DHA was pursuing. He sent a warning to other officials who might be involved in the corruption and said: “This is a call to other people who are involved in this that you might think you are getting away with it. We will definitely get you. We will make sure you suffer the consequences just like Zuma.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Vhahangwele Nemakonde at The Citizen Three City Power employees among group caught red-handed stealing copper worth R20,000 News24 reports that three City Power employees were among a group who were allegedly caught red-handed stealing copper brazing rods worth R20,000 from a City Power office on Sunday. Five people aged between 32 and 49 were arrested when a sting operation led security teams to the entity's Reuven Service Delivery Centre, in Booysens, Joburg. City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said security risk management officials, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, received a tip-off regarding suspicious activity at one of their offices. "During the course of the arrest, one suspect, who is among three City Power employees, fled from the scene. He was apprehended on Monday, 05 August," Mangena said. The suspects will face charges of theft. Mangena said the challenge of copper cable theft and vandalism was, in part, enabled by those who were working within the organisation, so forcing City Power to tightened its internal control measures. According to City Power, in the previous financial year, a total of 132 people were arrested on various charges linked to theft and vandalism, with some of those being employees. In that period, 19 people were convicted to a cumulative prison sentence of 163 years. Part of that of prison sentence (48 years) was wholly suspended. City Power lost over R160 million in vandalism and cable theft in the 2023/2024 financial year. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Noxolo Sibiya at News24 Seven years in jail for Standard Bank Cresta Mall team leader who defrauded clients of R3m TimesLIVE reports that the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday sentenced a former team leader at Standard Bank’s Cresta Mall branch to seven years’ imprisonment for defrauding the bank’s clients of more than R3m. In August 2018, investigations conducted by the Hawks uncovered that Cynthia Ncube, 32, misused her position to access the bank’s client database, targeting those with notable investments. “She transferred funds from their accounts without their consent, often to offshore companies and her account. The fraudulent transactions amount to more than R3m,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane reported. Ncube’s criminal acts affected multiple clients, including one whose account was debited in the amount of more than R397,000 without consent, and another who lost more than R1.7m. Ncube’s accomplice, Austin Muzinganye Nkomo, also received some fraudulent funds, while another suspect remains at large. Nkomo was handed a nine-year prison sentence earlier last year. Senior state advocate Vincent Ndzuke submitted in court that Ncube’s actions constituted a grave betrayal of trust, stating that it was a clear case of an employee biting the hand that fed her. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at TimesLIVE. See too, Ex Standard Bank team leader sentenced for stealing over R3 million from client accounts, at IOL News Woman who duped two municipalities into paying money into her account charged in Kimberley court TimesLIVE reports that a woman who allegedly duped two municipalities into depositing close to R1m into her bank account appeared in the Kimberley Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. Simangele Sangweni, 32, who was arrested by the Hawks in Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday, faces fraud charges, or alternatively theft, forgery, uttering and money laundering charges. “During August 2021 the accused allegedly submitted a fraudulent change of banking details letter and invoices to Phokwane municipality, Hartswater, while purporting to be Vaalharts Water, a service provider of the municipality,” Hawks spokesperson W/O Nomthandazo Mnisi reported. The accused misled the municipality into paying R455,000 into her business account. In September 2021 the accused allegedly submitted a fraudulent change of banking details letter and invoices to Frances Baard district municipality while purporting to be Sedibeng Water, a service provider of the municipality. “The municipality was misled, changed the banking details and made a payment of R469,918 to the accused's business account,” Mnisi indicated. The case was postponed to 13 August for a bail application. Read the original of the short report in the above regard at TimesLIVE
Golden Arrow expects delivery of 120 electric buses for Cape Town by end of 2024 BusinessLive reports that Cape Town will soon be home to 120 electric buses after investment holding company Hosken Consolidated Investment (HCI) said it expected to take delivery of the electric buses before the end of this year. HCI in its annual report published last week said it faced challenges in commencing the conversion of its fleet to electric buses. “The homologation process to get approval from authorities for the bus we sought to buy took over a year to complete. In all that time we had to drive the bus around carrying bags of sand as a test and were unable to place any orders for such buses,” HCI CEO John Copelyn said in a letter to shareholders. He went on to indicate: “In any event, we have now completed this phase and ordered the first 120 buses. We ought to be able to keep them charged by generating our own solar power. Delivery will commence from the end of this calendar year.” HCI owns a controlling stake in Frontier Transport, whose main asset is Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS). Tracing its roots back to 1861, GABS has a fleet of 1,076 buses, serving more than 3,100 routes in metropolitan Cape Town. The electric buses are being procured from BYD China. Copelyn, a trade unionist turned business person, also said the struggles of GABS to deal fairly with the across-the-board claims of the bargaining council agreement remained unresolved and subject to litigation. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kabelo Khumalo at BusinessLive
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