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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Solidarity launches skills bank to boost growth, job creation Engineering News reports that Solidarity has established a major skills bank with a view to addressing the skills crisis, particularly in the public sector. This development follows discussions that the trade union has held at various levels of government about skills shortages in SA. According to Solidarity, the ultimate goal of this project is growth and job creation, the precondition for which is good infrastructure, with precondition for that being the appointment of people with appropriate skills. Solidarity plans to register tens of thousands of people on the skills bank. According to Dr Dirk Hermann, CEO of Solidarity, this will be the largest skills market in the country, aimed at alleviating shortages in terms of skills, mainly in the public sector but also in the private sector. "We are experiencing a new spirit of cooperation. Following the formation of the government of national unity, there is now an essential next phase that must follow, namely cooperation between government levels and civil society. The skills bank has been established in this spirit," said Hermann. Solidarity's database will be a merit bank. “There are excellent black, white, brown and Indian skills in the country. Everyone belongs there. There should be no racial barriers if we are looking for answers that will benefit the country,” Hermann pointed out. According to Solidarity's Network Platform head Hennie Bierman, the skills bank will kick off with ten critical skills in the engineering and trades environment. People can already register their skills on www.solidariteit.co.za. They can also contact Solidarity to advertise or apply for jobs. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News. Lees ook, ‘Databank’ wil vaardigheidstekort help pak, by Maroela Media
Tshwane criticised by EFF for failure to protect clinics after recent break-ins Pretoria News reports that the EFF in Tshwane has called into question the ability of the metro to protect its assets following a recent break-in at the Olievenhoutbosch clinic, where 18 computers and other valuables were stolen. Robbers also made off with two electronic gadgets, one tablet, six televisions, and three Wi-Fi routers. While Health MMC Rina Marx strongly condemned the burglary at the clinic, the EFF said the incident was “symptomatic of a broader issue of neglect and incompetence that plagues the current administration”. During the burglary two security guards were tied up, and the lock of the main door was broken to gain access to the clinic. Marx said the SAPS’s inspection determined there was forceful entry to all offices, storerooms and consulting rooms. The ceiling of the main waiting area was also damaged. In May, there was another break-in reported at Danville clinic in Pretoria West, where security guards were also overpowered and tied up in the guardhouse. At least 33 computers amounting to a loss of approximately R200,000 were stolen in Danville. The EFF’s regional leader Obakeng Ramabodu said: “These recurring incidents highlight a pattern of gross mismanagement and lack of accountability within the City’s administration. The DA-led government must be held responsible for its continuous failure to secure crucial health facilities, which serve the most vulnerable populations.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Rapula Moatshe at Pretoria News Farm workers march in rain and wind to call for an end to imports of harmful pesticides from Germany GroundUp reports that more than 150 farm workers and supporters – mostly women – braved gale force winds and heavy rainfall on Tuesday to march through the streets of Cape Town calling for a ban on harmful pesticides. Last month, the farm workers led by the organisation Women on Farms, picketed outside Parliament, demanding transparency and consultation over regulations on the use of pesticides. On Tuesday, they marched to the German Consulate-General in District Six to demand an end to the import of harmful pesticides from German companies. Lebo Ramafoko, Executive Director of Oxfam SA said that many farm workers were still forced to use “highly hazardous pesticides”, which were banned in Europe, “but Germany continues to export them into South Africa.” In 2019, the Women on Farms Project launched their ‘Double Standards Pesticides‘ campaign, calling on the SA government to ban 67 pesticides. These pesticides are already banned in the European Union. The campaign is a partnership between Women on Farms Project, Oxfam SA and Oxfam Germany. Dina Ndeleni, a farm worker from De Doorns, who travelled to Cape Town for the march, said she suffered from respiratory issues and used an inhaler regularly. “Our lives are just as important as those people in Europe,” said farmworker Jo-ann Johannes from Simondium. The group handed over a memorandum of demands to a representative from the German Consulate-General. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ashraf Hendricks at GroundUp Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Cape Town rejects ‘unaffordable’ wage increases proposed by facilitator in municipal wage talks IOL Business reports that the City of Cape Town is digging its heels in over the above-average salary increases that have been proposed for municipal workers. A facilitator’s report to the SA Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) recommends that municipal wages be increased by around 5% in 2024/25. It further proposes that wage increases should be pegged at 0.75% above the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the following two years and at 1.25% above CPI for the two subsequent financial years. However, this would come at a cost that the City says it cannot afford. According to its calculations, the proposed above-average increases for the four-year period – from 2025/26 to 2028/29 – would lead to a budget shortfall of R2.06 billion. “The shortfall is not sustainable for the City, which has today rejected the facilitator’s proposal, recommending to SALGA (SA Local Government Association) that the proposal for years two to five must rather be linked to CPI with no additional percentage increases,” the City advised in a statement. It said SALGA was consolidating feedback from its provincial structures before formulating a national position on the wage proposals contained in the facilitator’s report. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jason Woosey at IOL Business
South Africa’s illegal gold mining is surging again MiningMX reports that against the backdrop of record high prices for gold, Sibanye-Stillwater has reported a surge in illegal mining incidents and arrests around its SA gold operations. Known as “zama zamas,” most of the illegal gold miners hail from Lesotho and Mozambique, countries which once provided most of the migrant labour force for the industry. The reasons for this growing crime wave may be linked to the red-hot price of gold, but Sibanye says it may also be a reflection of “enhanced vigilance.” Sibanye’s data shows that there were 581 recorded illegal mining incidents around the company’s SA gold operations in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 – an astonishing 241% increase over Q1 2023. Sibanye’s security services made 247 arrests related to illegal mining and other criminal activities such as copper cable theft in the first three months of this year, 312% more than in the same period in 2023. Sibanye-Stillwater spokesman James Wellsted indicated: “The operating environment in the Southern African region remains challenging from a security and crime perspective with illegal mining and cable theft the primary concerns, but (also) general criminal activity. Although the recent increase in illegal mining incidents does coincide with higher prices, it is not certain that this is directly related to the increase in the gold price. The significant increase in the number of arrests may also reflect the enhanced vigilance and success of the SPS strategy and preventative actions.” Wellsted noted that most of the arrests in the first quarter of this year were linked to measures to cut off the supply chains that provided illegal miners with the means to spend weeks in underground. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ed Stoddard at MiningMX
More than 2,400 teaching posts to be cut in the Western Cape from January 2025 GroundUp reports that more than 2,400 educator posts will be cut in the Western Cape from 1 January 2025. This is according to a circular issued by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) on Tuesday on posts for 2025. IAccording to the WCED’s head of education, Brent Walters, the department only received 64% of the cost of the public sector wage agreement, with the remaining 36% to be funded by the province. He noted that in an effort to cut spending, the WCED had frozen the recruitment of non-educator staff at head office and across districts, with a current vacancy rate of 21%, and had also cut spending across its directorates. But despite budget cuts of R2.5 billion, the WCED still faced a R3.8 billion budget shortfall over the next three years. Walters said. “Considering the growing budget shortfall and fiscal uncertainty, we have no alternative but to announce the reduction of the educator post allocation by 2,407 posts, effective 1 January 2025 – the start of the 2025 school year.” According to National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA (Naptosa), there are currently 37,135 teachers in the Western Cape and 34,728 posts are now proposed for 2025. Schools will receive their 2025 staff allocations on Friday. Walters added that the process “will inevitably result in the non-renewal of contracts” and some educators being classified as “excess”. Naptosa’s Riedwaan Ahmed said the union opposed the cuts. “The contract posts are going to go first … The WCED says they are pro-poor and we’ve asked them not to touch the foundation phase. But we’ll see on Friday,” said Ahmed. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marecia Damons at GroundUp. Read too, Sadtu, SACP reject plan to cut more than 2,000 teachers in Western Cape, at Cape Times Not enough jobs for work seekers, and soon there will be relatively fewer Columnist Adriaan Kruger writes that economists bemoaned the problem of ever-increasing unemployment when the latest figures from Statistics SA revealed that SA’s official unemployment rate had increased to nearly 34% at the end of June 2024. Unemployment in terms of the expanded definition increased to nearly 43%. Including discouraged work seekers in the expanded definition means that four out of every 10 people who would like to work cannot find a job. Of importance is that these figures count as “employed” all the people scraping by selling trinkets at traffic lights (employed in the informal sector) and those working a few days a week. Shockingly, reading the reams of figures added as an addendum to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) together with the latest population demographics shows that unemployment will get much worse in years to come. In essence, new work seekers are outnumbering those who are nearing retirement age by nearly three to one. Thanda Sithole, senior economist at FNB, pointed out that the latest figures showed that the gains in employment during the first quarter of 2024 were “completely” reversed in the second quarter, bringing the total number of unemployed individuals to more than 8.3 million. He noted that the total labour force grew at a faster rate than the need for workers – and the result was the unrelenting increase in unemployment. In short, there are no jobs for work seekers now. There will be even less in the future, relative to the number of work seekers. According to Kruger, the upward trend in the unemployment rate predicts that the chances of getting a job will be 50/50 within a few years. Read the full original of the article by Adriaan Kruger at Moneyweb Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Saftu calls for workers’ rights to be upheld at Educor colleges as registration licence is reinstated Mail & Guardian reports that the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) has called on the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to ensure the rights of workers are recognised after it decided to reinstate the registration licence of private learning group Educor. The department, which in March cancelled Educor’s registration over its failure to submit audited financial statements since 2020, said the decision to reinstate the licence was made “purely on humanitarian grounds” after it was reported that more than 13,000 students registered at Educor institutions could be left stranded. Saftu urged the department to ensure that the company “does not continue with the violation of workers’ rights and operates effectively to ensure the education services are delivered to the students who are registered”. Educor, the largest private education provider in Southern Africa, owns the Damelin, CityVarsity, Icesa City Campus and Lyceum colleges. It manages 10 educational brands on more than 60 campuses and sites in SA and internationally. As part of the conditions set out by the DHET, Educor must fully comply with Council on Higher Education accreditation requirements before commencing any teaching and learning activities. Saftu said it had been receiving complaints about maladministration and the non-payment of salaries to employees at Educor campuses nationwide since November 2023. “Educor abused their lecturers and other staff in several ways, including late payment of wages, unilateral change of conditions of employment, firing workers who dared stand up for their rights and lacking basic functions that any employer is obliged to have in their workplaces, such as grievance mechanism and handling,” Saftu spokesperson Trevor Shaku claimed. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Umamah Bakharia at Mail & Guardian
NHI will prompt exodus of top taxpayers, IRR warns BL Premium reports that the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) has called on Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi to repeal the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act, saying its restrictions on medical schemes will increase the emigration of SA’s biggest taxpayers and dent the corporate tax take. SA has only about 862,000 individual taxpayers with an annual income above R750,000, who contribute 58.6% of all personal income tax paid to the fiscus, said the IRR, citing Treasury estimates for 2024/25. NHI also posed a threat to corporate income tax, as a flight of skilled mid to higher-level staff would cause corporate profits to plummet, said the IRR. Only 842 companies in SA generated an annual income of more than R100m, and they contributed almost three-quarters (72.4%) of corporate income tax, it noted. The Act was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in May, but has yet to be brought into effect. One of the most controversial aspects of the Act is its restrictions on the future role of medical schemes. Most people in SA’s highest tax brackets belong to medical schemes. If they quit SA in response to diminished access to private healthcare, the state will no longer collect enough revenue to maintain current spending on social grants and civil servant wages, nor have enough money for infrastructure investments in water, electricity, and transport, the IRR warned. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) DA changing its tune about court challenge against NHI now that it is part of GNU City Press reports that the Democratic Alliance (DA) seems to be reconsidering its intention to challenge the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill in the Constitutional Court, following the party's entry into the Government of National Unity (GNU). Ahead of the elections, DA leader John Steenhuisen had vowed to challenge the bill in the Constitutional Court after he labelled the move by President Cyril Ramaphosa to sign to bill into law as a transparent attempt to "find something—anything" that the president could spin as a populist “solution” to the issues caused by "30 years of ANC misrule." However, now with the DA being a part of the GNU, which is comprised of 10 political parties, including the ANC, Steenhuisen has indicated a shift in approach. He told City Press that the DA was working to find common ground on the issue within the GNU framework. “I think, at the end of the day, we all want the same thing — universal access to basic healthcare for all South Africans, regardless of economic status. We just differ on how to get there, and I hope that consensus and collaboration will bring us closer to achieving universal basic healthcare in our lifetime,” said Steenhuisen. He acknowledged that any court proceedings would have been initiated before the GNU was formed and emphasised the importance of exhausting all available processes within the GNU before rushing to court. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Yamkeleka Manjeya at City Press (subscriber access only) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Justice department fires 27 officials for misconduct including fraud, theft, sexual harassment, absenteeism and insubordination TimesLIVE reports that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has dismissed 27 officials for misconduct. Spokesperson Kgalalelo Masibi said the department was dealing with 81 appeal matters regarding 55 dismissals, 25 suspensions and one warning. The appeal matters were lodged by officials found guilty of misconduct. The offences included fraud, theft, sexual harassment, bringing the department into disrepute, absenteeism, abuse of state vehicles and insubordination. “Out of 81 appeals lodged, the department has to date finalised 31 appeal matters. There were 27 dismissals upheld and four reduced sanctions,” Masibi reported. She added that all the outstanding appeal matters were being processed expeditiously. Masibi said the consequence management that had been meted out against the officials underscored the department’s commitment to clean governance. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Shonisani Tshikalange at BusinessLive. Read too, Department of Justice fires 27 officials for misconduct, at The Citizen City of Cape Town fires waste management executive director found guilty of misconduct Daily Maverick reports that the City of Cape Town has sacked its urban waste management executive director Luzuko Mdunyelwa after he was found guilty on four out of six misconduct charges. Mdunyelwa, who had held the position since September 2022, was dismissed after a confidential council meeting on 22 August 2024. The charges against Mdunyelwa stem from his decision to unilaterally cancel contracts with external service providers responsible for refuse collection and cleaning in informal settlements across Cape Town. He initiated a new in-house project using municipal staff for these tasks, bypassing the required legal processes. Specifically, Mdunyelwa failed to comply with Section 78 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, which mandates a thorough assessment before changing or reviewing municipal service mechanisms. The disciplinary committee, chaired by Graham Leslie SC, found Mdunyelwa’s actions were a material breach of the Act and noted that his testimony during the hearing was “obstructive, argumentative, and evasive”. The committee concluded that Mdunyelwa’s misconduct was serious enough to warrant dismissal. The decision to fire Mdunyelwa was not unanimous, with the ANC and Al Jama-ah opposing the council’s decision. The ANC caucus in Cape Town condemned the dismissal as “reckless and politically motivated”, warning that it would destabilise the already struggling waste management department and jeopardise community health. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Velani Ludidi at Daily Maverick
Suspect held after Gauteng cops find cloned police vehicle that was used in truck hijackings and courier robberies TimesLIVE reports that Gauteng police have arrested a suspect after the discovery of a cloned police vehicle believed to have been used in a spate of truck hijackings and courier vehicle robberies in the province. According to police spokesperson Col Noxolo Kweza, a 44-year-old suspect was arrested in Walkerville, Sedibeng district, after a cloned police vehicle was discovered on a property there. She said an intelligence-driven operation by Johannesburg Crime Intelligence and Soweto K9 unit members led to the recovery of a cloned marked Volkswagen Golf with police registration number plates and police call signs; a white VW Polo fitted with blue lights and sirens; a stolen R5 rifle and police reflector jackets; and several SAPS number plates. Kweza said the suspect might be linked to robberies in Gauteng, and more arrests could be made as the investigation continued. The suspect is expected to appear in court soon. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at TimesLIVE
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