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 Thursday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of South African
labour-related reports.
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Public servants demand 12% wage increase for 2025/26 BL Premium reports that public sector unions representing the country’s teachers, nurses, police and prison officials have tabled a list of joint demands for wage increases at a rate more than double that of inflation. This underscores the tough negotiations ahead and has the potential to pit the more than 1.3-million public servants against the government of national unity (GNU). The primary demands tabled on Tuesday at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) include a one-year 12% wage increase across the board. The unions’ other demands include a R2,500 housing allowance increment across the board and that the danger allowance be increased from the current R597 to R1000, a performance bonus, bursary schemes for dependents of government employees, and permanent employment for education/teacher assistants, community health workers and reservists. Consumer inflation eased to 4.6% in July, the lowest rate since July 2021. The wage negotiations for the 2025/26 financial year come after the country’s public servants received a wage increase of 4.7% on 1 April, in line with a wage deal signed by the employer and four unions at the PSCBC in March 2023. Relations between the government and unions soured after the state reneged on implementing the last leg of a three-year wage deal signed in 2018, citing a lack of funds. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) ‘Fiscal wildcard’ as public servants demand 12% wage increase BL Premium reports that union have demanded a 12% wage hike for 1.3-million government workers, setting the stage for tough negotiations and making the R700bn-plus public sector wage bill a wild card in the Treasury’s fiscal policy promises. The wage demands for the 2025/26 financial year hand the newly installed government of national unity its toughest test yet and throw the new minister of public service & administration, Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi, into a veritable inferno. The wage demands also put finance minister Enoch Godongwana, who has kept a tight lid on the wage bill in a tight spot. In the 2024 Budget Review, the government pencilled in a total wage bill of just more than R750bn for the 2025/26 fiscal year, or about 4.5% higher than the previous year. In his budget speech in February, Godongwana said the government was exploring other measures, which would be tabled for discussion in the public service bargaining council “as part of a broader discussion on containing wage bill growth”. Efficient Group chief economist Dawie Roodt cast the wage demand as “total madness”, saying that the majority of civil servants in SA were “overpaid and underworked”. But there could be a compromise. Stanlib chief economist Kevin Lings commented: “My sense is that anything that starts with a double-digit will be negotiated down to a single digit and we might end up [with] 6% or 7%. There has to be a compromise; 12% is way too high.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane & Tiisetso Motsoeneng at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Fuel price cuts no cause for celebration for poor consumers who continue battling to make ends meet The Citizen writes that the fuel price cuts are no cause for celebration as South Africans become increasingly poorer while paying more for food and other essentials, have a high debt-to-income ratio and cannot find work in many cases. From Wednesday, motorists paid R21.79 for a litre of 93 unleaded and R22.19 per litre for 95 unleaded, the lowest prices seen yet in 2024. But the cuts are not nearly enough to make a dent in food prices or the price of other essential household goods. They will also make no discernible difference to the lives of over half of the South African population (55%) who are currently mired in poverty, said Neil Roets, CEO of Debt Rescue. As he pointed out: “Statistics SA’s latest General Household Survey paints an ugly picture of approximately 24 million people in the country living below the poverty line and surviving on government grants. In fact, an estimated 50% of all households in the country now receive at least one social grant, with grants being the main source of income for 23% of households nationally.” According to Roets, the middle class has also not been spared: “The financial challenges South Africa’s middle class faces continue to intensify, with people facing unsustainable levels of household debt, particularly those earning R20,000 or more per month. This income bracket is burning through credit to make ends meet and through no fault of their own.” The household debt-to-income ratio is projected to hover around an astounding 65% in 2024. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ina Opperman at The Citizen
Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union fails in ConCourt bid to appeal ruling placing it under administration IOL News reports that the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) has dismissed an application by the Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union (HAITU) for leave to appeal a Labour Court ruling. The trade union filed for leave to appeal the decision by the Labour Court granting an order to the Department of Employment and Labour (DOL) to place the union under administration. “The Constitutional Court took the easy way out and also refused to hear this matter thus denying us the opportunity to have this landmark court case to be heard. It is our view that the DOL is bullying independent unions using the powers granted to it by the Labour Relations Act (LRA),” the union’s president, Rich Sicina, said in reaction. “We have noted with great concern that sweetheart unions which are aligned to the employer and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and by extension, the government, are allowed to parade freely in a pool of gross non-compliance as long as they chant slogans to the government of the day. The registrar has been successful in ensuring that many independent unions are de-registered and they are made to focus on defending their existence against the DOL, instead of defending workers,” he claimed. HAITU remains a registered trade union, and it has assured its members it will continue to recruit and deliver a service. However, the union must work with an administrator appointed by the DOL to convene the union’s national congress and officiate over administrative affairs for a full year. “We will continue to be a radical no-nonsense trade union and they will fail to prevent us from forming part of the Public Health and Social Development Sectoral Bargaining Council (PHSDSBC),” Sicina said. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Robin-Lee Francke at IOL News
Malatsi fires two members of SOE board for alleged improper financial dealings TimesLIVE reports that Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi has fired two members of the Universal Service and Access Agency of SA (USAASA) board for alleged financial misconduct. Daphne Kula-Rantho and Boitumelo Mabusela allegedly collected more than R1.5m in board fees since October 2023. Kula-Rantho allegedly received R1,288,966.87 while Mabusela received R362,994.02. Malatsi cited their failure to provide evidence to refute claims of improper financial dealings. He said: “I have removed the individuals who are employed as civil servants for failing to obtain approval and to provide evidence of permission from their employers to conduct additional remunerative work outside their official roles, as is required by law. I went further and engaged their employers to request proof of approval to earn additional remuneration outside their official roles. The responses indicate no such approval was given. Before that, my predecessor Mondli Gungubele proactively pursued the same request but was not provided such.” Malatsi added: “I have instructed the director-general to initiate processes to recover the money. I have also instructed the department to work with the acting CEO of USAASA Luyanda Ndlovu to conduct an independent investigation into the veracity of the allegations of abuse of state resources against another board member, Simphiwe Thobela.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Innocentia Nkadimeng at TimesLIVE
Business and labour push for tobacco bill to go back to Nedlac BusinessLive reports that Business Unity SA (Busa) has called on the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) to revive its efforts to halt parliament’s work on tough new anti-tobacco laws because the legislation still needs a thorough review by the organisation. Its concerns echo those previously expressed by trade union federation Cosatu, which warned last year that a lack of consultation could expose the government to legal challenges. At issue is the extent to which the Department of Health (DOH) engaged with Nedlac before submitting the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery System Control Bill to parliament in 2023. MPs did not finish their work on the bill before parliament rose ahead of the May general election. The legislation is now back before the portfolio committee on health. The DOH had made only one presentation to Nedlac on the bill before it was tabled in parliament, and rebuffed its request for a thorough, line-by-line engagement on the legislation. “The parliamentary process should be halted. To run the process without the views of the social partners would be robbing parliament of the richness of their [expertise],” Nedlac’s business convener, Kaizer Moyane, said on Wednesday. He went on to state: “The importance of Nedlac’s involvement in the bill cannot be overstated. The bill, if passed in its current form, will have significant socioeconomic effects on SA.” Earlier this week, Moyane wrote to Nedlac executive director Lisa Seftel on behalf of Busa, SA’s biggest umbrella body for organised business, calling for a review of the bill. Seftel said Nedlac was committed to raising the matter again with parliament. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks said they supported the bill, but were wary of the government cutting corners and undermining Nedlac. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive
Mayor of Free State municipality’s mystery 7,000km journey in a single month in a rental car GroundUp reports that the mayor of Nketoana Local Municipality in the Free State seemingly spent about R100,000 on a rented car in a single month. According to an Avis invoice, mayor Mamiki Mokoena travelled 6,943km between 18 May and 18 June this year in a rented Toyota Fortuner. The invoice suggests that R64,893 was billed for rent on the car for the month. About R34,000 was spent on the mayor's fuel card over the period. This follows two accidents in which the mayor's cars, owned by the municipality, were written off. In August 2021, Mokoena's BMW 4 Series was involved in an accident. The mayor then apparently rented a car until August 2023, when a new Haval H9 was bought for her. According to a source in the municipality, R850,000 was spent on car hire between August 2021 and August 2023. The new car was involved in an accident in November 2023, and since then the mayor has been renting a car again, first a Ford Everest and then a Fortuner. But, fuel transactions on the records do not add up. For instance, on 18 May 2024 the car was filled with 67.1 litres of fuel. The odometer reading stood at 19,800km. Two days later, on 20 May, the car was filled again with 53.9 litres of fuel, but the odometer reading was 19,900km, suggesting the car had only been driven 100km. The records also show that on 21 July, the odometer reading was 20,804km and 64.45 litres of fuel was put in the tank in Pretoria at a cost of R1 382.65. The next time fuel was purchased was three days later, on 24 July. On tat date, when 76.6 litres of fuel was bought for R1,665.05 in Heilbron, the odometer reading was 20,764km, which was 40km less than previously. The DA wants confirmation that the car had been used on municipal business. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tladi Moloi at News24
Unions will not dictate terms about appointments, new basic education minister tells school principals News24 reports that Siviwe Gwarube, the new Department of Basic Education (DBE) minister, firmly laid down the law on Tuesday when she said teacher unions could not be allowed to "dictate" who should be appointed as heads of schools. She told a gathering of almost 850 principals and deputy principals at a summit in Gqeberha that unions were important stakeholders, but they would not be allowed to usurp the powers of the department and school communities. "We are determined to create a professional teaching environment and, although teachers' unions play an important role, we must beware against the undue involvement of unions in appointments. They cannot dictate who is appointed to lead schools. We must improve human resources capacity to ensure a proper appointment process," she said. Gwarube (DA) was appointed as minister in June, in terms of the agreement which established the government of national unity. Although she did not directly refer to the SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu), the union has for years been considered too powerful in the education sector. It has historically been strongly opposed to competency assessments for its members, while it is also a significant political actor in the ANC-led tripartite alliance. Angie Motshekga (ANC), Gwarube's predecessor, was considered an ally of Sadtu. A 2016 report by Professor John Volmink, commissioned by the DBE, found that Sadtu wielded "enormous power and influence" over the education system, which was being held hostage by inappropriate political processes. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Pieter du Toit at News24
The picture with ‘two-pot’ retirement withdrawals four days into the process The Citizen reports that four days since the implementation of the two-pot retirement system, there have been some glitches causing pension fund members who are desperate for their money to complain, but so far the claims process is running smoothly. Pension fund members have been waiting anxiously to lay their hands on a part of their retirement funds in the savings pot created by the two-pot retirement system. Michelle Acton of Old Mutual advised that payouts would begin later in September as part of their two-phased approach. Old Mutual is managing an anticipated volume of over 600,000 applications. As part of the first phase, Old Mutual completed the seeding process which allowed clients to view their pot balances and obtain quotes. In the second phase, starting on 23 September, Old Mutual will accept and process withdrawal applications. John Anderson of Alexforbes reported that the retirement fund administrator already started to receive and process withdrawal applications on Tuesday. He asked all members to please be patient while their claims were processed. Anneke Hanekom of the Momentum Group said they had so far received 777 withdrawal submissions, which was 0.3% of their in-force retirement contracts. She commented: “Although it is difficult to accurately predict volumes, the numbers we are seeing are lower than expected.” Hanekom reported that Momentum’s system was fully integrated with the SA African Revenue Service system and they were receiving tax directives. “We completed a number of payments already (3%) which were mostly for claims submitted on Sunday,” she indicated. Sanlam has also had large numbers of clients enquiring about two-pot retirement system withdrawals. Read the full original of the excellent report in the above regard by Ina Opperman at The Citizen. Read too, Old Mutual will only start processing two-pot withdrawals later this month, at Fin24
At least 50 detectives leave SA Police Service each month TimesLIVE reports that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has disclosed that police have an alarming shortage of detectives in regions with high levels of crime. In his response to parliamentary questions by Rise Mzansi’s Makashule Gana, Mchunu said the total number of detectives employed in the police stood at 22,413 and the country had a shortage of 8,594 individuals. SA has recently experienced an alarming increase in extortion incidents, signalling a crisis in police crime intelligence. Crime intelligence is said to be dysfunctional and divided. According to Mchunu, KwaZulu-Natal has the highest shortage of detectives at 1,629, with the Western Cape (1,555) and Eastern Cape (1,465) following closely behind. These three provinces have been the most problematic for police. Other provinces experiencing a shortage of detectives include Limpopo with 913 vacancies, the Free State (783), Northern Cape (695), North West (545), Mpumalanga (519) and Gauteng (490). Gana said communities were frustrated as cases were dropped by police due to the shortage of detectives. He added that some police detectives had complained of a high volume of case files. This resulted in criminals evading prison time because there was no attention given to the many cases reported to the police. Gana said he was concerned that the largest number of extortion rings were prevalent in provinces with the most severe shortage of detectives. This led to communities losing trust in the police, resulting in allegations that police were collaborating with criminals. Gana claimed that part of the problem was the general working conditions for police, high caseloads and the slow rate of training detectives. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lizeka Tandwa at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
NPA rejects bid by Pretoria chief magistrate Desmond Nair to have corruption charges withdrawn TimesLIVE reports that National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi has rejected representations made by suspended Pretoria chief magistrate Desmond Nair in his corruption case. Nair appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday. His case was postponed until 26 September for his attorney to study the reply from the office of the NDPP in response to his representations to have the charges withdrawn. “The NDPP has not acceded to Nair’s bid and has decided the prosecution must proceed,” the National Prosecuting Authority's Investigating Directorate spokesperson Henry Mamothame indicated. Nair faces corruption charges for allegedly receiving security upgrades, valued at about R200,000, to his Gauteng home. These were provided by African Global Operations, formerly known as Bosasa, in September 2016. Mamothame said the upgrades included an electric fence, alarm system, perimeter beams and CCTV system. “The gratification was allegedly offered and received by Nair in order for him to act in a dishonest or improper manner in his influential position as the officer of the judiciary,” Mamothame alleged. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Ernest Mabuza at TimesLIVE
Bramley cop arrested in Joburg butcher's kidnapping allegedly used patrol car to transport victim News24 reports that a SA Police Service (SAPS) officer stationed at Bramley, Johannesburg, allegedly played a crucial role in the kidnapping of a Portuguese butchery owner, using a branded state vehicle to transport fellow syndicate members to and from the kidnapping scene. Adolf Mnisi, 41, was arrested, along with six others, in October 2023 for the kidnapping of Luis de Freita outside his butchery in Bramley. De Freita was rescued in Kempton Park before a ransom could be paid. Mnisi was suspended on 14 June. Mnisi apparently faced three interdepartmental charges in connection with De Freita's kidnapping but was only charged on one, namely using a state vehicle in the commission of a crime. "The other charges were dropped, primarily because the victim did not want to cooperate. We don't know what is happening at the moment, but I think the [disciplinary] process has been concluded. I think a report has been sent to our superiors for a verdict," said an insider. Officers privy to the investigation alleged that Mnisi played a crucial role in the kidnapping. He allegedly went on the run for two weeks before his arrest after a colleague tipped him off that he was a person of interest in De Freita's kidnapping. He was arrested two weeks later. Following De Freita's rescue, investigations led the Anti-Kidnapping Task Team members to Bramley, where Mnisi was stationed. He and six others were granted R5,000 bail each in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court and are expected to appear in court on Friday to face charges. At least 20 Portuguese butchery owners and their employees have been kidnapped in Gauteng since January last year. Ransom demands for the victims' release ranged between R1 million and R10 million. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tankiso Makhetha at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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