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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DA’s Steenhuisen warns Cyril Ramaphosa against signing Bela Bill BL Premium reports that Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to not go ahead with plans to sign the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill into law, saying that to do so would violate both the letter and spirit of the government of national unity (GNU). According to Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, Ramaphosa will sign the bill into law on Friday. “During the negotiations, the DA made it clear that the Bela Bill was unacceptable to us in its current form, because it has constitutional implications for the right to mother-tongue education, among other issues,” Steenhuisen said on Wednesday. The DA previously urged Ramaphosa to send the bill back to parliament for a few simple amendments, to bring it in line with the constitution. One of the bill’s most contentious aspects is a provision to strip school governing bodies of their power to determine admission and language policies, and give provincial heads of education the final say on these emotive issues. In a joint media briefing with other organisations on Wednesday, Afrikaner rights group AfriForum said it viewed the bill as an attempt at “cultural ethnic cleansing by the ANC government, as the implementation of the bill will enable the destruction of linguistic and cultural communities schools, thereby jeopardising the group’s cultural existence”. The organisation’s head of cultural affairs, Alana Bailey, said that AfriForum’s legal team was ready to take steps against the bill’s implementation as soon it was signed by Ramaphosa. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only) ‘Bela Bill is a clear red line,’ Solidarity warns Ramaphosa and GNU Trade union Solidarity issued a statement on Wednesday indicating that its challenge against the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill would continue in court if the amendment bill was signed into law on Friday by President Cyril Ramaphosa. At a media conference, Solidarity described BELA as a “clear red line” that could threaten the entire composition of the Government of National Unity (GNU). According to Solidarity’s Chief Executive Dr Dirk Hermann, Ramaphosa’s signing of the bill would rely on a false mandate to do so. “BELA was anxiously steamrollered through shortly before the election, because the ANC knew they would not have enough support for it after the election. Now Ramaphosa, as if he has all the power, wants to sign the law as president of the GNU while, in reality, the ANC’s support dropped to 40% in the election,” Hermann pointed out. Solidarity considers the clauses on language and admission policies in BELA as a direct attack on Afrikaans education, the Afrikaans language and Afrikaans teachers and the Afrikaans youth. If, according to Hermann, Ramaphosa proceeds to sign the BELA Bill, his disregard for the GNU would be clear. “In such case, Solidarity, AfriForum and the Solidarity Support Centre for Schools (SCS) are ready to go to court together to fight BELA. Today, these organisations, together with the Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Associations (FAK), Solidarity Helping Hand and the Afrikaanse Onderwysnetwerk (AON) (meaning Afrikaans education network) have fully committed themselves to the fight against BELA, Hermann warned. Read Solidarity’s press statement in full at SA Labour News. Lees ook, Hof toe as Ramaphosa Bela teken, by Maroela Media Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Government rejects civil servants’ “unaffordable” 12% pay demand, offers 3% raise Bloomberg reports that the SA government has rejected a demand by public-sector employees for a 12% pay increase, saying it’s unaffordable. Instead, the state offered a 3% raise, Frikkie de Bruin, general secretary at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council advised on Wednesday. The proposal by employees would require R140 billion and would be "totally out of budget", he indicated. The government told trade unions representing state workers to "go and reconsider and relook at the position and at the demands in terms of where is it we can maybe follow a different approach", De Bruin reported. In addition to the 12% increase in the 2025/26 financial year, public servants are seeking a R2,500 increase in their housing allowance as well as for the danger allowance to be raised to R1,000 from the R597. De Bruin advised that they planned to resume talks from the first week of October through until the middle of that month, ahead of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s mid-term budget update, expected on 30 October. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Ntando Thukwana at Fin24
Premier Group loses Labour Court bid to stop Mister Sweet strike GroundUp reports that the Johannesburg Labour Court has dismissed Premier Group’s urgent application to interdict workers from striking at its Mister Sweet operation in Germiston. Workers downed tools on 19 August, demanding higher wages. In an application to the court against nearly 300 striking workers, Premier argued that the strike had turned violent and that other workers had been intimidated. The strikers, represented by one of the workers, Fikile Zwane, and three others, did not dispute that there had been violence but said they had not been involved. Handing down his ruling on 10 September, Judge Reynaud Daniels said Premier had not shown that the 294 workers had acted “as a cohesive group”, or that any or all of them had associated themselves with the intimidation and violence. The workers are demanding a minimum wage of R12,500 a month for the lowest-paid workers and R16,500 for workers in higher-level positions. “Our workers have been striking peacefully, and whatever acts of violence that may have taken place had nothing to do with us,” said Jaco Potlaki from the Simunye Workers’ Forum. “Premier should just agree to our terms and give the workers the higher wages that they rightfully deserve,” he said, adding that the strike would continue. Asked for comment, Premier’s spokesperson referred GroundUp to a previous statement repeating its initial 7% wage offer. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kimberly Mutandiro at GroundUp
Process to exempt struggling municipalities from wage increases ‘now less onerous’ Moneyweb reports that a revamped exemption clause in the municipal wage agreement reached last week will make it less onerous for municipalities to get an exemption if they cannot afford to pay their staff the increases set for each year until 2029. This was indicated by Zwe Ndlala of employer body Salga, which represents all 257 municipalities. Only one of 18 applications received since 2020 received approval. Most notable was the City of Tshwane’s application for 2023/24, which was dismissed. The city nevertheless failed to implement the wage agreement, which led to a violent, unprotected three-month-long strike. The metro has been fighting for exemption ever since, arguing the increase was unaffordable for the cash-strapped city. The matter is now in the Labour Court and has been set down for hearing in November. Salga and municipal unions Samwu and Imatu reached a salary and wage agreement last week after the previous collective agreement lapsed in June. In respect of exemptions, the parties settled on including mediation in the exemption process, tightening the timeframes for exemption applications, and providing clear criteria for evaluating them. In addition, the role of the financial expert who will assist the arbitrator should the matter not be settled through mediation has been strengthened. Among other things, the financial expert will be required to provide a written report on his/her findings regarding the municipality’s ability to afford the increases. Such a report will be available should the arbitrator’s ruling be taken on review by the Labour Court. The municipalities now have 45 days from 6 September, when the agreement was signed, to apply for the exemption. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Antoinette Slabbert at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Selected UIF centres open on Saturdays this month as service provider dispute cripples online services Fin24 reports that key online portals for the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) have been offline for weeks amidst a dispute between service providers currently playing out in court. This has prompted the relief fund to open certain centres on Saturdays in September. Last week, the UIF announced that it was adding capacity and extending the operating hours of its physical labour centres after the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria issued an interim interdict against a newly appointed IT service provider. A losing bidder applied for the interdict. Important UIF online systems were brought down when the service provider was forced to stop working. The uFiling system, which allows employers to calculate and pay UIF contributions to the fund online, and to register employees for benefits, is currently down. In a statement on Wednesday, the UIF said that the uFiling platform was not connected to the main UIF system used to adjudicate and process claims. The Fund advised that it would be extending its operating hours and had repurposed staff at its labour centres to try to accommodate the influx of people visiting the labour centres while the online systems remained impacted. It will also be open on Saturdays at selected locations. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by William Brederode at Fin24 (registration required). Read the UIF’s press statement here UIF commissioner hunts down Covid-19 TERS fraudsters Mail & Guardian reports that the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) has so far recovered R2.5 billion from employers who fraudulently claimed Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) benefits. Smiso Nkosi, the deputy director in the office of Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) commissioner Teboho Maruping, on Tuesday highlighted the findings of the department’s ‘Follow the Money’ project, which aims to verify the R62.3 billion of TERS payments distributed during 2020 and 2021 and ensure the funds did reach the intended beneficiaries at the right time and were not abused or misused by employers. The DEL has employed 27 firms to complete the verification process. Nkosi reported that the DEL had so far verified R34.7 billion in payouts, of which R2.5 billion in fraudulent payments had been recovered so far. Most cases were uncovered in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, followed by the Eastern Cape, the Free State and the Western Cape. Among the invalid claims uncovered during the audits have been instances where employers deducted a UIF fee on TERS funds, employers told workers they were giving them the funds merely as loans and staff were paid less than was due to them. Nkosi said 16 people have been convicted of committing TERS-related fraud, theft and money laundering crimes and faced sentences ranging from suspended prison terms to 20 years direct imprisonment. All companies to which benefits were directly into their bank accounts to disburse funds to their employees will be investigated for potential fraud. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lyse Comins at Mail & Guardian
Workers in retail sector need 21 months to earn what CEOs earn in a day BL Premium reports that the average CEO in the retail and wholesale sector earns 597 times more than the lowest-paid worker, according to a report by shareholder activism organisation Just Share. The analysis, conducted across 10 JSE-listed companies, highlights the wage inequality between CEOs and the lowest-paid workers, as well as progress in board and management diversity. The report looks at major players Shoprite, Pick n Pay, Pepkor, TFG, Woolworths, Mr Price, Dis-Chem, Clicks, Truworths and Spar. These companies collectively employ nearly 390,000 full-time employees and generate annual revenues of R833.7bn. The average lowest paid worker in the wholesale and retail sector would need to work for 21 months to earn what an average CEO in this sector earns in one day. According to the report, Woolworths’ CEO earns 1,308 times more than the company’s lowest-paid worker. The group’s internal minimum wage is R93,600 per annum, 57% higher than the industry standard, but this is offset by the CEO’s remuneration package of R122.5m. Other companies are not far behind, with Shoprite having a CEO-to-lowest-worker ratio of 991:1 and Mr Price at 711:1. Long-term incentives make up a big portion of CEO remuneration, contributing to these disparities. The report also delved into racial and gender diversity at the board and management levels, showing mixed results across companies. Clicks Group stood out as a positive example, with 60% black board representation and 40% female representation. However, the report found other companies, such as TFG and Truworths, lagged behind, with black representation targets as low as 29% and 25%, respectively. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nompilo Goba at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, Analysis shows extremely large pay gaps and poor leadership diversity in JSE-listed retail sector, at Business Report
ELRC task team proposes stricter criteria for school principal appointments News24 reports that teacher unions and school governing body associations have endorsed a proposal which, if implemented, will put the brakes on teachers without management experience being catapulted into principal posts. Presently, an ordinary teacher can be appointed as a headmaster of a school, without first having been a departmental head and a deputy principal. The proposal, which was tabled by a task team at an Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) bargaining meeting on 16 November 2023, will come up for discussion again on 13 September 2024. "Often, you find that a level 1 educator, with no managerial experience, gets promoted to a principal position, at the expense of an experienced deputy principal and/or departmental head, and the institution suffers due to poor leadership," Doctor Ngema of the National Teachers' Union, pointed out. According to the plan, "there has been acknowledgement in the sector that minimum requirements need to be enhanced to improve the quality of school management teams". The ELRC document notes there is currently no requirement for experience either as a departmental head or deputy principal to become a principal. It proposes that a candidate applying for promotion to become a principal should have seven years of teaching experience, including three years as a deputy principal, or alternatively eight years of teaching experience, of which five years must have been as a departmental head. Paul Sauer of the Suid Afrikaanse Onderwysersunie indicated that, in principle, they supported progressive promotion at different levels to reach the top. The ELRC's Cindy Foca said the matter was on the council's agenda, but they were waiting on feedback from teacher unions. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Prega Govender at News24 (registration required)
PSC to probe Gauteng health head’s appointment amid corruption claims and queries about his qualifications The Citizen reports that Jan de Villiers, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, has requested the Public Service Commission (PSC) to investigate the appointment of Arnold Lesiba Malotana as head of the Gauteng health department. In a video posted on X, he confirmed that the committee had received a complaint about the recent appointment and wrote: “I’ve referred this complaint to the PSC, who will now investigate and give us a recommendation.” In order to determine whether Malotana has the necessary Master’s degree for the role, the investigation will aim to uncover any possible irregularities with the head of department’s application and reported qualifications. De Villiers elaborated in a statement on Wednesday: “It was also alleged that Mr Malotana’s appointment was processed despite a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation into a tender-rigging scheme, where he allegedly shared R8 million in bribes with two other officials.” The probe comes after the Democratic Alliance in Gauteng condemned Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko for allegedly refusing to provide Malotana’s qualifications. Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, said on 4 September that at a sitting of the Gauteng Legislature, he asked the MEC to provide copies of Malotana’s qualifications, but she allegedly ducked the question. Nkomo-Ralehoko also reportedly told Bloom to direct his question to Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s office as they had handled his appointment. “If there is nothing to hide, the MEC can easily provide Malotana’s qualifications,” Bloom opined. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Chulumanco Mahamba at The Citizen
Two Emfuleni municipality employees arrested in sting operation on extortion charges News24 reports that during a sting operation, the Hawks arrested two Emfuleni municipality employees on extortion-related charges. Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale on Wednesday said the suspects, aged 39 and 51, were arrested in Sharpeville on Monday after the Serious Corruption Investigation unit in Vaalrand, the Sedibeng Infrastructure unit and the Emfuleni Forensic Investigation unit received information about them being involved in extortion in the Vaal. "The multi-disciplinary team arranged an authorised meeting with the suspects during which money exchanged hands. Immediately after the transaction, the suspects were arrested, and in their possession, the trap money was recovered as well as in their vehicle," he reported. Mogale added that the two employees were facing charges of extortion and that the investigation was continuing. Emfuleni spokesperson Mojalefa Radebe indicated that an employee working in the municipality's water and sanitation department had been arrested. He said they could not comment further on the matter as it was under investigation. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tankiso Makhetha at News24 (registration required) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Court challenge by former Lottery boss delays forfeiture of assets worth millions of rands GroundUp reports that a court challenge by the former chairman of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) Alfred Nevhutanda has delayed the forfeiture of millions of rands in assets to the state. Nevhutanda is challenging the legality of the proclamation giving the Special Investigating Unit the powers to investigate the affairs of the NLC. Included in the assets, currently being preserved as “proceeds of crime”, are a R27-million Pretoria mansion allegedly owned by Nevhatunda, bought with Lottery funds. In total the Asset Forfeiture Unit has preserved assets worth more than R344-million, including other properties, luxury vehicles and two Ocean Basket franchises owned by people implicated in the plundering of Lottery funds. In an order on 5 September, Pretoria High Court Judge Nelisa Mali, who was dealing with an application brought by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for the final forfeiture of the assets to the state, postponed it to an undetermined date. This was to allow for the final determination of Nevhutanda’s application. Judge Mali ordered the NPA to pay punitive costs. In his application, Nevhutanda challenged the proclamation signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in October 2020, which gave the Special Investigating Unit the go-head to investigate the NLC’s affairs. He wants it to be declared unlawful because the NLC is not an organ of state, nor does it deal with public money which, he claims, are prerequisites for authority under the SIU Act. Further, he says, the proclamation is too broad. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tania Broughton at GroundUp
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