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 Friday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South
African labour-related reports.
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Work at ArcelorMittal SA ‘uninterrupted’ as Numsa commences indefinite strike over retrenchment process BL Premium reports that ArcelorMittal SA (Amsa) says operations at its three plants across the country remain unaffected by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s (Numsa’s) indefinite strike action, which began on Thursday. The strike is over the company’s decision to retrench 107 employees. Amsa spokesperson Tami Didiza said on Thursday the steel producer had received Numsa’s notice of its intention to commence industrial action at its Newcastle, Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging operations from 14 November. The company in part successfully challenged the protected status of the strike through a Labour Court application on 13 November. In the court order handed down by Judge Molatelo Makhura on Wednesday, employees who fall under business units covered by a maintenance determination are prohibited from participating in any industrial action. “Operations continue uninterrupted,” Didiza claimed. Maintenance determination is a legal agreement issued by the CCMA outlining employee obligations. Amsa employs 6,000 workers. Of that number, 2,238 fall under maintenance determination. An urgent application to interdict industrial action for employees falling outside the business units covered by the maintenance determination will be heard on Friday. Didiza said the company has implemented contingency measures to “minimise potential disruptions to our operations and customer service.” Meanwhile, Numsa said it was “satisfied” with day one of its indefinite strike. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Man shoots two police officers at Alexandra police station on Thursday The Citizen reports that a 46-year-old sergeant and a 27-year-old constable are receiving medical treatment after they were shot on Thursday morning at the police station in Alexandra, Johannesburg. Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Policing Major General Fred Kekana confirmed the shooting. He said the suspect entered the station at about 10am requesting assistance. The man was asked to take a seat, however, he approached an officer who was behind a desk writing up a statement, grabbed his firearm and then started shooting randomly. The suspect continued shooting while the police were ordering him to stop as they chased behind him. During the chase, the suspect was fatally wounded. Kekena said the officers sustained injuries on their shoulders and were in a stable condition. The officers who witnessed the incident are receiving counselling. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Oratile Mashilo at The Citizen Marine Court of Enquiry to further investigate the deaths in May of 11 fishermen at sea SABC News reports that the Department of Transport (DOT) has instructed officials to establish a Marine Court of Enquiry to look into and report on the deaths of 11 fishermen at sea in May. The fishermen were a part of 20 crew on the MFV Lapanto when it sank off the coast of Hout Bay. The deep sea trawler belonging to Viking Fisheries, a subsidiary of the Sea Harvest Group, was seen capsizing and sinking quickly. While nine of the 20 crew members were rescued from the sinking vessel by another trawler of the group, the remaining fishermen were declared missing at sea. The transport ministry has now received notification from the SA Maritime Authority (Samsa) that a draft report into the tragedy has been completed. DOT spokesperson Collen Msini indicated: “The Minister and the Deputy Minister have urged Samsa to complete their report as a matter of urgency and ensure that they work with their legal team. Secondly, the minister has also instructed the department to establish a Marine Court of Enquiry to further pursue an investigation and bring the report to finality.” Read the original of the short report in the above regard at SABC News Arrest warrants issued for three more suspects in connection with murder of Fort Hare vice-chancellor's bodyguard News24 reports that police are looking for three more people in connection with the murder of the bodyguard of University of Fort Hare vice-chancellor Sakhela Buhlungu in 2023. Mboneli Vesele died in a hail of bullets shortly after dropping Buhlungu at his Alice residence on 6 January 2023. His murder followed failed hits on Buhlungu and his deputy, Renuka Vithal, in Alice in March 2022 and the murder of the university's fleet manager, Petrus Roets, near Gonubie in East London in May 2022. Ten people, including the university's former director of vetting and investigations, Isaac Plaatjies, have been arrested for the attempted murders and murders. They are expected to be tried in the Eastern Cape High Court in Bhisho on 25 March 2025. On Thursday, national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said police had also obtained warrants for the arrest of three more people, namely Bafana Chiliza, 24, Nkosiyazi "Dipopoz" Maphumulo, 28 and Siphiwo "Spijojo" Jejane, 35. "The trio is believed to be hiding between KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces,” Mathe indicated. “It is reported that the suspects orchestrated the whole thing in order to be awarded security tenders," Mathe added. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sithandiwe Velaphi at News24 (subscription or trial registration required). Lees ook, Fort Hare-moorde: Lasbriewe vir drie uitgereik, by Maroela Media Health inspectors in Cape Town ‘neglect townships’, claims Fawu Cape Argus reports that the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) has called out health inspectors in Cape Town for neglecting townships, after a meat factory was nabbed for allegedly adding dog food to its sausages. A tip-off on Wednesday led the City’s Environmental Health Service to a building in Mfuleni, which resulted in the uncovering of the sausages that were being processed and packaged in unsanitary conditions. A video, which went viral, showed dog food allegedly being used to make the sausages. On the other side of the small room were car parts where cars are fixed. Six people were arrested by law enforcement officers in terms of the Immigration Act, and the Food Act. Fawu provincial secretary, Zolani Mbanjwa, said South Africans were facing a serious challenge. “We need the government to enforce inspections, especially in our communities because inspections are mostly done in proper shops in city centres but not in townships. If there were inspections we would have known about such things. What we saw it’s just the tip of the iceberg, there is more that is happening in these shops. If we could have a big operation as they did in Gauteng, in restaurants and hotels, there is much that we would find,” Mbanjwa stated. Mbanjwa added that if the foods did not kill people, it might have a long-term effect in the form of diseases. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mandilakhe Tshwete at Cape Argus Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Safpu’s Mhlongo, Shabalala call for sports tax, compulsory life insurance for football players TimesLIVE reports that SA Football Players Union (Safpu) officials Benson Mhlongo and Nhlanhla Shabalala have intensified calls for a sports tax and compulsory life insurance for footballers. For many years, footballers and sports stars have faced serious financial problems when they retire and Safpu is arguing that the government must tax athletes differently. In a recent episode of the Arena Sports Show, presenter Clauiee Grace Mpanza and regular guest Mahlatse Mphahlele looked deeper with Mhlongo and Shabalala into the challenges faced by footballers. Shabalala said that among problems that Safpu encountered was that some clubs were mistreating players. They also spoke about their intention to meet sport minister Gayton McKenzie. They moreover emphasised that players needed to take responsibility for how they looked after their money while they were still active – and also look after their bodies to have longevity in the game. View the Arena Sports Show episode at TimesLIVE
SA Cabin Crew Association to march on SAA on Friday to regain union recognition BL Premium reports that the SA Cabin Crew Association (Sacca), which is trying to regain recognition at SA Airways (SAA), plans to march to the airline’s head office at OR Tambo International Airport on Friday. The union is also demanding the immediate intervention of the Minister of Transport and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in cases of wasteful expenditure and corrupt practices. It is moreover demanding that the employees retrenched in the airline’s business rescue process be given priority when new appointments are made. Another demand is the ending of lease agreements with foreign airlines. “We are also worried that SAA might consider selling London slots as well as SAA property to raise money to survive. Morale at the airline is very low due to the lack of protection from unions like ours,” said Sacca’s Chris Shabangu. Further possible marches are planned for 22 and 29 November as well as 6 December. In SAA’s business rescue process, which concluded in April 2021, its workforce was reduced from 4,500 employees to about 1,000. As part of the process, the airline had to renegotiate and sign new agreements with all trade unions. According to SAA, Sacca failed in its application for recognition at the time, resulting in it being formally derecognised. On Thursday, SSA said it was still working with Sacca to allow it to meet the requirements of the Labour Relations Act for recognition. SAA has since approached the Labour Court to rule on the matter. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carin Smith at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Harmony Gold anoints Beyers Nel as new CEO, and creates deputy CEO role Miningmx reports that Harmony Gold on Thursday announced that Beyers Nel would take over as CEO from 2025, so continuing the group’s tradition of promoting its chief operating officers to the top job. Nel takes over from Peter Steenkamp, who rejoined Harmony in 2016 as CEO after previously running its mines. Nel has been Harmony’s group COO since January 2023, and COO of the group’s SA operations since 2016. The appointment comes with a new development in that Floyd Masemula, head of the group’s SA mines, will be the group’s deputy CEO in a newly created role. Masemula was previously head of mining at Sibanye-Stillwater’s platinum division. Prior to that he was GM at Harmony’s Kusasalethu, Doornkop and Kalgold operations and also worked at AngloGold Ashanti. Both appointments are effective 1 January. The announcements are said to have come late in the day, however, given that Steenkamp gave notice of his decision to retire in March. “Beyers and Floyd, together with the world-class management team at Harmony, will provide operational leadership during the next exciting growth phase of the company,” said Patrice Motsepe, executive chairman of Harmony. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by David McKay at Miningmx Other general posting(s) relating to mining
Police in standoff with hundreds of illegal miners in disused North West shaft Reuters reports that police were still in a standoff on Thursday with hundreds of illegal miners believed to be underground in a disused shaft, a day after a cabinet minister said the government was trying to "smoke them out". Police have been trying for weeks to empty the abandoned gold mine in the North West province as part of a crackdown on illegal mining. More than 1,000 illegal miners resurfaced after police cut off their food and water supplies, but a police spokesperson said hundreds more could still be underground. A decomposed body was brought up on Thursday, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe advised. Senior police and defence force officials are expected to visit the area on Friday to "reinforce the government's commitment to bringing this operation to a safe and lawful conclusion". Illegal gold mining costs SA’s government and industry hundreds of millions of dollars annually in lost sales, taxes and royalties, according to an estimate by a mining industry body. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly. Read too, Decomposed body of illegal miner brought to surface by Stilfontein locals, at News24. And also, Mchunu to visit Stilfotein shaft as zama aamas remain underground, at SABC News Police reckon the number of illegal miners still underground at Stilfontein shaft was greatly inflated by a volunteer News24 reports that the police believe that the publicised number of 4,500 illegal miners stuck underground at a closed gold mine in Stilfontein was inflated by a volunteer who went underground using ropes on Tuesday. Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said, based on information gathered by their intelligence officers, the number of illegal miners still underground could be in the hundreds, but not thousands. Mathe also emphasised that the illegal miners were not trapped underground but were refusing to resurface. The police went to great lengths to convince illegal miners to resurface safely on their own, but they were refusing, with only 1,173 illegal miners having resurfaced, she pointed out. Mathe added: "We didn't block any entrance and exit. We stood static and called them to resurface … We stand by the strategy being utilised. We can't continue to feed crime by providing food and necessities to allow criminality to thrive underground. What is happening underground is a crime scene.” Masithembe Tshingana was among 44 volunteers who retrieved a decomposed body on Thursday morning. Tshingana said they volunteered their services when they saw that their neighbours, relatives, and friends who had illegally gone underground had not resurfaced. "We are assisting people underground since the government refuses to pull them out. We are united in our work as a community. I have two relatives who are stuck underground. I don't even know if that deceased body was one of them,” he indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ntwaagae Seleka at News24 (subscription or trial registration required). Read too, Stilfontein community seeks to expedite process to bring up zama zamas, at SABC News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Good business rescue news for AutoZone Daily Investor reports that the Competition Commission (CC) has given Metair’s acquisition of AutoZone the green light, but has stipulated that no employees may be retrenched for three years from the merger approval date. Automotive parts retailer and wholesaler AutoZone entered voluntary business rescue proceedings in July this year after landing in financial trouble. It is the largest privately owned automotive parts retailer and wholesaler in Southern Africa. The company has 214 wholly-owned retail branches and 33 member-owned franchise branches. When announcing that it had entered into business rescue proceedings, AutoZone said it was confident the company could recover, given its strong national brand and branded products in SA. At the time, AutoZone CEO Dion de Graaff said three third parties had expressed interest in investing in AutoZone and that the company had reportedly received several offers from potential bidders seeking to acquire it. On 4 October, it was announced that MetAir would be acquiring AutoZone in a R290 million deal. Now, this deal has received approval from SA’s competition watchdog, with the CC recommending that the Competition Tribunal approves the proposed transaction. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bianke Neethling at Daily Investor. Read too, Major company in business rescue in SA a step closer to being saved, at BusinessTech
Victory for 54 Numsa members as Labour Court rules in favour of dismissed Goodyear workers The Star reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has hailed a victory for justice and workers' rights, following a Labour Court ruling that prevented Goodyear from dismissing 54 employees. Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said the saga began on 31 May 2021 when the workers were dismissed following their refusal to comply with a controversial directive to work staggered breaks. “Management overreacted when employees rejected the instruction. Their refusal stemmed from genuine concerns about working conditions, leading to a dismissal that was not warranted,” she noted. The unfair dismissal case made its way through arbitration at the CCMA, with the initial outcome in June 2022 highlighting the flawed nature of the dismissals. Although the CCMA concluded that the workers had displayed insubordinate behaviour, it ruled that their conduct did not warrant such severe consequences as dismissal. Also, despite workers explicitly requesting union representation during the process, thus was denied, undermining the validity of the warnings issued against them. The CCMA ruling mandated their reinstatement. Goodyear then took the matter to the Labour Court, but Numsa again secured a favourable outcome for its members, with the Labour Court upholding the workers' right to be reinstated. Hlubi-Majola commented: “The Labour Court’s dismissal of Goodyear's application is a significant win for workers' rights. We have also been informed that Goodyear plans to appeal this decision. Should this occur, we stand ready to defend our members once more.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siyabonga Sithole at The Star
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