Today's Labour News
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.
New bill to give labour minister power to set employment equity targets
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BL Premium reports that the cabinet has approved and sent to parliament draft legislation that will empower the employment & labour minister to intervene and set transformation targets in the workplace.
Consumer inflation quickened to 4.5% in January, but still well within target range
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BusinessLive reports that consumer inflation rose at a faster pace in January, according to data released by Statistics SA on Tuesday. Annual consumer price inflation (CPI) was 4.5% in January, up from 4.0% in December, buoyed, among other factors, by increases in fuel prices.
Afternoon roundup of labour news on Tuesday, 18 February 2020
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In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Tuesday, 18 February 2020.
Fears mount over the likelihood of continued retrenchments
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Business Report writes that the list of announced plans to retrench in 2020, both in the private and public sectors, has grown rapidly and an anticipated small uptick in the economy is unlikely to slow its trajectory.
Wits makes controversial decision to reinstate lecturer accused of sexual harassment
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City Press reports that the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) has controversially reinstated a professor who was previously accused of sexual harassment.
Educor, which owns Damelin, City Varsity and other colleges, is planning to retrench more than 700 employees
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Cape Argus reports that Educor, which owns Damelin, City Varsity, Intec College and Lyceum College, is planning to retrench more than 700 people from its workforce; almost half its permanent staff.
Axed Old Mutual CEO Peter Moyo tells court his right to work, dignity and self-worth can't be replaced by money
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Fin24 reports that axed Old Mutual CEO Peter Moyo has claimed he would suffer further reputational harm if the financial services company appointed a new CEO while there was an ongoing court battle.
San Souci teacher who slapped pupil questions why assault charges reinstated by NPA
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EWN reports that the lawyer representing a teacher who slapped a pupil last year has questioned why charges, which were previously withdrawn, have been reinstated.
Police hunt for security guard who strolled off with R4m in cash stuffed in rubbish bags
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News24 reports that police are still on the hunt for a female security guard who allegedly stole R4m in cash from her employer, SBV Services, in July last year. She has not reported for duty since the incident and her whereabouts are unknown.
Cosatu slams Mboweni for “silly” proposal of a referendum on bailing out SOEs
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EWN reports that the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has slammed a suggestion by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni that a referendum should be held on the use of taxpayer’s money to bail out beleaguered state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
Statistics Council threatens to resign over lack of Stats SA funding, frozen posts
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Fin24 reports that the SA Statistics Council, an advisory body that endorses the releases of data by Statistics SA, has threatened to resign as a measure of last resort if the national statistical agency does not receive more funding and fill frozen posts.
Mondi appoints CFO Andrew King as its new CEO
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BusinessLive reports that paper and packaging group Mondi has appointed its CFO as CEO with effect from April. Andrew King replaces Peter Oswald, who took over the reins in May 2017.
Not legal to dock workers’ wage due to load shedding downtime
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The Mercury reports that labour experts have warned that businesses may not legally arbitrarily dock workers’ wages for lost productivity during Eskom’s load shedding.
Anglo American looks at internal appointment after surprise resignation of Amplats CEO
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BL Premium reports that Anglo American will replace Chris Griffith, CEO of its platinum division, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), with an internal appointment, thereby ruling out a host of external candidates.
Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital underutilised, paediatric nurses in short supply
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TimesLIVE reports that three years after the official opening of the 200-bed Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in Johannesburg, concern has been raised that the facility is not operating at capacity.
Over 20 commuters injured after two taxis collided on Golden Highway in Johannesburg
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EWN reports that more than 20 commuters were injured on Monday morning after two taxis collided on the Golden Highway in Devland, south of Johannesburg.
Popcru refuses to account for R200m that vanished after being channeled to company with links to union bosses
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City Press reports that leaders of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) are refusing to account for members’ investments worth R200 million that vanished after having been channelled to a mysterious company with close links to union bosses.
Service delivery collapses due to Tswaing Local Municipality’s failure to pay contributions to third party funds
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The Star reports that the North West has vowed to rapidly deal with the failure of the Tswaing Local Municipality to pay their employees’ third party funds.
Red flags over shortage of SA infectious disease specialists to deal with possible coronavirus outbreak
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Financial Mail writes that red flags about a local shortage of infectious disease specialists have raised fears that SA may struggle to cope with the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) should there be an outbreak.
Private hospital groups seek specialist nurses in India to meet shortage
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Business Times reports that two of SA's biggest private hospital groups, Mediclinic and Life Healthcare, are turning to India to recruit nurses for critical posts as they struggle to fill specialist nursing positions.
Chris Griffith resigns as CEO of Anglo American Platinum
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Miningmx reports that Chris Griffith, CEO of Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), called time on his seven year stint as chief of the firm, saying it had represented “the pinnacle” of his career.
Roundup on Monday, 17 February 2020 of weekend labour reports
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In our roundup of weekend news, see
summaries of our selection of South African
labour-related stories that appeared since
Friday, 14 February 2020.
DA staff face more retrenchments, which could amount to 300 according to a report
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City Press reports that the Democratic Alliance (DA) is looking into the possibility of retrenching more staff to create a structure that is more suitable to its needs. The decision will be made before the end of the party’s financial year next month.
Government seeks to cut 30,000 state jobs, freeze pay, Cosatu claims
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Bloomberg reports that according to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the government is seeking to cut 30,000 state jobs and freeze pay increases for three years as part of the state’s proposal to reduce its wage bill.
Three-year wage agreement with government sacrosanct, not open for review, says Nehawu
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Reuters reports that the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), one of the largest affiliates of union federation Cosatu, said on Friday that current wage agreement was sacrosanct and not open for review.
Schools in Khayelitsha demand security guards and metal detectors
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GroundUp reports that hundreds of residents, teachers and pupils marched to the Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court on Thursday to hand over a memorandum demanding measures to make their schools safer.
Limpopo government spokesperson's suspension for divulging info to EFF found to be illegal and unfair
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News24 reports that the General Public Service Sectoral Bargaining Council (GPSSC) has ordered the reinstatement of Limpopo government spokesperson Phuti Seloba after it found that his suspension had been illegal and unfair.
North West teacher placed on special leave for allegedly throwing water bottle at and injuring Grade 10 pupil
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News24 reports that the North West Education department has placed a teacher from the Geelhout Park Secondary school in Rustenburg on special leave following an incident earlier this month which left a pupil injured.
Peter Moyo asks court to stop appointment of new CEO at Old Mutual
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BusinessLive reports that former Old Mutual CEO Peter Moyo filed an urgent application on Friday to stop the process of appointing a new CEO.
Labour Court dismisses unions’ bid to halt SAA job cuts as airline has not 'contemplated dismissals'
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Fin24 reports that the Johannesburg Labour Court on Friday dismissed a joint urgent application by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the SA Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) to halt job cuts at South African Airways (SAA), ruling that the airline had not yet contemplated dismissals.