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.
Two of the five suspects implicated in cold-blooded murder of Hillbrow security guards arrested
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TimesLIVE reports that police have arrested two men in connection with the murder of two security guards who were shot dead in plain view of bystanders and motorists while sitting in their car in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, a week ago.
Public protector gets over R300,000 docked from errant dad’s pension fund for child maintenance arrears
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TimesLIVE reports that a father in the Western Cape, who dodged paying child maintenance for years, has had more than R300,000 docked from his pension fund.
Gold Fields boss has hope for South Deep, but believes gold sector job cuts will continue
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Business Times reports that according to Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland, consolidation cannot save SA's gold sector and job cuts are likely to continue.
Roundup on Monday, 18 February 2019 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, 15 February 2019.
Mantashe wants security at mines beefed up after Gloria mine disaster
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ANA reports that mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe on Friday called for security at mines to be enhanced in order to effectively address illegal mining.
Ramaphosa promises to correct lack of consultation with labour on Eskom unbundling
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Engineering News reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged on Thursday that there had been insufficient consultation with labour on government’s plan to unbundle Eskom into three separate companies.
Maritime safety body to investigate Durban ship fire that cost six lives
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TimesLIVE reports that the SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) has launched a probe into the deadly fire that ravaged a Mozambican vessel in Durban’s port on Thursday.
Solidarity offers to help address Eskom skills shortage and calls for a commission of inquiry into crisis
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Solidarity on Friday launched a skills bank on its website where engineers and technicians can register so their skills can be re-recruited to help alleviate the crisis at Eskom.
Samwu claims electricity power cut at its Joburg offices ‘was political’
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Saturday Star reports that the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) has accused the City of Johannesburg of a witch-hunt to “destabilise” the union and embarrass its leadership.
Nehawu vows to continue striking until the needs of TVET and CET lecturers are met
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The Sunday Independent reports that there is no end in sight in the standoff between the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) at vocational colleges across the country.
Unions object to moratorium from April 2021 on performance bonuses for public servants
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Pretoria News reports that SA’s 1.3 million public servants will not be receiving performance bonuses from April 2021 and will get reduced incentives for doing their jobs well from this year.
Ten-man crew jumps sinking fishing trawler near Saldahna Bay
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News24 reports that ten crew members were rescued after their fishing vessel sunk off the west of the Western Cape near Saldahna Bay.
Ramaphosa’s Eskom plan faces blowback from unions and others
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City Press reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa faces blowback over his government’s plans to fix state-owned power utility Eskom.
ANC closes sexual harassment case against its spokesman Pule Mabe
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City Press reports that the ANC has closed its sexual harassment case against spokesperson Pule Mabe after the party’s grievance panel ruled last Monday that the complainant’s version was not supported by evidence.
Over 1,000 jobs at risk as Coca-Cola reels from sugar tax
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Business Times reports that the jobs of more than 1,000 people may be on the line as Coca-Cola Beverages SA embarks on restructuring due to the effects of the sugar tax imposed on sugary drinks from April last year.
Sibanye and Amcu show no signs of backing down in protracted gold wage strike
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BL Premium writes that it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has scored a tragic own goal with its three-month strike at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold mines.
Ramaphosa says job cuts won’t be imposed on Eskom
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BL Premium reports that despite being overstaffed with as many as 27,500 employees, the government does not want retrenchments to be imposed on Eskom as part of the efforts to turn the bankrupt power utility around.
Afternoon roundup of labour news on Thursday, 14 February 2019
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In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Thursday, 14 February 2019.
NUM tells Ramaphosa to disband Eskom board to save the power utility
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SowetanLive reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Thursday that the government should retain the current structure of Eskom and simply change its management to rescue the company from total collapse.
Hiring of foreign engineers to investigate Eskom crisis slammed
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ANA reports that the Infrastructure Research Development Centre (IRDC) said on Thursday it opposed the government's decision to bring in external engineers to investigate the crisis at state utility Eskom's power stations.
Sibanye-Stillwater launches process that could see more than 6,600 job cuts at its gold mines
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BusinessLive reports that precious metals producer Sibanye-Stillwater has launched a formal process to restructure a number of its unprofitable gold mines, with the potential loss of up to 6,670 jobs.
San Souci teacher faces disciplinary hearing on Thursday over slapping of pupil
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Cape Times reports that the Sans Souci Girls High School teacher seen in a video smacking a pupil after an altercation was due to appear for a formal disciplinary hearing on Wednesday.
Pay workers at Gupta’s Gloria mine or else Mpumalanga will be rendered ungovernable, Cosatu warns
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Sowetan reports that Cosatu’s Mpumalanga provincial chairperson, Live Monini, told marchers on Wednesday that the union federation was ready to render the province ungovernable if employees of the Gupta-linked Gloria mine were not paid their salaries.
Gupta’s ailing Shiva Uranium resumes staff retrenchments
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The Star reports that another Gupta-owned company, Shiva Uranium, has resumed retrenching its workforce amid attempts to rescue the ailing mining firm.
Cosatu hopes signing of Competition Amendment Bill will open up the economy and lower prices
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BusinessLive reports that labour federation Cosatu on Wednesday welcomed the imminent signing into law of the Competition Amendment Bill, saying it would, among other things, promote investment and lead to a reduction in prices in the SA economy.
Fawu enters the fray to oppose takeover of Clover by Israeli-led consortium
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BusinessLive reports that the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) on Wednesday threw its weight behind a pro-Palestinian lobby group fighting an Israeli-led consortium's proposed bid to buy Clover.
Dis-Chem’s Christmas sales hit by ongoing wage strike
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BusinessLive reports that Dis-Chem’s Christmas sales were hurt by a strike, the pharmacy chain warned in a trading update on Thursday morning.
Cyril’s target of 270,000 new jobs annually ‘inadequate’, up to 400,000 needed
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The Citizen reports that according to a labour expert, close to 400,000 jobs must be created per year, with both the government and the private sector playing active roles in the process, or the country will face many more strikes.
Court orders security company to pay R2.3m to provident fund but ex-employees still don’t know how they will get their money
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GroundUp reports that the Western Cape High Court has granted an order compelling the owner of a Sea Point security company to pay outstanding provident fund contributions of at least R2.3m.
SA’s unemployment moderated in the 2018 fourth quarter, but that’s no cause for celebration
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Financial Mail reports that SA’s sky-high unemployment rate moderated to 27.1% between the two final quarters of 2018, thanks mainly to a surge in formal sector employment over the festive season.