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.
‘Maverick’ Makwana’s exit as Eskom chair had been coming
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BL Premium reports that according to insiders in government and at Eskom, Mpho Makwana's departure as the power utility’s board chair has been long coming.
Morning roundup of labour news on Thursday, 12 October 2023
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In our Thursday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
Census 2022 indicates that foreign nationals make up only 3% of SA's population
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News24 reports that newly released census data may undercut the perception that foreign nationals place strain on government services.
Security company calls for army deployment amid increase in cash-in-transit heists across country
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IOL News reports that a private security company, Fidelity Service Group, has called for the army to be deployed to help protect cash vans in the wake of an increase in cash heists across the country.
Tshwane municipal workers under threat from customers stealing electricity
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Pretoria News reports that the lives of City of Tshwane workers from the energy and electricity department have come under threat from residents who chase them away to prevent them from disconnecting their illegal power connections.
Sapo's shocking state of finances leaves it on the brink of collapse
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Cape Times reports that the SA Post Office (Sapo) has painted a bleak picture of its finances during the 2022-23 financial year.
Scores of ANC employees protest over no salary increases
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The Star reports that on Monday protesters, dressed in ANC regalia, paraded placards stating “Pay the agreed salary increase now” and sang and danced on Pixley Ka Seme Street outside the ANC offices in Joburg demanding the 8% increases that were allegedly promised by the governing party.
Parliament defends Xolile George's 70% salary hike, saying process was thorough and objective
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EWN reports that parliament has defended an almost 70% salary hike for its secretary, Xolile George, a year into the job. It asserts that it was a thorough and objective process.
R179 million relocation plan under way to revive Cape Town's blocked Central Line
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News24 reports that according to the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), the people living on Cape Town's troubled central railway line are expected to be relocated by the end of this year at a cost of R179 million.
Workers earning national minimum wage facing uphill battle amid cost of living crisis
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The Mercury reports that the cost-of-living crisis is hitting hard, leaving workers who earn the national minimum wage (NMW) of R25.42 an hour unable to afford the three core household expenses of transport, electricity and food.
Morning roundup of labour news on Wednesday, 11 October 2023
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In our Wednesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
Tshwane strike: Cosatu joins calls for mayor Cilliers Brink to resign
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Pretoria News reports that labour federation Cosatu is the latest organisation to launch an attack on City of Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink, calling for his resignation.
'What are the mice running from?' Mantashe asks about Transnet, Eskom resignations
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Fin24 reports that Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) Minister Gwede Mantashe has repeated an analogy he used to describe the exodus of Transnet executives, by saying Mpho Makwana's resignation as Eskom chair reminded him of mice fleeing methane underground.
SANDF commits to investigating fire that killed six soldiers on Friday at Northern Cape army base
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News24 reports that amid mounting calls for answers about a fire that killed six soldiers at the SA Army's Combat Training Centre in Lohatla in the Northern Cape on Friday, the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) said it would launch an investigation into the matter.
SA’s population reached over 62-million in 2022, against 51.7-million in 2011
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BusinessLive reports that SA was home to 62,027,503 persons as of 2022, which was over 10-million more than the 51.7-million counted in 2011. Of those, more than half – 31,948-million or 51.5% – were female and 30,078-million were male.
Two Gqeberha employees of Absa bank found guilty of R1 million fraud
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IOL News reports that two Absa bank employees have been convicted of fraud and money laundering in the Gqeberha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. Florika Shenay Owusu and Abongile Tyusha will be sentenced in March next year.
No CEOs at Eskom and Transnet as power and logistics crises persist
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The Citizen reports that both Eskom and Transnet are now without permanent CEOs while the country is in crises regarding power and logistics. This means that there is no executive management to hold to account.
Two Durban metro police officers injured after minibus taxi crashed into their bakkie
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Daily News reports that two Durban Metro Police Service officers were taken to hospital after a minibus taxi crashed into their bakkie while they were at an accident scene on Saturday.
Former Bellville finance clerk who defrauded Clicks Group out of R4 million sentenced to eight years behind bars
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IOL News reports that finance clerk Themba Maneli, 28, was sentenced in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court to eight years of imprisonment after he created fake purchase orders that resulted in the company paying more than R4 million to his company.
Terror in Tshwane: Shots, stones, petrol bombs in capital city close to collapse
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BizNews writes that the City of Tshwane has been gripped by violence amid ongoing strike action by some municipal workers over a 0% salary increase.
Eskom chair resigns amid conflict with Gordhan, former MTN boss Mteto Nyati to take over
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Fin24 reports that Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan announced on Monday that Eskom chairperson Mpho Makwana had resigned. In a short statement, Gordhan said that Makwana would step down at the Eskom AGM scheduled for the end of October.
SIU freezes pension of ex Mpumalanga health official accused of irregular awarding of contracts worth over R19 million
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IOL News reports that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been granted a preservation order to freeze the pension benefits of a former Mpumalanga health official accused of irregularly awarding seven contracts amounting to over R19 million.
Morning roundup of labour news on Tuesday, 10 October 2023
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In our Tuesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
After interviewing 350 candidates, Gold Fields picks Mike Fraser as new CEO
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Fin24 reports that Gold Fields announced on Monday that South African Mike Fraser would succeed interim CEO Martin Preece at the start of January, and that Fraser would be based in Johannesburg.
SARB’s Kganyago stirs controversy with remarks that rising interest rates don’t impact the unemployed
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Business Report writes that SA Reserve Bank (SARB) Governor Lesetja Kganyago has left public opinion divided over his remarks about the impact of rising interest rates on unemployed people.
High Court stops Blade Nzimande from placing Unisa under administration
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Mail & Guardian reports that the North Gauteng High Court has ordered Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande to withdraw his notice of intention to place the University of South Africa (Unisa) under administration.
Cosatu march turns rowdy preventing Tshwane city manager from accepting memo of demands
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News24 reports that trade union federation Cosatu's march to demand that City of Tshwane employees be paid wage increases turned sour on Friday afternoon because the City Manager could not accept a memorandum due to an unruly crowd.
Budget cuts hit defence force, with promotions of colonels and navy captains suspended indefinitely
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City Press reports that the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) announced in a letter last week that the promotions of colonels and navy captains was being put on hold indefinitely as budget cuts hit the defence force.
Midnight scramble to sign off on ‘irregular’ R5bn UIF deal
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Sunday Times reports that senior officials of the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) and its Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) scrambled on a Sunday night and into the early hours of Monday morning last December to nail down an “irregular” deal that would have seen R5bn in UIF funds being channelled towards an untested job-creation initiative.
Seifsa president Elias Monage confident crippling wage strike can be avoided
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BL Premium reports that the newly re-elected president of the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) is confident the metals and engineering sector can avert another crippling strike like the one of October 2021 that lasted nearly three weeks.