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.
Morning roundup of labour news on Friday, 18 August 2023
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In our Friday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
Traffic chaos expected in Pretoria on Friday as Cosatu members march in solidarity with municipal workers’ wage strike
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Pretoria News reports that traffic in the Pretoria CBD is expected to come to a standstill on Friday as Cosatu members march to Tshwane House in solidarity with the ongoing wage strike by municipal workers.
Taxi industry takes City of Cape Town to court over impounded vehicles, ruling expected on Friday
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BL Premium reports that the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) has taken the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape provincial government to court to stop what it called the continued impounding of its members’ vehicles on grounds not permitted in their mutual agreement.
Provinces to overspend budgets by R24.8bn on wage deal, which must be accommodated from existing allocations
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BL Premium reports that provinces are projected to overspend their 2023/24 budgets by a total of R24.8bn mainly due to the implementation of the wage agreement reached between government and public sector trade unions.
New Amazon skills centre in Cape Town to offer free cloud skills training
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Moneyweb reports that American multinational company Amazon Web Services (AWS) has opened its first international skills centre in Cape Town aimed at offering free cloud skills training to young people in the region.
Morning roundup of labour news on Thursday, 17 August 2023
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In our Thursday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
Salaries of City of Joburg employees docked for unpaid municipal bills
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News24 reports that the City of Johannesburg has recovered R13.2 million from employees, including councillors, who were behind with their municipal bill payments.
Gauteng’s toxic Imbumba House poses severe threats to health and safety of staff
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The Citizen reports that crumbling concrete, visible mould, rising damp and consistent water leakage reflect the state of Gauteng province’s Imbumba House in Johannesburg.
City of Tshwane fires ‘ring leaders’ behind unprotected and unlawful strike, bringing total to 100 employees
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The Citizen reports that the City of Tshwane has dismissed seven shop stewards it claims were the ‘ring leaders’ behind the recent unlawful and unprotected strike in the city.
Gauteng to hire 800 liquor inspectors to tackle booze abuse
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The Citizen reports that the liquor industry and the Gauteng Provincial Government have signed a pledge to put safety before profit, with Premier Panyaza Lesufi announcing plans to hire 800 liquor inspectors.
Food inflation is likely to stick above 10% for this year
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BL Premium reports that food price inflation in SA is likely to remain in double digits this year even as global food inflation continues to ease.
No sign of the jobs Ramaphosa promised three years ago, Fedusa laments
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TimesLIVE reports that the latest employment and unemployment data released by Stats SA on Tuesday, which showed a slight decrease in unemployment, are said to mean “very little” to millions of South Africans who are languishing across the country after years of exclusion from the labour market.
Former fisheries deputy director-general in court for allegedly failing to report fraud
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News24 reports that a former fisheries deputy director-general (DDG), who is accused of not reporting alleged fraud that she knew about to the police, has been granted bail of R100,000.
Class-action lawsuit targets coal producers over occupational diseases
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BusinessLive reports that human rights lawyers representing coal mineworkers filed a class-action lawsuit against global mining companies South32, BHP Billiton and Seriti Power on Tuesday.
Morning roundup of labour news on Wednesday, 16 August 2023
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In our Wednesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
Samwu demands that Tshwane take responsibility for attack on Sunday on employee
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The Citizen reports that the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) and the City of Tshwane are at loggerheads over who should take responsibility for the attack on a municipal employee on Sunday.
Santaco vows to approach court over latest wave of Cape Town taxi impoundments
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News24 reports that the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) is not happy about the latest impoundment of minibus taxis and has vowed to approach the courts to interdict the City of Cape Town.
SA unemployment rate dipped to 32.6% in second quarter, but remained extremely high
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BL Premium reports that SA’s unemployment rate fell by more than expected in the second quarter, helped mostly by a sizeable increase in formal sector employment.
Labour Relations Registrar refused leave to appeal order directing him to register Simunye Workers Forum
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GroundUp reports that the Johannesburg Labour Court has refused the Registrar of Labour Relations leave to appeal against an order directing him to register the Simunye Workers Forum (SWF) as a trade union.
Fuel prices likely to be significantly higher in September
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BusinessLive reports that going on the latest unaudited mid-month fuel data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF), motorists could be facing a lot more pain at the pumps in September.
Immigration officer remains suspended after caught in TV exposé ‘selling IDs for R50k’
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TimesLIVE reports that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has poured cold water on claims that a suspended immigration officer was back at work.
Sadtu blame education department’s inaction for the murder of senior official
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SowetanLive reports that according to the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), the assassination of labour relations officer Siza Mbhalati was well-orchestrated and he was executed to "protect corrupt officials in the department of education".
Yet another farmworker killed in truck accident, this time in Citrusdal
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Cape Times reports that the transportation of farmworkers has yet again come under the spotlight after a 24-year-old was crushed to death under a trailer in Citrusdal.
Experts welcome recall of retired engineers to eThekwini
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The Mercury reports that the decision by the eThekwini Municipality to call retired engineers to rejoin the City’s employ has been welcomed by experts who said it would professionalise decision-making, boost the maintenance of infrastructure and ensure that projects being undertaken were completed on time and were operational.
Santaco fumes over latest taxi impoundments in Cape Town, but allays fears of further protests
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News24 reports that taxi bosses under the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) were locked in talks throughout Monday to discuss the latest impoundments of minibus taxis in Cape Town over the weekend.
Samwu engages with members about way forward with Tshwane strike
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BusinessLive reports that the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu), which is behind an illegal wage strike in Tshwane, engaged with its members on Monday about the way forward, after the metro filed an application to be exempted from implementing a pay deal reached by parties in the bargaining council in 2021.
Morning roundup of labour news on Tuesday, 15 August 2023
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In our Tuesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
Eastern Cape Hawks get forfeiture order against two cops who allegedly sold double murder case docket for R20,000
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TimesLIVE reports that the Gqeberha High Court has granted the Hawks Eastern Cape's priority crime specialised investigation (PCSI) unit a forfeiture order worth R158,000 in a bribery matter involving two police officers.
Embattled packaging group Nampak appoints Phil Roux as permanent CEO
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BL Premium reports that embattled packaging group Nampak has appointed Phil Roux, who was acting CEO since April after previous incumbent Erik Smuts resigned from the company, as its permanent CEO.
Northern Cape maths teacher fired for ‘inserting his tongue’ inside pregnant pupil’s mouth
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TimesLIVE Premium reports that a Northern Cape maths and science teacher has been fired for allegedly kissing a pregnant pupil. Mziwamadoda Ngubo lost his fight to keep his job this month.