Today's Labour News

newsThis 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.

Provincial traffic officer gunned down on R75 in PE on Wednesday

Details

gunNews24 reports that a 42-year-old provincial traffic official was shot and killed whilst she was on duty on the R75 near KwaDwesi in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro on Wednesday morning.

Morning roundup of labour news on Thursday, 22 September 2022

Details

news shutterstockIn our Thursday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.

Samwu demands action against Tshwane officials over fuel shortage that led to bus service suspension

Details

tshwane thumb100 EWN reports that the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) in Tshwane has demanded that the city officials responsible for overseeing fuel supplies must be held accountable for their failure to provide services.

SA Policing Union to ballot members on strike action as public sector pay talks deadlock

Details

sapuBL Premium reports that the SA Policing Union (Sapu) is to ballot its more than 100,000 police, traffic and correctional services members after the union was issued with a ‘strike certificate’ by the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) on Tuesday.

Special Tribunal freezes pension payout to former top Lotteries executive Philemon Letwaba

Details

NLCFin24 reports that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has obtained an order freezing almost R2.8 million in pension payments to Philemon Letwaba, the embattled former chief operating officer of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC).

Road Accident Fund issues notice to retrench 400 employees

Details

Road Accident FundTimesLive reports that the Road Accident Fund (RAF) has issued a notice of retrenchment that may see it laying off about 400 employees out of a staff complement of 3,000.

Consumer inflation eases from 13-year high in July to 7.6% in August

Details

Stats SABL Premium reports that annual consumer inflation cooled slightly in August to 7.6% from a 13-year high of 7.8% in July. Lower fuel prices in August more than cancelled out higher food and electricity costs.

Long-term wage agreements promote labour peace, says Solidarity’s Gideon du Plessis

Details

gideonduplessisGideon du Plessis, general secretary of Solidarity, puts forward an argument about the benefits of long-term wage agreements between employers and trade unions.

Cele and Lamola booed at Popcru’s protests outside SAPS headquarters

Details

popcruNews24 reports that Police Minister Bheki Cele was met with booing and jeering by members of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) after receiving a memorandum of demands which rejected the government’s proposal for a 3% salary increase.

Helen Suzman Foundation to continue with legal challenge to termination of ZEP

Details

HSFBL Premium reports that the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) will pursue its legal challenge of the termination of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) despite Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Minister Aaron Motsoaledi extending the permit to June 2023.

Treasury shifts two-pot retirement system implementation to March 2024, but will allow once-off withdrawal from existing retirement savings

Details

TreasuryBL Premium reports that national Treasury has made major concessions to retirement industry and to trade unions on its proposed two-pot retirement system by extending the implementation date by a year but granting workers access to some of their previously accumulated savings.

Top-ranking current and former police leaders arrested in ‘blue lights’ fraud case

Details

handcuffsBL Premium reports that six suspects, including top-ranking current and former police leaders, were arrested on Monday and Tuesday. The group, wanted in connection with the police’s “blue lights” tender fraud of 2016, is due in court on Wednesday.

Public sector unions affiliated to Saftu get certificate to strike over wages

Details

southafricalogoFin24 reports that public sector trade unions affiliated to the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), which include the police, have been issued a certificate allowing them to embark on a legal strike after a failure at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) to break a wage impasse.

Zingiswa Losi looks set to remain Cosatu president

Details

LosiSowetanLive reports that Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi is heading to the labour federation’s 14th national congress without her base – the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu).

Morning roundup of labour news on Wednesday, 21 September 2022

Details

news shutterstockIn our Wednesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.

Police, prisons and traffic officers threaten national strike over higher wages even though they are essential services workers

Details

popcruBL Premium reports that thousands of police, prisons and traffic officials marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday in support of their demands for higher wages and threatened to strike if their demands were not met.

Public Works calls for public comment on expanded public works programme (EPWP) policy

Details

delilleEngineering News reports that Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) Minister Patricia de Lille has called on all stakeholders and members of the public to make inputs on the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) Policy.

Miner’s death at Styldrift mine could have been avoided, says NUM

Details

RBPlatThe Star reports that in yet another mining fatality, Amogelang Sibilanga was killed after a machine she was operating allegedly failed to detect another machine in the same area, resulting in her being crushed to death.

Minerals Council says August mine safety regression a red flag

Details

MineralsCouncilSAMining Weekly reports that the Minerals Council SA (MCSA) says the industry’s safety performance in August, during which eight fatalities were recorded, is a red flag which it cannot ignore and which demands an immediate, proactive response.

Thungela Resources signs three-year wage deal with NUM

Details

handshake thumb medium90 90Mining Weekly reports that coal producer Thungela Resources has signed a three-year wage agreement with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which represents 86% of unionised employees.

Give us permanent jobs, chant hundreds of EPWP workers at Gauteng health department protest

Details

protestGroundUp reports that hundreds of workers affiliated to the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (Nupsaw) marched to the Gauteng Department of Health on Friday.

Former North West acting municipal manager in court in connection with R2.4 million ICT tender

Details

gavel thumb100 News24 reports that the former acting municipal manager of the Bojanala District Municipality appeared in the Rustenburg Magistrate's Court on Monday in connection with a R2.4 million tender.

Dundee High School teacher dismissed for sexual assault

Details

education blackboard thumb medium80 92Sunday Times reports that a teenage girl has described in shocking and lurid detail how she was sexually assaulted by her teacher in a storeroom at Dundee High School in KwaZulu-Natal.

Completed Pretoria-Pienaarspoort corridor will see commuter trains back on track in October

Details

prasaPretoria News reports that the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) has completed construction work on the Pretoria-Pienaarspoort corridor and is now testing and commissioning the lines before opening them for commercial trips.

NPA fails to prosecute manager who used k-word repeatedly

Details

NPASowetanLive reports that a senior manager of an agricultural machinery distributor who repeatedly used the k-word to refer to black people during a presentation at a dealership in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, has been let off the hook after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) declined to prosecute him.

Firing De Ruyter now is like booting the pilot while plane is crashing

Details

De RuyterThe Citizen writes that there are mixed feelings about whether the head of Eskom, André de Ruyter, should be booted out in the midst of the current load shedding.

Metrorail’s train service between Cape Town and Malmesbury withdrawn amid 'negotiations' with locomotive provider

Details

metrorail thumb medium90 92News24Wire reports that Metrorail has withdrawn its train service between Malmesbury and Cape Town, in what the Western Cape government has dubbed a "major setback".

Popcru reiterates its calls for justice cluster to address issues affecting policing

Details

popcruEWN reports that the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has again hit out at the Criminal Justice Cluster (CJC) over a number of issues affecting the policing sector.

ANC staffers down tools again over unpaid salaries, as party budgets R50m for conference

Details

ancNews24 reports that while the ANC will likely have a budget of around R50 million for its December elective conference, its staffers have resorted to protest action as they face another month without their salaries.

No Tshwane busses on Monday afternoon because of fuel shortage

Details

tshwane thumb100 Maroela Media reports that on Monday afternoon the Tshwane Metro suspended its bus service due to a looming fuel shortage for its busses.