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.
Ramaphosa appoints Nxesi as acting Public Service and Administration Minister as Dlodlo heads to World Bank
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News24 reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi to temporarily fill the vacancy left by Public Service and Administration Minister Ayanda Dlodlo, who has been appointed as an executive director on the board of the World Bank in Washington, United States.
Report to NUM congress supports just energy transition, but with caveats
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Mining Weekly reports that at its 17th national congress last week, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) presented its ‘Just Transition and the Energy Sector’ report for discussion and adoption.
Cosatu calls 3% proposed hike for political office bearers ‘tone deaf’ and wants some solidarity with working class instead
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The Citizen reports that labour federation Cosatu has described the salary and benefits increases for political office bearers proposed by the Independent Commission on the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers as “tone deaf and embarrassing”.
Employers in bus passenger wage talks say Numsa demands are "unaffordable"
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Fin24 reports that the SA Bus Employers Association (Sebea) and the Commuter Bus Employers Organisation (Cobeo) have called wage demands by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) unaffordable.
Economy needs IT, logistics and finance skills, but the young and unskilled are out of luck in jobs market
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Business Times reports that job prospects are looking up for those in IT, logistics and finance, but that's cold comfort for the millions of South Africans who remain unemployed.
Leadership in parts of SA’s organised labour movement imploding
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Daily Maverick writes that parts of SA’s organised labour movement has been rocked by leadership ructions and petty factional battles at a crucial time when the country’s workforce is facing growing threats of unemployment, and pay rise negotiations are set to start soon in several sectors of the economy.
Sita says that to do business with government, Huawei must have South African sales staff
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Mail & Guardian reports that Huawei Technologies SA has six months to ensure it has South Africans selling the Chinese technology giant’s services to the government.
NUM says reopening mothballed mines will create jobs and wants audit to be conducted
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BL Premium reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) wants mothballed mines to be reopened to boost employment.
Canegrowers Association welcomes minister's decision to delay sugar tax increase
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EWN reports that the SA Canegrowers Association has welcomed Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s announcement of a 12-month delay in the increase of the so-called sugar tax.
PIC lambastes Absa for appointing a white male as CEO and calls an urgent meeting with the bank
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BL Premium reports that the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has lambasted Absa for appointing a white male as the bank’s new CEO.
Two City Power security officers killed in Newtown on Thursday in cable theft ambush
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Saturday Star reports that two armed security officers contracted to City Power were shot and killed last week while patrolling some of the cable theft hotspots around Newtown in Johannesburg.
Fannie Masemola to carry ‘the weight of the nation’s expectation’ as SA’s new police boss
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Daily Maverick reports that Lieutenant-General Sehlahle Fannie Masemola is SA’s new national police commissioner and, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa, now has “the weight of the nation’s expectation” on his shoulders.
NUM congratulates its new leadership elected at last week’s national congress
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IOL reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has congratulated its newly elected leadership.
Roundup on Monday, 4 April 2022 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, 4 April 2022.
Former Eskom financial controller gets 20-year prison term for faking invoices worth R35m
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Fin24 reports that a former Eskom financial controller, Mosia Barnard Moraka, has been sentenced to an effective 20 years in prison. Moraka and Eskom service provider Victor Vilosi Tshabalala were each found guilty of 53 counts of fraud and theft that cost Eskom R35 million, Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha reported.
Corruption Watch annual report shows policing sector topping list with the most cases reported in 2021
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News24 reports that the policing sector accounted for the highest percentage of reported cases of alleged corruption in 2021. This is according to Corruption Watch, which released its annual report on corruption in the country on Thursday.
Treasury certificate of compliance needed for future public-sector pay deals
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BL Premium reports that in a move that could give the National Treasury more say on future pay agreements for public servants, the government will have to produce a certificate of compliance with the department’s regulations before entering into deals with unions.
Morning roundup of labour news on Friday, 1 April 2022
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In our Friday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
Godongwana blames 'wrong' policies which chose Eskom over frontline departments for wage bill stalemate
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Fin24 reports that according to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, National Treasury is committed to the process of collective bargaining, but it finds itself between a rock and a hard place and has to stick to its strategy of arresting runaway debt, even in the face of rising vacancies in areas like healthcare and education.
Gold output grinds to halt at Sibanye-Stillwater as wage strike by NUM and Amcu enters third week
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BL Premium reports that the long pay strike by the two largest unions at Sibanye-Stillwater, one of the world’s leading producers of precious metals, may mean the group misses out on a commodity price boom as gold production has ground to a halt.
Couple and accomplice nabbed for ghost employees’ salary payout of almost R2.3m
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IOL reports that the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday released a couple and an accomplice on bail of R5,000 each after they were accused of defrauding a labour broking company of almost R2.3 million.
Absa chooses insider Arrie Rautenbach as its fourth CEO in three years
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BL Premium reports that Absa has its fourth boss in three years, promoting Arrie Rautenbach, head of its retail and business bank, to the CEO role and ending a leadership vacuum that lasted 11 months after the abrupt departure of Daniel Mminele.
Prasa faces complete collapse and requires more state funding, warns Transport Minister
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BL Premium reports that the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) is facing collapse, with its expenses far outstripping its revenue.
Unemployment rate rose to 35.3% in 2021’s fourth quarter, with 7.9m unemployed
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BL Premium reports that the rate of unemployment in SA, which is among the highest in the world, continued to accelerate in the fourth quarter of 2021, increasing by 0.4 of a percentage point from 34.9% in the third quarter to 35.3%.
Morning roundup of labour news on Wednesday, 30 March 2022
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In our Wednesday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
Sibanye-Stillwater announces three senior management appointments
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Mining Weekly reports that precious and battery metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater has made several senior management appointments, which it says will enhance delivery and strategic focus.
Popcru withdraws its participation at Public Service Summit
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EWN reports that the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has withdrawn its participation at the Public Service Summit in Johannesburg.
Tshwane interdicts dead, suspended workers from engaging in unprotected Samwu strike
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Pretoria News reports that the late Tshwane municipal worker Walter Mnguni, who died three months ago, was among the workers who were last week interdicted by the metro from engaging in an unprotected strike.
Moderna Covid-19 booster shot to be offered to 10,000 SA health workers
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Bloomberg News reports that Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine will be offered as a booster to some South African health workers, who received either one or two shots of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J’s) inoculation as part of a vaccine trial involving almost half a million people.
Four-day Public Service Summit began on Monday amid growing distrust
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Fin24 reports that the four-day Public Service Summit commenced on Monday, with public servants setting the tone by chanting "Asinamali" [We have no money].