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.
Government must declare police killings as treason, says SA Policing Union
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EWN reports that the South African Policing Union (Sapu) on Tuesday said society needed to take a stand against police killings in the same way it did against other murders.
Pretoria high court judge Nana Makhubele heads to court to prevent her suspension
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TimesLIVE reports that Pretoria high court judge Nana Makhubele has urgently gone to court to prevent her suspension on the basis that she was not yet a judge at the time she was alleged to have committed gross misconduct.
Rot runs deep in Gauteng health with no approved structure and no regular skills audits
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City Press reports that operating without an approved structure since 2006, lack of regular skills audits and irregular appointments have been identified by senior staff members at the Gauteng health department as major catalysts for the continued corruption and incompetence that have plagued the department in recent years.
Gauteng education department warns of scam in which con artists are offering false jobs
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News24 reports that the Gauteng Department of Education (DoE) has warned residents and schools that people purporting to be BMW human resources personnel have been offering donations to schools and job opportunities to parents of school pupils.
The ‘hidden’ cost for tax revenue of cutting the public sector wage bill
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usinessTech reports that the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has published its analysis of Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) and some of its tax implications.
Nehawu to strike on 26 November over Tito Mboweni and Treasury ‘peeing on collective bargaining’
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The Citizen reports that the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) has confirmed that it is planning to carry out a national day of action on 26 November to protest against the government’s decision to freeze public-sector wage increases.
Mkhize wants security at hospital tightened
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The Citizen reports that Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has lamented instances of murder, attempted rape and patients assaulting staff at healthcare facilities.
ConCourt clarifies rights of employers to amend employment conditions if required for company to continue functioning
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Mail & Guardian reports that a recent Constitutional Court (ConCourt) judgment empowers employers to change their workers’ employment conditions if the further functioning of a company requires this and, should workers refuse the changes, they may be dismissed without severance.
Umdoni municipal officials cashed in on ‘danger pay for Covid-19’
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Mail & Guardian reports that the ANC’s KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provincial executive committee has axed Umdoni mayor Thabani Dube and the municipality’s chief whip, Bonginkosi Mngadi, after it discovered that officials claimed “danger pay” for working during SA’s hard Covid-19 lockdown.
Unisa academics allegedly 'hacked, stabbed' in bloody clash with union leaders
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City Press reports that academics and union leaders at the University of SA (Unisa) are embroiled in rivalry believed to have led to an incident in which senior lecturer Dr Rendani Netanda and two others were allegedly assaulted, hacked and stabbed.
Government begins talks on regulation of minibus taxi industry
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Bloomberg reports that government has begun talks to regulate the minibus taxi industry, a key economic sector that transports 40% of the population, but whose reputation has been tarnished by lawlessness and a poor safety record.
Prasa hopes to gain trust of Mabopane train commuters as limited services resume on Tuesday
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Pretoria News reports that the Passenger Railway Agency of SA (Prasa) is hoping to regain the trust of commuters in Mabopane when limited train services resume on Tuesday.
Ramaphosa set to face wrath of unions and business over move to terminate Ters payments
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Independent News reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa is set face the wrath of organised labour following the abrupt cancellation of the UIF’s Covid-19 Temporary Employer/ Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) by his National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC).
Struggle to get UIF benefits, with a backlog at the call centre of 444,000 e-mails
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The Citizen reports that parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), joined by the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour, conducted an oversight visit on Friday to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
B4SA calls for Ters benefit to be retained under Level 1 lockdown
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Engineering News reports that Business for SA (B4SA) has requested a decision reversal following the decision of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) to halt the Covid Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) benefit.
Nzimande’s ‘shame’ over 40,000 missing higher education certificates
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Mail & Guardian reports that more than 40,000 higher education graduates have yet to receive their certificates — some years after they qualified.
Regenerative farmer empowers workers by selling 85% of egg business to former employees
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BL Premium reports that in a drive to upskill and empower farmworkers, regenerative livestock farmer Angus McIntosh of Farmer Angus has sold 85% of his egg business to some of his former employees.
Two Eastern Cape police offices temporarily closed after staff test positive for Covid-19
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HeraldLIVE reports that the Bethelsdorp police community service centre and the Kabega Park detective services offices in Port Elizabeth have been temporarily closed due to police officials at the centres testing positive for Covid-19.
Stellenbosch police constable faces murder charge related to murder of shop owner who refused to pay ‘protection money’
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TimesLIVE reports that a police constable who allegedly demanded "protection money" from a shop owner has appeared in court on charges of murder and extortion.
CEO of SAA Technical (SAAT) resigns
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TimesLIVE reports that South African Airways (SAA) confirmed on Monday that its technical CEO Adam Voss had resigned. Voss joined SAA Technical (SAAT) in July 2019.
'Fake' pulmonologist, who had rooms in Nigel and Springs and consulted at a Gauteng hospital, arrested
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News24 reports that a woman who allegedly passed herself off as a pulmonologist but had no qualifications and was not registered with the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) has been arrested.
CCMA ruling suggests dagga can be smoked before work provided it doesn’t impair performance
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GroundUp reports that at a recent hearing of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), commissioner Nomsa Mbileni ordered the reinstatement of a factory worker who had been fired for reporting for duty under the influence of dagga.
GEPF moves under new principal executive officer to revise investment strategy
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BL Premium reports that the new principal executive officer of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), Musa Mabesa, has concluded deliberations with the National Treasury and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni that can open the door to revisions in how the fund invests the nearly R2-trillion entrusted to it by the nation’s public servants.
Six North West factory workers protesting over salary increases shot during clash with security guards
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News24 reports that six factory workers were shot and wounded on Monday morning after forcibly grabbing a firearm from private security guards during a protest over salary increases.
Competition Tribunal approves Comair rescue deal subject to freeze on job cuts for three years
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Reuters reports that the Competition Tribunal on Friday approved a rescue deal for Comair on condition that the carrier freezes job cuts for three years and investors allocate shares to a special purpose black empowerment vehicle.
Doubts about how far new SAA will be able to fly on its R10.5bn
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Business Times writes that the government's commitment to pay the R10.5bn that SA Airways (SAA) desperately needs to conclude its business rescue may draw a line under its legacy issues, but a question mark still hangs over future funding and the viability of the new airline expected to emerge from the process.
Coronavirus command council’s decision that Ters benefit won’t be extended beyond mid-September has business and labour up in arms
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BL Premium reports that the decision by the state’s national coronavirus command council not to extend the Covid Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) beyond mid-September has drawn a sharp rebuke from a business lobby group and from unions.
Nehawu's credibility questioned after portfolio committee allegedly used as a “bargaining chip” in negotiations with Nfas, Nzimande
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City Press reports that the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) has come under criticism in Parliament for allegedly using the portfolio committee on higher education, science and technology as a “bargaining chip”.
Still no firm date for cabinet lifestyle audits, despite Ramaphosa’s 2018 pledge
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BL Premium reports that a framework for guidelines on lifestyle audits for cabinet ministers and their deputies will be finalised by March 2021, about three years after President Cyril Ramaphosa said such examinations would be introduced.
Afternoon roundup of labour news on Thursday, 29 October 2020
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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, 29 October 2020.