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.
Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi won’t commit on Ters extension
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Independent News reports that Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) Minister Thulas Nxesi has reiterated that the public purse is under pressure from the growing number of unemployed people.
Tsakani Maluleke on track to become SA’s first female Auditor-General
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BL Premium reports that Deputy Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke is tipped to become the first female head of the chapter 9 institution after being unanimously recommended for the job by a parliamentary ad hoc committee.
NUM prepares for protected wage strike at Assmang Operations, in the Northern Cape
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Mining Weekly reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has declared a wage dispute with Assmang Operations, in the Northern Cape, after it was unable to reach a wage increase agreement with the iron-ore and manganese miner.
SIU guns for correctional services CFO over PPE tenders worth more than R50m
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TimesLIVE reports that Nick Ligege, CFO of the Department of Correctional Services, is being investigated by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for allegedly awarding personal protective equipment (PPE) tenders worth more than R50m to 23 companies linked “to (his) friends and family members”.
SABC newsroom broken, depleted and demoralised, editorial staff forum tells MPs
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TimesLive reports that according to the SA Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC’s) editorial staff forum, bosses at the public broadcaster are presiding over a “broken, depleted and demoralised newsroom”.
Covid-hit workers face accelerated destruction of old economy jobs, but less than 30% of South Africans have digital skills
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BL Premium reports that a new study shows that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the changing nature of work, with growing automation set to disrupt 85-million jobs globally in the coming five years, deepening existing labour market inequalities and hastening the pace of job destruction.
Hawks expected to make arrest on Thursday in connection to Covid-19 corruption
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The Citizen reports that according to the head of the Hawks, Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) is set to make an arrest on Thursday in relation to Covid-19 corruption.
Transnet board members behind R17m payout to Siyabonga Gama upon his reinstatement may face civil claims
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TimesLIVE reports that state capture commission chairman Raymond Zondo said on Monday that he might consider recommending to President Cyril Ramaphosa that the government institute civil claims against all Transnet board members who supported a R17m settlement to Siyabonga Gama.
uMfolozi mayor accused by IFP Youth Brigade of siphoning off R100,000 for studies at University of Zululand
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ANA reports that the IFP Youth Brigade (IFPYB) has accused the mayor of uMfolozi municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, Smangaliso Mgenge, of channelling R100,000 into his private account to pay for his studies at the University of Zululand.
Afternoon roundup of labour news on Tuesday, 20 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
Tuesday, 20 October 2020.
Thirty-nine SAPS members have had gender-based violence cases opened against them
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Independent News reports that a total of 39 SA Police Service (SAPS) members have had cases relating to gender-based violence (GBV) opened against them – with five of the stations implicated among the 30 GBV hot spots in the country.
Road Accident Fund employee in court after allegedly requesting R4,000 to process claims
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News24 reports that a Road Accident Fund (RAF) employee appeared in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday on corruption charges after she allegedly requested R4,000 to process claims.
Further clashes with Bemawu loom at SABC over the 600 jobs on the line
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Fin24 reports that in an ongoing tussle over looming job cuts at the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the Broadcast, Electronic Media and Allied Workers’ Union (Bemawu) has accused the public broadcaster of not conducting consultations with staff in compliance with the Labour Relations Act (LRA).
SIU investigating R10.5-billion worth of corruption in relation to Covid-19 contracts
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Reuters reports that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) told MPs on Tuesday that its investigators were looking into R10.5-billion of the government's coronavirus spending for corruption, more than double the amount they had been investigating two months ago.
Standard Bank warns that as layoffs rise, its clients remain under pressure
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BusinessLive reports that Standard Bank, SA’s biggest lender by assets, says its loan book remained under strain in its third-quarter to end-September as retrenchment claims picked up.
SAHRC confirms probe into 'coloured' teacher who self-identified as 'African' in job application
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TimesLIVE reports that the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Monday confirmed that it would be ruling on a complaint it received relating to a race row involving Western Cape teacher Glen Snyman.
Tourism in SA still battling to recover notwithstanding easing of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions
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Business Report writes that activity in SA’s tourism industry continued to decelerate in August, albeit at a slower pace, as it struggled to make gains from the easing of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions to alert level 2.
Covid-19-positive health minister Zweli Mkhize is ‘fine’ and working at home
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BL Premium reports that Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, who announced on Sunday that he and his wife had tested positive for Covid-19, was “fine” and would continue to work from home, his spokesperson, Lwazi Manzi, said on Monday afternoon.
Bogus City of Johannesburg official arrested for theft of 60 hard drives from various workstations around Braamfontein offices
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News24 reports that a 36-year-old woman masquerading as a City of Johannesburg official was arrested on Saturday for allegedly stealing 60 hard drives from various workstations at the City's offices in Braamfontein.
Senior staff vacuum hits Gauteng health in the midst of deadly pandemic
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The Star reports that in the midst of the healthcare crisis brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Gauteng Health Department doesn’t have enough permanent staff in key positions.
PAC wants government to halt Cell C job cuts
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The Citizen reports that according to Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) secretary for labour, Luvo Vanyaza, the pending retrenchments of 1,600 employees by Cell C couldn’t have come at a worse time and action must be taken by government, which must also investigate all lockdown-related retrenchments.
CCMA facilitation fails, but SABC gives unions final chance to make submissions on retrenchments
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Sowetan reports that the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has given trade unions a final opportunity to make submissions on the looming retrenchment of 600 workers after consultations collapsed on Friday.
Firefighters robbed at gunpoint in Cape Town after hoax call on Saturday morning
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News24 reports that robbers lured two City of Cape Town firefighters into a trap with a hoax fire call on Saturday morning.
Durban cop critically shot, robbed of service pistol and wallet while waiting for transport
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News24 reports that a police officer was seriously injured when robbers shot him in his chest and abdomen, before making off with his service pistol and wallet in Umlazi, Durban.
Ramaphosa says economic recovery plan will protect jobs in vulnerable sectors
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Engineering News reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured South Africans that the economic recovery plan he presented last week will protect jobs in vulnerable sectors that have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gauteng traffic cop shot while trying to pull over driver who skipped red light in Alberton
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TimesLIVE reports that a Gauteng traffic officer was shot when he tried to pull over the driver of a vehicle who ran a red light in Alberton on Friday.
Roundup on Monday, 19 October 2020 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, 16 October 2020.
Telkom’s IT subsidiary BCX contemplating 284 job cuts
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Business Report writes that Telkom IT subsidiary BCX is contemplating the dismissal of employees as part of its new organisational structure.
Ramaphosa’s short-term jobs plan 'ignores private sector'
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Business Times writes that economists and business leaders have cautioned that President Cyril Ramaphosa's economic recovery and reconstruction plan is overly focused on short-term public employment creation, with not enough to stimulate job creation by the private sector.
As state of disaster continues, discussions underway at Nedlac to extend Ters relief scheme
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BL Premium reports that discussions are underway about extending the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s (UIF’s) Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters).