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.
Ending Ters would devastate hospitality sector, says Tourism Business Council
- Details
BL Premium reports that according to the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA), a decision by the government to end its flagship Covid-19 wage protection scheme would be devastating for the hospitality sector, where about three quarters of employees are either dependent on the scheme or have already been retrenched.
Nehawu to strike from 11 November over permanent jobs for community health workers
- Details
BL Premium reports that the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) says it will embark on an indefinite strike on Wednesday next week (11 November) to force the government to employ an estimated 20,000 community health workers as part of an agreement reached in the public health and social development sectoral bargaining council in 2019.
Investigation into workers having to withdraw Ters money and pay it over to farmer
- Details
Cape Argus reports that police are investigating a fraud case after a Western Cape Graafwater farm owner allegedly defrauded five workers of their Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) money.
Staff at Addington Hospital in Durban down tools over faulty lifts
- Details
Independent News reports that frustrated staff at Durban’s Addington Hospital have downed tools over an issue with the hospital's faulty lifts.
Cosatu demands that Ters benefit be extended in line with state of disaster
- Details
ANA reports that Cosatu on Wednesday pointed out that it would cost about R8 billion to extend the Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) for another two months and the sdtate’s refusal to do so smacked of contempt for workers.
State must get harsh on train vandals, MPs told by ACDP
- Details
The Citizen reports that MPs heard on Tuesday that the government should immediately implement the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (CIPA) as its “soft approach” to train vandals and arsonists has led to the further marginalisation of the poor.
Taxi subsidy will come from a reprioritised transport department budget, says minister Mbalula
- Details
BL Premium reports that the national transport department, which is battling the vandalism and looting of SA’s rail infrastructure, says it will reprioritise its already reduced budget allocation to implement an ambitious subsidy scheme for the R5bn taxi industry by April 2021.
Job loss fears as Soweto’s Mandela House Museum to be liquidated
- Details
The Star reports that workers at the Mandela House Museum in Soweto are worried about job losses as management has announced that the tourist site will be liquidated to pay off debt.
Bridgestone to close and 252 jobs to be lost after efforts to save its PE plant fail
- Details
HeraldLIVE reports that it is the end of the road for Bridgestone SA’s Port Elizabeth plant and the employment of its 252 workers, with operations winding up and the closure of the plant earmarked for 15 November.
State dragging its feet over announcement of decision about extension or not of Ters benefit
- Details
BL Premium reports that the government is dragging its feet on the announcement of a decision on the Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters), despite the uncertainty it has raised in business and labour sectors.
Numsa fumes fume over R836,000 bonus paid to departing boss of SAA Technical
- Details
TimesLIVE reports that a trade union at SAA Technical (SAAT) is up in arms over a near R1m bonus paid to a departing divisional chief executive officer.
Afternoon roundup of labour news on Tuesday, 3 November 2020
- Details
In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Tuesday, 3 November 2020.
Government must declare police killings as treason, says SA Policing Union
- Details
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
- Details
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
- Details
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
- Details
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
- Details
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’
- Details
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
- Details
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
- Details
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’
- Details
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
- Details
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
- Details
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
- Details
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
- Details
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
- Details
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
- Details
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
- Details
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
- Details
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
- Details
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.