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.
Hawks arrest 36 illegal miners, seize AK47s during turf battle in North West town of Stilfontein
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TimesLIVE reports that the Hawks (Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) averted a deadly fight between illegal miners in the North West town of Stilfontein on Sunday.
PetroSA expects to shed about 500 jobs due to “precarious” financial position
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TimesLIVE reports that PetroSA has announced that it will likely shed about 500 jobs due to its “precarious” financial position.
Bleak outlook for jobs despite marginal third-quarter uptick in formal sector jobs
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BL Premium reports that Stats SA’s latest quarterly employment statistics (QES) for July-September showed that formal-sector, non-farm jobs increased by 75,000 (0.8%) in the third quarter in comparison with the second quarter, when SA had been in a hard lockdown and those jobs declined 6.4%.
SAA’s business rescue practitioners send notice to pilots’ association of lockout from Friday
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BusinessLive reports that SA Airways’ (SAA’s) joint business rescue practitioners (BRPs) have sent a lockout notice to the airline’s pilots warning they will be excluded from the workplace from Friday until they agree to the terms of a proposed agreement aimed at bringing the state-owned carrier back to profitability.
Cash-strapped Prasa commits to implementing 5% wage increase on 22 December, backdated to 1 April
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BL Premium reports that the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) has bowed to pressure from workers by committing to increase their salaries after a union mounted legal action to force the rail operator to implement a multiyear wage agreement agreed to in October.
Big victory for state as unions lose Labour Appeal Court bid to force implementation of public sector wage increases
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BusinessLive reports that the government does not have to pay out increases to public sector workers, after the Labour Appeal Court (LAC) handed it a huge win by declaring the implementation of a disputed collective agreement unlawful.
Platinum producer Tharisa and three unions reach four-year wage agreement
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Mining Weekly reports that platinum group metals and chrome concentrate producer Tharisa has concluded a four-year wage agreement with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Solidarity.
Long queues on Monday at some Durban hospitals where many staff are booked off with Covid-19
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TimesLIVE reports that scores of patients, many of whom didn't observe social distancing, waited outside Durban’s Addington Hospital on Monday.
Afternoon roundup of labour news on Monday, 14 December 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
Monday, 14 December 2020.
Over 600 jobs to be saved by Sanlam Investments' Covid-19 debt fund
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News24 reports that three Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are set to benefit from R110 million in debt relief capital, provided through Sanlam Investments' SME Debt Fund.
Eskom executive 'quietly enjoyed' free electricity at his Fourways home for 14 years
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Sunday Times reports that a top executive at Eskom quietly enjoyed free electricity at his home for 14 years.
More than 50 staffers test positive for Covid-19 at Addington Hospital, Nehawu requests meeting with health department
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Daily News reports that more than 50 staff members at Addington Hospital in Durban tested positive for Covid-19 in the past three weeks, with about 20 more said to be waiting for their results.
IFP to table bill that will put SA jobseekers first
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The Sunday Independent reports that according to a proposed Employment Services Amendment Bill to be tabled by the IFP, foreign nationals could be barred from working in some unskilled and semi-skilled jobs in some sectors of the SA economy.
Festive bonanza for 25,000 Tshwane workers despite metro’s R4.4bn deficit
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Pretoria News reports that the cash-strapped City of Tshwane will disburse millions of rand to its estimated 25,000 employees this festive season as part of the payouts linked to a benchmarking agreement.
Cops investigate after policewoman's body retrieved from river near Port St Johns
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SowetanLive reports that the body of a missing police detective, Warrant Officer Nosipho Mphakathi, was found floating in Umzimvubu River on Saturday afternoon.
What CCMA budget cuts of R6000m over three years will mean for workers
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Mail & Guardian reports that the caseload of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has increased 14.36% in the last year, but the money it gets from the government has increased by only 1.32%.
With 150 ‘house grabs’ over the past year, mining town of Rustenburg ‘in a crisis’
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Saturday Star writes that the over the last year, 150 properties in the North West mining town of Rustenburg belonging to the big three mining groups in town, namely Impala Platinum, Anglo American Platinum and Sibanye-Stillwater, have allegedly been illegally occupied.
Woman who fabricated credentials for acting magistrate position found guilty of fraud in Bloemfontein
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TimesLIVE reports that a 38-year-old woman who fabricated her credentials for an acting magistrate position was found guilty of fraud on 10 December.
Nearly half of SA’s live music workers may quit the industry for good after a ‘devastating’ 2020
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Gwen Ansell writes that for people working in SA’s live music sector, 2020 has been “devastating” according to responses to the country’s largest-ever live music and Covid-19 survey, published in November.
Covid-19 outbreak at Stats SA training session at St George's Hotel in Pretoria
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TimesLIVE reports that Statistics SA (Stats SA) employees and contract workers from Gauteng attending a training course at a Pretoria hotel have been asked to stay in their rooms after four people in the group tested positive for Covid-19.
Roundup on Monday, 14 December 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, 11 December 2020.
SAA staff salaries a point of contention as Solidarity makes new proposal
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City Press reports that employees of SAA, who have not been paid for eight months, may receive their salaries for three months this week if trade unions accept a new proposal made by Solidarity.
Western Cape welcomes 120 graduate agricultural interns
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Engineering News reports that about 120 graduate agricultural interns took up their two-year internship within the Western Cape agriculture sector on 9 December.
Eastern Cape health MEC Sindiswa Gomba tests positive for Covid-19
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News24 reports that Eastern Cape Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba has tested positive for Covid-19, her office announced on Sunday evening. “The MEC is at home for isolation as per the protocol of Covid-19," department spokesperson Judy Ngoloyi indicated.
Pensions of 1,600 municipal employees lapse due to non-payment by councils of employer contributions
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News24 reports that a parliamentary reply has revealed that several municipalities across the country have defaulted on paying over employer contributions to workers’ pension funds.
KwaZulu-Natal sees a significant rise in Covid-19 infections among healthcare workers
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News24 reports that there has been a significant uptick in Covid-19 infections among health workers in KwaZulu-Natal, Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu indicated on Sunday.
Afternoon roundup of labour news on Thursday, 10 December 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, 10 December 2020.
Workers, community members protest against KwaSizabantu Mission after 20 workers fired
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News24 reports that disgruntled workers at the controversial KwaSizabantu Mission, supported by dozens of members of the community of KwaMxhosa and surrounds, have embarked on a strike against the mission over the alleged unfair dismissal of around 20 Emseni Farming workers.
Covid-19 masks being used by SA health workers fail UCT safety tests
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TimesLIVE reports that masks being used by thousands of SA health workers to protect themselves from Covid-19 infection have failed safety tests.
Supreme Court lambasts KZN judge for taking four years to rule on ‘riot’ damages case relating to Numsa
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GroundUp reports that the Supreme Court of Appeal has lambasted a KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) judge for taking four years to deliver a judgment involving a civil claim for damages emanating from a strike.