In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Thursday, 23 November 2017.
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NUM announces new coal industry wage deal, but strike at Kangra to proceed Miningmx reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) confirmed on Thursday it had signed a new, three-year agreement with coal mining members of the Chamber of Mines. But the agreement did not cover Kangra Coal, where a strike is due to start on Friday after the union issued a 48-hour strike notice on Wednesday. The agreement, which is effective from June or July 2017 depending on the employee category and mine, is broadly for a 7.5% or inflation plus a percent – whichever is the greater – for lower employee categories in the first year. But there are subtle differences, especially in the agreement’s subsequent years. According to the NUM, previous plans by the Chamber members to depart from centralised bargaining for the next set of coal wage negotiations has been ditched. Negotiations would accordingly be conducted through the Chamber, although it seems on face value that coal miners are being allowed to negotiate slight variations depending on the mine. The agreement averts a planned sector strike that was initially due to kick off on 19 November. The planned strike at Kangra’s operations will begin at 11am on 24 November and will include every shift that follows. Read this report by David McKay in full at Miningmx. Read too, NUM signs three-year wage agreement with coal producers, at Mining Weekly. Read the NUM’s press statement in this regard at Cosatu Today. Read the NUM’s press statement about the Kangra strike at NUM online
Gold mining silicosis case nears out-of-court settlement Reuters reports that lawyers acting for thousands of miners who contracted fatal lung diseases silicosis and tuberculosis in mines said on Tuesday settlement talks with implicated gold companies for an out-of-court deal could be reached by December. The High Court last year set the stage for protracted proceedings on cases dating back decades in the largest class action suit yet in SA. Many of the nearly half a million miners who contracted the fatal lung diseases are from nearby countries who supplied labour to SA mines. Gold miners are appealing that ruling, while at the same time, six of the firms, including Anglo American, AngloGold Ashanti and Sibanye are holding settlement talks with the workers. Richard Spoor and Charles Abrahams, lawyers for the afflicted miners, told parliament's mineral resources committee that significant progress had been made in those discussions. "The parties are reasonably confident that a settlement will be achieved in the course of this year," they said. Any settlement reached will have to be confirmed by a High Court. Read this report in full at Mining Weekly Police exchange fire with illegal miners at Dawn Park: four killed‚ 17 arrested TimesLive reports that four illegal miners were killed and 17 were arrested following a shoot-out with the police at an open field in Dawn Park‚ east of Johannesburg‚ on Thursday morning. The crossfire started when the police and members of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) searched the area after receiving information that numerous explosives were being delivered for suspected illegal mining purposes. A member of the EMPD was wounded in the face during the clash. The arrested suspects will be charged with attempted murder‚ and possession of illegal firearms and ammunition. Police are still verifying the suspects' personal details, but current findings seem to indicate that most are Lesotho nationals. Four firearms have been recovered in the area. No explosives have been recovered yet. Read this report by Bafana Nzimande in full at TimesLive Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
Tough demands from public service unions as wage talks start BusinessLive reports that acting director-general at the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), Sam Vukela, appeared before Parliament’s portfolio committee on public service and administration on Wednesday. He said the challenge of the ballooning public service wage bill was partly being addressed through a freeze on the filling of vacancies in the public service. Meantime, public service unions have entered the 2017 wage negotiations with tough demands. Among these are the abolishment of the bottom three salary levels in the public service, as well as the lifting of the moratorium on the filling of vacancies. The unions want the salaries of employees from levels four to seven to be raised by 12%, employees from levels eight to 10 by 11% and those on levels 11 and 12 by 10%. Vukela told the committee that all the labour demands made during the negotiations would cost the department about R483bn. Read this report by Khulekani Magubane in full at BusinessLive
Consumer inflation slows to 4.8% in October, after two months of increased rates BusinessLive reports that consumer inflation dipped as expected in October, thanks in part to smaller fuel price increases and a continued moderation of food inflation. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 4.8% in October from a year earlier, after a 5.1% increase in September. Compared with a month earlier, consumer inflation rose 0.3% in October, slower than the 0.5% month-on-month increase reported in September. CPI inflation has been within the Bank’s 3%-6% target band since April, thanks in large part to tamer food inflation, which has come down steadily since returning to single digits in February, as a severe drought eased in most parts of the country. The October fuel price increase was also smaller than that in September. The CPI for goods rose 4.1% in October from a year earlier, and the CPI for services was up 5.5% on the year. Read this report by Tammy Foyn in full at BusinessLive. See too, Consumer inflation eases to 4.8%, at Fin24
Cosatu wants ANC to change its constitution to limit Zuma’s power to reshuffle his Cabinet Bloomberg reports that union federation Cosatu is looking to alter the balance of power in its alliance with the ANC and wants the party to change its constitution to limit the president’s power to reshuffle his Cabinet. Cosatu’s general secretary said on Tuesday: "The ANC constitution must be amended to tell the president of the ANC what he can do. The ANC constitution should say even that if the law allows it, its president in government will not make decisions alone." Cosatu and the SA Communist Party (SACP) have accused President Jacob Zuma of alienating the ANC’s allies by spurning consultation and making Cabinet changes that knocked the rand and bonds and prompted credit rating downgrades. Ntshalintshali went on to say: "We must re-configure the alliance. The alliance must be the political centre, in other words we must be equal partners." Read this report by Amogelang Mbatha in full at BusinessLive
National Assembly approves sugar tax, with task team to monitor effect on job losses BusinessLive reports that the bill providing for the implementation of a tax on sugary beverages was passed by the National Assembly on Tuesday. The measure will be introduced in April 2018 and came after extensive public hearings by Parliament’s finance and health committees as well as negotiations within the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) on an implementation plan. An interdepartmental committee consisting of the Treasury and the departments of economic development‚ agriculture‚ trade and industry and labour also worked on a mitigation strategy to limit the effects of the levy on sugary beverages. A task team will monitor the implementation of the health promotion levy to assess its effect on job losses. It will also look at a range of government programmes to provide support to the industry. The sugar industry opposed the levy on the grounds that it would contribute to the loss of jobs, but the Treasury and the Department of Health argued it was necessary to deal with obesity and the epidemic of non-communicable diseases. Read this report by Linda Ensor in full at BusinessLive
Career officer Khehla Sitole gets national police commissioner job BusinessLive reports that Gen Khehla Sitole has been appointed as the new national police commissioner by President Jacob Zuma. He is the first career policeman to be appointed to permanently head the police service since the advent of democracy — with the exception of George Fivas who was appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1995. Jackie Selebi, Bheki Cele and Riah Phiyega, the other substantive commissioners, were political appointments. Sitole has served in the SA Police Service (SAPS) for 31 years after beginning his career as a student constable during the apartheid government era. The former divisional commissioner for protection and security services will unveil his turnaround strategy at a media briefing on Thursday. In a statement that announced Sitole’s appointment, Zuma said the new commissioner had a wealth of operational and managerial experience and had grown through the ranks. The unions have decried the state of the police service, saying the absence of a national commissioner was hampering units such as detectives and crime intelligence where critical posts needed to be filled. Read this report by Theto Mahlakoana in full at BusinessLive. See too, Police officers wonder if they can trust this new top cop, at SowetanLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Auditor-general finds payment of SARS performance bonuses unlawful BusinessLive reports that the auditor-general has found that the SA Revenue Service (SARS) has failed to comply with legislation by unlawfully paying bonuses to staff without the approval of the Finance Minister. The conclusion is contained in the long-delayed SARS annual report, which will be tabled in Parliament on Thursday. In the 2016-17 financial year SARS paid R561m in performance bonuses relating to the 2015-16 financial year, of which R3m was paid to members of the executive committee. The report reads: "Performance bonuses relating to the 2015-16 financial year were paid in the 2016-17 financial year and SARS could not provide evidence that an approval was obtained, as specified in the bonus approval framework, from the minister prior to payment being effected to employees who fall within the management structure." SARS said that to put legal opinion beyond interpretative doubt, it was seeking a declaratory order from the High Court in Pretoria on the powers of the commissioner to pay performance bonuses. Read this report by Linda Ensor and Natasha Marian in full at BusinessLive
Brian Molefe's pension payout was unlawful, says Solidarity EWN reports that according to trade union Solidarity, legal correspondence with former Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe and the power utility’s board has revealed clear evidence that his R30 million pension payout amounted to criminal conduct. The union outlined its litigation strategy against Eskom and Molefe at a briefing in Centurion on Thursday morning. It will be approaching the High Court in Johannesburg to have the decision to grant Molefe’s pension set aside and to force him to return the R10 million already paid out. Solidarity’s application is set down for three days next week. The union’s Dirk Herman indicated that Molefe was never eligible for the pension because he was appointed on a fixed-term contract. “He received higher remuneration because he did not receive a pension. He does not qualify for a pension benefit because he was not a permanent employee, and he did not make pension contribution to the pension fund,” Herman stated. According to Hermann, Solidarity was taking on this case on behalf of all Eskom employees as well as the tax-paying public. Read this report by Barry Bateman in full at EWN. Read Solidarity’s press statement in this regard at Solidarity online Brown says Molefe didn’t correct her when she referred to his ‘resignation’ from Eskom ANA reports that Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown on Wednesday told a parliamentary inquiry she was convinced that former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe had resigned from the state-owned power utility. Accordingly, his early retirement package was not only irregular but possibly contrived after his departure. Brown told the public enterprises committee conducting a probe into Eskom that she had believed Molefe’s departure from the company was a resignation, until she saw newspaper reports in April this year that he had received a R30 million pension payout. In a prepared statement to the committee, Brown indicated: “I was surprised to discover that the board had concluded an agreement with Molefe for an early retirement, but did not consider it to be irregular at that point. Subsequent events have persuaded me that the ‘early retirement agreement’ was not only irregular but possibly an ex post facto fabrication.” Brown related that at a meeting with Molefe she had used the term ‘resignation’ and he had not corrected her. Molefe was grilled on the subject when he appeared before the inquiry on Tuesday. He resisted all suggestions that his announcement that he was leaving Eskom a year ago read like a resignation. Read this report in full at The Citizen. Read too, Brown says Molefe resigned and did not seek early retirement, at Business Report. And also, Molefe: I did not resign from Eskom, I took early retirement, at EWN
Doctor arrested for allegedly selling medical certificates in Rustenburg ANA reports that a 62-year-old doctor was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly selling medical certificates in Rustenburg, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in North West said. Hawks spokesperson Captain Tlangelani Rikhotso said the doctor, who practises as a homoeopath, was arrested at Wildebeest farm. “The suspect was arrested by the Hawks following a complaint alleging that she is selling medical certificates to patients. She is alleged to issue medical certificates without prior examination at a consultation fee of R300.” She was due to appear in the Bafokeng Magistrate’s Court in Tlhabane on Wednesday, facing charges of fraud and contravening the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa Act. This short report is at The Citizen
Distribution and Warehousing Network (Dawn) has retrenched 1,300 staff in two years Business Report writes that Distribution and Warehousing Network (Dawn), the listed manufacturer and distributor of plumbing and hardware brands, has retrenched about 1,300 people in the past two years. It handed retrenchments notices to a further 143 people in its Wholesale Housing Supplies (WHS) business on Friday. Chief executive Edwin Hewitt said on Monday that Dawn had done most of the retrenchments and that the group was now at break-even. It expected to be profitable by its 2019 financial year. The group said the retrenchments were necessary to right-size its DPI business, a leading manufacturer of PVC and HDPE piping systems for water reticulation and conveyance, which resulted in the closure of the DPI factory in Bellville. Costs associated with the retrenchments at DPI amounted to about R7million, and the retrenchments at WHS would cost about R2.5m. Read this report by Roy Cokayne in full at Business Report
Government plans to reduce number of Setas through mergers BusinessLive reports that the government is looking to reduce the number of sector education and training authorities (Setas) as part of broader plans to revamp the post-school education and training system. There are currently 21 Setas, which cover all work sectors. They are tasked with creating opportunities in the form of internships, skills programmes and apprenticeships and they control billions of rand via a skills levy derived from employers. However, the Setas have often been criticised for inefficiency, being a haven for corruption and for enrolling ghost students. They have also come under fire for failing to address the country’s skills deficit. Officials from the Department of Higher Education and Training told MPs on Wednesday that as part of plans to improve efficiency and avoid duplication, there was a proposal to reduce the number of Setas. It could result in Setas that focus on similar sectors merging, such as the AgriSeta and the Food and Beverage Manufacturing Industry Seta, as well as the finance, banking and insurance Setas. A government gazette in this regard would be issued for public comment in 2018, in order to gazette the legislation and institutional arrangements by 2019. Read this report by Bekezela Phakathi in full at BusinessLive
Prasa concerned by overcrowding of trains in Western Cape EWN reports that the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) has expressed concern after videos recently surfaced on social media showing Metrorail passengers riding on top of moving trains and clinging onto the sides of carriages. This is not an unusual sight due to extreme levels of overcrowding on the rail service in the Western Cape. Prasa CEO Lindikhaya Zide advised that the Western Cape, at full capacity, was supposed to run 88 train sets, but there were only between 57 and 60 sets running at any given time. He explained: "Some of these train sets have to be taken on a general overhaul programme, some as a consequence of cable theft and vandalism, they are taken out of service so that we can repair them." This short report by Lauren Isaacs is at EWN Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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