In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Wednesday, 24 January 2018.
|
Plea by Cosatu for Ramaphosa to intervene in Cape Town’s water crisis TimesLive reports that the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) in the Western Cape has called on Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene in the water crisis faced by the City of Cape Town. In an open letter written to Ramaphosa and the water minister, Cosatu said the water crisis was a threat not just to Cape Town but the entire country. “This crisis is due to the less than adequate management of water in the Western Cape‚ by all levels of government. The new water situation in the country is causing serious challenges in many provinces‚ with Western Cape‚ Eastern Cape and Free State the worse affected at the moment. The situation in the Western Cape is however the most desperate with the management thereof leaving much to be desired,” wrote Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich. Noting that the water would likely run out, he went on to state: “The economy will be severely affected with many jobs being lost‚ due to water supply instability. The sanitation system is water based and when the water runs out‚ the drains will overflow and the spillage will lead to disease and deaths.” Read this report by Penwell Dlamini in full at TimesLive. Read Cosatu’s open letter at Cosatu Today. See too, Remove Cape Town government over water crisis: SA First Forum, at eNCA Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Ekurhuleni toughens up against illegal mining SABC News reports that Ekurhuleni Mayor Mzwandile Masina says they are pulling together all law enforcement agencies, including the Metro Police and SAPS intelligence, to assist with the on-going turf war among illegal miners on the East Rand. They would like to call upon the Defence task team in this regard. This comes after more than a dozen people, including four women related to illegal miners, lost their lives during bloody wars in the past two weeks. It has been reported that the Ekurhuleni Central Cluster Community Policing Forum (CPF) will be taking action and petitioning relevant parties to take responsibility and come up with solutions to end the war. “We need all social partners to come together. There is a bit of irresponsibility on the mining houses side because they don’t ensure that they stick to social labour plans that are agreed to by government, hence we have a number of these shafts that are easily opened by illegal miners.” This short report is at SABC News. Read too, Action needed against illegal mining, says Ekurhuleni community policing forum, at The New Age Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
Unisa wage strike prompts prospective students to blockade Durban road TimesLive reports that a strike by University of South Africa (Unisa) staff sparked renewed protest action by prospective students in Durban on Wednesday. A group of nearly 100 student hopefuls blockaded Stalwart Simelane Street outside the city campus‚ using rocks and overturned bins. Protracted wage negotiations between the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) and Unisa remain deadlocked. Unisa SRC representative Msizi Mbotho said the impasse between Nehawu and Unisa management negatively affected the prospective students. After a brief standoff and negotiations between eThekwini metro police and SRC members‚ the debris was cleared and the road opened. A short report by Jeff Wicks is at TimesLive Meeting between DUT and unions on Tuesday failed to end wage strike ANA reports that staff at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) on Tuesday continued their wage strike, after failing to reach an agreement with management. DUT spokesperson, Noxolo Memela indicated in a statement: “After a meeting between the management of the Durban University of Technology and the three labour unions [National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), Tertiary Education National Union of SA (Tenusa) and National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU)] on Tuesday, 23 January 2017, sadly no agreement was reached between both parties.” She added that despite the deadlock, DUT remained committed to continuously engaging with labour representatives in order to reach an amicable solution to the staff strike. Apparently at Tuesday’s meeting, DUT management offered a ‘without prejudice’ offer of 6% on basic salary and 6% on the housing allowance valid for the course of the meeting. Apparently, the representatives of the three unions then walked out of the meeting without committing to any other further engagement. Read this report in full at The Citizen DUT management claims it’s business as usual as wage strike enters eighth day TimesLive reports that the Durban University of Technology (DUT) insists that it is business as usual at the institution‚ despite a deadlock with striking staffers. The strike over wage increases entered its eighth day on Wednesday‚ with determined academic and administration workers refusing to budge on their 10% wage increase demand. The action has hampered the registration of students‚ but DUT has called on students to register online. DUT’s Alan Khan said: “Despite the deadlock‚ DUT remains committed to continuously engaging with our labour representatives‚ in order to reach an amicable solution to the staff strike.” He indicated that two options were on the table: “The first option was a revised offer of 5.5% increase on basic salary and a R200 housing allowance increase‚ with no once-off bonus. The second option was a 5.75% increase on basic salary and a 5.75% housing allowance increase‚ with no once-off bonus.” At a meeting with the three unions concerned on Tuesday, DUT offered a ‘without prejudice’ offer of 6% on basic salary and 6% on the housing allowance. It was only valid for the course of the meeting, but was not accepted. Nehawu KwaZulu-Natal spokesman Khaya Xaba said: “We are not finding common ground and the strike continues.” Read this report by Suthentira Govender in full at TimesLive
Consumer inflation stabilised at 4.7% in December despite leap in fuel prices BusinessLive reports that consumer inflation edged up as expected in December, as a hefty fuel price increase took a chunk out of consumers’ wallets but was counterbalanced by lower inflation elsewhere, including food. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 4.7% in December 2017 compared with December 2016, Statistics SA said on Wednesday. That follows a 4.6% year-on-year increase in November. That meant inflation for all of last year averaged 5.3%, down significantly from 6.3% in 2016. Investec’s Kamilla Kaplan expects consumer inflation to average 4.8% in 2018 — and with an economy in desperate need of some impetus, all eyes are on whether the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates at its March meeting. One of the main factors in SA’s tamer inflation rate has been a sharp fall-off in food inflation. Food price increases ran to double digits for most of 2016, but since August 2017 they have remained comfortably below 6%. Food inflation in December came in at 4.9% year-on-year. Fuel prices have been more volatile. Read this report by Tammy Foyn in full at BusinessLive
'Conditional offer' made to Chris Maroleng, SABC board chairperson confirms News24 reports that the chairperson of the board of the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Bongumusa Makhathini, has confirmed that a conditional offer has been made to journalist Chris Maroleng to become the public broadcaster's new Chief Operating Officer (COO). The process, however, has yet to be finalised, Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Communications heard on Tuesday. Makhathini and Communications Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane appeared before MPs to account for media reports that Kubayi-Ngubane had tried to "interfere" with the appointment. A Sunday World report last week revealed that Maroleng would be appointed to the position. Makhathini told MPs: “As the board, we did not sanction that media report. We extended a conditional appointment, subject to vetting. The process is currently being finalised." He also indicated that there had been ample consultation between the board and the minister. "There were meetings between me and the minister, and meetings with some of the board members. We had letters indicating every step, so there was consultation and discussion." Kubayi-Ngubane faced public criticism last week for saying that "all appointments of the COO, CEO and CFO of state-owned entities are done through Cabinet processes, and therefore the announcement of the outcome is made by Cabinet". Read this report by Paul Herman in full at News24 Chris Maroleng ‘not vetted’ for SABC top job, claims Communications Minister The Citizen reports that Communications Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane was in the hot seat before parliament’s oversight committee on Tuesday. She struggled to explain why she was contesting the appointment of Chris Maroleng as the chief operating officer (COO) of the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). She said Maroleng had not been fully vetted and therefore his appointment was in essence null and void pending that process being carried out. “It [the vetting process] has not been finalised … I don’t want to appoint, I don’t want to fire. There is a process,” she stated. Since the vetting process had yet to be concluded, Maroleng jumped the gun in publicly accepting a congratulatory message, Kubayi-Ngubane added. She was summoned to appear before the portfolio committee in light of the Pretoria High Court ruling last year which found the board was entitled to appoint non-executive members without the go-ahead from the minister. The committee agreed to hold a special committee meeting to deliberate on what exactly the powers of the minister were regarding the appointment of the non-executives. Read this report by Denise Williams in full at The Citizen. Read too, I have no interest in interfering or bullying SABC board over appointments, says Minister, at EWN. And also, Minister wants to interfere with SABC board positions, opposition parties say, at BusinessLive Mbombela politicians accused of ‘handpicking’ traffic officer trainees City Press reports that City of Mbombela politicians and officials are under fire for allegedly handpicking 47 individuals to be trained as traffic officers. The 47 people were hurriedly interviewed on Monday in order to ensure that the municipality met a deadline to send them to the Mpumalanga Traffic College in Bushbuckridge. The municipality advertised the posts in October last year, but apparently did not shortlist and interview applicants at that time. The politicians and officials allegedly supplied a list of individuals to be considered – shutting out the unemployed members of the public. Meantime, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has written to the municipality complaining about irregularities. “It [should] be noted that the recruitment policy of the City of Mbombela requires that all people within the city, the province and the country be given equal opportunity regardless of their political affiliation,” the party’s chief whip, Cosas Maseko wrote in a letter to the council speaker. Maseko demanded that the interviews be stopped and the recruitment process be started afresh, but the interviews went ahead regardless. EFF provincial leader, Collen Sedibe, said the party was preparing to apply for a court interdict against the municipality. Read this report by Sizwe Sama Yende in full at City Press
National Minimum Wage Initiative objects to bill’s exclusion of contractors BusinessLive reports that there is mounting fear that the national minimum wage (NMW) legislation will exclude even more vulnerable workers than stipulated due to its design. The proposed legislation defines a "worker" as an employee in accordance with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, which does not cover "independent contractors" who perform "task-based work, piecework, homework, subcontracting and contract work". Wits University’s National Minimum Wage Initiative has objected to the exclusions in its submission to Parliament, arguing that applying the existing definition of "employee" posed a significant risk to workers who were in "danger of working long hours with the equivalent of low hourly wages". It noted that the move was contrary to international trends, existing agreements and recommendations of a panel of experts that researched the feasibility of NMW policy. If implemented, the policy would fail to address changing trends in the workplace, with experts pointing to an increase in outsourcing by employers. Read this report by Theto Mahlakoana in full at BusinessLive New minimum wages for farm, forestry employees from 1 March 2018 The Department of Labour has announced that minimum wages for employees in the farm and forestry sectors are set to increase by 5.6% from 1 March 2018. In terms of the applicable sectoral determination, the minimum wage will increase to R3,169.19 per month, up from the R3,001.13 in 2017/18. The weekly minimum wage will henceforth be R731.41. The daily minimum wage for employees will be R146.28, while the hourly minimum wage will be R16.25 – an increase from R15.39 in 2017/18. This short report is at SA Govt News Agency Councillors in Buffalo City Metro in line for 6% salary boost, backdated to July 2017 DispatchLive reports that Buffalo City Metro councillors are in line to get salary increases of up to 6%, backdated to July last year. At a special meeting on Wednesday mayor Xola Pakati is expected to urge council to approve the recently gazetted salary increases, as well as allowances and benefits for its 100 councillors. The increase was published in a government gazette notice on 15 December by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Des Van Rooyen. This short report by Mamela Gowa is at DispatchLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Tshwane ordered by court to give Soshanguve man job training The Citizen reports that an unemployed Soshanguve man was so desperate to get training and a job that he obtained a court order forcing the City of Tshwane’s economic development department to take him on as a trainee. However, Oupa Magoro is still waiting for the city to furnish him and the court with particulars of its available training programmes. The High Court in Pretoria last month granted an order to Magoro declaring that the notice in 2013 that he received from the city accepting him as a candidate for training in the city’s Tshepo 10 000 programme was valid and binding on the city. The judge ordered the city to allow Magoro to undergo training for 12 months. In the case that the particular programme no longer existed, the court gave the city time to supply details of its available comparable training programmes for which Magoro would qualify. This week the court gave the city until 14 February to come up with a plan to comply with its order. In 2013, Magoro applied for acceptance in the city’s programme and received a text message that he had been successful. This was followed by a letter saying he had been accepted and that he would be called. When he didn’t receive a call and after many inquiries, Magoro went to court. The city opposed his application, claiming he had ignored a text message to report for training. But the court accepted his statement that he had never received such a message. Read this report by Ilse de Lange in full at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Eskom's Koko breached his suspension conditions by contacting colleagues BusinessLive reports that embattled Eskom executive Matshela Koko, who escaped dismissal through a sham disciplinary process, broke the strict conditions of his suspension by regularly contacting Eskom employees. Koko is due to appear before Parliament’s portfolio committee inquiry into corruption and state capture at Eskom on Wednesday, where he is expected to protest his innocence. Business Day came into possession of phone records that show that Koko was in touch with at least five other Eskom employees in the weeks immediately after his suspension on 2 August 2017, despite his suspension letter making it clear that contacting Eskom employees could "interfere with or jeopardise" his disciplinary hearing. His suspension notice expressly prohibited any contact with Eskom staff or suppliers. Koko was suspended after his division awarded his step-daughter’s company contracts worth R640m, but was cleared of all wrongdoing at a disciplinary hearing. The hearing was marred by allegations that it had been rigged in his favour. Asked this week to comment on the evidence that Koko had violated his suspension conditions, Eskom said that it needed more time to investigate. But, these disclosures are likely to add to mounting pressure for Eskom to act against Koko as the new board embarks on a process to rescue the power utility and restore governance. Read this detailed report by Kyle Cowan and Stephan Hofstatter in full at BusinessLive Ten Limpopo traffic cops arrested for taking bribes from motorists TimesLive reports that ten traffic officers have been arrested in Polokwane for allegedly taking bribes from motorists who had committed offences. The arrests took place on Tuesday. The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) said: "The number of suspects arrested in Limpopo in connection with bribery and corruption since December now stands at 30. Last month 20 suspects‚ including traffic officers‚ licensing officers and their civilian collaborators‚ were arrested in Tzaneen and surrounding areas." More arrests could be made as authorities embark on an anti-corruption drive. A short report is at TimesLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet on Tuesday, 23 January 2018 at SA Labour News
|
Get South African labour news reports at SA Labour News