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.
In our Friday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Thursday, 2 February 2017.
|
Cause of deaths of two PetroSA employees unknown IOL News reports that PetroSA says its workers at the Mossel Bay Gas to Liquids Refinery have been left traumatised by the deaths of two employees who lost consciousness while working on a vessel. On Wednesday the company declined to speculate on how the incident took place as an investigation has been opened. The employees aged 37 and 31 were a mechanical fitter and operator respectively. A PetroSA spokesperson said their emergency response kicked into gear and the two were administered medical treatment when the incident was discovered on Tuesday, but they were not able to be resuscitated. The SA Police Service, the Inspector of Mines and the Department of Labour have all been informed and an investigation into the incident will be instituted. Read this report by Siyavuya Mzantsi in full at IOL News Western Cape bans paramedics from entering 'red' zones without police News24 reports that the Western Cape health department has barred all emergency medical service (EMS) personnel from entering certain areas without a police escort. This came after an EMS crew was held at gunpoint in the early hours of Tuesday morning while responding to an emergency call in J-Section, Khayelitsha. In a statement on Wednesday, Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo said "red" zones where EMS crews have been attacked more than once had been identified. "We have put in place procedures to forbid any EMS personnel from entering these zones without escort of the South African Police Service," she indicated. The department has also introduced situational awareness training, which includes anti-hijacking training, to paramedics. Ambulance windows have been fitted with tinted smash-and-grab safety film. Read this report by James de Villiers in full at News24 SANDF soldier on the run after shooting spree hands himself in The Mercury reports that a SA National Defence Force (SANDF) soldier who disappeared in the wake of a fatal shooting spree has handed himself over to police. Thembinkosi American Ngcobo reported to the Inanda police station, north of Durban, on Thursday night. A SANDF spokesperson said he contacted military police on Thursday to arrange the handover. Nqcobo is expected to appear in court on Friday or on Monday, to face charges of murder and attempted murder. He had been on the run since Tuesday, when he allegedly shot dead a woman and wounded three other people while in an enraged hunt for his girlfriend. Ngcobo is a member of the 8 SA African Infantry Battalion based in Upington and was armed with an R4 assault rifle. Read this report in full at The Mercury Building with ‘unsafe air’ making us ill, says Public Service Commission BusinessLive reports that the statutory body tasked with keeping public servants accountable says the Department of Public Works (DPW) has housed it in an "unfit building" in central Pretoria and the accompanying health hazards now leave it vulnerable to lawsuits from employees. This was revealed by the Public Service Commission (PSC) during a briefing to Parliament on the commission’s performance. PSC chairman Ben Mthembu told the portfolio committee on public service, administration, monitoring and evaluation that the building in question had “unsafe air.” He stated: “The building the department gave us in the CBD of Pretoria is old and not up to standard. Officials have fallen sick and upon being checked, doctors have said the sickness is attributable to the air in the building". PSC staff have apparently begun asking for permission to work from home because of the conditions at the building. DA committee member Sejamotopo Motau urged the PSC to seek assistance from the Department of Health to ensure staff were not working in a place that posed an occupational hazard. Read this report by Khulekani Magubane in full at BusinessLive
Employee at Harmony’s Masimong mine killed in scraper-related incident Mining Weekly reports that Harmony Gold has halted all scraper-related operations at its Masimong mine, in the Free State, following the death of an employee in a scraper-related incident. An investigation into the incident is under way. This short report is at Mining Weekly. Harmony’s press statement in this regard is at Sharenet Sunday’s Lily Mine remembrance service postponed over safety concerns TMG Digital reports that the remembrance service to commemorate the first anniversary of the accident at Vantage Goldfields’ Lily Mine near Barberton planned for Sunday has been postponed. Three miners have been trapped in the mine since the container in which they were working fell into a massive sinkhole which formed on 5 February last year. Business rescue practitioner Rob Devereux said the ceremony had been arranged two weeks ago, but in the course of last week “we received indications from the police that unrest has been planned to disrupt the service.” He indicated that at a meeting held on Thursday and attended by the police‚ the unions and the affected families‚ it was agreed that it would be irresponsible to continue with the ceremony in light of a threat of violence. Cosatu had earlier called for a boycott of the planned ceremony‚ describing it as a futile gesture that was morally obscene. Read this report in full at TimesLive. Read too, Cosatu calls for boycott of Lily mine commemoration, at Business Report. Read Cosatu’s press statement in this regard at Cosatu Today. Read a press statement by the NUM on this matter at Cosatu Today Anger over inaction a year after Lily Mine disaster TimesLive reports that Cosatu has reiterated its call for Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane to resign over his handling of the Lily Mine disaster and for failing to bring about urgent changes to the mining sector. The labour federation made the call ahead of the anniversary of the disaster, which left three miners trapped underground on 5 February last year. Solomon Nyerenda, Yvonne Mnisi and Pretty Nkambule, were trapped underground when the container they were working in fell into a giant sinkhole. Their bodies have still not been retrieved. Shadrack Mdluli is upset that there has been no communication from the mine on whether it still intends to try to locate his wife Yvonne’s body. Cosatu also demanded that the mine's management and the Department of Mineral Resources fulfil the many promises that were made to the workers and their families at the time. "Some workers were promised alternative employment and others were promised payments but nothing has happened since those promises were made," Cosatu pointed out. Read this report by Ernest Mabuza in full at TimesLive. Read Cosatu’s press statement at Cosatu Today NUM disappointed as Sibanye sues state for safety stoppage losses ANA reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Wednesday that it was disappointed with the decision of Sibanye Platinum to lodge a R26 million claim against the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) over ‘Section 54’ work stoppages. The claim comes after the DMR applied a number of safety stoppages at Kroondal Platinum Mines in Rustenburg last year following a fatal accident in September. Sibanye Platinum argues that the DMR operated outside the scope of its authority by shutting down the mine. In a statement, the NUM strongly condemned the behaviour of Sibanye Platinum. The union said it was of the firm view that Section 54 of the Mine Health and Safety Act was brought to life exactly for the reason that it had contributed to saving lives in the mining industry. The NUM said it unapologetically supported Section 54 regulation. Read this report in full at Business Report. Read the NUM’s press statement in full at NUM online NUM threatens to strike over Chamber’s move to end coal centralised bargaining Reuters reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) declared on Tuesday it was in dispute with employers’ asociation the Chamber of Mines of SA (COM) over a move to end centralised collective bargaining on conditions of employment for coal miners. The union indicated in a statement that the COM had informed it that it did not have an agreement with its coal members to negotiate for them on pay this year. The Chamber normally represents coal producers such as Anglo American Coal, Exxaro and Glencore. Pay negotiations in the sector were due to start in June. The NUM will now refer the matter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and would start picketing immediately. Its members could go on strike depending on the CCMA’s response. Read this report in full at Moneyweb. Read the NUM’s press statement at Cosatu Today. Read the COM’s press statement in this regard at Polity Eskom may suffer as coal strikes loom over centralised bargaining BusinessLive reports that the prospects of a strike affecting coal mines supplying power utility Eskom are good as three unions and the Chamber of Mines fell out this week over the structure of forthcoming wage talks. Wage talks were due to start in June, but the Chamber, representing seven coal producing members, and three unions fell out over a mandate from the companies to negotiate directly with unions rather than use the centralised bargaining process this year. Eskom is understood to be in informal contact with the Chamber to keep tabs on the likelihood of a strike and prepare its coal stockpiles accordingly. The unions involved are the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity and Uasa. They accuse the Chamber of negotiating in "bad faith" around how wage talks would be conducted in 2017. Centralised wage talks have been a feature of the coal industry for many years. Read this report by Allan Seccombe in full at BusinessLive Plight of communities near mines highlighted by Dingleton residents ANA reports that the Bench Marks Foundation (BMF) said on Thursday the plight of a community near Sishen Iron Ore mine in the Northern Cape highlighted the need to properly compensate people whose lives were impacted by mining. John Capel of BMF was responding to reports about 25 families who were refusing to leave the town of Dingleton, Northern Cape, to make way for mining by Kumba Iron Ore. In a statement, he said this was a story of mining companies which negotiated with communities from a position of strength, rather than of fair play. He said the end result often was that people were persuaded to move for pitiful sums of money, which in no way reflected the value to the mining company of the land they owned. "Until mining companies play fair with communities in compensating them correctly according to the mineral rights contained in their land these kinds of disputes will continue," Capel said. Another community whose woes have recently been in the spotlight is that of the defunct Blyvooruitzicht Gold Mine near Carletonville. A report released last week revealed that the 6,000 people of the village were existing on the edge of the mine in extreme poverty. Read this report in full at Business Report Other labour posting(s) in this news category
Other general internet posting(s) on mining
Phiyega not fit to hold office, damning Claassen inquiry finds BusinessLive reports that the Claassen board of inquiry has found that suspended national police commissioner Riah Phiyega is not fit to hold office and must be fired for mishandling the police’s response to the 2012 strike in Marikana. The report’s damning findings and recommendations against Phiyega were made public for the first time on Thursday in the portfolio committee on police. The inquiry found Phiyega guilty of serious misconduct and breach of her duty in managing and controlling the police’s response to the August 2012 platinum sector strike in Marikana, in which 44 people died. “Her attempt to avoid taking responsibility for the conduct of the police at Marikana by denying that she took the decision [to implement the tactical option] has tainted her evidence to the extent that her credibility is in serious doubt," reads the report. But Phiyega has petitioned the high court to review the report. Her attorney commented that the report’s interpretation of the law and also the roles of the national and provincial commissioners in the Marikana matter, were problematic. Read this report by Khulekani Magubane in full at BusinessLive. Read too, ‘Phiyega must be sacked’, at The New Age. And also, 'Phiyega should have foreseen catastrophic consequences of Marikana', at EWN Parliament to start processing Claassen report on Phiyega in March News24 reports that Parliament's portfolio committee on police will only process the report into suspended national commissioner Riah Phiyega's fitness to hold office in March, it decided at a meeting on Thursday. This was because President Jacob Zuma was still going through the report, and also due to a review application brought by Phiyega on the contents of the report. Committee chairperson Francois Beukman said the committee would have to await the outcome of the court case. The report, compiled by Judge Neels Claassen, states that Phiyega is not fit to hold office and recommends that she should be dismissed. Phiyega was suspended with full pay in October 2015. Read this report by Thulani Gqirana in full at News24
The cost of mechanisation is a huge effect on employment Stafford Thomas writes that the World Economic Forum ranks SA as the second-most difficult country to operate in when it comes to labour relations, which drives an ineluctable move to mechanise in an economy suffering chronic unemployment. Agriculture presents a particularly bleak picture. “Over the past 20 years half a million jobs have been lost in [the sector],” says Jim Rankin, secretary of the SA Agricultural Machinery Association. The jobs are being done by machines. Mechanisation has been especially aggressive in maize and wheat farming and the pace of mechanisation is not slowing. Deciduous fruit remains the only major agricultural sector still largely dependent on labour. When it comes to job shedding the mining industry ranks a close second to agriculture, with mechanisation in part to blame. Manufacturing has not suffered the same huge job losses, but is far from a cheering picture. The perspective of Pioneer Food Group CEO Phil Roux is telling: “Though mechanisation and automation are expensive, the return on investment is always good.” Read this article in full at Financial Mail Other internet posting(s) in this news category
DTI task team hard at work amid poultry industry job losses Engineering News reports that the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI’s) action task team is in the process of identifying several interventions to resolve the current crisis surrounding chicken dumping in SA’s poultry market. Around 1,350 jobs were lost recently at the RCL Foods chicken plant, in Hammarsdale, KwaZulu-Natal. The DTI is seeking out measures to boost trade, competitiveness, value-addition and technology upgrades; provide export support, industrial finance and incentives; and promote growth and transformation of the industry. Meantime, the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) and the SA Poultry Association this week delivered a memorandum of protest to the European Union’s (EU’s) offices in Pretoria over the claimed dumping of chicken in SA. The local chicken industry also hit back at comments by EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström that the “real problem” in the SA chicken industry was not EU imports but structural problems affecting its competitiveness, saying the local industry was “modern, efficient and well able to compete effectively against fair competition.” Read this report in full at Engineering News. Read too, The real reason chicken farmers are struggling, and it’s not about imports, at BusinessLive Joburg mayor shuts Jozi@work jobs initiative‚ saying it enriched the ANC few ANA reports that Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba on Thursday cancelled the City’s R1-billion co-production programme Jozi@Work, which was spearheaded by the previous administration, saying it was littered with patronage. Jozi@Work, a programme designed to provide short-term work opportunities by allowing communities to partner with the city in the delivery of municipal services in their neighbourhoods, was launched in September 2014. Mashaba said he had been struck by how communities despised the unfairness of the city’s “vanity projects”. He claimed that communities had been complaining that the work opportunities were handed out on the basis of membership of the previous governing party. But the ANC quickly hit out‚ saying: "Today is a sad day for over 8‚000 workers and 112 cooperatives/local companies in Johannesburg." The ANC claimed that their programme "created thousands of jobs for the unemployed residents of Johannesburg". Read this report in full at The Citizen. See too, Mayor Mashaba shuts Jozi@work‚ says it was enriching ANC few, at TimesLive
Solidarity quizzes Vodacom on nature of BEE deal Business Report writes that trade union Solidarity wants clarity on Vodacom’s reported plans to implement a R15 billion empowerment deal. The union noted in a statement on Wednesday that Vodacom apparently wanted to buy back its shares in the Public Investment Corporation to offer them exclusively to black shareholders by means of a special company. In 2008, Vodacom already concluded a major BEE deal amounting to R7,5 billion. YeboYethu, a special company that owns Vodacom SA shares for the exclusive benefit of black individuals and companies, forms part of that deal. According to Solidarity’s Johan Kruger, such schemes would appear to exclude people who were not classified as black from certain BEE share schemes, and such deals could be attendant on the unequal allocation of shares in employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) if done according to race. “If these rumours are true Solidarity, will not hesitate to take further action and to launch mobilisation campaigns against the deals,” Kruger said. Read this report in full at Business Report. Read Solidarity’s press statement at Solidarity online
OneLogix cuts 50 jobs due to downturn in new vehicle sales Business Report writes that OneLogix, the listed niche logistics provider, has had to retrench about 50 employees in its auto logistics businesses because of the downturn in new vehicle sales. The retrenchments were in the group’s Vehicle Delivery Services (VDS) and Commercial Vehicle Delivery Services (CVDS) businesses and involved employees right across the spectrum, from top management down to junior staff. The retrenchment costs resulted in the group incurring a once-off charge of R4.4million in the six months to November. OneLogix CE Ian Lourens on Thursday said the “noose had tightened for three and a half years” and that he was surprised the group could hold out for so long. The group has a workforce of about 2,300. Read this report by Roy Cokayne in full at Business Report
Wits University fires 'senior staff member' over sexual misconduct TMG Digital reports that the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) has confirmed that a senior staff member has been dismissed‚ after he was found guilty of sexual misconduct. Three female colleagues laid complaints of sexual harassment with the university's Gender Equity Office late last year. An independent investigation found the man guilty in respect of the three complainants and concluded the misconduct warranted dismissal. The man was notified accordingly and dismissed on Wednesday. EWN reported that the three women accused the senior staff member‚ a professor‚ of using his position and influence for sexual gain‚ allegedly promising to assist them in furthering their careers. Read this report by Roxanne Henderson in full at BusinessLive
|
Get South African labour news reports at SA Labour News