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 roundup of weekend news, see
summaries of our selection of South African
labour-related stories that appeared since
Friday, 25 June 2021.
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Ramaphosa moves SA to level 4 lockdown as Covid-19 infections surge BusinessLive reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday night announced tightening of Covid-19 restrictions for 14 days from Monday as current containment measures were not sufficient to prevent a rise in infections. Under the adjusted level 4 measures he announced, all gatherings will be prohibited, there will be a curfew from 9pm to 4am and the sale of alcohol will be banned. Public school holidays will be brought forward to Wednesday this week and travel to and from Gauteng, the epicentre of the third wave, will be limited to work and commercial purposes only. Restaurants and other eateries will only be permitted to sell food for takeaway or delivery. Visits to old age homes, care facilities and other “congregant settings” will be restricted. Ramaphosa said the Delta variant, first discovered in India, which was spreading across SA, was much more contagious and caused more severe symptoms than the previous variant of the coronavirus in SA. While the ANC welcomed Ramaphosa’s announcement, opposition parties were scathing. DA leader John Steenhuisen said Ramaphosa was being fundamentally dishonest about vaccines. EFF spokesperson Vuyani Pambo said: “The lockdown regulations are not helping us, the answer is not lockdown. We should be vaccinating our people.” Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald commented: “If the government had responded timeously to ensure that we have vaccines, we wouldn’t be in this situation. We are now paying the price because they didn’t do their job.” IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa stated: “The president places heavy resilience on vaccination, but it’s moving at a snail’s pace.” Since beginning with health workers and the elderly, SA has vaccinated over 2.68-million people so far. The education sector is also on track to finalise its inoculations within 10 days. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at BusinessLive. Read too, Lockdown: Ramaphosa places the country under alert Level 4, at News24. And also, Vlak 4, alkoholverbod aangekondig, at Maroela Media At least 185,000 teachers and other education staff vaccinated to date News24 reports that at least 185,000 teachers and other education staff have been vaccinated, with 30,000 jabbed in Limpopo on Friday and Saturday. The vaccination of teachers commenced last week, with 582,000 persons targeted by 8 July. "The [Limpopo] province has managed to administer the vaccine to 15,000 people in two successive days. At this rate, Limpopo needs one more day to complete vaccinating everybody on the list," the Department of Basic Education (DBE) said on Sunday. Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga will be in the Free State on Monday to encourage people to be vaccinated. She will be joined by the provincial education MEC, Tate Makgoe, on visits to schools. The minister will proceed to the Northern Cape on Tuesday and to the Eastern Cape on Thursday. The visits are aimed at encouraging more people to get the vaccine. The DBE said it was satisfied with the turnout and remained hopeful the target would be met as scheduled. Provinces will continue with the vaccine rollout from Monday to Friday. Read the original of the report in the above regard compiled by Getrude Makhafola at News24 Delays in Eastern Cape with teacher vaccinations as SGB and private school teachers left behind News24 reports that the Eastern Cape vaccination programme, focusing on employees in the education sector, has been hit by delays that have seen more than 7,000 non-government employees including teachers being left behind. The provincial health department said it had vaccinated 16,600 members of the "education family" since the start of the campaign on Wednesday last week. It indicated that the group left behind were workers appointed by School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and independent schools. The department said it could not vaccinate that group until they had been verified and captured onto the Electronic Vaccination Data System. Health department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo explained that unlike public schools employees, the group was not in the government payment system known as Persal, making it difficult to verify them. Kupelo said the provincial education department was delaying the process and must send a list of all names of the people hired by SGBs and private schools to the Department of Basic Education (DBE). “National DBE will send these to National Department of Health for uploading on Electronic Vaccination Data System. Eastern Cape department of health will then be able to vaccinate these officials,” he stated. The province has received 45,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in order to roll out the education sector vaccination programme. It has a target of vaccinating 76,825 employees within two weeks. The DBE also assured the sector that there would be enough vaccines doses for everybody in the basic education sector as initially announced. It urged all educators and staff to follow the schedules in each district to ensure a smooth rollout of the programme. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Malibongwe Dayimani at News24 Over-50s can register for Covid-19 vaccine from 1 July BL Premium reports that registration of those aged between 50 and 59 years for the Covid-19 vaccination will begin on 1 July, with the possibility of registration for the over 40s beginning in August if there are adequate supplies of vaccines. This was advised by acting minister of health, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, at a media briefing on Friday. Also targeted for early July is the vaccination of some of the state’s essential workers such as staff in the police, correctional services, defence, department of justice, customs and excise and the SA Social Security Agency, where planning is well advanced. Currently over 60s are being vaccinated with about 2.5-million of the 3.75-million registered having been vaccinated so far. Vaccinations in the education sector began last week with 50,000 being vaccinated per day. The minister said if that rate was maintained, the vaccination of the sector would be completed in the next 10 days. The total number of vaccinations per day over the past two days has exceeded 100,000 including educators against a target set by president Cyril Ramaphosa of 300,000 per day. Kubayi-Ngubane noted that demand for vaccines by the over-60s was low and this was probably due to a high level of vaccine hesitancy, the inaccessibility of vaccine sites for some and the fact that mastering the technology required for registration might be a challenge for some. The official in the department responsible for the vaccination programme, Nicholas Crisp, noted that only 50% of the over-60s cohort had registered for the vaccination, but the vaccination of the education sector had gone “remarkably well”. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor at BusinessLive (paywall access only). Read too, Covid-19: Vaccine rollout to expand to people over 50-years-old and public servants, at News24 Sars to close all tax branches for six weeks due to Covid-19 surge The Citizen reports that the SA Revenue Service (Sars) announced last week that all its tax branches will close temporarily from 1 July. It was planning resume physical branch visits on 16 August 2021, while reviewing this continuously. Branch filing will therefore not start on 1 July and taxpayers must not go to Sars branches. However, the temporary closure of the tax branches will not affect the start of the filing season for individuals who traditionally file via eFiling or the SARS MobiApp. According to Sars, it remains an essential service in terms of the Disaster Management Act. A spokesperson said: “We have always stressed the importance of balancing the continuity of this service with the risk of transmission. With rising case numbers and the onset of the third wave of the pandemic, we have decided to close our tax branches temporarily for physical visits because our digital platforms allow taxpayers to continue to fulfil their obligations online, as demonstrated during the peak of the second wave.” All customs ports of entry will be open for frontline customs operations, but no face-to-face client engagement other than that required for clearance and inspection will be allowed. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ina Opperman at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Knysna security guard killed during armed robbery at supermarket Algoa FM reports that a security guard was killed during an armed robbery in Knysna at the weekend. Police spokesperson Colonel Brenda Muridili reported that the incident happened in the town's center on Saturday morning. She said a preliminary investigation indicated that two security guards were collecting cash from a supermarket at the Woodmill Lane Shopping Centre. The driver was waiting inside their vehicle when he heard a noise. He got out of the vehicle, when he saw two men fleeing with the cash and found his fatally wounded partner. No arrests have yet been made. Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Deon Blume at Algoa FM. See too, Wag sterf tydens transitoroof by Knysna-supermark, at Maroela Media Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Ignoring union demands, Eskom to increase salaries by 1.5% from 1 July Reuters reports that power utility Eskom indicated on Friday that it would be implementing a 1.5% salary increase from 1 July and adjust some employee benefits, thereby defying union demands for a far larger hike and their opposition to the adjustments. Wage talks between the unions and Eskom ended earlier in June without agreement and arbitration has yet to commence. Eskom’s offer in the talks was dependent on savings from benefits, including overtime and travel, where the state-owned enterprise said it had found “excesses”. Unions rejected the offer after demanding increases of between 9.5% and 15%. Eskom said in Friday’s statement that its salary position would allow it to protect jobs and manage risks to its sustainability. “The generation, distribution and transmission of electricity are classified as essential services. Eskom employees are therefore legally prohibited from participation in unlawful industrial action,” it pointed out. As of Friday, Eskom’s three unions, namely the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and Solidarity, had not yet responded to the latest development. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Alexander Winning at BusinessLive NUM to consider interdicting Eskom’s implementation of 1.5% wage offer BL Premium reports that according to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Eskom’s unilateral decision to implement a 1.5% wage increase for non-managerial employees at the power utility was premature and unlawful. The NUM, which is the majority union at the state-owned enterprise, said it was contemplating interdicting implementation of the increase. The power utility informed its three recognised unions, namely the NUM, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and Solidarity, on Thursday of its decision to implement the wage increase on 1 July. This followed the collapse of talks at the central bargaining council earlier in June. After the collapse, Eskom declared a dispute and the unions referred the matter to the CCMA for arbitration. Eskom employees are prevented from striking because they provide an essential service, so arbitration is the only recourse to solve the wage dispute. In a statement on Friday, the utility said it would also adjust various benefits such as payments for overtime, travel benefits and transfer benefits, which would enable it to “better protect jobs at Eskom, address and manage the risk to the organisation’s sustainability”. As the date for the arbitration has not yet been set, Eskom’s unilateral decision was “premature,” and “unlawful”, according to the NUM’s Khangela Baloyi. Numsa’s Vuyo Bikitsha, said they were considering taking legal action against Eskom because the utility had “no powers to change service conditions and it can’t be sidestepped”. Solidarity’s Helgard Cronjé said the wage offer by Eskom was dependent on employees accepting changes to basic conditions of employment, so it “is thus not an offer because Eskom is simply offering the money they are taking back from these employees to them.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at BusinessLive (paywall access only). Read too, Labour union slams Eskom over 1.5% pay increase, at Moneyweb
SA mining industry steps up its Covid-19 vaccination rollout BL Premium reports that as the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic sweeps across SA, a third of SA’s mining industry medical sites are registered to administer vaccines. Of the 58 mining sites that have applied to the national department of health to conduct vaccinations, 21 have received their permits. Impala Platinum (Implats), the first company to receive approval and start vaccinations in May, along with Thungela Resources (the recently listed coal business spun out of Anglo American), Harmony Gold, Sibanye-Stillwater and Sasol are all administering the vaccine to their employees in line with government regulations. Harmony and Sibanye started giving the vaccines late last week. The industry has vaccinated 3,397 people to date, the majority of those at Implats. So far, coronavirus deaths in mining stands at 441 of 512,000 employees at 385 mines. The accreditation of sites has been a time-consuming, highly regulated process. One of the big breakthroughs, not only for mines but all workplaces, is the facility to mass register employees on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS). Companies can secure the consent and details of their employees and can do a bulk registration on the system. Being a voluntary process, it is then up to individuals whether they will receive the vaccination. The mining industry, drawing on its experience in treating HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and other illnesses in the sector, hopes to achieve a 90% rate of vaccination. The industry has offered to provide its healthcare facilities and staff to vaccinate more people than just employees and contractors. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Allan Seccombe at BusinessLive (paywall access only). Read too, Mining healthcare sites gear up to increase vaccine rollouts, at Mining Weekly Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
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SA companies resort to importing critical skills as local pool can’t plug hole City Press reports that about 97% of listed and multinational companies in SA say engineers are indispensable to their business operations and often have to be recruited abroad. Yet government’s draft list of critical skills now contains only half as many engineering professions as it did six years ago. Marisa Jacobs of work visa consultancy Xpatweb, which conducted a recent survey, says that chemical and electrical engineers, for example, are excluded from the department of home affairs’ new draft list. The list was published in February after being updated for the first time since 2014. Foreigners with skills on this list who want to come to work in SA can get a work visa much faster than those who are not. If your skill isn’t on the list, you may wait for up to six months longer for a work visa, says Jacobs. The list contains skills that are important for the country’s strategic priorities, which are acute or may be in short supply in the future. It also contains skills that take a long time to develop. Jacobs said the latest survey, which involved 220 respondents, showed that engineers, scientists, tradespeople (especially electricians), specialists in healthcare and accounting, as well as senior financial managers were among the positions that businesses in SA struggled the most to fill. More than 80% of respondents were looking for engineers with three or more years of work experience, while 35% needed engineers who have an honours degree. But on the new draft critical skills list, there are 22 fewer occupations in the category for engineers than there were on the 2014 list. Encouraging is the inclusion of eight new professions or skills in the accounting sector Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Riana De Lange at City Press (paywall access only) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
White males still rule roost in workplace, employment equity report shows BL Premium reports that according to Department of Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi, drastic action is needed to ensure the transformation of the workplace as white males still occupy top and senior management positions. At a virtual launch on Friday of the Commission for Employment Equity’s (CEE’s) 2020/2021 report, Nxesi said: “It is clear that we remain a very unequal society in the upper echelons of our economy. This is unacceptable. This report is a wake-up call to [the] government. It’s evident that self-regulation by employers to achieve the objectives of this [employment equity] act has not worked. More aggressive strategies are required to reach its intended purpose, including reviewing the legislation.” The Employment Equity Amendment Bill of 2020, which is aimed at empowering Nxesi to introduce sector-specific employment equity targets, is before the National Assembly. “If we don’t compel them, they are not going to move. If we come up with this amendment we are talking about, we are going to compel them. We must not be apologetic about that,” the minister said. The report shows that in 2020 whites occupied 64.7% of top management positions, a slight drop from the 65.6% recorded in 2019, while black lagged at 15.8%, up from 15.2% of the previous year, with Indians at 10.6% (10.3% in 2019), and coloureds at 5.7% (5.6% in 2019). White males held most of the top management positions, accounting for 51.6% last year. Senior management positions were also dominated by whites at 52.5%, followed by blacks at 24.7%, Indians 11.6%, coloureds 8% and foreign nationals at 3.1%. Blacks fared the best at middle-management level where they accounted for 46.7% of positions, followed by whites at 32.1%, coloureds at 9.7%, Indians at 9.1% and foreign nationals at 2.4%. Self-regulation by employers has clearly not worked, CEE chair Tabea Kabinde said at the launch. She argued that the amendment bill would be a game changer, as would be the issuing of compliance certificates. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (paywall access only). Read too, Employment equity report shows slow progress of transformation, at Engineering News. And also, ’50 years to achieve real workplace transformation’, on page 4 of Saturday Star of 26 June 2021
Mango fails to pay June staff salaries on time, hopes money will be available before month-end Saturday Citizen reports that low-cost airline Mango did not pay staff salaries on Friday, which was the designated payday for the month of June. According to a leaked internal e-mail, chief executive William Ndlovu warned that staff payments were uncertain, but said he hoped that there would be money before month-end. He wrote: “We have applied to SAA (SA Airways) for assistance. At this point we are not sure when our application will be approved by both SAA and the DPE (Department of Public Enterprises) and the funds disbursed to Mango.” Mango presently employs 749 staff and is rumoured to be about R2.5 billion in debt. Jordan Butler of the Mango Pilots Association was fuming, but said they would go to work regardless and try to keep Mango going. The airline said it did not anticipate any service disruptions. Last week, Mango unions requested an urgent meeting with DPE Minister Pravin Gordhan, but by Saturday had not received a response. The National Transport Movement has filed a mutual dispute at the CCMA and a hearing was scheduled for Friday. Aviation analyst Joachim Vermooten commented: “Mango has been under financial distress for some time. Unfortunately, the national budget has not made provision for challenges faced by the SAA subsidiary and while the department of public enterprises has since tried to resolve this, it has not happened.” Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Hein Kaiser on page 7 of Saturday Citizen of 26 June 2021 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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