Today's Labour News

newsThis 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.

news shutterstockIn our Thursday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of South African
labour-related reports.


CITY POWER ‘STRIKE’

No crisis here, says City Power about talk of subcontractors downing tools

TimesLIVE reports that according to City Power, there is no “crisis” within the entity and its contractors are not downing tools but working as usual. The City of Johannesburg entity was responding to a letter by the City Power Subcontractors Association (CPSA), which threatened to down tools over grievances.   City Power’s spokesperson Isaac Mangena said they did not recognise any association of subcontractors as they did not have a working relationship with them. “We have a direct working relationship with the [main] contractors.   City Power does not pay subcontractors directly. We pay contractors,” he advised. Mangena added: “We don't know about the downing of tools. Our 65 contractors are hard at work responding to outages as normal, working alongside our more than 300 technicians and operators within the City Power systems. From our service delivery centres it is business as usual. We heard this shutdown will be on Monday but we don't have any instruction or sign of people not working.” Mangena indicated that City Power had embarked on a rigorous screening of invoices before paying contractors and it suspected that this process might have triggered some people to write "these kinds of letters" because the entity had “closed the taps on some of the corrupt activities done with external contractors”.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Phathu Luvhengo at SowetanLive


OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY

Mbhazima Shilowa slams size of Joburg mayor’s security detail, saying ‘no minister has 10 bodyguards’

The Citizen reports that former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa has lashed out at the mayor of Johannesburg, Kabelo Gwamanda, for his surprisingly massive security detail. Earlier this week reports emerged that Gwamanda had been afforded security comprising officers from the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) and different luxury cars such as a BMW, Lexus and Toyota. The revelations came days after the Joburg Council approved a new policy that would see councillors receiving VIP protection based on a risk assessment. “This is insane. No Premier, Minister or MEC has 10 bodyguards, let alone the number of cars for the Joburg Mayor, Speaker or MMCs,” Shilowa pointed out. He called on Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi to intervene. The DA’s Belinda Kayser-Echezeonjoku said it was problematic for the mayor, MMCs and other officials to have extra security because there was no evidence of risk assessments having been done. The Speaker in the Joburg Council, Margret Arnolds, indicated that there were concerns over the safety of councillors since the attack on the Whip of Council Sthembiso Zungu. He was shot during a Rand Water event in the south of Johannesburg earlier this year.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Itumeleng Mafisa at The Citizen


MINING

Illegal mining suspect who tried to bribe and then assaulted police officer arrested in Sabie

TimesLIVE reports that on Tuesday, police arrested a Zimbabwean man who was caught in Sabie with equipment suspected of being used for illegal mining. The man was arrested during a Vala Umgodi operation following suspicions of illegal mining activities in the area. His vehicle was loaded with two generators and a jackhammer. After his vehicle was stopped and searched, the man, 34, allegedly tried to bribe police officers and when he realised that was not working, he allegedly assaulted a police officer in an attempt to evade arrest.   The suspect is set to appear in the Sabie Magistrate's Court on Thursday where he will face charges of bribery, assault of a police official and resisting arrest.

Read the original of the short report in the above regard at TimesLIVE

Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining

  • Murray & Roberts Cementation showcases simulated mine training facility, at Engineering News

Other general posting(s) relating to mining

  • Implats CEO has ‘winner’s remorse’ after buying RBPlat, at Miningmx
  • Some recovery in PGMs prices on horizon for 2025, at BusinessLive
  • Coal group MC Mining looks set to delist as board gives reclutant nod to Goldway takeover offer, at Fin24


LABOUR AND POLITICS

Matjhabeng mayor ordered municipal workers to pay for ANC election gala dinner, 'or else...'

City Press reports that employees in the troubled Matjhabeng Local Municipality in the Free State were allegedly ordered to pay between R1,000 and R10,000 towards the hosting of an ANC gala dinner to raise funds for elections. The order was allegedly issued by executive mayor Thanduxolo Khalipha on Thursday last week, with the senior management's alleged contribution set at R10,000 each, while their junior counterparts and other workers were required to pay R1,000 each. According to sources, the workers were ordered to pay the money by noon on Friday or face the consequences. An official claimed: “Senior management was called by the mayor to a meeting on Thursday, demanding money for the ANC gala dinner. The management was told to pass the message to all employees to pay R1,000, and senior management was told to pay R10,000 each. The mayor said the ANC did not have money to campaign for elections and made it clear that everyone must pay or else they will see what's coming to them.” The official, who did not pay, said it was unclear if anyone had paid.   But, the gala dinner, which was supposed to have been held on Saturday, did not happen, indicating that Khalipha could not raise the funds. Another official, who also did not pay, said they were now waiting to see what would happen to them, as they had been told there would be consequences for those who did not pay. SA Municipal Workers’ Union Free State provincial secretary Tiisetso Mahlatsi said he could not confirm nor deny if such an instruction was issued to any of their members.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sipho Mabena at City Press (subscriber access only)

Rise Mzansi calls for skills training for the unemployed

SABC News reports that the leader of Rise Mzansi, Songezo Zibi, says the solution to alleviate the unemployment rate and grow the economy is offering people training opportunities that will enable them to acquire the necessary skills. He was speaking at the Cape Town Press Club, where he was unpacking his party’s ongoing election campaign ahead of the national general elections next month. He said good leadership, implementation and effective governance remained the best ways to create jobs. He indicated: “If you don’t have a skill, it’s incredibly difficult to get anything other than a piece job. So, that’s why we talk about training opportunities for people with either no matric or with matric so that they have the basics for looking for a job, otherwise it’s hopeless. I think I’ve given you our integrated approach to helping the economy grow.”   According to Zibi, it will take a long time to shift people’s mindset to believe in a new idea of progressive politics. He said his party would strive to change how people perceive politics.

Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Andile Mbanjwa at SABC News


FAILED BUSINESS RESCUE

Ellies shutting down, but operating entities to continue in business rescue and jobs could be saved

BL Premium reports that after trading for 45 years, Ellies Holdings is shutting down after a failed campaign to win over the local renewable energy market. But, the operating entities, in essence the Ellies brand, will continue in business rescue until a business rescue plan is released in early May. There is apparently interest from potential bidders, who could carry on the brand and also help to keep staff employed. In January, the company, which imports, manufactures and sells equipment such as aerials and power trolleys and undertakes solar installations, filed for business rescue. Attempts to save the business appear to have come to nothing with the business rescue practitioner having concluded that “there is no reasonable prospect of the company being rescued.” The company announced on Wednesday that it would be going into liquidation. The writing had been on the wall for some time. This week alone saw four directors step down from the Ellies board, leaving only chair Timothy Fearnhead and CEO Shaun Prithivirajh. Two other directors, including former CFO Guy Moretti, quit a month earlier.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mudiwa Gavaza at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, Electronics group Ellies headed for liquidation, at Fin24


TRAFFIC WARDEN APPOINTMENTS

Hillbrow and Sunnyside to be targeted by 2,500 military veterans becoming traffic wardens in Gauteng

The Citizen reports that Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has called the 2,500 military veterans who are joining the province’s traffic wardens, “the generation that will end lawlessness in our province”.   He was addressing a large crowd of those recruits at a packed Grace Bible Church in Soweto on Wednesday.   “We’ve convened you to send you to go and defend our freedom for the second time. We’ve convened you to say ‘we can’t surrender our country and our province to criminals … we can’t allow criminals to do as they wish’,” the premier told those present. He said he did not want to be accused of not training the veterans properly, so they would be retrained. “Commanders, you are going back to school … We don’t want accusations that you do not have the necessary paperwork … We want you to be properly trained. We want you to have the necessary power to ensure that we defend what we need to defend.” Lesufi said the wardens must target the Hillbrow and Sunnyside areas in Johannesburg and Pretoria, respectively. “We must send a strong message to [two areas] – and I trust you – Hillbrow, Sunnyside here we come,” he stated.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicholas Zaal at The Citizen


UNEMPLOYED DOCTORS

Hope for unemployed KZN doctors as 120 job posts advertised following sit-in at provincial health offices

IOL News reports that a week after unemployed doctors staged a sit-in at the headquarters in Pietermaritzburg of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health (DOH), an agreement has been reached. The DOH said on Tuesday that 120 doctors’ posts had already been advertised, with the recruitment process expected to be wrapped up by the end of April. The doctors had reportedly fulfilled their community service obligations and had been waiting for appointments. “After lengthy deliberations, a meeting involving Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane, head of department Sandile Tshabalala and a group of unemployed doctors, it was resolved that 120 posts will be advertised,” the DOH reported. The doctors had apparently been staging a sit-in in front of the department’s provincial headquarters since last week, saying they would not leave until their demands of immediate employment were met. “After a consultation with the National Department of Health, the department will now able to advertise 120 posts and National Department have agreed to avail resources to enable the filling of the posts.” the department indicated. The doctors were advised that the department would be advertising posts, and they were encouraged to apply once that process ensued.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jolene Marriah-Maharaj at IOL News


NO INQUIRY INTO PAY INCREASE

Mapisa-Nqakula off hook in parliamentary investigation into Secretary to Parliament’s exorbitant salary increase

IOL News reports that former National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is off the hook after the Powers and Privileges Committee dropped an investigation against her for greatly inflating the salary of the Secretary to Parliament, Xolile George. The salary of George was pushed up from R2.6 million to more than R4.4m a year in 2022. That led to the official opposition filing a complaint with the committee to investigate Mapisa-Nqakula. But Parliament’s legal adviser Andile Tetyana told members of the committee on Wednesday that as Mapisa-Nqakula had resigned as both speaker and MP, the committee had no jurisdiction to investigate her. Acting chairperson of the committee, Mankentsi Tlhape, said they should agree that the matter was now moot and the investigation should be dropped. ANC deputy chief whip Doris Dlakude said she agreed with the legal advice tabled that the committee did not have powers to probe matters outside of the national legislature. DA deputy chief whip Annelie Lotriet said parliament had taken a decision to appoint George on wrong and incomplete information. She said they could not accept the fact that the matter was now moot because Mapisa-Nqakula had resigned.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siyabonga Mkhwanazi at IOL News. Read too, Committee won’t pursue Mapisa-Nqakula over parly boss’s salary hike, at Sunday Times Daily (subscriber access only)


TOUGHER ASSAULT SANCTIONS

SCA rules tougher sanctions must apply to teachers for assaulting learners

GroundUp reports that the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has set aside the sanctions imposed by the SA Council for Educators (SACE) on two teachers who assaulted learners, and directed that it reconsider its decisions in line with the best interest of learners. The court said the SACE failed to act in terms of its constitutional obligations, and it must consider appropriate sanctions to ensure that the teachers were rehabilitated in the use of non-violent disciplinary measures. At the heart of the case are two separate incidents at different schools. In the first, a seven-year-old boy was hospitalised after he was hit on the head with a PVC pipe by his teacher in 2015.   Another child was also assaulted.   In the second incident, a ten-year-old girl was left bleeding from her ears after she was slapped and beaten by her teacher in 2019. The teachers received identical sanctions, despite the circumstances and the severity of the assaults not being comparable. Both were fined R15,000 payable over a period of 12 months, of which R5,000 was suspended. Their removal from the roll of educators was wholly suspended for ten years.   The SCA judge said the decisions taken by SACE in relation to the incidents did not comply with numerous provisions of Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA). The decisions were procedurally unfair as the children and their parents were not meaningfully heard. The decisions were also taken without consideration of the constitutional or legislative imperatives relating to the best interests of the child.   The SCA sent the matter back to SACE “to consider the imposition of corrective rehabilitative sanctions, like anger management”.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tania Broughton at GroundUp

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

  • Oos-Kaapse onderwyser geskors wat glo lyfstraf toedien, by Maroela Media


MSUNDUZI SUSPENSION CHALLENGED

Suspended municipal manager takes Msunduzi to the Labour Court

The Witness reports that the suspended Msunduzi municipal manager Lulamile Mapholoba has taken the city to the Labour Court, seeking an interdict stopping the City from going ahead with the suspension.   In his motion at the Labour Court, Mapholoba has also sought to interdict Msunduzi Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla, ANC Moses Mabhida regional secretary Samora Ndlovu and the City from taking action against him, including disciplinary action for the purposes of influencing or interfering with the performance of his duties as accounting officer. Other respondents in the matter are ministerial representative Martin Sithole and acting city manager Sabelo Hlela. Mapholoba’s application was accompanied by affidavits from Ross Strachan and Rienus Niemand, DA and ACDP councillors in the Msunduzi executive committee, who claimed that there was no proper compliance with the disciplinary regulations in Mapholoba’s suspension. In his own submission at the Labour Court, Mapholoba has sought to interdict the three respondents from subjecting him to an occupational detriment for reasons related to any report or disclosures that he has made to the municipal council or to any competent authority. The motion is expected to be heard on 30 April.   Mapholoba was suspended on 29 February during a council meeting, which he was requested to leave. At the time, the manner in which the matter was handled irked the opposition parties, which questioned the abrupt action without proper processes having been followed.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Chris Ndaliso at The Witness

Read too, City manager’s suspension ruined Msunduzi’s management capacity, at The Witness


NSFAS PAYMENT WOES

Northdale campus of uMgungundlovu TVET college shut down over NSFAS payment problems

The Witness reports that the uMgungundlovu TVET College’s Northdale campus was shut down on Tuesday following student protests over the non-payment of National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) allowances. SRC member Sphelele Ntombela said classes would be shut down until their issues are resolved. “We met with the school management yesterday and they told us that they are still compiling the second list of all the NSFAS beneficiaries. They told us that getting this list will take them approximately six days. We, as the SRC, decided to completely shut down the school for those six days until this matter is resolved,” he indicated. According to Ntombela, the payment system that the institution used, did not work properly and that it needed to go back to paying their allowances directly into their accounts. “This payment system was introduced to us late last year. Since then, we have not had the best experience with it. We just want to work with the institution in making sure that students get what they need and this Norraco system needs to be removed,” said Ntombela.   uMgungundlovu TVET principal, Ntombi Ntshangase meanwhile encouraged students to attend classes, saying:   “We are trying to help resolve the issue but there is only so much we can do as a school. This issue is mainly between NSFAS and the students because all payments are made directly to students and not via the school”

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Zama Myeza at The Witness. Read too, Student unrest continues to mount as NSFAS remains mum on delayed payments, at The Star. And also, Student fund’s payment system under scrutiny again, at Mail & Guardian


ALLEGED BURSARY FRAUD

Former KPMG bursary specialist accused of fraud has six companies, two of which have been deregistered

SowetanLive reports that arrested former bursaries specialist at KPMG, Fidelis Moema, is a director of six companies, two of which have been deregistered for noncompliance. A company search showed that Moema, 32, is an active director of Spaceman Media based in Bryanston (Sandton), Arebeseng Triple M based at The Willows (Tshwane) and The Native Brothers, also located in Tshwane, while he is also running Restoration Business Forum from Steyn City in Johannesburg. However, his two other companies – Moema and Associates in Tshwane, and New Harvest Minerals and Energy in Kempton Park – were deregistered in January this year for failure to submit annual returns. Moema was arrested last week for R16.6m fraud and money laundering committed between 2021 and 2022 when he was still employed by KMPG. Moema allegedly misdirected funds meant for bursary recipients and instead of paying university fees on behalf of students, he would allegedly pay the money into the bank accounts belonging to friends and individuals who owned companies. The money would then be paid back into his personal bank account. The Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court on Tuesday postponed his formal bail hearing to next week. KPMG dismissed Moema in November 2022 after a disciplinary process related to noncompliance with the firm’s policies. In a statement on Friday, KPMG said it was only after his dismissal that the firm identified potential fraud committed by Moema and immediately initiated an internal forensic investigation.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jeanette Chabalala at SowetanLive


OTHER REPORTS OF INTEREST

Werkgewers in Suid-Afrika wil dié poste vul, by Maroela Media

Manager, three foreign nationals arrested in joint blitz operation, at SowetanLive

Disciplinary hearings against Tshwane officials implicated in irregular Rooiwal tender concluded, at News24

Sheriff attaches five Correctional Services vehicles worth over R1.3m to pay unfairly treated ex-employee, at The Citizen (subscriber access only)

Weermaghoof se amptelike woning al 28 maande leeg, by Maroela Media

 


Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page