Today's Labour News
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.
Web links to selected labour news reports posted on 26 August 2016
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Our links page provides references to South African labour news reports we have come across on the Internet on Friday, 26 August 2016
Why SA needs to improve job prospects for youth
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News24Wire reports that South Africa won’t realise its demographic benefit if the job prospects for younger working-age people don’t improve, statistician general Pali Lehohla said on Thursday.
Journalists chronicle of 100 years of abuse in the SA gold mining industry
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The Citizen reports that driven by a desire to expose corruption and exploitation in the mining sector, two seasoned South African journalists spent almost a year researching and chronicling the lives of former mineworkers.
Experts warn of sharp medical aid premiums hikes next year
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EWN reports that experts have that warned that medical aid premiums are due for double-digit increases and further benefit cuts could be a reality next year.
AB InBev reportedly planning 5,500 job cuts after acquiring SABMiller
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Bloomberg reports that Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) expects to cut about 3% of its enlarged workforce in the three years after its takeover of SABMiller.
Western Cape to introduce legislation to bring back school inspectors
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Cape Argus reports that Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer is proposing sweeping changes to the provincial school education act.
No purging of municipal staff, says new Ekurhuleni mayor
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News24 reports that incoming Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina does not plan to get rid of municipal staff who served under his predecessor Mondli Gungubele.
‘Many small businesses pay Seta levies with no prospect of obtaining benefits’
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BDLive reports that the Davis Tax Committee says SA’s skills development framework needs to be overhauled because it places a financial and administrative burden on the small business sector. By contrast, large enterprises enjoy an advantage.
Mashaba writes to Joburg city employees to say he won’t tolerate corruption
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The Citizen reports that a terse letter penned by new Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba a day after his election addressed to the metro’s employees has outlined his strict stance on corruption.
CWU takes MTN to court to interdict call centre outsourcing
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Fin24 reports that the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has applied for a court interdict against MTN over the cellular operator’s decision to outsource part of its call centre facility.
Telkom increases salaries despite failed talks with CWU
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MyBroadband reports that Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko has informed staff that dispute resolution talks between the telecoms company and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) at the CCMA have failed.
Cosatu ‘open’ to early ANC leadership contest
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The Citizen reports that labour federation Cosatu will reportedly not shut down calls for the African National Congress (ANC) to hold an early leadership challenge and wants deliberations to start soon.
Ramaphosa urged by Cosatu to intervene to get social security plan released
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Business Report writes that Cosatu claims that a fight between the Treasury and the Social Development Department (SDD) is delaying the release of a comprehensive social security plan for the country.
‘Girls, not women' in teacher sex video, KZN education department insists
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The Mercury reports that the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Education remains adamant that a sex video teacher has a case of statutory rape to answer, despite his lawyer disputing the allegations.
Solidarity adamant about recovering costs from those responsible for SABC dismissals
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News24 reports that Solidarity wants the argument as to who should be held accountable for the costs that the union incurred in defending a group of fired SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) journalists to be held in open court.
Fawu owes us R5m and we’re going to recoup it, says Cosatu
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News24 reports that labour federation Cosatu plans to recoup over R5m in affiliation fees from its former member, the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu).
Roundup of labour news on Thursday, 25 August 2016
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In our Thursday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Wednesday, 24 August 2016.
Only product, labour market reforms will boost SA jobs, says SARB’s Kganyago
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Fin24 reports that the Annual Labour Law Conference heard on Wednesday that solutions for SA’s abnormally high unemployment rate would not come from rising commodity prices, a rebound in global growth or fiscal policies.
Section 52 of MPRDA a ticking time bomb for mine layoffs, say lawyers
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Mining Weekly reports that a session on retrenchments on Wednesday at the twenty-ninth Labour Law Conference in Johannesburg heard that Section 52 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) was a ticking time bomb.
OutsourcingMustFall movement threatens to shut down Gauteng for a day
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Pretoria News reports that members of the #OutsourcingMustFall movement have accused tertiary institutions, the City of Tshwane and other institutions of reneging on certain agreements regarding outsourced workers. They have threatened to shut down Gauteng, rendering it ungovernable for a day.
Amcu members at Sasol down tools over wage increases
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Business Report writes that close to 1,600 workers in Secunda, Mpumalanga, downed tools on Thursday after the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) could not come to a wage agreement with Sasol.
Sex videos were with adults, not pupils, says KZN teacher’s lawyer
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The Mercury reports that a northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) teacher has denied having sex with schoolgirls after videos of him engaging in sex circulated on social networks.
Ex AngloGold employee claims illegal termination of employment for medical incapacitation
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The Citizen reports that a former AngloGold Ashanti mineworker has accused the company of illegally terminating his employment and claiming he was medically incapacitated, despite advice from doctors to the contrary.
Telkom, CWU in strike resolution stalemate
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The New Age reports that talks between telecoms company Telkom and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) on the strike that has entered its fourth week have hit a stalemate, both sides said on Wednesday.
Job cuts hit Dimension Data
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ITWeb reports that IT services company Dimension Data (DD) has quietly retrenched some of its employees, with a source indicating to ITWeb that the firm last week laid off staff.
Firms keen on youth employment tax incentive
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Times Live reports that take-up of the employment tax incentive, which expires at the end of the year, has been far greater than the national Treasury expected.
Families of trapped Lily Mine trio and survivors await cash promised by mines minister
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Pretoria News reports that questions regarding the compensation of victims of the Vantage Goldfields Lily Mine collapse and their families remain unanswered more than six months after the tragedy.
CWU accuses ‘fleeing’ Mantashe of arrogance for not meeting over Telkom
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The Citizen reports that the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has accused ANC general-secretary Gwede Mantashe of being arrogant. The accusation come in the context of a strike by CWU members employed at Telkom.
Robertson Winery at standstill as workers go on wage strike
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GroundUp reports that workers at Robertson Winery went on a protected strike on Wednesday, calling on the winery to pay them R8,500 a month (which amounts to a 57% average increase).
Fawu resolves to quit Cosatu
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IOL News reports that the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) has resolved to leave Cosatu after six of seven provinces present at its national congress explained their members wanted nothing to do with the labour federation.