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.
PPE looters dodge criminal prosecution
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Mail & Guardian reports that companies sanctioned by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for looting Covid-19 funds have to pay back the money, but are not being criminally charged and are still allowed to conduct business with government departments.
Unions declare deadlock in ‘absurd’ public sector wage negotiations
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City Press writes that a general strike by public service workers looks set to go ahead as trade unions last week moved to declare a deadlock after the last round of negotiations with the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) failed to yield their desired outcome.
Glencore chairman defends pay plan for commodity trader’s new CEO Gary Nagle
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Bloomberg reports that Glencore’s chairman has defended an incentive plan for the commodity giant’s new chief executive officer, after prominent advisory firms urged investors to vote against it.
Absa insists race was not an issue in CEO’s sudden departure
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Business Times reports that Absa chair Wendy Lucas-Bull has defended the banking group against perceptions that its first black CEO, Daniel Mminele, was forced out as a result of clashes with white executives.
Solidarity has list of 120 local engineers ‘competent and willing’ to do work of imported Cubans
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The Citizen reports that trade union Solidarity has sent the government a list of more than 120 “competent and willing” South African engineers who can replace the 24 Cuban engineers imported to help repair the country’s ailing water infrastructure.
Mango’s 500 staff members unlikely to get their May salaries
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BL Premium reports that state-owned low-cost airline Mango is unlikely to be able to pay the salaries of its 500 or so employees from May as it battles to stay afloat.
It’s hard to guess who will win the wage tussle at Eskom, but history tells us the wage settlement cannot be 0%
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BL Premium writes that as wage negotiations at Eskom approach, it’s hard to guess what the outcome will be.
Amid credentials outcry, qualifications of senior government officials to be updated on Persal system
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News24 reports that amid an outcry over senior public servants who are not qualified for their jobs, the heads of national and provincial departments have been instructed to update the qualifications of senior management on their systems.
Two Hawks officials from Serious Corruption Offences unit arrested for submitting fictitious accommodation invoices
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News24 reports that two Hawks officials, recently promoted to sergeants at the Serious Corruption Offences units in Pretoria and Ivory Park, were arrested on Thursday after allegedly defrauding the police of approximately R4,756.
Two trade unions declare wage dispute with Transnet
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Reuters reports that two unions declared a dispute with Transnet on Thursday after wage talks broke down, and warned of possible strike action if the state-owned freight logistics company failed to present a better offer.
Glencore’s chairman “optimistic” shareholders will approve $10.4m pay package for incoming CEO, Gary Nagle
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Miningmx reports that Glencore chairman Tony Hayward is “optimistic” shareholders will approve a proposed pay package for incoming CEO, Gary Nagle, on 29 April at the group’s annual general meeting.
Open CCMA Campaign pushes for CCMA to return to full functionality amid huge backlog
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Cape Times reports that the Open CCMA Campaign has again called for the full functionality of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), to attend to what it said was a huge backlog of cases and for budget cuts to be reversed.
SAA may be guilty of negligence in not timeously reporting near-stall incident on February flight to Brussels to collect vaccines
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The Citizen reports that the SA Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa) says a preliminary assessment indicates that SA Airways (SAA) was negligent in not reporting within the legal time limit a safety-related incident involving an Airbus A340-600 chartered to fly to Belgium to collect Covid-19 vaccines.
Amid cash crisis, Denel denies that executives in its Land Systems Division are receiving full salaries
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The Citizen reports that state-owned military technology company Denel has denied claims that its Land Systems (DLS) executives were getting full salaries in the wake of the division’s financial woes.
Minerals Council says penalties in Compensation of Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Bill are ‘draconian’
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BL Premium reports that the Minerals Council SA (MCSA), formerly called the Chamber of Mines, has objected to what it says are “draconian” penalties for relatively minor contraventions contained in the Compensation of Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Bill.
Two Limpopo cops jailed for five years for soliciting R1,000 bribe from motorist
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News24 reports that two Limpopo police officers have been sentenced to five years' imprisonment after the Mokopane Regional Court found them guilty of corruption.
Community health workers in Cape Town confront Health Minister Zweli Mkhize with their list of demands
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GroundUp reports that about 20 community health workers confronted Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize with a memorandum of demands during his visit to Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital in Mitchell’s Plain on Monday.
Putco mechanic dies after being driven over by bus in freak accident on Wednesday
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SowetanLive reports that a 61-year-old man has died at Putco’s Dobsonville depot in Soweto after he was run over by a bus driver while he was fixing the vehicle.
Dispute declared in civil engineering industry over unions’ demand for 15% wage increase
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BL Premium reports that employers and unions in the struggling construction industry are set to hold mediation talks after a deadlock in wage negotiations.
Security officer who took shelter under vehicle which was then petrol-bombed seriously injured during attack at Cape Town landfill site
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News24 reports that a City of Cape Town security officer was seriously injured in an attack at the Coastal Park Landfill site in Vrygrond on Sunday.
Charlotte Maxeke Hospital fire destroyed PPE, medical supplies worth R40m
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TimesLIVE reports that Health Minister Zweli Mkhize advised on Tuesday that the fire that saw nearly 700 patients evacuated from Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital had also destroyed more than R40m worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical stock.
Strike ended after five days at Bushveld Minerals’ Vametco mine in North West
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Miningmx reports that a strike at the Vametco operation of vanadium producer Bushveld Minerals had been bought to an end, the company said in an announcement on Wednesday. The strike lasted for five days.
Rand Water withdraws notification of decision not to pay performance bonuses, while Samwu suspends strike action
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BL Premium reports Rand Water on Wednesday withdrew notification of its decision not to pay performance incentive bonuses to its staff pending the outcome of a hearing at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
Consumer inflation quickens to 3.2% in March from 2.9% in February
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BL Premium reports that consumer price inflation quickened to 3.2% in March on an annual basis, up from 2.9% the previous month, according to Stats SA on Wednesday.
Herman Mashaba slams SA government for inviting Cuban engineers to fix dilapidated infrastructure
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Independent Media reports that ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has condemned government’s decision to import Cuban engineers to fix the country’s dilapidated infrastructure while allegedly ignoring locally trained and unemployed engineers.
Following strike, Nehawu and MUT reach agreement on 5.8% pay increase
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The Mercury reports that staff at the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) resumed work on Monday after reaching an agreement with the institution regarding salary increments.
Lockdown pushed waste pickers to near-starvation, with closure of recycling facilities and less demand for reusable materials
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TimesLIVE reports that hundreds of thousands of waste pickers and their families have been pushed to the brink of starvation under SA’s Covid-19 lockdown.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize wants high number of vacant CEO posts at hospitals urgently filled
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Independent Media reports that Health Minister Zweli Mkhize wants provincial departments to prioritise the filling of vacant posts of chief executive officers (CEOs) at hospitals across the country.
Tshwane heads to court to interdict bus strike over use of bus rapid transit (BRT) lanes
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TimesLIVE reports that the City of Tshwane indicated on Tuesday it would be seeking an urgent interdict from the Labour Court to stop employees at Tshwane Bus Services (TBS) from striking and to restrain them from damaging the municipality’s property.
Amid looming retrenchments, unions question why PetroSA ignored deal that could have made big profits
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SowetanLive reports that state-owned PetroSA let a profitable gasoline supply offer slip through its hands despite the potential of making hundreds of millions of rand from it.