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.

Last Update: 08-08-2025

news shutterstockIn our Monday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Thursday, 15 June 2017.


TOP STORY – AMENDED MINING CHARTER

Crisis over amended Mining Charter

The unveiling and gazetting of the amended Mining Charter by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane on Thursday has elicited widespread and mostly negative reaction and comment.  With the value of mining stocks having been slashed by R50bn, the following is a selection of the many articles that have since been published:-

  • SA mining in crisis as CoM takes Govt’s Mining Charter to court, at Miningmx
  • Zwane’s radical Mining Charter in the firing line, at Daily Maverick
  • Editorial: How the Mining Charter charts new depths for SA, at BusinessLive
  • Bobby Godsell: Without support of investors, the new charter appears doomed to fail, at BusinessLive
  • Mine Charter axe falls on mining stocks, renders sector ‘uninvestable’, at BusinessLive
  • Who will really gain from the new version of the Mining Charter? at Daily Maverick
  • Mynbouhandves gaan pensioenfondse knou, at Netwerk24 (limit on access)
  • How pernicious ideology is breaking SA’s mining sector, at Miningmx
  • The new mining charter is populism on steroids, at Moneyweb
  • Top-mynvrou, Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, eis minister se bedanking oor handves, at Netwerk24 (limit on access)

Zwane defends amended Mining Charter as a ‘win-win’ situation

Reuters reports that Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane on Sunday defended new regulations seeking to accelerate black ownership in the key industry as a "win-win" situation for all, despite objections from the Chamber of Mines (COM) threatening court action to block the changes.  He released the government's revised Mining Charter on Thursday, raising the minimum threshold for black ownership of mining companies to 30% from 26%, and giving resource companies 12 months to meet the target among a raft of other regulations that hit mining stocks.  The COM said it would challenge the new provisions in court, arguing that there had been insufficient consultation in drawing up the charter.  "We have given due consideration to the submissions made and we will not be held ransom to those views that seek to derail transformation in the minerals sector," Zwane said an opinion piece in the Sunday Times.  Indicating that it was impossible to please everybody, Zwane said a court review by aggrieved parties was expected.

A short report is at Mining Weekly.  Read Zwane’s opinion piece at BusinessLive.  Access the full text of the revised Mining Charter at BusinessLive

NUM broadly welcomes Mining Charter, slams ‘regressive’ stance by Chamber of Mines

ANA reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Friday said that, while it welcomed the amended Mining Charter gazetted on Thursday, the targets set by the government for black ownership of the country’s mineral wealth could have gone further.  In a statement, the union welcomed the introduction of a 30% black ownership target for all mines, even though its submissions for incremental targets whereby the industry would have achieved 35% as a minimum target by 2022 had not been accepted.  The NUM said it was however disappoint that the economic benefit for mineworkers and mining communities had not been increased to 10%.  The union slammed the Chamber of Mines of SA’s intention to interdict government from implementing the Charter, saying this was “regrettable and regressive”.  The NUM said it would mobilise communities against mining houses opposed to the reviewed Charter.

Read this report in full at Mining Weekly.  Read the NUM’s comprehensive comments on the amended Charter at Politicsweb

ANC worried about Mining Charter’s impact on jobs, wants meeting with Zwane

Fin24 reports that the African National Congress (ANC) seeks an urgent meeting with Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane following the release on Thursday of the third iteration of the Mining Charter.  ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa indicated that the ruling party’s economic transformation committee, which had met on 5 June, had raised a number of concerns about the new Charter – specifically about the impact the raised level of black ownership to 30% could have on jobs in the sector.  "We wanted the Minister to report back on these and clarify the points raised.  The ANC is very concerned about the impact legislation could have in terms of employment, given that the mining sector lost 60 000 jobs over the last five years.  So, if there’s 30% black ownership it mustn’t lead to a jobs bloodbath," Kodwa said.  In the revised charter, the black ownership target was upped from 26% to 30% - a requirement mining companies will need to comply with within a 12-month period.

Read this report by Liesl Peyper in full at Fin24.  And also, Gigaba calls on Zwane to deal with outcry over new Mining Charter, at Cape Times.  And also, Zwane’s Mining Charter: Risking jobs in a recession, at Daily Maverick


MINING LABOUR

Sibanye dismisses 1,514 striking workers at Cooke operations

Mining Weekly reports that Sibanye Gold on Thursday confirmed that 1,514 workers had been dismissed at its Cooke operations, near Westonaria, for not returning to work.  The workers had embarked on an unlawful and unprotected strike over a week before following the company’s attempts to combat illegal mining.  According to Sibanye spokesperson James Wellsted, 739 of the dismissed workers were members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the majority union at the mine.  NUM said it was “outraged” and “highly shocked” by the dismissal, noting that its members were allegedly coerced and intimidated into participating in the illegal strike.  Since the implementation of the gold producer’s anti-illegal miner programme, which included banning workers from taking food underground, 234 illegal miners have surfaced.

Read this report in full at Mining Weekly.  Read too, Sibanye sacks more than 1,500 workers over wildcat strike, at Moneyweb.  Read the NUM’s press statement at Polity

Sibanye Gold says Cooke operations to remain closed until at least Thursday

Reuters reports that Sibanye Gold’s Cooke operations will remain shut until at least Thursday as the gold producer goes through an appeals process for workers fired for taking part in a wildcat strike.  Spokesman James Wellsted said the company was concerned about the safety of its employees after receiving reports of threats of violence against miners not supporting the strike and it wanted to make sure the environment was safe.  Sibanye announced last week it had fired over 1,500 workers at the mine, which employs almost 4,000 underground miners, but that they could appeal their sacking.  Workers at the mine downed tools almost two weeks ago, angered by a company drive to root out illegal miners which has included the arrest of employees for collusion.

Read this report by Ed Stoddard at Moneyweb

FSB takes steps to recover missing R255m of platinum mineworkers’ pension monies

City Press reports that the Financial Services Board (FSB) has placed Bophelo Benefit Services and the Bophelo Beneficiary Fund under curatorship after it was reported that R255m in mine worker pension money was missing from the fund.  In April it was reported that the fund, administered by Bophelo Benefit Services, cooked its 2015 and 2016 financials and falsely claimed to own two “investment properties”.  It did this to account for R255m missing from its coffers.  Last week, the FSB appointed Juanito Damons as curator of both the fund and Bophelo Benefit Services.  This action was informed by the fund’s two most recent financial statements, complaints by Anglo American Platinum and the report by City Press.  Damons will take custody of the cash, cash investments, investment policies, stocks, shares and securities of both Bophelo Benefit Services and the fund.

Read this report by Sipho Masondo in full at City Press

Other general internet posting(s) on mining

  • Why Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Bill faces more delays, at BusinessLive
  • De Beers’ SS Nujoma: the biggest diamond exploration ship in the world, at BusinessTech


MARIKANA DEATHS / FARLAM INQUIRY REPORT

Farlam hits back at Phiyega’s attacks on him and on Marikana commission

City Press reports that retired Judge Ian Farlam has accused former national police commissioner Riah Phiyega of attacking him and other members of the Marikana Commission of Inquiry.  In a sworn affidavit, which was filed on Thursday on behalf of the commission, Farlam stated that “the contention that the commission acted maliciously and in bad faith is baseless and a gratuitous attack on me, [and] other members of the commission”.  He was responding to a series of accusations made by Phiyega in her application to the High Court in Pretoria filed in June last year in which she challenged the commission’s findings against her.  Phiyega is trying to clear her name by taking the Farlam Commission’s report – which found that she misled the commission and concealed information about the infamous “Scene 2” at which police officers gunned down 18 striking miners in August 2012, many in the back – on review.  In her application, Phiyega accused Farlam and advocates who assisted him of having “cut-and-pasted evidence leaders’ heads of arguments”.

Read this report by Abram Mashego in full at City Press

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

  • Farewell, Phiyega. You and your mishaps won’t be forgotten, at The Citizen


INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS / COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Solidarity’s Gideon du Plessis says labour peace is realisable

Gideon du Plessis, general secretary of trade union Solidarity, notes the concerns expressed by experts such as emerging markets analyst Mark Mobius of Franklin Templeton Investments as well as ratings agencies about the worrying state of South African labour relations.  In this same vein, investors at the World Economic Forum had the view that ongoing labour unrest would eventually result in an unstable and unproductive work environment.  To an extent, labour relations can be a power play between employers and unions and to restore a balance fire is sometimes used to fight fire.  But in essence, labour relations is about “relationships” and for that reason positive interventions are the preferred way of facilitating those relationships.  In addition to good communications, Du Plessis goes on to identify five ways in which labour relations can be improved, namely: putting an emphasis on safety; assisting employees to manage their funds; recognition of all trade unions and granting of equal organisational rights; making employees shareholders through vehicles such as Esops; and creating forums where consultation can take place.  Du Plesis expresses the view that healthy labour relations are not only possible but essential. (Loosely translated from Afrikaans)

Read this article by Gideon de Plessis in full in Afrikaans Netwerk24 (limit on access)


INDUSTRIAL ACTION / STRIKES / LOCK-OUTS

Nehawu signs agreement to avert Monday’s strike at Home Affairs

ANA reports that the National Education Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) has signed an agreement with the Department of Home Affairs to avert an imminent strike over working hours at the department.  The union indicated that the agreement confirms “that workers will revert back to the working conditions that were applied prior to the introduction of the imposed new working hours by the department's director general."  The dispute saw employees threatening to down tools from Monday.  Nehawu’s general secretary‚ Bereng Soke said that according to the agreement‚ “an understanding and a directive was reached that the department must table in the bargaining chamber a proposal on the new working arrangements for negotiations with labour”.

Read this report in full at IOL News.  Read too, Strike by Home Affairs employees averted, at TimesLive.  And also, Werknemers van binnelandse sake staak nie meer, at Netwerk24 (limit on access)

Backlog of up to 250 bodies as Gauteng pathologists continue with strike

Saturday Star reports that there are between 200 and 250 bodies affected by a backlog in mortuaries across Gauteng caused by a strike forensic pathologist assistants.  The worse affected are the Germiston, Diepkloof and Hillbrow mortuaries.  The Gauteng department of health said it was working at whittling down the backlog with the assistance of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and the Wits University anatomy department.  The department's spokesperson said they would work through the long weekend and would prioritise urgent cases.  Jack Bloom, the DA Gauteng shadow MEC for health, said more needed to be done to clear the backlog and he noted that the SANDF had only deployed 10 personnel.  The Health and Other Services Personnel Trade Union of SA (Hospersa) said the strike was about the duties that forensic pathology officers were required to perform, which they claimed were beyond their scope of work and should be performed by trained forensic pathologists.  Discussions with the union will continue next week.

Read this report by Shaun Smillie in full at Saturday Star.  See too, Growing calls for Gauteng government to intervene in mortuary strike, at EWN

Families get court orders for autopsies amid Gauteng mortuary ‘go slow’

News24 reports that desperate families have turned to courts to secure autopsies for their loved ones so their bodies can be released for burial, amid a “go slow” strike by Gauteng forensic services assistants.  “I know of three court orders brought by Muslim families who are religiously required to bury within 24 hours of death,” the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) Jack Bloom said on Sunday.  Families had hoped the backlog of over 200 bodies would have been speedily cut when military health staff was brought in, but only seven members were available.  Bloom added:  “Pathologists have heroically worked without assistants over this long weekend, but new bodies are coming in all the time and they cannot cope.”  National Health Education & Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) spokesperson Khaya Xaba on Thursday denied that the union was undertaking strike action:  "We are not on a strike, we are not on a go-slow, we are simply only doing what is written in our contracts."  He said the union members wouldn’t assist in conducting autopsies until a pay raise was given and learnerships offered for members to become registered pathologists.  "The department of health has been using staff such as cleaners to cut bodies and perform autopsies.  You cannot be remunerated for doing something you are not trained to do," a Health & Other Services Personnel Trade Union of SA (Hospersa) spokesperson claimed.

Read this report by Jenna Etheridge in full at News24.  Read too, Court orders autopsies as Gauteng mortuary strike continues, at IOL News.  And also, Gauteng mortuary strike talks deadlocked, at SABC News

Striking Samwu members in Mangaung due back at work on Monday

eNCA reports that municipal workers in Bloemfontein, who have been on strike for a month, are due to go back to work on Monday.  The city’s longest-running strike affected everyone, from the city centre to the suburbs, while the closed offices meant the city lost an enormous amount of income.  Members of the South African Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) were asking for salary increases and were protesting against what they described as illegal appointments, nepotism and victimisation.  They have been accused of burning tyres, intimidation and harassment of non-striking workers.  Last week, the Labour Court declared the strike illegal and unprotected.  The union reacted by indicating that it was law-abiding and would return to work on Monday.

A short report is at eNCA

Crime intelligence officers threaten to strike over deployment to police clusters

City Press reports that turmoil is brewing within the police’s crime intelligence unit, with operatives threatening to go on strike or disobey new acting head Major General Patrick Mokushane’s orders.  Mokushane, appointed acting head of crime intelligence last Monday, gave all crime intelligence officers until this Monday to vacate the unit’s headquarters in Erasmuskloof, Pretoria, and be deployed to police clusters around the country.  “We are left with no choice but to defy his orders.  By deploying us to the clusters and placing us within clusters he is blowing our cover,” said one officer.  “The manner in which we have been deployed is inhumane... How does one get a week’s notice to relocate?” asked another.  SA Policing Union (Sapu) president Mpho Kwinika said the union was challenging the decision and had declared a conflict with the employer.  But another source within crime intelligence, who is close to Mokushane, said all the new acting head wanted was for operatives to be out and about and doing their jobs.

Read this report by Abram Mashego in full at City Press

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

  • DA wants interdict against striking forensic pathologists, at SABC News


BARGAINING COUNCILS

Trade unions declare dispute in metal and engineering wage talks

Engineering News reports that trade union Solidarity, along with other unions, on Thursday declared a dispute with employers in the metals and engineering industries over stalled wage negotiations.  The talks are currently under way at the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC).  Solidarity deputy general secretary Marius Croucamp said the employers put demands on the table that were not acceptable, but added:  “We remain committed to negotiating with a view to achieve a wage settlement.”  The current wage agreement lapses at the end of June.  Solidarity is demanding a 10% wage increase, while the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) is demanding 15% (on actual as opposed to minimum rates).  On 9 June, employers in the MEIBC offered 5.3% across the board for the first year of a three-year agreement based on minimum rates.

Read this report in full at Engineering News.  Read Solidarity’s press statement at Solidarity online

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

  • Staking in metaal- en ingenieursbedrywe kom dalk, at Netwerk24 (limit on access)


LABOUR MARKET / JOBS / UNEMPLOYMENT

Fires in Knysna have left at least 2,500 people jobless

Netwerk24 reports that at least 2,500 people are estimated to be without work as a result of the recent devastating fires in Knysna.  The unemployed are for instance people whose business enterprises burnt down or those who worked in restaurants which were damaged.  Companies that provide garden, accounting, repair and suchlike services are also suffering.  According to Alan Winde, Western Cape MEC for Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism, both direct and indirect job opportunities have been affected.  He has already held discussions with business leaders in Knysna about the matter.  He said:  I am serious that work opportunities must stay in Knysna.  I am worried.  There are other companies from outside the area that can now take over the work on offer.”  He also pointed out that the disaster offers opportunities for local companies to do repair work.  Winde will be meeting on Monday with members of his department to consider the present joblessness, with specific attention to help that can be given where there is a shortage of experience and skills. (Loosely translated from Afrikaans)

Read this report by Eugene Gunning in full in Afrikaans at Netwerk24.  Read too, Knysna salutes SA’s heroic firefighters, at BusinessLive

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

  • eNatis war between RTMC and Tasima puts 79 jobs on the line, at Sunday Independent
  • Tasima en RTMC steeds haaks oor salarisse, at Netwerk24 (limit on access)


SERVICE DELIVERY

SAHRC says KZN health dept. has violated human rights over oncology services

TimesLive reports that the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has found that the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Health violated the rights of oncology patients when it failed to provide relevant services in the province’s two major hospitals.  In a statement on Thursday‚ the SAHRC said a complaint in February 2016 raised a number of challenges regarding the provision of services to oncology patients.  Among the complaints were that there were insufficient radiotherapy treatment devices and facilities in the province, that the radiotherapy machines at Addington Hospital were not working and that there was a lack of qualified staff such as oncologists.  In its reply‚ the provincial department said it was experiencing human resource constraints and did not have enough oncologists.  The SAHRC concluded that the department had not put in place “coherent plans that took into account the rights and experience of patients to maintain or improve the provision of specialised health services to patients in critical need”.

Read this report in full at TimesLive.  Read too, Cancer crisis at Durban public hospitals due to staff vacancies set to worsen, at Sunday Tribune


HEALTH CARE / NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE

'Extortion and profiteering' by pharmaceutical monopolies slammed by Saftu

ANA reports that the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) has welcomed the Competition Commission’s investigation into price fixing allegations against pharmaceutical companies.  The investigation follows concerns raised by Advocates for Breast Cancer, the Cancer Alliance, the Cancer Association of SA and public interest organisation Section 27.  “The pharmaceutical companies that are currently being investigated include Roche, which supplies lifesaving breast cancer medicine in South Africa, Pfizer, which supplies lung cancer medicine, and Aspen which provides lifesaving medicine for different forms of cancer,” Saftu said in a statement.  The new federation went on to state that it was in agreement with the Competition Commission “that the healthcare sector, and in particular, pharmaceuticals, is a priority sector for its enforcement efforts due to the likely negative impact that anti-competitive conduct in that sector would have on consumers in general and specifically the poor and vulnerable.”

Read this report in full at IOL News.  See too, Saftu welcomes price-fixing probe into pharmaceutical companies, at EWN

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

  • Nie eens kwart van SA bevolking medies gedek, at Netwerk24 (limit on access)


DISMISSALS / UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICES / GRIEVANCES

Molefe lied about taking early retirement at Eskom, Minister Brown attests

eNCA reports that Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has come out fighting over the Brian Molefe resignation saga and says she has evidence that Molefe and Eskom lied about his claimed early retirement.  Molefe earlier this month announced he was taking his former employer and Brown to court after the board was ordered by her to rescind his reappointment as CEO.  Molefe and Eskom each claim that when he previously left the utility, they mistakenly believed he was entitled to early retirement.  When they realised this was not the case, they agreed that the best option was for Molefe to return to work.  But, in a detailed affidavit, Brown insisted that she always believed Molefe had resigned and pointed out that she even issued a media statement to that effect.  Neither Eskom nor Molefe sought to correct her on this during the next five months.  Also, Eskom's own minutes reflected that he had indeed resigned.

Read this report in full at eNCA.  Read too, Eskom not opposing Brian Molefe's court challenge, at IOL News.  And also, Brown: Molefe not entitled to reappointment over state capture, at EWN

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

  • Brian Molefe voluntarily resigned, Lynne Brown says in affidavit, at EWN


COMMUTING / VANDALISM OF TRAINS

Treat train vandals like murderers, rapists and treasonists, says transport union

News24 reports that according to the United National Transport Union (Untu), people caught vandalising transport infrastructure deserve to spend the rest of their lives in jail.  This was as vandalism caused delays of up to 50 minutes on Monday morning on Metrorail's Cape Town commuter lines.  "Untu has no choice but to demand from the legislature to impose life imprisonment for these crimes - similar to that imposed for offences of premeditated murder, gang rape, serial rape and treason," said Steve Harris, Untu general secretary.  The union said the serious damage to the economy and the risk to people's lives that flowed from continuing vandalism and theft warranted stricter sentencing.  Last week alone saw the following incidents: on Monday eight coaches were set alight at Cape Town station; a coach was set alight at Muldersvlei near Stellenbosch on Thursday; on Friday a coach was torched near Koeberg railway station; on Saturday railway tracks stolen on the line between Machadodorp and Carolina on Saturday caused a derailment.

Read this report by Jenni Evans in full at News24.  Read Untu’s press statement at SA Labour News

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

  • Metrorail train goes up in flames, twice, at IOL News
  • Old infrastructure, theft derailing Metrorail, at Weekend Argus
  • Transport union wants armed response after violent incidents at train stations, at EWN
  • Transport union disappointed as minister opposes court bid for safer workplace, at eNCA


WEB LINKS TO LABOUR NEWS ARTICLES ON SATURDAY, 17 JUNE AND SUNDAY, 18 JUNE 2017

See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet on Saturday, 17 June and Sunday, 18 June 2017 at SA Labour News


WEB LINKS TO LABOUR NEWS ARTICLES ON THURSDAY, 15 JUNE AND FRIDAY, 16 JUNE 2017

See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet on Thursday, 15 June and Friday, 16 June 2017 at SA Labour News

 

Get South African labour news reports at SA Labour News