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 Monday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Friday, 4 August 2017.
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Joburg taxi driver suffered severe chemical burns during assault ANA reports that a private company taxi driver sustained serious chemical burns when he was assaulted in Johannesburg during the early hours of Sunday morning. Paramedics from ER24 and a local security company arrived on the scene shortly after 2am on Milner Avenue in East Town, Johannesburg, where they found the man on the side of the road. He had sustained severe chemical burns to his face and hands. According to the driver, he arrived at his drop-off location when he was assaulted by his passenger who also threw a liquid substance onto him. He was in a serious condition when paramedics transported him to hospital. The circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated by the police. A short report is at The Citizen. See too, Family of taxi acid attack victim say it was not racially motivated, at TimesLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
As Zwane blunders over moratorium, mining bleeds jobs Business Report writes that Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane suffered another setback when he was forced last week to backtrack on his plan to implement a moratorium on the processing of any new applications for prospecting and mining rights. Industry players described the retreat on the moratorium as “humiliating”, albeit sensible. The moratorium proposal was the latest in a series of blows to the mining industry and had dimmed any chance of reviving confidence, according to mining industry players. Nearly 70,000 jobs have been lost in the industry in the past five years. Mining companies have recently outlined plans to shed as many as 20,000 jobs, with Sibanye Gold announcing on Thursday that it would retrench 7,400 workers as it planned to restructure its loss-making Beatrix West and Cooke operations. Zwane said he changed his position after receiving submissions from stakeholders. “The department will instead opt for other legal instruments at its disposal, in line with the Minerals and MPRDA and other applicable legislation, to achieve its objectives of socio-economic development,” he stated. Read this report by Dineo Faku in full at Business Report Sibanye Gold job losses could total 10,200, says Solidarity Fin24 reports that trade union Solidarity has joined the chorus of those expressing shock and disappointed at the jobs bloodbath expected in the mining industry. Sibanye Gold announced a restructuring plan on Thursday that could see about 7,400 jobs being cut at all levels as a result of a proposed restructuring at the producer’s Beatrix West and Cooke operations. Solidarity pointed out that, although the official figure for the number of affected workers stood at 7,400, there were also about 2,400 contractors, 365 employees not yet placed as part of an earlier scaling-down process and approximately 50 people in management positions affected by an unrelated process. This would bring the total number of affected employees to 10,200. “When taking into account that every mineworker takes care of about ten dependants and that many more jobs along the line are lost for every full-time miner’s job abolished, the retrenchments will have a major impact on innocent people,” said Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis in a statement. He stated that the current wave of retrenchments would have catastrophic social consequences and many unemployed miners would turn to the already uncontrollable illegal mining activities. Read this report by Carin Smith in full at Fin24. See too, Solidarity shocked at possible 10,200 job loss at Sibanye Gold, at Business Report. Read Solidarity’s press statement in this regard at Solidarity online NUM stages march to try to halt job cuts at AngloGold Ashanti Business Report writes that members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Saturday marched to AngloGold Ashanti’s (AGA’s) head office in Johannesburg in protest against the producer’s move to retrench some 8,500 workers. With about 21,350 jobs on the line amid the looming job cuts at AGA plus planned lay-offs at Sibanye Gold and the Bokoni Platinum Mine, the march was a build up to labour’s fight against industry retrenchments. The NUM said that there was no basis for the retrenchments as commodity prices had rebounded since late last year, buoyed by an improvement in the world economic outlook, with the return of risk appetite among global investors. Tafa Moya, the NUM’s mining co-ordinator at AGA, indicated that they were in talks with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) to intervene. The march came as DMR Minister Mosebenzi Zwane held a meeting on Friday with Sibanye CE Neal Froneman as part of his programme of talking to mining rights' holders. He urged all stakeholders “to be more responsible in how these planned retrenchments are announced, as they impact on thousands of lives and livelihoods.” Read this report by Dineo Faku in full at Business Report. See too, NUM hands over memo of demands to halt AngloGold retrenchments, at SABC News. And also, NUM threatens mass protest over planned retrenchments in mining, at EWN. As well as, Zwane expresses concern over proposed mining retrenchments, at Mining Weekly Suitors line up to buy AngloGold’s Kopanang mine City Press reports that AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) has at least three parties interested in buying its Kopanang mine near Klerksdorp in North West, which is one of two operations the gold producer plans to shut down. AGA has made all prospective buyers sign nondisclosure agreements that restrict them from talking about their respective bids, but it appears that one of the bidders is a 100% black-owned consortium which has registered a company called Kopanang Shaft 9. It is led by local mining engineer Lebo Ramorule and Kopanang mine manager Stephen Manyathela and is reportedly preparing a bid of more than R330 million. AGA needs slightly less than that to settle all the retrenchment packages for the mine workers. The second prospective buyer of the 4 000-worker strong Kopanang mine is another consortium said to be led by the Chinese owners of another gold mine in the area, Tau Lekoa. The third buyer in the running is said to be Harmony Gold, which has reportedly been eyeing AGA’s local assets for a long time. Read this report by Lesetja Malope in full at City Press Other labour/community posting(s) related to mining
Postings on Mining Charter / Moratorium on mining licenses
FairPlay summit addresses plight of retrenched chicken industry workers Engineering News reports that nonprofit development organisations and the private sector met last week to discuss the plight of thousands of chicken industry workers who have been rendered jobless as a result of dumped chicken imports. During the FairPlay Social Support Summit, held on 2 August, a “Cry for Action” petition was finalised. It will be sent to President Jacob Zuma and Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies. The FairPlay movement is a new, principle-based global initiative whose sole interest is to make available international experts to help stop the proliferation of dumping worldwide. “We set out to address the plight of the thousands of South Africans who have lost their jobs because of dumping. Each job lost is a family in misery. Most of them have no other means of support, and finding new work, especially in rural areas, is very difficult in a country with one of the highest unemployment rates in the world,” FairPlay founder François Baird said. Read this report in full at Engineering News. Read too, Fair play sought for retrenched chicken workers, at Saturday Star Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Saftu calls on SA to join anti-Zuma marches on Monday ANA reports that the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) has called on all its members, workers, and every South African “disgusted by the current pillaging of the resources linked to President Jacob Zuma and his cronies linked to his administration”, to join the civil society-led protest marches in Cape Town and around the country on Monday. “This is a fully mandated position adopted by the founding congress of Saftu. We are not abstainers but soldiers in the front rows of the people’s army to stop our country becoming a kleptocracy,” the federation said in a statement on Sunday. Read this report in full at The Citizen. Read Saftu’s press statement at Saftu online. See too, Saftu joins calls for Zuma to fall, at eNCA. And also, Zuma turned SA into 'mafia-style lawless kleptocracy', says Saftu, at News24 Cosatu and SACP defend their ‘in principle’ opposition to no-confidence Zuma vote BusinessLive reports that ANC alliance partners Cosatu and the SA Communist party (SACP) hit back at critics at the weekend, saying they did not support Tuesday’s no-confidence motion against President Jacob Zuma "in principle" but would continue to call for his resignation. The labour federation and the SACP face a public backlash for calling on their members to vote in support of Zuma in Parliament, despite their long-standing positions against his leadership of the ANC and government. Both said they were waiting to discuss their call for Zuma to step down with the ANC at an alliance political council meeting, which was yet to be rescheduled, and would not resort to any other alternatives until then. Cosatu also planned further internal discussions on its next move as calls for Zuma to step down had been ignored. Read this report by Theto Mahlakoana in full at BusinessLive. Read too, Zuma is an impediment to SA, says Cosatu in the Western Cape, at SABC News
Unemployment in second quarter of 2017 stuck at 14-year high of 27.7% Reuters reports that SA’s unemployment rate stayed at a 14-year high in the second quarter of 2017, with Statistics SA saying on Monday the country was in a “precarious position” of not creating enough jobs to make a dent in poverty. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 27.7% of the labour force, with the absolute number of unemployed down slightly to 6.177 million from 6.214 million, data showed. Statistician general Pali Lehohla said the real economy was not creating enough employment and that the kind of poverty being experienced “cannot be resolved by social grants and the like” but only if people were doing work and being productive. Chief economist for Africa at Standard Charted, Razia Khan, noted that agriculture and mining were the only sectors that grew meaningfully in the first quarter of the year, but actually experienced job losses in the second quarter. “With a significant uplift to growth performance unlikely to be on the horizon just yet, there is little to suggest a meaningful pick-up in job creation for some time,” she said. Read this report by Mfuneko Toyana in full at Moneyweb. See too, Jobs and not grants ate the only way out of poverty, says Pali Lehohla, at Fin24
SAA pilots set to rebel over Gigaba’s plan to rationalise their incentive scheme Business Report writes that Finance Minister Malusi on Friday told legislators there was a need to revisit what SA Airways (SAA) pilots get paid as a cost-saving measure, while also tacking transformation and gender progression in the industry. He said: “We need to rationalise incentive scheme of our pilots. The incentives of the pilots must also deal with gender and racial dimensions. Women pilots at SAA have not been in the industry for long, meaning their pay is less than their male counterparts.” But he can expect stern resistance from the SAA Pilots Association (Saapa), with Cathy Bill, general manager, saying it was not true that pilots were overpaid and enjoyed more bargaining power than the rest of the national carrier's employees. Separately, the national airline is set for a face-off with its other employees after the National Union of Metal Workers of SA (Numsa) and the SA Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) staged a march on Friday demanding better pay and working conditions for their members. Read this report by Kabelo Khumalo in full at Business Report. See too, The entire SAA board must go‚ says Numsa, at TimesLive. And also, Top SAA brass are taking pay cuts, as bleak situation at airline unfolds, at BusinessLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Business accused by Cosatu of dragging its heels on finalisation of national minimum wage BusinessLive reports that labour federation Cosatu has accused business of dragging its heels on the finalisation of arrangements for the implementation of the national minimum wage (NMW). It claims that issues that had already been agreed to were now stalling talks. Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini said the agreement that had been signed at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) was being challenged by business partners who were insisting on a four-hour minimum working day, among other contentious clauses. Labour has demanded that workers be paid for a minimum six hours daily, even in cases where productivity is disrupted. The proposed deal that the NMW be set at R20 an hour was agreed to in February and is expected to come into effect in May 2018, but parties in a Nedlac task team set up for its finalisation are concerned about its slow progress. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa would be called on to intervene, Dlamini said. However, the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) is confident the process will be wrapped up in time despite the challenges. Read this report by Theto Mahlakoana in full at BusinessLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
African Bank cuts over 600 jobs to save R50m a year City Press reports that African Bank has reduced its staff complement by 636 full-time employees through a restructuring programme that commenced in May. The reduction was made up of 515 applications approved under a voluntary agreements offer, while normal staff turnover resulted in a further 121 positions being left open in a four-month period. African Bank had a staff complement of 4,075, which has now been reduced to about 3,400. The bank expects to save about R50 million a year as a result of the job cuts. A once-off cost of about R60 million to settle the voluntary packages would be incurred. Read this report by Justin Brown in full at City Press. See too, African Bank concludes voluntary severance and retirement packages process, at Business Report Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Energy Minister suspends Deputy Director-General over ‘compliance’ issues Moneyweb reports that energy minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has confirmed that the deputy director-general for the Department of Energy, Ompi Aphane, has been suspended. Aphane was importantly responsible for the new updated national Integrated Resource Plan for Electricity (IRP2016). The minister indicated that a number of “compliance” issues had been brought to her attention relating to Aphane, that he had been given an opportunity to respond, but that he had failed to do in the three days given. The reasons for the suspension have not been divulged. Asked about the impact of Aphane’s suspension on the timeline for the completion of the national Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) and IRP2016, Minister Kubayi said this work was not being slowed down as it was being done by a team and an acting DDG had been appointed to manage Aphane’s responsibilities. Read this report by Chris Yelland in full at Moneyweb. Read too, Institute of Race Relations highlights high churn of state’s top dogs, at BusinessLive
See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet from Friday, 4 August to Sunday, 6 August 2017 at SA Labour News
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