In our Thursday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Wednesday, 30 August 2017.
|
Bodies of last two trapped Kusasalethu miners recovered News24 reports that that Harmony Gold said on Thursday that the bodies of the last two trapped miners at the Kusasalethu mine near Carletonville have been recovered. Spokesperson Marian van der Walt said the bodies were found at around 12:00 on Thursday. "Sadly, they had both succumbed to their injuries. We are currently in the process of bringing the two bodies to the surface," she indicated. A tremor caused sections of the mine to collapse at around 10:30 last Friday and five miners were trapped. Over the weekend, the bodies of two miners who had succumbed to their injuries were found and brought to the surface. A third body was found on Monday morning. Van der Walt said they would conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the incident. Read this report by Iavan Pijoos at News24
Workers at Wesselsbron farm in Free State treated as slaves eNCA reports that a Free State farmer is under investigation for allegedly flouting labour laws and for treating workers as slaves. Authorities rescued at least 21 under age children and adults at a farm in Wesselsbron. They had all been recruited from the North West to work as seasonal farm workers. But many claim they have not been paid and were made to live under appalling circumstances and given rotten food to eat. The discovery was made after the municipality received a tip-off about the farm. Watch a news report in this regard at eNCA. Read too, Farm ‘slaves’ rescued, at The New Age. Read too a statement by the Department of Labour condemning all forms of child labour, at DOL online Other internet posting(s) in this news category South Africa's poultry industry is hurting as avian flu worsens, at Business Report Poultry industry and government to set up task team for bird flu, at Engineering News Farm worker evictions: the other side where the landowner suffers, at BusinessLive
Manyi promises to tackle labour issues, transformation at ANN7 & The New Age ANA reports that Mzwanyele ‘Jimmy’ Manyi, owner of Infinity Media Networks, on Wednesday vowed to tackle the hostile labour relations between staff and management at the ANN7 TV network and The New Age newspaper. In a media briefing, he promised growth and transformation at his newly acquired media company, which was acquired for R450m through vendor financing. Manyi stated: ”There will be no victimisation of staff, we plan to keep everyone who is already here and even grow the company further. Everything will be done according to the laws of the country here. I heard about staff being badly treated, I have met with them and will still do so again. The unions have allowed me to settle in, we are set to meet in September and resolve all issues.” Black staff members at the two news outlets have complained about racism, unfair labour practices, unfair dismissals and being underpaid compared to their Indian and white colleagues. Over the years, most of the complainants approached trade unions and the CCMA for help. Read this report in full at The Citizen. Read too, Manyi claims prejudice over media purchase, at BusinessLive
City of Joburg workers embark on strike in solidarity with colleagues arrested for fraud TimesLive reports that some City of Johannesburg workers have gone on strike in solidarity with their colleagues who have been arrested for fraud. Thirteen officials were arrested in a joint operation between the Hawks and the city's Group Forensic Department on charges of fraud‚ theft and corruption last week. Mayor Herman Mashaba vowed to take a tough stance against employees involved in illegal work stoppages within the City's Revenue Shared Services Centre (RSSC). "This must be condemned in the strongest terms. Under previous administrations‚ corruption was allowed to rise to endemic levels‚ hampering service delivery throughout the City. I have repeatedly stated that this cannot be tolerated any longer‚" Mashaba said in a statement. Corruption busting has been a key issue for Mashaba since he came into office last year. Read this report by Jan Bornman in full at TimesLive. Read too, City of Joburg workers refuse to work following colleagues' arrests, at The Star. And also, Firm slams mayor after arrests, on page 2 of The Star of 31 August 2017 Joburg Mayor Mashaba issues warning on ‘illegal work stoppages’ ANA reports that City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba on Thursday warned that discipline action would be taken against employees who have embarked on an illegal work stoppage within the City’s Revenue Shared Services Centre (RSSC). Last week, 13 officials were arrested by the Hawks, working together with the City’s Group Forensic Department, on charges of fraud, theft and corruption totaling about R2.5m. The mayor indicated that since then a group of employees have been participating in illegal work stoppages in alleged solidarity with the arrested officials. He also reported that 40 other employees have been implicated in wrongdoing within the RSSC. Mashaba commented: “It is unfortunate that a faction of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union has also chosen to support and protect those implicated in fraud and corruption in this matter.” Read this report in full at The Citizen
Reserve Bank’s consumer inflation target should be lower, says Kganyago Reuters reports that the SA Reserve Bank’s (SARB’s) 3-6% consumer inflation target range should probably be lower to bring it into line with emerging market peers, Governor Lesetja Kganyago said on Wednesday. In a public lecture he stated: “A frank reassessment of the 3-6% inflation target range, which is now almost 18 years old, would probably conclude that the target should be lower. My economists have worked on the numbers, and they report that if we want an inflation rate in line with our trading partners, we should be aiming for 3-4%, that is not where we are today.” Deputy Finance Minister Sfiso Buthelezi said in July there was a need to debate whether the 3-6% range – which is a government policy – was still relevant. Consumer price inflation fell to 4.6% year-on-year in July, its lowest in nearly two years, boosting the chances of further interest rate cuts by the SARB. Read this report in full at Moneyweb Other internet posting(s) in this news category SA to emerge from recession this year, but uncertainty remains a risk, at Engineering News South African steel production drops 6.3% year on year in July, at BusinessLive How to ... be productive in an eight-hour day, at BusinessLive Staalbedryf se ooreenkoms 'te duur', at Netwerk24 (limit on access)
Jobs stable in vehicle manufacturing sector, despite tough times Business Report writes that employment in SA’s vehicle manufacturing industry remained stable in the second quarter of the year, despite the depressed economy. The total industry head count ticked up marginally by 0.5%, or 159 jobs, to 30,356 in the last week of June, from 30,251 in the last week of April. This is according to the latest quarterly review of business conditions in the new vehicle manufacturing industry for the second quarter released this week by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa). Nico Vermeulen of Naamsa said on Wednesday that the stable employment in the industry was encouraging in an economy where every few days one or other company or sector was reporting a reduction in head count. The quarterly review indicated that, with the exception of the fourth quarter of last year, industry employment had remained stable over the past four years. Average industry employment last year was 30,953, compared to 31,260 in 2015. Read the original of this report by Roy Cokayne at SA Labour News
Don't panic, we are not funding SAA, GEPF assures Fin24 reports that the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has assured its members, pensioners and beneficiaries that it has not received any proposal to help fund South African Airways (SAA). The GEPF is Africa’s largest pension fund, with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) as its fund manager. "No discussions have been held with GEPF on this matter. Therefore, we urge all our members and pensioners not to panic or read too much into this speculation," the fund said in a statement. It assured its beneficiaries that their pension savings were safe and emphasised that its primary role was to protect the wealth of its members and pensioners by safeguarding their retirement benefits through proper administration and prudent investment. Last week National Treasury told the National Assembly that it was considering various options to recapitalise SAA and that these included the PIC as a possible equity partner. Read this report by Carin Smith in full at Fin24. Read the GEPF’s press statement at GEPF online. Read too, Cosatu demands to know if Gigaba will use employee pensions to bail out SAA, at The Citizen Gigaba says former Venda Pension Fund victims will get pensions by end of November Business Report writes that the National Treasury indicated on Wednesday that Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba intended to resolve the payment of pensions to beneficiaries of the former Venda Pension Fund by the end of November 2017. According to a statement, Gigaba said the matter had long been outstanding and needed to be resolved as urgently as possible. Those affected lost all their retirement money during the amalgamation of the Venda Pension Fund and the First Privatisation Scheme pre-1994 and before the Government Employees Pension Fund came into effect. The new scheme came into effect in 1993, while payouts by the former Venda government were made in 1992. Some of the pensioners could not be paid and claimed the payouts had been made "selectively". Read this report by Songezo Ndlendle in full at Business Report. Read the National Treasury’s press statement at Polity
Health Minister takes flak from Cosatu over National Health Insurance BusinessLive reports that trade union federation Cosatu on Wednesday accused Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi of attempting to water down the ANC’s policy position regarding National Health Insurance (NHI) and called for him to go. Cosatu spokesman Sizwe Pamla said: "We have reached the conclusion that Motsoaledi is no longer in charge. We no longer trust him. In fact we no longer believe he is the right person to lead the health sector." NHI is a set of health financing reforms that are aimed at providing all patients with healthcare services that are free at the point of delivery. Motsoaledi has drawn steady fire from Cosatu in recent months over the role of the private sector in NHI and the involvement of the Clinton Health Access Initiative in devising its implementation policy. Cosatu has also taken issue with the health department’s plans to allow medical schemes to have a role in the transition to NHI. It wants a single fund that pays for all the services provided under NHI and is opposed to alternative financing mechanisms. Read this report by Tamar Kahn in full at BusinessLive. Read Cosatu’s press statement on this matter at Cosatu Today
|
Get South African labour news reports at SA Labour News