In our Wednesday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Tuesday, 12 September 2017.
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Guard shot dead as robbers take Soweto school's smart boards The Star reports that a Soweto school has been left shaken after robbers out to steal its smart boards shot dead a security guard. Madibane Comprehensive High School principal Lehlohonolo Molefe said the incident took place on Thursday. The patroller was shot dead while his two colleagues were tied up in a classroom. “The smart boards (interactive whiteboards) are important and we want them, but I wish they came with better security. The worst thing is that it’s not like he was trying to fight them. They came into the school and shot him,” Molefe stated. She talked about the stress of having the smart boards in her school. “It is very stressful. You can ask any principal and they will tell you how much they worry because of them. When I don’t get a call by 6.30am I get relieved that there was no robbery,” she said. Three smart boards were stolen from the school. This is not the first time the school has been broken into this year. South district has had the most stolen smart boards, at 35, followed by Joburg Central at 19 and Joburg South at 17. Read this report by Tebogo Monama in full at The Star
Amcu branch treasurer gunned down outside Impala Platinum mine on Tuesday Reuters reports that a senior official of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) was shot dead outside an Impala Platinum (Implats) mine on Tuesday morning in the Rustenburg area. The branch treasurer was “gunned down in cold blood” as he left the mine to get food, his organisation said in a statement. It did not give details on any motives for the attack, which was confirmed by Implats. Rustenburg has seen periodic spasms of labour violence, including shootings, since Amcu dislodged the once dominant National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) as the main union in the platinum sector five years ago. Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa said there had been other attacks in the Rustenburg area. He would not speculate on the motives behind the incidents. Read this report by Ed Stoddard in full at Moneyweb. See too, Senior Amcu official gunned down in Rustenburg, at News24. Read Amcu’s press statement at Amcu online Parliamentary committee visits Harmony’s Kusasalethu mine where five deaths occurred eNCA reports that members of parliament's portfolio committee on mineral resources will on Wednesday visit Harmony Gold's Kusasalethu Mine near Carletonville. Five workers died at the mine last month following a seismic event that resulted in a fall of ground. The visit to the mine forms part of the committee’s oversight visit to Gauteng this week, with the focus to be on mine health and safety. It will be holding several meetings with labour unions, the Chamber of Mines and the Department of Mineral resources (DMR). The committee has expressed concerns about seismic events that continue to claim the lives of miners. A short report is at eNCA NUM members to embark on wage strike at two Exxaro coal mines on Thursday Mining Weekly reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has served diversified miner Exxaro Resources with a notice to embark on a protected strike at the Grootegeluk mine, in Lephalale, Limpopo, and at the Leeuwpan mine, in Delmas, Mpumalanga. The NUM submitted wage demands on 13 April and accuses Exxaro of failing to resolve the subsequent wage dispute. "The union demands a wage increase of 10%, a service increment of 0.5%, housing increase of 10% or R5,000, a standby allowance of 10%, family responsibility leave of eight days, and a long-service award for 15 years of one Krugerrand," NUM deputy general secretary William Mabapa indicated in a statement. The strike will begin at 06:00 on Thursday, 14 September 2017. This short report is at Mining Weekly. The NUM’s press statement is at NUM online Lonmin says licence not at risk over social and labour plan non-compliance Reuters reports that Lonmin indicated on Tuesday that the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) had told the platinum miner that it has failed to meet some of its social and labour plan obligations, but Lonmin added that it did not think its operating licence was in jeopardy. The miner received a letter last week from the DMR detailing the areas that it had neglected, company spokesperson Wendy Tlou indicated. She did not specify which requirements Lonmin had not met, but said the company was talking to the government and would ask for extensions where applicable. "Everybody is concerned that we do meet the requirement to retain your licence to operate. It's not something that is causing us massive worry," Tlou added. A short report is at Mining Weekly Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
Postings on Mining Charter
Numsa downs tools at plastic factory in KZN over unequal wages and benefits ANA reports that members of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) have downed tools at Mpact Plastics in Pinetown in Durban in protest against unequal wages and employee benefits. Mpact is a major supplier of plastic containers and manufacturer of Jumbo Bins, wheeled bins, and a variety of other crates, trays and related packaging items. Numsa said that at least 140 Mpact contract workers were on strike for equal pay and benefits enjoyed by permanent workers. On Wednesday, permanent employees also joined the strike in solidarity with their fellow workers. Numsa's KwaZulu-Natal regional secretary, Mbuso Ngubane, said contract staff must be paid R40 per hour, just like the permanent staff, as they currently earned half of that. He also said contract staff must receive benefits such as membership of a provident fund and a medical aid, already afforded to permanent employees Read this report in full at Business Report Nehawu wage strike having an effect on work of Gauteng legislature The Star reports that various committee meetings of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature have been affected by the strike action of staff members, which has entered its third week. On Wednesday, committee secretaries, communication officers and stenographers responsible for the recordings of meetings, chose to abandon their work to demand salary increases. Committee meetings on Education; Health; and Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation had to be postponed because of the strike action. Other recent committee meetings also have had to be postponed. The employees, led by the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), are staging an indefinite strike for an 8% salary hike across the board. The legislature has apparently offered 8% for low-earning staff members and 7.4% for middle management staff, but Nehawu had rejected both offers as it wants an across the board increase of 8%. Nehawu branch secretary Kgomotso Sekulane claimed that all legislatures across the country were afforded 8% increases across the board. Read this report by Baldwin Ndaba in full at The Star
Taxi protests set for Wednesday shelved until later this month Business Report writes that the planned taxi industry protests that were scheduled to take place on Wednesday, targeting vehicle manufacturer Beijing Automotive Works, a subsidiary of Beijing Automobile Industry in China, Sasol in Secunda and the Fourways Mall have been postponed. An informed taxi industry source aligned with the Mass Taxi Industry Protest Action Committee, a splinter group of the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco), confirmed on Tuesday that the protests would not be going ahead today (Wednesday), but was “definitely still on the cards”. Protests are apparently going to take place later this month. The taxi industry has apparently not yet applied for a permit to conduct the protests. This short report by Roy Cokayne is at Business Report
Zuma tones down radical rhetoric at NDP anniversary, while Cosatu says there’s nothing to celebrate President Jacob Zuma used a celebratory dinner for the National Development Plan (NDP) to stress the importance of inclusive economic growth in accomplishing the goals of the national plan. His address in Cape Town on Tuesday evening, at an event to mark the fifth anniversary of the NDP, was a tempered version of the "radical economic transformation" mantra his backers have become known for, ahead of the ANC’s elective conference in December. Instead, Zuma opted for a reference to "inclusive growth". Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said SA should not become so preoccupied with its current economic state that society forgets that the NDP is working towards 2030. Yet, Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini is reported to have insisted on Monday that workers have “little to celebrate” in relation to the NDP. “There is nothing to celebrate about the NDP in its current form. The labour market chapter emphasises labour flexibility and deregulation of labour laws. It is obsessed with a neoliberal economic trajectory,” Dlamini claimed. He added that the ANC’s decision to shove the NDP down its alliance partners’ throats was a telltale sign of an unbalanced ANC-led tripartite alliance. Based on reports at BusinessLive and The New Age. See too, President Zuma speaks at the 5th Anniversary of the NDP, at Business Report. And also, Zuma wants all to share in the country's wealth, at Fin24
With the robots coming, US analyst sees 30% of bank jobs disappearing in five years Bloomberg reports that Vikram Pandit, who ran Citigroup Inc. during the financial crisis, says developments in technology could see some 30% of banking jobs disappearing in the next five years. He is now CEO of Orogen Group, an investment firm that he co-founded last year. “Everything that happens with artificial intelligence, robotics and natural language — all of that is going to make processes easier. It’s going to change the back office,” said Pandit. While his forecast for job losses is in step with one made by Citigroup last year, his timeline is more aggressive. In a March 2016 report, Citigroup estimated a 30% reduction between 2015 and 2025, mainly due to automation in retail banking. That would see full-time jobs drop by 770,000 in the US and by about 1-million in Europe. The banking industry is becoming “enormously competitive,” Pandit said, adding that he foresaw the emergence of “specialist providers” as well as consolidation in the industry. Read this report by Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in full at Moneyweb Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Another KZN school rocked by sexual assault claims TimesLive reports that education officials were set to swoop on the Dlangezwa High School in northern KwaZulu-Natal after it emerged this week that a principal‚ teacher and a security guard at the school had been accused of sexual assault. The three separate incidents at the Richards Bay school only emerged this week as provincial education officials investigated another Zululand school where a teacher was caught on video severely assaulting female learners in a classroom. Now the department wants to launch an investigation to determine if more than three pupils were victims. The three Dlangezwa employees are among six education department employees who were suspended on Tuesday on allegations of sexual assault. The department’s Muzi Mahlambi confirmed that the teacher in the corporal punishment video was also suspended‚ meaning that seven employees had been served with suspension letters on Tuesday. All of them were from the same district. “We will be visiting the district on Wednesday and we will learn more of what is going on in that area‚” Mahlambi advised. Read this report by Matthew Savides and Jeff Wicks in full at TimesLive. See too, Seven KZN teachers in sexual assault cases served with intention to suspend letters, at EWN. And also, Richards Bay teacher in viral video handed suspension letter, at News24 SACE wants abusive teachers named and shamed EWN reports that the SA Council for Educators (SACE) says it is pushing to have the names of teachers who have been struck off the roll to be made public. This follows reports of educators abusing learners at schools, most recently in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The SACE’s Thembinkosi Ndhlovu says that by not publishing the names of teachers found guilty of various offences, it makes it possible for them to continue teaching without repercussion. “When we dismiss somebody and it’s unknown, that does not serve as a deterrent enough. So, we’re looking at how best can we make public the names of the people that we have struck off the roll so that society can know. We want to disclose the names of the people that have committed horrendous crimes.“ Ndhlovu added it was important that educators who abused their authority were reported. The Education Department has issued letters of suspension to at least eight teachers accused of misconduct in KZN, while in the Northern Cape, an investigation is underway into the cases of more 30 schoolgirls who were allegedly impregnated by teachers. A short report by Masechaba Sefularo is at EWN Faith Muthambi says Public Service Department is dealing with corruption EWN reports that Public Service and Administration Minister Faith Muthambi says her department is hard at work dealing with corruption. Answering questions in the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday, Muthambi provided details on the state of disciplinary action against three directors-general. Their suspensions have raised serious concerns about the efficient running of the affected departments. The Director-General of Agriculture Mike Mlengana was suspended in July on charges related to the misappropriation of funds and insubordination for suspending other officials. In the Water and Sanitation Department, Director-General Dan Mashitisho is also on suspension and his disciplinary hearing will officially get underway next month. Axed Director-General of Rural Development and Land Reform Mduduzi Shabane is appealing his dismissal on financial misconduct charges in the Labour Court. Muthambi advised that she has resurrected the National Corruption Forum, which has been dormant since 2011. Read this report by Lindsay Dentlinger in full at EWN Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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