In our Thursday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Wednesday, 4 October 2017.
|
Western Cape MEC welcomes 12-year sentence for man who robbed EMS worker TimesLive reports that Western Cape community safety MEC Dan Plato has welcomed a "hefty" prison sentence handed down to a man involved in robbing an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) worker. Siphelo Manunga was sentenced to a 12-year prison term on Wednesday after being found guilty of robbing an EMS member of a phone in Khayelitsha. The incident took place in the last week of December when an ambulance was stopped at Walter Sisulu Road in Mandela Park to give assistance to an injured person. Three young men attacked the EMS personnel and robbed them of two cellphones. EMS provincial chief Pumzile Papu said EMS staff experienced about three attacks a week. Read this report in full at TimesLive. Read MEC Plato’s press statement at SA Govt online Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Solidarity to pursue Zuma’s nephew to UAE over Aurora plundering The Citizen reports that trade union Solidarity has vowed to follow former Aurora director Khulubuse Zuma to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to ensure justice for the thousands of miners who lost their jobs because of reckless management. Reacting to reports that Zuma, who is a nephew of President Jacob Zuma, was allegedly granted residency in the UAE and was already living there, Solidarity said it would do everything possible to ensure his assets were seized. The Pretoria High Court in 2015 ruled that Khulubuse Zuma, his fellow Aurora directors and others had to pay about R1.7 billion in damages for the destruction of Pamodzi’s Grootvlei and Orkney mines that Aurora managed. Some 5,300 workers their jobs. Zuma has failed to comply with a settlement agreement entered into with the Pamodzi liquidators which provided for monthly repayments. Solidarity’s Gideon du Plessis said an application by the liquidators to sequestrate Zuma would be heard on 8 December, but Solidarity wanted to ensure that the sequestration order was also ratified in the UAE so that his assets there could be seized. Read this report by Ilse de Lange in full at The Citizen. Read Solidarity’s press statement in this regard at Solidarity online Postings on Mining Charter
SAA tables revised wage offer following notice of strike at SAA Technical Engineering News reports that South African Airways (SAA) has placed a revised wage offer on the table following a negotiation deadlock between its maintenance arm SAA Technical (SAAT) and three trade unions. This came after a notice of pending strike action served by the SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) on 29 September. “Since the notice was served, management obtained a revised mandate from the board of directors and met with the three labour unions to present a revised offer to the unions on October 4,” SAA indicated in a statement. Satawu, Uasa and the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) are set to make a decision on the new offer this week. The offer was not immediately rejected and the unions requested time to consult with their members. Read this report in full at Engineering News
Fedusa demands PIC seat, Vavi lays charges against Eskom, Trillian and McKinsey BusinessLive reports that trade union federations are stepping up the fight against state capture, demanding seats on the board of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) — where public sector workers’ pension funds are held — and that criminal charges be laid against Trillian and Eskom. SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi is taking on Eskom, Trillian and McKinsey, and the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) weighed in on the upheaval at the PIC on Wednesday. Vavi laid further charges of fraud, theft, corruption and money-laundering against Eskom and Trillian, while Fedusa wrote to Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba demanding representation for workers on the PIC board. This follows a mass march against state capture last week, by the country’s largest federation, Cosatu. Saftu and Fedusa are the country’s second- and third-largest union federations. Wednesday’s push by both Saftu and Fedusa applies further pressure on the government to act against state capture. Read this report by Natasha Marrian in full at BusinessLive. See too, Now PSA may quit the PIC, on page 1 of The Star of 4 October 2017. Read Fedusa’s press statement at SA Labour News Unions still uneasy about use of PIC funds for SAA The Citizen reports that as government embarks on a fishing expedition to raise funds to bail out SAA, the trade union movement is still uneasy about the use of workers’ pension funds at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) to further shore up the airline. The latest to enter the fray is the Information Communication and Technology Union (ICTU), which on Wednesday opposed the PIC’s possible buyout of government’s stake in Telkom. The union feared it could result in more job losses at the already bleeding partly state-owned telecommunication enterprise. ICTU, an affiliate of the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), has joined other unions from both Saftu and rival federation Cosatu that have expressed opposition to the use of workers’ pension funds to prop up SAA with bailouts. Read this report by Eric Naki in full at The Citizen. Read too, SACP 'worried' Guptas are coming for PIC, at EWN Other internet posting(s) in this news category
FirstRand executives take home R127.7m in incentives in 2017 financial year BusinessLive reports that FirstRand executives and former executives of the group pocketed R127.7m as options, shares and bonuses awarded two and three years ago vested during its 2017 financial year. Former CEO Sizwe Nxasana was the most handsomely paid, taking home R32.1m after his long-term incentive shares and performance shares awarded in 2014 and 2015 matured in September 2016, according to the banking group’s annual report released on Tuesday. Nxasana retired in 2015. Incumbent Johan Burger was not too far off, with R29.1m in vested incentives, followed by deputy CEO Alan Pullinger at R20.9m. FNB CEO Jacques Celliers raked in R13.4m, Wesbank boss Chris de Kock R11.4m, RMB’s James Formby R11m, and group chief financial officer Harry Kellan R9.7m. FirstRand chairman Laurie Dippenaar said he was comfortable with the banking group’s remuneration policy, as it had three "health checks" to keep pay in line. Read this report by Moyagabo Maake in full at BusinessLive KPMG admits it paid severance packages to scandal-tainted senior executives BusinessLive reports that KPMG SA director Gary Pickering acknowledged before MPs that the KPMG executives who left the firm due to the scandal over work done for the Guptas and SARS, were paid severance packages. In September Trevor Hoole resigned as CEO, and eight other senior executives quit with him, following revelations about the firm’s conduct in its report on the SA Revenue Service (SAPS) “Rogue Unit” — parts of which it withdrew — and its work on Gupta companies including Oakbay. Newly appointed CEO Nhlamulo Dlomu and Pickering briefed the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Thursday morning. After DA Scopa member Tim Brauteseth pressed for answers on the exit of former heads at the firm, Pickering admitted packages were paid to some of those who resigned in September, “in the interest of speed”. Brauteseth took issue with the rapid action which KPMG took amid the revelations and asked why it had been “so suspiciously generous.” Read this report by Khulekani Magubane and Reuters in full at BusinessLive. Read too, KPMG paid severance packages to top officials who left the company, at Engineering News
Eastern Cape to appoint 3,000 teachers SABC News reports that the education department in the Eastern Cape will be employing more than 3,000 teachers and over a 1,000 principals and deputies at schools. This is to end a critical shortage in teaching staff in the province. A staff bulletin has been approved and advertised. Provincial education spokesperson, Malibongwe Mtima said the intention of having the posts advertised was to ensure that all vacant posts were filled. He said they wanted to ensure that every learner received an educator so that learners could be able to participate accordingly. A short report by Abongile Jantjies is at SABC News. Read too, Thousands of Eastern Cape teacher posts up for grabs, at DispatchLive
More to Seta compliance than statutory obligations Fin24 writes that companies narrowly viewing the Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) governing their industry just through the lens of compliance, may very well be missing out on optimising on the numerous benefits built into their statutory obligations. This is according to Richard Rayne, CEO of iLearn - a learning solutions company. Setas are primarily funded by the skills development levies paid by companies with payrolls of over R500,000. Rayne explains that there are tangible gains to be made that range from yearly rebates and boosted B-BBEE scores, to strategically setting businesses on a road to success through addressing skills shortages. Companies which have registered with their Seta and executed training according to plans, including approved learnerships, stand to claim back up to 70% of the portion of their Skills Development Levy (SDL) paid over to the SA Revenue Service every year. In addition, the Seta’s Discretionary Fund provides companies with the opportunity of receiving funding towards the implementation of special training projects and pivotal training programmes, such as learnerships. Read this report in full at Fin24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
MTN radio mast engineers win back right to keep company cars and petrol cards Fin24 reports that twenty radio mast engineers employed by cellphone giant MTN in Durban have won an arbitration court battle that allows them to keep their personal company cars and petrol cards. MTN had argued that the company would save money by ditching personal cars and petrol cards and pooling cars for the employees instead. Nationally, about 520 employees were affected by the decision. The employees, as part of their employment contracts, were all given cars and were entitled to take them home at night and over weekends. In December 2014 the company gave notice that, from April 2015, this would change. The cars would be “pooled” and could only be used for work. The employees' attorney Dean Caro indicated that countrywide four arbitrations by employees against MTN were instituted. "MTN have lost three and settled one. It is a resounding victory for the employees and a modern day equivalent of David vs Goliath,” he said. The Durban arbitration took more than two years. Commissioner Lester Sullivan had strong words for the MTN, saying that it "chose to drag out this matter”. He ordered that it pay the employees' legal costs. Read this report by Tania Broughton in full at Fin24
Damning letter from Prasa manager describes railway security meltdown in Cape Town GroundUp reports on a damning letter from Ernest Hendricks, Western Cape regional security manager for the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), to the Prasa executive in Johannesburg detailing the breakdown of security on Cape Town’s central railway line. The letter of 31 May 2017 describes in detail the problems with the security system, which has led to vandalism, cable theft, train delays and unsafe conditions on trains. Among the many problems identified was that private security contractors were not performing and trains have been set alight where security guards were deployed. Prasa had “suffered huge losses” as a result. The relationship with the Railway Police had “soured”. There was no joint deployment, no joint operations, no police visibility on trains, no police visits to stations or depots, a reluctance to open case dockets or to arrest suspects, and police intimidation of Prasa staff. Hendricks said police did not prioritise incidents on the railways but only worked on reported crimes. Trains were said to have become “easy targets to criminals”. Asked to comment, Prasa said “it is important that we thoroughly investigate the allegations made in the letter. Prasa will then be able to comment with facts on the issue.” The Railway Police, who report to the SA Police Service, did not respond to a request for comment. Read this exclusive report by Zoë Postman in full at GroundUp
|
Get South African labour news reports at SA Labour News