In our early Monday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midafternoon on Friday, 13 October 2017.
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Solidarity confirms that pilots at Mango to start wage strike on Monday morning Solidarity confirmed on Sunday that the trade union’s members, who represent 95% of the pilots at Mango airline, will go on strike as from 05:00 on Monday morning as wage negotiations collapsed. The union apparently met with Mango’s management earlier on Sunday to try and reach a settlement in salary negotiations on behalf of its members, which include among others flight captains and first officers working for the airline. According to Solidarity Deputy General Secretary Deon Reyneke, the meeting with management did not yield any results. He added: “Notwithstanding the reality that Mango pilots are paid significantly less than the industry standard, management showed no interest whatsoever to negotiate with its employees. Mango’s management would not give an inch, confirming that it would not revisit its initial offer of 6%, while the trade union was prepared to adjust its mandate in a bid to let negotiations succeed.” Solidarity’s press statement is at SA Labour News. See too, Mango pilots to strike as pay talks collapse, at Fin24
Paramedics remain in critical condition after fatal crash in centurion on Friday EWN reported on Sunday evening that two paramedic officials remained in critical condition in hospital following a fatal collision involving an ambulance and another vehicle in Centurion. The accident claimed two lives of a paramedic crew member, Jacqueline Coetzee, and an occupant of another vehicle. The crash took place on Friday night when the Emer-G-Med paramedics were responding to another road traffic accident in the Pretoria area. This short report by Koketšo Motau is at EWN Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Mineworker killed, another trapped underground at Mponeng gold mine Netwerk24 reported on Sunday that rescue teams were searching for a mineworkers who was trapped underground at the Mponeng mine near Carletonville on the West Rand. Another miner was killed after a series of tremors hit the mine, which belongs to AngloGold Ashanti (AGA). Spokesperson Stewart Bailey said the rescue teams were very close to the trapped miner, but had to work slowly and carefully. The names of the two workers have not yet been made known. According to Bailey, the mine has a very good safety record. (Loosely translated from Afrikaans) Read this report by Ügen Vos in full in Afrikaans at Netwerk24 Protests halt work at Pan African gold dumps in Evander Reuters reported on Thursday that construction of Pan African Resources’ R1.7bn project in Mpumalanga to produce gold from mine dumps had been halted the past two days because of protests and assaults on its workers. CEO Cobus Loots said a community group demanding jobs and business opportunities was behind the protests. The company hoped to restart construction at the project, which aims to begin producing gold in the second half of 2018, as soon as possible. “It’s a pity that a small group of people with their own agendas are disrupting a project which is so beneficial for the whole area,” Loots said. The protests were taking place around the Elikhulu project in Evander. The group’s demands included the provision of procurement opportunities for local entrepreneurs, but the company said it was “already doing that.” Loots said the community group behind the protests was called Sivukile, which was a signatory to an agreement and part of the steering committee on the project. Read this report in full at Reuters Miners at Zululand colliery end five day underground sit-in over long service payments Fin24 reports that over 150 members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) have resurfaced after staging an underground sit-in at the Zululand Anthracite Colliery (ZAC) that started on 10 October. The NUM said on Sunday in a statement that 153 miners ended their sit-in at 11pm on Saturday night, after spending five days below ground to protest the value of their long service payments. Msawenkosi Nkabinde, NUM branch secretary at the colliery, said the mine’s management had agreed to increase the value of the long service payments. After a "robust engagement with the employer" an agreement was apparently reached that the workers would not be fired for embarking on a sit-in. Read this report in full at Fin24 Other labour / community posting(s) relating to mining
Postings on Mining Charter
Fedusa expects Gigaba’s mini budget to set agenda for public sector wage increases City Press Business writes that the 2017 Treasury budget made provision for a 7% hike in government wages next year to R588.7 billion, followed by a 7.2% hike in 2019 to R631.1 billion. On 25 October, Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba will present his first medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS), also known as the mini-budget. Economist Neva Makgetla noted that the mini budget usually made provision for inflation. Dennis George, general secretary of Fedusa, said the labour federation expected the minister to set the agenda. The first meeting of government and public sector union negotiators will be on 20 October. The union wants discussions concluded by the end of November. The Public Servants Associations (PSA) reports that the unions tabled the following demands at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) on 5 October 2017: A general salary increase on a sliding scale from 12%; an increase in the housing allowance; adjustment of the leave provisions; payments of danger insurance to all those who risk their lives on a daily basis; a relook at the work/pay progression in the public service; and the filling of vacancies to improve service delivery. A short report is on page 5 of City Press Business of 15 October 2017. Read the PSA’s press statement at PSA online. See too, Battle of salaries and ceilings puts state finances under stress, at BusinessLive
Numsa only wants to malign us, Road Accident Fund claims The New Age reports that the Road Accident Fund (RAF) said on Thursday that the latest allegations by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) were evidence that the union would rather preoccupy itself with maligning the fund rather than co-operating to create “conducive conditions”. RAF acting CE Lindelwa Jabavu was responding to Numsa being granted a ‘strike certificate’ from the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). Numsa claims that workers at RAF’s Johannesburg offices have been exposed to harmful working conditions. Jabavu dismissed Numsa’s claims and said they “were blatantly false and will not derail us from our mandate to cover, compensate and rehabilitate vehicle accident victims”. Read this report in full at The New Age Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Battery materials pilot plant in Mbombela could power up 1,600 jobs in time City Press Business reports that a new research pilot plant for manufacturing materials used in batteries could ultimately lead to the creation of 1,600 jobs. Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor launched the Lithium Ion Battery (LIB) precursor pilot plant facility, established in partnership with the University of Limpopo, in Mbombela last week. The facility’s project manager, Danie Theron, said the plant had 12 staff members and would be run for the next five years. By then a decision would probably have been made about establishing a fully-fledged plant, once a feasibility study had been completed. Pandor said once production reached 10,000 tons per year, it was envisaged that 200 direct jobs and 1,400 indirect jobs could be created. The facility was expected to have an annual turnover of R310 million. Read this report by Sizwe Sama Yende in full at City Press Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Durban painted red on Friday by Sadtu, with a march by the teachers’ union in Pretoria on Tuesday SowetanLive reports that on Friday thousands of SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) members flooded the Durban central business district in a flow of red‚ protesting against the state of affairs in education in the province. But the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) department of education questioned the timing of the march just three days before more than 198,000 learners write their matric exams. The union handed over a memorandum to the department’s head‚ Dr Vusumuzi Nzama. Cncerns were expressed about critical posts remaining vacant; delays in transferring school funds; the non-implementation of the posts provisioning norms; lack of provision of basic infrastructure such as toilets at schools; and the failure to provide support to education workers and teachers. Sadtu’s Mugwena Maluleke also used the march to say the union would fight any attempts by the Gupta family to capture the Public Investment Corporation (PIC)‚ which manages the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). The union warned the department that the protest was the beginning of rolling mass action. A march will be held in Pretoria on Tuesday this week. Read this report by Bongani Mthethwa in full at SowetanLive. See too, Sadou-onnies staak Dinsdag, at Netwerk24 (limit on access). And also, 'Guptas will never touch our money': Sadtu, at News24. As well as, Anger over unfilled KZN teaching posts, on page 5 of Sunday Independent of 15 October 2017 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Gupta-linked Regiments Capital wants to get back in as Transnet pension fund manager City Press reports that Regiments Capital is suing the Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund to recover lost fees and to possibly get reinstated as fund manager, after its three-year contract was cut short. This is despite Regiments having allegedly misappropriated at least R232m from Transnet pensioners to benefit Gupta-linked Trillian. In a court application on Friday, Regiments demanded that its replacement Old Mutual be removed. It wants a new tender to be put out, which would put Regiments back in the running for the job. The details of Regiments and its offspring Trillian’s work at Transnet have been laid bare in the fund’s damages claim against both companies and their directors. In its application, Regiments indicated that it would launch a counterclaim for the fees it lost by getting kicked out, 10 months after being appointed to manage the fund, on 30 September 2015. Regiments’ contract gave it unusual freedom to invest in whatever it pleased and came with a steep management fee of over R300m per year. The fund has been mired in controversy for years. Transnet allegedly raided it in the early 2000s to fund operational needs. Since then, it has been paying out controversially small pensions capped at 2%, meaning that they shrink every year after inflation. Read this report by Elaine Swanepoel and Dewald van Rensburg in full at City Press. Read too, Transnet se pensioenfondse glo besteel, at Netwerk24 (limit on access) No retirement package for Riah Phiyega, says Mbalula News24 reports that Police Minister Fikile Mbalula indicated in a reply to a parliamentary question released on Friday that no retirement package had been approved for former national police commissioner Riah Phiyega. The Democratic Alliance (DA) wanted to know if a retirement package had been approved for Phiyega, and if not, if one was being negotiated. Mbalula indicated: "No retirement package was approved for former National Police Commissioner, Ms Riah Phiyega. General Phiyega was appointed, as contemplated in section 7(1) of the South African Police Service Act, 1995 for a period of five years. The term of office of General Phiyega expired on 11 June 2017, and she was paid the normal service termination benefits associated with the termination of a contract of service in the Public Service". He also said a package was not being negotiated for future sign off. Phiyega was the only national commissioner to complete her five-year term, despite her suspension on full pay in October 2015. Read this report by Amanda Khoza in full at News24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
GEMS ‘much healthier than last year’ Netwerk24 reports that the financial position of the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) is much healthier than a year ago when there had been great concern over its money matters. As with other schemes last year, GEMS experienced a sharp increase in hospital claims, which it reckoned was a result of all the new hospitals that opened. This led to the scheme’s solvency ratio falling sharply. The target for this year is to reach a ratio of 8.2% after a ratio of 7% was achieved at the end of 2016. Dr Guni Goolab, chief officer, said the target would be easily reached and the scheme’s reserves would end the year in double figures. Hospital admissions were 4% down over the period January to September 2017 in comparisons with the same period last year. According to GEMS, the lower rate is as a result of the stricter protocols for hospitalization and also the deployment of case officers to hospitals, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal where admissions had seen a sharp rise. (Loosely translated from Afrikaans) Read this report by Nellie Brand-Jonker in full at Netwerk24 (limit on access) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Faith Muthambi suspends two top DPSA officials ANA reports that Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) Minister Faith Muthambi has placed the department’s chief financial officer, Masilo Makhura, and deputy director general: administration, Linda Shange, on precautionary suspension with effect from 13 October. This would apply pending the finalisation of a formal investigation process, the ministry said on Sunday and added that the suspensions were “precautionary measures and did not in any way constitute a judgment against the two senior officials.” According to media reports, Muthambi has decided to suspend certain of the most senior officials “because they do not agree with the direction she wants the department to take and their tough stance on fiscal control”. Opposition parties have reportedly described the move as Muthambi’s “attempt at subverting procurement procedures” in the department. Read this report in full at The Citizen. See too, Muthumbi on warpath at DPSA with suspension of two top officials, at eNCA. And also, Faith ‘purging staff to appoint her own’, on page 4 of Sunday Independent of 15 October 2017 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
School’s principal‚ management removed following alleged molestation by guard of 83 learners Sowetan reports that Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has removed the principal and management team of a Soweto primary school where 83 grade R learners were allegedly molested by a guard. “This is necessitated by the seriousness of the allegations of sexual assault of about 54 learners‚ by a scholar patroller at the school‚ who was subsequently arrested on Monday‚ 09 October 2017‚” Lesufi said in the statement on Thursday. Initially‚ the number of learners allegedly molested was given as 54, but the department said on Thursday that the number had risen to 83. The school has not been named to avoid identifying the children. The man appeared at the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday and was remanded in police custody until next Wednesday. The department will engage with the school governing body soon to establish reasons why it should not be dissolved. Read this report in full at SowetanLive Gauteng revisits appointment of security personnel after sexual assaults at Soweto school eNCA reports that the Gauteng Education Department said it was revisiting the appointment of security personnel at schools in the province. This came after 87 pupils were allegedly sexually assaulted at a primary school in Soweto. A scholar patroller has been fired, while the department has also removed the school's senior management, including the principal. Gauteng Education Department spokesperson Steve Mabona said the MEC would go back to the drawing board and interact with his counterpart of community safety in respect of the appointment of anyone who was guarding or safeguarding scholars. “He has conceded we failed children," Mabona added. Read this report in full at eNCA. Read too, More allegations of sexual assault against Soweto school guard, at News24. And also, Sexual harassment probe extended to other schools in Soweto, at TimesLive New security company hired to guard Soweto primary school after sex assaults EWN reports that Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi says a new professional security company has been appointed at a primary school in Soweto where at least 87 pupils have been sexually abused, allegedly by a school guard. The 57-year-old man was arrested last week. Lesufi held a meeting with parents at the school where he revealed that yet another school in the province was being investigated for sexual assault. It has emerged that a 17-year-old pupil was raped, allegedly also by a school guard, at a Pretoria school during a matric dance a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, Lesufi said cameras would be installed at the Orlando East primary school. A short report by Thando Kubheka is at EWN. Read too, Another alleged school sexual assault by a guard emerges in Pretoria, at eNCA Other internet posting(s) in this news category
New taxi rank for Katlehong commuters opened in Ekurhuleni ANA writes that commuters in Katlehong in Ekurhuleni on the East Rand can now breathe a sigh of relief with the opening of the newly constructed Phuthaditjaba taxi rank. On Friday, the mayoral committee member for transport and planning, Petrus Mabunda, handed over the R23 million facility to them. The taxi rank will serve commuters transported by both the Greater Alberton Taxi Association and the Katlehong Peoples’ Taxi Association. Amenities available at the new rank include an office building, public ablution facilities, hawker stalls, a wash bay, a sheltered loading area, a holding area, fencing, water and electricity, access roads, and an administration office. Read this report in full at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Police officers make R11m from SAPS business BusinessLive reports that the SA Police Service (SAPS) may have made millionaires of at least three of its officers who have businesses that supply goods and services to it. This was according to data supplied by Police Minister Fikile Mbalula in a written reply to Parliament. Since the 2014-15 financial year, SAPS has paid more than R11m to businesses owned by SAPS officials, with some firms receiving hundreds of thousands or as much as a million. Various departments have battled to halt employees doing business with the state since President Jacob Zuma signed the Public Administration Management Act in 2014, a law that seeks to ban this practice. While DA MP Patricia Kopane asked for details of SAPS employees who were awarded contracts or agreements to conduct business with any state entity between the 2014-15 and 2016-17 financial years, Mbalula responded that he could provide only the details of SAPS members doing business with SAPS. Read this report by Khulekani Magubane in full at BusinessLive
See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet from Friday, 13 October to Sunday, 15 October at SA Labour News
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