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.
Last Update: 08-08-2025
The Sunday Independent reports that Anglo American Platinum’s Mogalakwena platinum mine in Limpopo says most local residents are unemployable because of illiteracy.
Many young people in Ga-Molekana in Mokopane have complained about unemployment and lack of job opportunities at the mine. They have also alleged that it prefers outsiders to them.
The mine management, however, has denied this, stating that they give first preference to locals. They say local people’s illiteracy levels make it difficult to absorb them.
“Currently, 84% of Mogalakwena staff are locals while our contracting companies have 67% local employee representation. Despite the work being done, the scarcity of requisite skills and illiteracy levels remain a challenge,” spokesperson Mpumi Sithole said.
The mine is in the Mogalakwena Local Municipality.
In a bid to address the unemployment challenges, she said, local communities in 2004 established a labour desk to enable residents to apply for vacant positions at the mine or its contracting companies. Sithole said to date, the process has evolved, working in close collaboration with Mogalakwena mine.
“The labour desk is managed by members of the community from neighbouring villages to ensure transparency in the application process. The CVs that are received through the labour desk are first screened to ensure that applicants are from the local villages. They are then matched to the requirements of the vacant positions.
“Once both of these criteria have been satisfied, the Anglo-American Platinum HR processes are followed, that is interviewing, assessments etc,” she said.
Sithole said that the process has been put in place for the recruitment of locals for both Mogalakwena mine and the mine’s contractors.
She said all entry-level permanent positions are reserved for locals who meet the requirements of the vacant positions.
Sithole added that the mine was working to complement that by continuing to implement a number of skills training and development initiatives through their social and labour plans. “These include Engineering Learnerships (19 locals), Portable Skills (100), Diesel Mechanic (100) and Operator Academy (44),” she said.
Locals, however, tell a different tale. “The mine is not hiring us. We are always applying but we are not getting anywhere,” said Mpho Masingi.
Sello Mashalla echoed the sentiments, adding that people from the North West were recruited while they were available.
“I have been applying for four years but to this day nothing has happened. Permanent jobs are given to people from outside, while the locals that are lucky to be employed are given piece jobs that don’t last long,” he said.
The two are just a few of the youth that flock to the mine on a daily basis with the hope that their luck will change and they will be employed. Many of them are however not so lucky. They complain about being considered only for entry-level jobs and that many of them stand little chance, if any at all, to make it to senior management positions.
“They tell us about the criteria and skills required while they have never done anything for us. We want them to transfer skills. They say they train people but that is actually not the case. They take people to two week training programmes which are useless as when they come back they are still not employed,” said Esrom Masenya, one of the residents who played a role in the establishment of a community business forum.
According to Sithole, the employment equity at the mine is at present at 40% (Historically Disadvantaged South Africans), with 23% women.
“At Mogalakwena Mine four of our senior managers, seven engineers and one female engineer are black people. We currently have junior engineers and mining engineering graduates who have come through the company’s bursary programme in the pipeline.
“Additionally, in the first quarter of 2018, we held a Career Expo targeted at local schools to encourage interest and expose learners to careers within mining.”
Masenya said that does not change the fact that 90% of managers are still white.
With regard to dealing with unemployment, Sithole said, to support growth in mining-related areas, their supply chain department has conducted training of more than 1 200 entrepreneurs in host communities around Mogalakwena mine.
“A total of 38 direct contracts and 16 joint venture partnerships have been awarded to entrepreneurs in the communities around Mogalakwena mine. Creating sustainable communities is a core priority for Anglo-American Platinum and in 2018 alone a R40 million procurement spend has flowed into businesses at Ga-Molekana village.”
The original of this report by Karabo Ngoepe appeared on page 7 of The Sunday Independent of 8 July 2018
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Sowetan reports that Nqobile Majola is one of 19 deaf students completing a gruelling coding course that will allow them to secure work after battling to find jobs.
The course – computer programming – is designed specifically to cater for the needs of deaf people by placing them in jobs after completion.
“When I apply for jobs I never receive call backs because employers think that I am incapable because I am deaf,” she said.
The 26-year-old from Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal is one of the top students in their first-ever coding class.
The class is provided by the Soweto-based Deaf Empowerment Firm (DEF) to teach the youth valuable computer programming skills that are in high demand in the IT industry.
“I’ve worked before as a waitress but it was tedious work. I was never given the opportunity to grow in the company and I think that this is because of my disability.” said Majola.
According to the South African Human Rights Commission, eight out of 10 people with disabilities are unemployed.
In a report titled Disability and Equality in South Africa that was published last year, it was found that black females with disabilities are the most disadvantaged when it comes to employment opportunities, while their white male counterparts find more opportunities.
Majola said the course has allowed her to enjoy work. “I wish that employers would give us opportunities,” she said.
Siyabonga Mathonzi, 23, said he was distraught when he had to resign from his IT job because the environment was not suitable for deaf people. “When there was a meeting I would not get any information, so I could not do my job,” he said.
Mathonzi said he dreamt of opening an IT company that would tailor its environment to the needs of deaf people.
DEF founder Sikelelwa Msitshana said she had also battled to find employment after becoming deaf and this had opened her eyes to the challenges deaf people faced.
“I had a thriving career in corporate development before I fell sick. No one would hire me after I became deaf. I knew that deaf people were just as capable of doing the work that hearing people can do,” Msitshana said.
The original of this report by Karabo Ledwaba appeared on page 10 of Sowetan of 17 July 2018
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Sowetan reports that cash-strapped Eskom may have to shed jobs to afford the 7.5% salary increase offer it has tabled to its unions.
This is according to energy experts as unions are due to give feedback today on the latest offer. Negotiations are also expected to resume over the latest offer.
Energy expert Chris Yelland said Eskom was already having difficulties borrowing money because its debt levels and cost of debt were very high and there were no other options of raising money to cover the additional costs.
“Obviously it’s a very politically sensitive matter because it’s the middle of wage negotiations... it’s [job cuts] not something Eskom wants to speak about but it has already said that it’s significantly overstaffed and somehow it has to bring its cost items under control.
“It’s hard to understand where this money is going to come from… operations at Eskom are resulting in a loss.”
Another expert, Ted Blom, said: “I don’t think Eskom has any option ... ultimately it has to do something about its productivity, which is one of the worst in the world.”
Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe did not completely rule out job cuts but said they were not being considered at the moment.
“So far, and so far is a key word on this one, the issue of job cuts is not on the table.”
He said Blom and Yelland were “100% correct” to say Eskom did not have money to fund salary increases.
“That’s why we were offering no increases but because we are led by a responsive and responsible management, they have taken it upon themselves to see what else can be done to find this money from somewhere, even if we don’t have it at the moment.”
The salary increase offer will shoot up Eskom’s annual remuneration bill by more than R1.3-billion, Blom said.
The World Bank had already stated that Eskom employed over 27 500 more staff than it should have for the amount of energy it produces.
Eskom’s three unions – the National Union of Mineworkers, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and Solidarity – turned down a 7% offer last week.
The unions’ revised demand was standing at 8% but they took the 7.5% offer back to their members for feedback today.
Phasiwe said they were hopeful an agreement would be reached today.
“We first met on May 10, before the soccer World Cup which has come and gone. We would like to start focusing on turning around this company.”
The original of this report by Isaac Mahlangu appeared on page 7 of Sowetan of 17 July 2018
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ANA reports that the South African Local Government Association (Salga) has submitted the outstanding documents required to avoid deregistration, the department of labour said yesterday.
The department issued a notice of intention to cancel Salga’s registration in the Government Gazette of June 15 after it failed to submit outstanding documents, including audited financial statements, names of office bearers, a business address and membership figures.
“In terms of section 106 (2A) of the Act, the office of the registrar may cancel the registration of an employers’ organisation by removing its name from the appropriate register if the organisation is not, or has ceased to function as a genuine organisation, or has failed to comply with sections 98, 99 and 100 of the Act,” spokesperson Teboho Thejane said.
According to law, a registered employers’ organisation must keep books and records of its income, assets and liabilities and must prepare financial statements within six months after the end of each financial year.
It must also arrange for an annual audit which must comply with generally accepted auditing standards and the auditor must report in writing to the organisation whether it has complied with its constitution in relation to financial matters.
The department said Salga had finally submitted financial statements from 2012 up to 2017, the names and business address of office bearers for the years 2011 to 2018 and membership figures per sector for the years 2012 to 2017, on June 16, and had apologised for the delay.
The association also said it had implemented measures to prevent delays in transmitting information recurring
The original of this report appeared on page 9 of The Citizen of 17 July 2018
Read the Department of Labour’s press statement in this regard at DOL News
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Personal Finance reports that the Credit Ombud, Nicky Lala-Mohan, says it seems there is still widespread abuse of the garnishee order system to deduct debt repayments from employees, despite a far-reaching Constitutional Court ruling almost two years ago tightening up the issuing of these orders.
In September 2016, the Constitutional Court confirmed a High Court ruling by Judge Siraj Desai that aspects of the enforcement of emolument attachment orders (EAOs, commonly but incorrectly referred to as garnishee orders) were unconstitutional.
An EAO is a court order that forces an employer to deduct an amount from an employee’s wages or salary to pay a third party, such as a creditor.
EAOs can now be granted only by a judge or a magistrate and must be granted in the court with jurisdiction in the area where the debtor resides or works.
The debtor and the debtor’s employer must be given notice of the creditor’s intention to have the EAO issued, and the consumer has 10 days to oppose the order.
“When Judge Desai ruled that some EAOs were unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid, we all hoped that this could bring relief to the consumers who suffer from the abuse and exploitation of EAOs,” says Lala-Mohan.
“Concourt Judge Raymond Zondo also ruled that the amount to be deducted needed to be appropriate and fair.”
Before the ruling, many EAO applications from creditors were processed by court clerks, without the oversight of a judge or magistrate. “There had been abuse of consumers, with many unaware of the correct process to follow,” Lala-Mohan says.
CAP ON AMOUNT
Subsequent to the Constitutional Court ruling, the Courts of Law Amendment Act was promulgated, placing a cap on the amount that can be attached: not more than 25% of the consumers’ gross earnings. This, the ombud says, went a long way to ending situations where consumers have been left with almost no salary after EAO deductions.
The Credit Ombud, who often receives and investigates complaints relating to EAOs, recently met with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the National Credit Regulator (NCR) to discuss measures to address undesirable practices, which “appear to thrive despite the latest legislation”.
The ombud says it is important to establish the extent to which the new legislation has improved conditions for consumers.
Are the courts implementing the new requirements, and are employers fulfilling their role in scrutinising EAOs?
“The SAHRC, NCR and Credit Ombud are committed to continuing with discussions aimed at eradicating EAO abuse,” Lala-Mohan says.
The original of this report by Martin Hesse appeared on page 20 of Personal Finance of 14 July 2018
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