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Thursday, 08 December 2016 11:19

The Star reports that more than 750 employees of the forensic pathology services in Gauteng have been on an illegal strike since the beginning of the month, forcing the provincial Health Department to go the legal route to bring it to an end.

Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu said her department had applied for and was granted a court interdict to end the strike.  "Forensic officers are now back at work.  Post-mortems on all outstanding cases are being fast­ tracked accordingly.  We have been interacting with them to resolve their issues, but we don't condone the disruption of service delivery," said Mahlangu.

A forensic officer, who asked not to be named as he had taken part in the strike, said their gripe centred around the lack of danger pay and a dissection allowance.  "Doctors get an allowance for performing dissections.  We know they don't perform surgeries, because we're the ones performing it.  So why don't we receive that allowance as well?" he said.

He claimed that the department allocated a sum in the region of R28 000 for dissections.  "Doctors don't even touch a single tool during surgery, they just direct us," he claimed.

The employee said their gripe extended to the lack of danger allowance, despite it being afforded to employees in other departments.  "Our counterparts in the EMS division, for example, get danger allowances.  We work in dangerous environments, so we don't understand why we don't get that allowance too," he said.

The department's spokesperson, Steve Mabona, said forensic officers were not registered with statutory bodies and were not eligible to receive those allowances.  "Forensic officers are not health practitioners and, therefore, do not qualify for such allowances."

The original of this report by Tankiso Makhetha is on page 2 of The Star of 8 December 2016

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Tuesday, 29 November 2016 10:24

Sowetan reports that a second top labour department official faces contempt of court charges for taking too long to pay hundreds of millions of rands to a company that processes “injury on duty” claims.

Compensation Solutions (CompSol) has revealed that it will institute contempt of court charges against labour director-general Thobile Lamati and the Compensation Commission.

The department’s chief operations officer (COO) Shadrack Mkhonto, who was previously the commissioner at the Compensation Commission, is fighting similar charges after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) sentenced him to a three month jail term, suspended for five years, for ignoring court orders to pay CompSol over R400-million for processing the commission’s claims.

In April, the SCA found Mkhonto in contempt of a July 2009 North Gauteng High Court judgment ordering the commission to pay CompSol.

The high court also ordered Mkhonto and the commission to process the backlog of medical accounts within three months.

Mkhonto has approached the Constitutional Court to have the SCA’s finding set aside, arguing that it is a “serious matter which impedes my dignity and directly affects my freedom.  I now have a civil contempt of court finding hanging over my head for a period of five years, in circumstances where I did not wilfully breach an order of court,” reads Mkhonto’s founding affidavit.

He said the contempt of court finding was an invasion of his rights and that he was entitled to exhaust all legal remedies to vindicate his version.

Mkhonto’s term as compensation commissioner ended in May last year and he was appointed the department’s COO the following month.

CompSol chief executive Charl van Wyk, revealed in his opposing affidavit, that the company issued no less than 19 summonses against Mkhonto, the commission and the director-general encompassing accounts worth over R422-million.  He said all the summonses were based on ongoing breaches of the same order, forming the subject matter of the case.  “The respondent (CompSol) is in fact currently preparing a fourth application to have the second (Compensation Commission) and third (Lamati) applicants held in contempt of this same order,” said Van Wyk.

Lamati was not the director-general at the time the order was granted, but the occupational health and safety chief inspector.

According to Van Wyk, there had been constant breaches of almost all aspects of the high court order.

The Constitutional Court will hear Mkhonto’s appeal in March.

The original of this report by Loyiso Sidimba is on page 2 of Sowetan of 29 November 2016

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Thursday, 24 November 2016 15:16

Sowetan reports that a veteran trade unionist has warned the mining industry and the government that failure to urgently address the issue of thousands of mineworkers who were buried in unmarked graves during apartheid could lead to anarchy.

James Motlatsi, the longest serving president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), said: “Anarchy is the easiest thing to start in SA but to control it is something else.  Government and the [mining] industry must act now before things get out of hand.  Many people lost their lives in mines during apartheid.  Their families are angry.  Anything can happen.”

Motlatsi said the matter should be resolved now lest it stays on “matters arising” forever in the discussions of the mining industry.

Motlatsi started work on the mines as a Lesotho migrant labourer in 1970, in the Free State.  He led NUM from its inception in 1982 to 2000 before joining Teba, the country’s oldest mining labour recruitment agency, as the chief executive in 2001.  He is currently Teba’s nonexecutive chairman.

Motlatsi was commenting on Sowetan’s recent exposé about unmarked graves of mineworkers who died on duty and were buried by their employers without the consent of their families.  In some cases, workers buried their colleagues after raising funds through burial stokvels.

SA Destitute Ex-Miners Forum is currently assisting about 18,000 families to trace the remains of their relatives buried at mines across the country.  The forum also wants to force the Chamber of Mines and government to repatriate the remains for dignified burials.

Motlatsi said before NUM was formed, the remains of dead workers would be kept in the mortuaries of the company’s hospital.  “Then the company would organise a black coffin to bury the body in the same clothes they died in.  In some instances families would be notified of the death late and be told that their relative had already been buried.”

Motlatsi cited at least three people from his Morifi village in Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho, who were buried in the 1960s.  He said in those days Lesotho citizens were given a three-day pass to come to SA to fetch the body or attend the funeral.  “Many saw it as a waste of time because a train trip would take exactly three days.”

Motlatsi indicated that the situation improved after the formation of NUM, leading to two-month “rigorous” negotiations with mine managers in June 1983 before the long mining strike of 1987.  “There was lots of resistance from white people.  They wanted things to remain as they were; people dying like flies and buried like dogs.”  The talks led to formalisation of the industry and establishment of pension funds with burial covers.  However, there was still a long way to go to address past atrocities, Motlatsi said.

“Government and the mining industry need to take responsibility to deal with these unmarked graves. Municipalities should also come on board because those graves are on government land.”

Chamber of Mines spokeswoman Memory Johnstone said they were willing to assist to trace unmarked graves but were yet to be approached on this.

This report by Lindile Sifile is on page 14 of Sowetan of 24 November 2016

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Thursday, 24 November 2016 14:24

The New Age reports that three unions on Wednesday demanded that AEL Mining Services, a subsidiary of JSE-listed AECI Group, put to an end to what they claim are practices of "exploitation, discrimination and oppression".

The unions claim black employees are discriminated against and white staffers with little experience or proper qualifications are promoted.

Close to a 1,000 members of the General Industries Workers Union of SA (Giwusa), the SA Chemical Workers Union (Sacwu) and the Chemical Energy Paper Printing Wood and Allied Workers Union (Ceppwawu) marched to the head office of AEL and handed over their demands to the company's leadership.

The unions' representative, John Appolis, said: "Workers are fed up with the exploitation, discrimination and oppression at the hands of AEL management.  One of the main sources of this exploitation and discrimination is the grading system."  He said the system favoured management.  "It allows management to control workers, apply favouritism and exploit workers.  There is no logic to the grades 25 to grade 28.  It is only a tool to pay workers less.  Workers demand the scrapping of all grades below grade 28."  "Disciplinary policies are applied differently.  Recently a white manager confronted a black female employee demanding to know why she was using a company vehicle to drive township kids around but white managers can use company vehicles to drive their wives and families about."

AECI yesterday denied the allegations, saying it was "a proudly South African, equal opportunity company" and took the matter seriously.  Fulvia Putero, AECI's corporate communications and investor relations manager, said:  "Given our country's history, we're particularly aware of issues regarding discrimination and take allegations of racism extremely seriously."  Putero said that, as an AECI Group company, "AEL adheres to the same principles of fairness, equality and non-discrimination.  These principles are non-negotiable and are at the heart of the values that underpin all of AECI's businesses."

Putero also said AEL "has a long and proud history of engagement with all unions" that represent its workforce.  "It has, and will continue to have, an open door policy in dealing with its workers' legitimate concerns.  This includes allegations of racism."

The unions disagree.  "Black and white employees can do the same job but not earn the same.  Racism is especially alive in places like Kuruman and Witbank," Appolis said.

• The original of this report by Samuel Mungadze is on page 15 of The New Age of 24 November 2016

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Tuesday, 22 November 2016 10:38

The Star reports that suspended national police commissioner General Riah Phiyega's fate will soon be decided, as a report by the Claassen Board of Inquiry into her fitness to hold office has been concluded.

"The board has now completed its report regarding the fitness or lack thereof of the national police commissioner to hold office," commission chairperson Judge Neels Claassen said.  "The report will be handed over to the president on a date determined by the president.  The report will be distributed as provided for in the legislation," the judge added.

The country's top cop was suspended by President Jacob Zuma following allegations of misconduct emanating from the Farlam Commission of Inquiry report.  The commission investigated the deaths of 44 people killed during labour unrest at Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana in August 2012.  The president subsequently appointed Judge Claassen to head the inquiry, assisted by advocates Bernard Khuzwayo and Anusha Rawjee.

The terms of reference included investigating whether Phiyega, acting with others in the SAPS leadership structures, misled the Farlam Commission by hiding the fact that they had authorised the "tactical option" during a management meeting a day before the killings.

The hearings were concluded on 3 June.  On the last day, Phiyega's counsel appealed for the acquittal of the beleaguered top cop.  "You can say no action should be taken against her, or you can recommend reduction of her salary or that she be transferred to another department..   So you have a whole lot of options," said William Mokhari SC.  "But we are saying that, based on the evidence, you should acquit her of all the charges."

Report by Tankiso Makhetha on page 5 of The Star of 22 November 2016

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