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Friday, 14 October 2016 13:45

The New Age writes that tensions between organised labour and Sibanye Gold management are on a knife edge at the gold producer’s Cooke operations in Westonaria.  

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) deputy president Joseph Montisetse told The New Age that the union would be taking legal action against Sibanye.  

He accused the company of providing “lax security” during an illegal gathering that led to the death of NUM member Ranthimo Nkosi.  

“It is clear that the company will not put a stop to the bloodshed.  We will sue them, we want the company to pay for the member who died and others who were assaulted,” Montisetse said.  

He accused the company of transporting members associated with Amcu to the company’s Cooke 2 shaft for an illegal gathering.  NUM claims the dead man was killed by Amcu members.  

“We have instructed the company to give us footage of the incident.  We want clear information about the people who assaulted and killed our member.  If Amcu members were involved, we’ll take action.”

Montisetse’s comments come against the background of a mass meeting at Sibanye Gold’s Cooke 3 mine on Wednesday.

The union met to chart a way forward after various attacks on its members across Sibanye’s Cooke operations.  The attacks have now renewed hostilities between the NUM and its long-standing rival Amcu.

“If the company allows illegal gatherings, our members must gather together and defend themselves.  If they provoke us, we’ll gather illegally,” Montisetse said.

Sibanye spokesperson James Wellsted rejected the NUM allegations that the company created an environment for the union’s members to be susceptible to attacks at the company’s operations.

While he confirmed that there was an illegal gathering at the Cooke 2 mine by “Amcu supporters”, he rejected the NUM allegations that the company was complicit in the acts.

“Why would we assist in protest action that affects our company operations?  It’s not sensible.  We did have our security there and we called the police to assist,” Wellsted said.

He said that the company was investigating the matter and would take appropriate action to bring those responsible to book.

“We’re busy investigating and if we are able to identify the perpetrators, we’ll take appropriate action and it could include murder charges.”

Wellsted, making reference to the protection of workers at the company’s various hostels, said that the company was overwhelmed by providing security for workers.

“A lot of the assaults happened at a long distance from work areas from 12am to 3am so our ability to ensure safety is difficult under those circumstances.”

Wellsted said that Sibanye would take disciplinary action against workers who participated in the illegal gathering.

Amcu spokesperson Manzini Zungu said recently in response to the NUM’s allegations that Amcu members were responsible for meting out violence against NUM members:  “It doesn’t matter who did the crime, the law should take its course.”

Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said on Wednesday that he would convene a high-level meeting with industry stakeholders to tackle labour instability over health and safety issues, among others.

This report by Bonolo Selebano is on page 4 of The New Age of 14 October 2016

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Monday, 03 October 2016 15:14

Sunday Independent writes that it has become abundantly clear that Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane is not a man who can be taken at his word.  The monetary windfall he promised the disaster victims at Lily Mine on 5 February has now become the responsibility of the mine, as the minister will clearly not make good on it.  

In the heat of the moment, Zwane promised the families of the three trapped mineworkers – Solomon Nyirenda, Yvonne Mnisi and Pretty Nkambule – R200,000 each, while the 75 rescued mineworkers were told they stood to make R50,000.  But not a cent has been paid so far as the minister seems to have dumped the hot potato in the lap of Lily Mine.  

Having applied for business rescue, Lily does not have that kind of money.  But said Rob Devereux, of business rescue firm Sturns, they will, as a sign of goodwill, honour the promise.  This can only happen after Lily receives the R200 million it seeks to restart operations at the mine.  “As part of the business rescue process, we will honour the payments.”  But top of the list after getting the money is to drill a new decline shaft to Level 4, which would lead to reopening the mine.  

Saying that Lily had not budgeted for the payouts, Devereux indicated that the money for them amounted to R4.3 million.  The money had now been built into the R200 million sought to reopen the mine.  He said the three families of the miners trapped underground continued to receive their salaries of R16,000 a month.  They also get food parcels from Social Development.  Yet the payments to be made to the affected mineworkers “are not to be misconstrued as an admission of guilt on the part of the company.”  Devereux warned that if this was not explained, it could set a precedent for future disasters.  “Every trapped miner in South Africa would demand this.”  But how far is Sturns from getting the money?  “I’m pretty close,” said Devereux.  

Playing his cards close to his chest regarding the prospective rescuer, Devereux said every stakeholder, including the unions, had been appraised of developments.  The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), the majority union at 80%, was followed by trade union Solidarity.  The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which had been at pains to organise a march to Lily Mine, was not a recognised union.

Read this report by Don Makatile in full on page 6 of Sunday Independent of 2 October 2016

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Friday, 30 September 2016 11:36

Sowetan reports that a facility in Limpopo that provides treatment for extreme cases of drug resistant Tuberculosis (TB) has been temporarily shut down after the provincial health department suspended over 30 nurses working there.  On Wednesday patients were transported away from the Modimolle MDR TB Unit.  The specialised unit, which has not been gazetted as a hospital, is the only facility of its kind in the province.  Nurses were apparently served with suspension letters after they refused to work while wearing protective masks they viewed as sub-standard.  Patients at the facility are usually kept in secluded wards with a strict requirement for medical staff and visitors to wear protective masks to avoid infections.  

Thobile Ntola of the South African Public Service Union (SAPSU) said it was unfair for the provincial department to expect staff to work without proper protective gear.  On Wednesday he was helping to secure legal representation for affected workers.  The nurses had complained that the masks had failed an infection-proof test on numerous occasions.  An occupational health and safety report leaked to the Sowetan reflects that tests were conducted on masks and only four passed.  

Derrick Kganyago, spokesperson at provincial health department, denied that there was a problem with the masks, saying that the tender had been approved nationally.  Kganyago said the department was forced to temporarily close down the facility due to a number of problems, including the fact that staff members were instigating illegal strikes and refusing to perform their duties as expected.  e said the department had made preparations for patients to be accommodated at other hospitals while the situation was being resolved.  One of the suspension letters seen by Sowetan states that the nurses have been placed on precautionary suspension for “instigating an unlawful, wild cat strike at the MDR TB Unit”.  The letter states that the nurses will be placed on paid suspension for 60 days while investigations continue, adding that nurses will be barred from entering the premises without permission from the department.  “You are further prohibited from making any form of contact with any fellow staff member or the media to discuss this matter without the permission of the Head of Department,” the letter states.  Nurses were also instructed to vacate the premises with immediate effect.  

One nurse said the suspension came as a surprise because they never went on strike, but had only refused to use deficient masks.  Another nurse said: “We don’t understand why we are being suspended because those masks have a lot of defects.  This situation is distressing.”  

Information from the SA National Association for Tuberculosis reflects that the disease remains the leading cause of death in country.

Read this report by Zoë Mahopo in full on page 10 of Sowetan of 29 September 2016

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Wednesday, 28 September 2016 16:05

The New Age reports that scores of teachers from across Mpumalanga who are affiliated to the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) will be temporarily downing tools and taking to the streets of Mbombela on Thursday.  They will be picketing at the headquarters of the provincial department of education to hand over a memorandum of grievances to education MEC Reginah Mhaule.  Build-up activities for the march have been held at various education districts and circuit offices since last week.  In their memo, the union accuses the department of abolishing vacant teaching posts and planning to retrench about 1,400 teachers.  

Sadtu provincial secretary Walter Hlaise said the union was worried because the number of pupils admitted to schools every year was increasing but the department still prioritised firing teachers instead of increasing the number of teachers as per the growing number of pupils.  Hlaise said the department “notified stakeholders that it was intending to cut the number of teaching posts in the province from the current 32,637 to 31,206 thereby butchering more than 1,400 needed teaching posts.  This diabolic and vicious declaration happens in the face of increasing pupil enrolment figures and demand for more teaching posts to be created.  Scores of temporary teachers are going to be jobless in January 2017.”  

Provincial education spokesperson Gerald Sambo said they were aware of the march by the teachers to hand over their memorandum of grievances.  He stated:  “We cannot deny the union an opportunity to voice concerns since it has the right to do so.  However, we are worried about pupils who are supposed to be receiving lessons from those union members.  We will study the contents of the petition and then take it from there to avoid the disturbance of teaching and learning when the schools reopen in the last quarter.”

Read this report by France Nyaka in full on page 23 of The New Age of 28 September 2016

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Monday, 26 September 2016 09:56

City Press reports that fathers are moving closer to getting 10 days’ paid leave to bond with their newborn babies or adopted children.  This will be a marked improvement on the three days of family responsibility leave they are currently allowed.  In SA, no statutory provision for paternity or adoption leave is made.  There was all-round support for the draft Labour Laws Amendment Bill in Parliament last week during public hearings on the proposed parental leave.  The bill was tabled by African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) MP Cheryl Dudley in 2015 as a private member’s bill.  It proposes that “an employee, who is a parent of a child, be entitled to at least 10 consecutive days’ parental leave from the day the child is born.”  The bill also proposes parental leave for employees who have adopted children, effective from the day that the adoption order is granted.  The bill proposes that an adoptive parent of a child below the age of two be entitled to adoption leave of at least 10 consecutive days.  Being a bill proposed by an opposition MP, the progress of the bill in Parliament so far is itself noteworthy.  Dudley proposed parental leave instead of “paternity” leave because she wanted to ensure that it did not discriminate and that the leave issue was not side-tracked because of LGBTIQ issues.  The ACDP has suggested that the Unemployment Insurance Act be amended to cater for the new parental benefits.  Trade union federation Cosatu’s parliamentary officer Matthew Parks described the bill as progressive, critical and long overdue in Parliament.  Cosatu also called for the 10 days’ paid parental leave to be separate from the three days’ family responsibility leave.

• Read this report by Andisiwe Makinana in full on page 4 of City Press of 25 September 2016

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