by Dev_SACCAWU | General
SABC News reports that the SA Medical Association Trade Union (SAMATU) has announced plans to escalate its campaign for the placement of unemployed doctors by engaging directly with the Finance Minister. This decision follows a series of protests across various provinces, including one in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday, aimed at highlighting the challenges faced by unemployed doctors and the potential to address problems in public health services. SAMATU general secretary Dr. Cedric Sihlangu indicated: “There’ll also be a national protest to the Finance Minister on the 31st of January because, by and large, all these issues pertaining to unemployment of doctors – if you go to the Minister of Health, he’ll tell you that it’s a finance issue and he’s trying to discuss with the National Treasury. If you go to the MEC, he’ll cite that it’s a fiscal constraint issue.” Sihlangu added: “The national leadership of SAMATU decided to take these to the doorsteps of the Finance Minister simply to raise the plight, not only of unemployed doctors. In fact, the lack and under-staffing of these clinics and hospitals directly impacts accessing adequate healthcare services to these communities.”
Read the original of the short report in the above regard at SABC News. Read too, Eastern Cape premier listens to desperate pleas of unemployed doctors, at City Press
by Dev_SACCAWU | General
Cape Times reports that the Labour Court has turned down an application by an employee who was dismissed from his job at Overberg AgriBedrywe for using his cellphone while operating heavy machinery, which breached the company’s safety policies. The dismissed employee, who argued that his firing was unfair, was a qualified fitter and turner with 17 years’ experience. He was dismissed in February 2021 after working at the agri business for about 20 months. His dismissal came after he was placed on light duty due to an injury sustained at work, during which period he allegedly used his personal cellphone for private purposes while operating running machinery. Due to ignoring the company’s safety policies, the employer fired him for failing to comply with standards, rules and regulations related to safety and a breach of trust. In a similar case last year, a quality controller at Eskom’s Kusile Power Station was fired after he breached Eskom’s cardinal rule by handling or using his cellphone while driving a vehicle on site. In the recent judgment, the judge said: “In relation to the existence of the rule and (the employee’s) knowledge of it, the arbitrator was satisfied there was a rule in the workplace forbidding the use of phones for calls or listening to music whilst operating machinery, which (employee) was aware of. His finding was based on various evidence.”
Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Chevon Booysen at Cape Times
by Dev_SACCAWU | General
The Witness reports that the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) is consulting its members following the government’s latest 5.5% salary increase offer to civil servants. Nehawu and other unions, such as the Public Servants Association (PSA), have in recent weeks been engaged in wage negotiations with the government. Nehawu’s Zola Saphetha confirmed that the union was currently in consultation with its members over the government’s latest offer. The union is embarking on an intensified mandate-seeking process until 7 February through the convening of membership meetings to source a mandate from members on the offer. “Regional and provincial Bargaining forums of the public service must be convened between February 10 to 14 and thereafter the national bargaining forum will be reconvened to consolidate mandates from membership unions, regional and provincial bargaining forums,” Saphetha explained. PSA spokesperson Claude Naicker described the latest government offer as “progressive”. The wage negotiations have been taking place amidst mounting concerns around the state’s ballooning wage bill, which currently sits at R721 billion per year. As part of measures to reduce its salary bill, the government has been providing financial incentives to those who retire before their retirement age.
Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Clive Ndou at The Witness
by Dev_SACCAWU | General
BusinessTech reports that the Department of Labour and Employment (DEL) has published a new Draft Code of Good Practice on Dismissal, which also covers for possible retrenchments. It was gazetted by the Minister of Employment and Labour on 21 January 2025. According to law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, the draft code emphasises that the purpose of a fair procedure is to foster dialogue and reflection. A fair procedure would allow an employee to respond to allegations of misconduct. The draft code also indicates that investigations and enquiries into misconduct can be informal, with their nature tailored to the specific context and size of the employer. The frequency and severity of the misconduct in question can also be looked into. Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr note that this approach is consistent with the decriminalisation of disciplinary processes. The draft code also includes guidelines on dismissals due to operational requirements. Such guidelines were previously absent from the existing Code of Good Practice on Dismissal and were instead found under a separate Code of Good Practice on Operational Requirements. The Draft Code’s proposed Annexure A outlines what issues should be addressed in notices of possible retrenchments given in terms of section 189 of the LRA. Interested parties have 60 days, until 22 March, to submit their proposals on the Draft Code to the DEL.
Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luke Fraser at BusinessTech. Download the Draft Code of Good Practice on Dismissal here
by Dev_SACCAWU | General
BL Premium reports that Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge’s legal team on Tuesday argued at the Judicial Conduct Tribunal that the complainant accusing him of sexually harassing her misled the hearing by omitting “disgusting” messages in which she reciprocated his sexual advances. The complainant, judges’ secretary Andiswa Mengo, had testified on Tuesday, the seventh day of the tribunal, that Mbenenge’s persistent sexual advances towards her had left her traumatised. The tribunal’s purpose is to determine whether Mbenenge’s conduct in his engagements with the subordinate constituted sexual harassment. In law, sexual harassment is defined as “unwarranted conduct which is persistent or serious or creates an intimidating environment which is related to sex, gender or sexual orientation”. Advocate Salome Scheepers wrapped up leading evidence on Mengo’s testimony on Tuesday. Acting for Mbenenge, advocate Muzi Sikhakhane in his cross-examination argued that Mengo “misled” the tribunal by not detailing her “sexual responses” in her affidavit. “The version of my client is that certain chats, some of them salacious, took place between the two of you. Do you agree with me that at some point you were exchanging equally salacious messages?” he asked. Mengo agreed that she did send salacious messages. Sikhakhane stated that Mengo did not communicate her discomfort to Mbenenge about the sexual advances. He argued her failure to communicate this could be construed as “consensual”.
Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sinesipho Schrieber at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, Judge’s secretary flirted back, argues lawyer, at GroundUp. And also, Mengo concedes that her interactions with Mbenenge could be reasonably concluded to be consensual, at EWN
