Numsa Media Monitor Thursday 11 August 2016

Numsa Media Monitor
                        Thursday 11 August 2016
  A daily compilation of local, national and international articles dealing with
                             labour related issues
Numsa
Another petrol strike in the pipeline
Siseko Njobeni, Business Report, 11 Aug 2016
Johannesburg - As another strike in the petroleum sector loomed, economists
yesterday warned that the ongoing industrial action affecting fuel deliveries would
begin to eat into the country’s growth prospects if it carried on for longer.
The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) this week threw its weight
behind the ongoing strike by workers affiliated to the Chemical, Energy, Paper,
Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union (Ceppwawu), which has affected fuel
deliveries from oil refineries and oil depots.
Mediation talks
Numsa’s general secretary, Irvin Jim, said its members at petrol service stations
could also go on strike if mediation talks in the Motor Bargaining Council failed.
“If the bosses who represent garage employers fail to make an offer, Numsa will
embark on a strike action in pursuit of our members’ demands and in full support of
fuel refineries,” Jim said.
Numsa’s warning comes as the Ceppwawu strike enters its third week.
The union’s members went on strike on July 28 after a deadlock in the annual wage
negotiations with the National Petroleum Employers Association (NPEA) over a 9
percent increase for a single year agreement.
NPEA has offered a 7 percent increase in the first year and an increase linked to the
April 2017 consumer price index plus 1.5 percent in year two.

Economists warned that the protracted industrial actions in the petroleum sector
would hamper South Africa’s growth, which the SA Reserve Bank last month cut to
zero for the remainder of the year.
SA Institute of Race Relations’ chief economist, Ian Cruickshanks, said that a longer
strike would affect all the sectors of the economy and would worsen the already grim
economic prospects.
Cruickshanks said the strike would contribute to job losses, reduced consumer
spending and low business confidence.
“So far the impact has been limited, with just a few service stations without fuel. But
it is a worrying situation.
“The strike will also have a strong social impact. A single worker supports about five
more people. For every single job lost, there are another five hungry people,” he
said.
He also questioned the affordability of an above inflation wage increase.
NPEA has previously said that its wage offer was fair and reasonable given the
country’s slow economic growth, the high currency exchange rate and the drastic
decline in the crude oil price towards the end of last year.
But the chief economist at economists.co.za, Mike Schussler, said the strike had not
had a major effect on the economy yet, as petroleum companies had been able to
supply fuel products.
“What we are seeing at the moment is the ‘hustle factor’ whereby in some cases
motorists have to drive around a bit before finding fuel,” Schussler said.
“At the moment the guys who will feel the effect of the strike most are the workers
who will not be able to pay their way come end of the month.”
He said the strike reinforced South Africa’s reputation for strikes that took too long. “I
am not talking about the (2014) five-month strike in the platinum sector. Other
countries also experience strikes but they do not take this long. Our strikes take
weeks instead of days.
“(The length of the strikes) affects how local and international investors view the
country. We need to get over that because we need investors to fight
unemployment,” Schussler said.
Meanwhile, Eskom and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) were yesterday
locked in talks in a bid to end their wage increase dispute.
Despite a court interdict by the state-owned power utility, NUM members at Eskom
went on strike yesterday.
The striking workers include staff at Eskom power stations.
“We are hopeful that by the end of the meeting we will be close to a resolution of the
dispute,” Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said.

http://www.iol.co.za/business/news/another-petrol-strike-in-the-pipeline-2055631
Eskom‚ petroleum sectors face paralysing strikes
TimesLive, 10 August, 2016
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has warned “bosses
who represent garage employers” to come up with an offer or face strike action in the
petroleum sector.
This comes as a third of Eskom’s workforce will down tools on Wednesday in a
nationwide strike over wages — a move that may effect electricity output at the
utility’s power plants.
BDlive reported that all members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) at
Eskom power stations across the country will go on strike‚ joining workers who went
on strike at three power stations on Monday.
David Sipunzi‚ general secretary of the union‚ said that while they were concerned
about the effect the strike would have as Eskom is a strategic entity‚ those managing
the company were not taking the union seriously.
He said the NUM was in talks with Numsa over wage negotiations with the utility.
Numsa on Tuesday warned that it would be watching developments in Wednesday’s
resumption of negotiations between the Chemical Energy Paper Printing Wood and
Allied Workers Union (Ceppwawu) and employers.
Numsa members in petrol filing stations across the country “have been having
protracted negotiations with employers in the Motor Bargaining Council and being
frustrated by employers who are refusing to make an offer that must settle this round
of negotiations”‚ Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said.
“We have mediation resuming tomorrow‚” Jim said.
“If the bosses who represent garage employers fail to make an offer‚ Numsa will
embark on a strike action in pursuit of our members’ demands and in full support of
fuel refineries; so workers must remain strong and united‚ because united we stand
divided we fall.”
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2016/08/10/Eskom%E2%80%9A-petroleum-sectors-
face-paralysing-strikes
Fuel strike: 'Be strong,' Numsa urges workers
Iavan Pijoos, News24, 9 Aug 2016
Johannesburg - The National union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has
called on workers taking part in the current strike in the petroleum industry to remain
strong and resolute in their demands.
In a statement on Tuesday, the union said their members had been frustrated by
employers who were refusing to meet their round of negotiations.

“If the bosses who represent garage employers fail to make an offer, Numsa will
embark on a strike action in pursuit of our members’ demands in full support of fuel
refineries,” it read.
“Numsa condemns any attempt by employers in the filling stations to use the
Ceppwawu dispute, and the non-delivery of petrol, as a pretext to dismiss, or refuse
to pay, their own employees and warns that this will be strenuously resisted,” the
union said.
This follows a strike started last Thursday that resulted in the main petrol depot in
Pretoria coming to a standstill. Motorists in Pretoria and other parts of Gauteng have
been battling to find stations with petrol.
Other parts of South Africa have not been affected, as contingency plans have been
put in place by petrol suppliers.
The union had warned employers that unless their representatives in the motor
sector return to the negotiating table with serious proposals for improved wages and
conditions of employment and an agreement is reached, these workers would take
strike action in support of the their demands that Numsa’s negotiators had
presented.
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/fuel-strike-be-strong-numsa-urges-
workers-20160809
Eskom workers defy interdict: begin to strike over pay
Pericles Anetos, Business Day, 11 August 2016
MEMBERS of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which represents close to
a third of Eskom’s workforce, downed tools on Wednesday in a nationwide strike
over wages, in defiance of a court interdict.
Eskom obtained an interdict from the Labour Court late on Tuesday to stop NUM
members embarking on a strike.
In a statement, Eskom said it had no minimum service agreement between itself and
its employees. The agreement allows for a percentage of the workforce to continue
working, while those not providing minimum services can strike. As Eskom does not
have an agreement, the employees do not have right to go on a protected strike
action.
Independent energy analyst Ted Blom said that Eskom’s production of electricity
might be affected after two weeks of the strike. "Under two weeks probably zero
impact; above two weeks some of the wheels might start slowing down," Blom said.
He said if it carried on for longer than two weeks some maintenance items would
become problematic and that could have an effect on electricity production. During
the initial period the work could be done by other skilled staff.
Blom said another aspect in Eskom’s favour was that it had about 15% in spare
capacity, giving it a small buffer.

NUM is demanding a housing allowance of R3,000 a month, a double-digit increase
for low-earning workers and 8.5% for the rest. Eskom was offering between 7% and
9% across the board, with no housing allowance.
Blom said Eskom would be able to cover the 9% as the national energy regulator
earlier this year had granted it a 9.4% tariff increase for the 2016/17 financial year.
"It’s a matter of fairness. I am not saying it is justified, but it is fair to expect them to
make demands," Blom said.
The strike is unprotected as Eskom is deemed an essential service. But NUM’s
David Sipunzi said on Tuesday that in any other form of work in SA, they had a
constitutional right to strike.
He said when services were declared essential, there should be negotiations, and if
something was an essential service it should reflect in the way it paid its employees.
The company said that it was at liberty to disclose the contingency plans it has in
place, but said the plans were there to ensure that its operations were not affected.
Eskom reiterated that the negotiations with the trade unions including National Union
of Metalworkers of SA and Solidarity were still ongoing.
The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) said that all
three unions had accepted an offer for a senior commissioner to facilitate the talks
that will take place today.
Sello Morajane, director of the CCMA, said that the commission would ensure that all
options were explored in an effort to resolve the labour dispute.
The CCMA made the offer of assistance in terms of section 150 of the Labour
Relations Act, which allows the CCMA to attempt to resolve the matter again
irrespective of any awards it may have passed, when the situation is of national
interest.
http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/energy/2016/08/11/eskom-workers-defy-interdict-
begin-to-strike-over-pay
Eskom strike: 'We've got the power'
Graeme Hosken, The Times, 11 August, 2016
Eskom is unfazed by the illegal strike by 15,000 of its employees.
So confident is it of the adequacy of its coal and diesel reserves that it has given an
assurance that it will be able to keep the lights on well into the future.
Wage talks between Eskom and the unions Solidarity, the National Union of
Mineworkers and the National Union of Metal Workers of SA resumed yesterday.
The utility's spokesman, Khulu Phasiwe, said it had coal reserves sufficient for two
months.

"The transportation of coal to our power stations has not been affected by the strike.
On top of this, we have enough diesel reserves that, even if the coal supplies and
reserves are affected, we can still keep the lights on for months."
He was speaking as 15,000 NUM members, who include technicians, defied a court
order and downed tools yesterday.
"We have 47,000 employees. Of these, 32,000 are not aligned to NUM. These
workers are helping to ensure that we can keep the lights on despite the strike."
He said that during the strike, which would result in "fair disciplinary action" against
striking workers, small pockets of protesters had gathered outside some of the
utility's power stations.
The police had been providing support "to ensure that law and order are
maintained".
"On Tuesday the unions came down from their 13% wage-increase demand to 10%.
"That's just a few percent [age points] from what Eskom is offering, which is between
7% and 9%."
He said Eskom "was not panicking".
"Things are looking good. We are hopeful that the meeting with the unions, which all
parties agreed to, will soon result in a resolution.
"We definitely do not see this strike becoming protracted. Even if it did, we are
confident [that] our reserve supplies [are sufficient] to keep South Africa's lights
shining."
NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu told Reuters that the union's members were
on strike in the provinces in which Eskom has its biggest plants, including
Mpumalanga, and were "fighting for the right cause".
http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2016/08/11/Eskom-strike-Weve-got-the-power
South African workers
Eskom bosses intransigent over strike‚ says Cosatu
TimesLive, 10 August 2016
The Congress of South African Trade Unions has lambasted the management of
Eskom for displaying an "intransigent attitude" towards workers who are on a salary
strike at the parastatal.
Federation spokesman Sizwe Pamla said on Wednesday that workers had "played
their role in turning around the parastatal" and "deserve to be taken seriously and be
remunerated accordingly".
Workers' demands for a salary adjustment of 8‚5% to 10% on a sliding scale and a
R3000 housing allowance were reasonable and fair‚ he said in a statement.

"The problem with Eskom management is that they do not view the payment of
salaries as an investment but as expenditure. When they managed to stabilize
electricity supply and stop load shedding‚ they were congratulating themselves and
were saying nothing about the workers‚" Pamla said.
The Commission for Conciliation‚ Mediation and Arbitration said on Wednesday that
it had stepped in to mediate between the parties.
Eskom has secured a court order prohibiting unions from going on a protected strike‚
a move which Cosatu views as an intransigent attitude by management which had
"decided to use the country's courts to negotiate with its employees".
Pamla said that electricity price hikes had hit consumers hard‚ including staff working
for Eskom.
"It is therefore foolhardy and unreasonable to expect these workers to bend over
backwards to keep the lights on for the country‚ when they cannot afford the same
electricity themselves because of poor wages."
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2016/08/10/Eskom-bosses-intransigent-over-
strike%E2%80%9A-says-Cosatu
Union threatens new industrial action at Telkom and MTN
Thabiso Mochiko, Business Day, 11 August 2016
TELKOM and MTN are facing the prospect of renewed industrial action led by the
Communication Workers Union (CWU), which has bemoaned impending job losses
and changes that could result in the erosion of employee benefits.
The union on Wednesday vowed to intensify industrial action at Telkom over a range
of salary-related disputes and a retrenchment moratorium. At MTN, the union is
concerned about the company’s decision to implement a new operating model
before giving temporary employees permanent status, as had been agreed in 2015.
MTN said it was outsourcing some of its call centres to a third party and planned to
complete the process in September.
But the union’s general secretary, Aubrey Tshabalala, said the process could not
continue until the employees were made permanent and their conversion should be
backdated to August 2015, when the agreement was reached.
He said this would put the employees in a strong position when being outsourced to
a third party as their salaries and benefits would have improved.
The union and MTN are expected to meet next week. The outsourcing will affect 980
employees, including 482 casual workers, said Tshabalala.
Ike Dube, MTN SA’s head of business risk, said the agreement that was reached did
not apply to employees that were not employed by MTN.
Moreover, the deal further states that, if there are temporary employees employed by
MTN who qualify for permanent employment in terms of the Labour Relations Act,
MTN will abide by the rules.

He said MTN and the union had discussions about the company’s plans. While the
parties had "differences regarding the proposed model" the union was "fully
appraised of the strategy".
At Telkom, Tshabalala said the union was unhappy with the replacement of the "gain
sharing" incentive programme with a performance-based one and the 6% annual
salary increase. He said this disadvantaged its more than 4,000 members. "This is
an erosion of workers’ benefits."
Under the new scheme, called "performance pay", employees will be assessed on a
monthly and, later, quarterly basis, and be compensated afterwards.
The agreement was signed in June with the South African Communications Union
and Solidarity.
At that time, the CWU had in principle agreed to the new partnership agreement.
In addition to the incentive scheme, Tshabalala said the union was demanding an
11% annual salary increase and six months’ maternity leave.
He said the union members have been on strike since last week, after securing
certification.
"The strike has entered its second week. Last week, the members were on a go-slow
and doing lunch break protests.
"But we will embark on a massive protest," said Tshabalala.
Telkom spokeswoman Jacqui O’Sullivan said the union felt that the incentive
scheme "does not address its members’ needs of a cost-of-living inflation-linked
salary increase and it cannot recommend to its members to participate".
She said after months of discussions, "Telkom has decided it can no longer delay the
opportunity for employees (including CWU members) to significantly enhance their
monthly income" through the scheme, which was implemented last Monday.
http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/labour/2016/08/11/union-threatens-new-industrial-
action-at-telkom-and-mtn
Honours for Marikana hero
Sikho Ntshobane, DispatchLive, 10 August 2016
Family of the “man in the green blanket” shot dead by police at Marikana will become
the first of the families of 34 victims with decent new homes built by their union.
Association of Mineworkers (Amcu) President Joseph Mathunjwa, spoke to the
family of Mgcineni “Mambush” Noki, 30, at their rural home in Thwalikhulu village
between Mqanduli and Coffee Bay yesterday.
Mathunjwa said he remembered Mambush as a brave man and as a hero.
He said media speculation that he had been a warlord was untrue.

Mqanduli-born Noki and his green blanket featured prominently in the media during
the buildup to the police shooting of the Lonmin strikers in 2012.
Mathunjwa, officiating at a sod-turning ceremony at Noki’s homestead, said Amcu,
through the Marikana Massacre Amcu Trust Fund, would build his family a three-
room house with a lounge, dining hall and flush toilet.
He said a septic tank would be installed to enable the toilet to flush.
The union leader arrived to a rousing welcome from Noki’s relatives and other
villagers.
Youths jostled to take a selfie with the union leader.
Earlier, Mathunjwa told the Noki family that his life had been saved by Noki’s
bravery.
“I had gone to meet with them [striking miners] on that hilltop when he said to me:
President you have done your job, you can now leave us. I tried to protest but he
would not relent saying I would be killed by the police if I stayed.”
He said he had driven a short distance when a call came through on his cellphone
telling him that the strikers were being mowed down by the police.
“I wanted to go back but there was no way to at that time. Mambush had told me that
if I get killed, the world would never know the truth,” said the union leader yesterday.
He said described Noki as a deeply humble, respectful and brave man who was a
good listener.
“You gave birth to a hero. Don’t listen to what the papers are saying that he was a
warlord,” he urged.
He said the union would build a home for each of the 34 Marikana victims using
money from the trust fund.
Amcu had decided to start with Noki as he was one of the most prominent faces of
the protest.
Construction of the home is due to start in October with the completion date
envisaged before December 25, said Mathunjwa.
These homes would not be like the ANC’s RDP houses, which he said were not fit
for humans.
Amcu would build a proper house for Noki’s family.
Even the Lonmin bosses he worked under would be proud to live in it, he said.
He said they chose August 9 to go to the Mambush home because this was the day
the workers had started talking about going on strike.
Mambush had been at the forefront of the debate.

Mambush’s older sister, Nomaindiya Noki, said they were comforted by the fact that
there were still people who thought about her brother. Noki’s brother, chief of the
area, Jongintsizi Thwalikhulu, described Mambush as soccer-mad.
He lamented that the village still did not have basic services like water and electricity.
Although the ANC had retained the ward with his help, Jongintsizi said Mathunjwa
was the first leader to set foot in his village.
“I have been crying to the ANC to come and address problems here but to no avail.”
— sikhon@dispatch.co.za
http://www.dispatchlive.co.za/honours-marikana-hero/
Are the mines finished firing?
Dewald van Rensburg, City Press, 10 Aug 2016
The platinum industry shed roughly 20 000 jobs in the year to the end of March as
the major mining companies wrapped up their restructuring plans.
The latest statistics from the department of mineral resources show employment in
the sector rapidly dropping back to below 2010 levels.
This drop already includes Lonmin and Anglo Platinum’s major announced job cuts.
At the same time, the long-term decline in the gold sector seems to have bottomed
out at 115 000 jobs.
This is the first time in years that the gold mines have not decreased their
employment over the course of a year.
Meanwhile, the less politically charged coal sector has continued to contract after
reaching a peak of 90 000 jobs back in 2013.
It shed almost 10% of its workforce in 2014 and last year.
Wage talks in the platinum sector are quietly chugging along after the Association of
Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) publically announced its opening
demands last month.
The mines are yet to take a public position.
The deal the union struck with the three major platinum companies in 2014 raised
real wages for “entry-level” workers by about 14%.
Surprisingly, the department’s statistics show that the average wage rose faster in
the gold sector than in the platinum sector.
These averages include higher-paid employees, but still show an overall trend.
More than half of the value of Amcu’s demands this year relates to allowances, not
the R12 500 a month basic wage that has become its calling card.
These include more than doubling the controversial living-out allowance, even
though it was effectively consigned to the scrap heap in the 2014 deal.

That deal froze the allowance, making it shrink over time in real terms because of
inflation.
Although it is customary in South African wage talks for the parties to start with
unrealistic opening positions, the recent Amcu demands seem out of kilter with the
bargaining power its members have managed to exert in the past.
At Lonmin, for which City Press has a current wage breakdown, the Amcu demands
could come to a 94% increase for entry-level workers owing to the inclusion of new
allowances.
Without those, the demand still comes to an increase of more than 60%.
The 2014 deal, won after a historic and painful five-month strike, got workers an
overall increase in remuneration of about 27%, spread over three years.
http://city-press.news24.com/Business/are-the-mines-finished-firing-20160810
Nehawu suspects collusion in disciplinary process in Parliament
Khulekani Magubane, Business Day, 9 August 2016
THE National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) leadership in
Parliament has raised fears that the chairpersons appointed to oversee members’
internal disciplinary processes are colluding with Parliament’s management for a
predetermined outcome.
According to sources, the union is in possession of an audio recording in which one
of the chairpersons of members’ disciplinary hearings can be heard speaking to
Parliament’s representatives about influencing the process in Parliament’s favour.
Five Nehawu members in Parliament, including parliamentary branch chairman
Sthembiso Tembe, faced an internal disciplinary process after they were accused of
disrupting staff meetings in Parliament.
Nehawu Western Cape secretary Eric Kweleta said the union went into the hearings
with its own recordings which served as evidence that one of the disciplinary
hearings’ chairpersons offered biased advice to the employers.
"We have misgivings, particularly on the matter of chairs. We asked that they outline
what process they used to select them. Any discipline process should be presided
over by the division manager. Only when the employee is aggrieved can you get an
external," said Kweleta.
He said the union considered the conversation captured in the audio as collusion. He
said if the integrity of the internal disciplinary process was compromised, the union
would approach the Labour Court to interdict Parliament from continuing with the
process.
A source who asked not to be named told Business Day that disciplinary chairman
Johan Van Der Walt could be heard on the audio discussing the outcome of the
process with representatives of Parliament’s management. The source said the
audio recording and other forms of evidence were referred to Nehawu’s legal lawyer,
Barnabas Xulu.

"A hearing chair should not play an active role in the outcome of the process. The
chair is appointed to be unbiased and it is important to get to the bottom of why they
were hired because they might be appointed just to get staff members dismissed,"
the source said.
Parliament’s spokesman, Luzuko Jacobs, told Business Day that the legislature
would not publicly comment on an internal process that was still under way.
"We can’t be giving the blow-by-blow updates of the matter. That would be
inappropriate. We will try to treat this matter with circumspection and discretion.
These processes continue all of the time whether there is a recess or not, and we
would like for the process to unfold fairly and appropriately," he said.
Nehawu threatened rolling mass action around Parliament over the impasse which
began over the downward revision of performance bonuses. The Commission for
Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration last month directed Parliament to resolve the
matter, but said the action did not constitute unfair labour practice.
Union members downed tools in June, in an action which Parliament claimed was
illegal. Last year, a strike by Nehawu forced several portfolio committees to stop
work, humiliating Parliament’s management.
There are currently six disciplinary hearings with three chairs between them, as well
as two prosecutors or initiators in the matter between Parliament and Nehawu.
http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2016/08/09/nehawu-suspects-collusion-in-
disciplinary-process-in-parliament
Jobs-for-cash principal to face hearing
Paddy Harper, City Press, 10 Aug 2016
The KwaZulu-Natal education department has laid charges of internal misconduct
against a Durban principal and the provincial leaders of teachers’ union Sadtu –
alleging that she sold a teaching post at her Folweni school to an educator, who later
blew the whistle on the jobs-for-cash scam.
Thembekile Makhanya, principal of the Windy Heights Primary School in the city’s
Umlazi education circuit, will face the departmental charges.
These stem from the alleged sale of a post at Sophie Pewa Primary School, in
Folweni, to educator Nkonzwenle “Nkonzo” Mqadi for R12 000.
Mqadi told City Press in an exposé last year that he paid her R1 000 a month for a
year. When he stopped sending the cash to her with one of her Grade 6 pupils, his
employment with the department was illegally terminated – twice – by a clique of
corrupt departmental officials working with Makhanya.
Mqadi’s revelations came during the commission of inquiry into an alleged national
jobs-for-cash scam run by Sadtu, which was uncovered by City Press in 2014. The
probe was commissioned by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.

Mqadi subsequently gave evidence to investigators working on the ministerial report,
headed by academic Professor John Volmink, as well as the SA Council for
Educators (Sace).
At the time, he claimed he had stopped paying the bribe for his transfer from
Mariannhill to Folweni – which was collected by one of Makhanya’s learners every
payday in a copy of Isolezwe newspaper – because he could no longer afford to do
so as he had crashed his car.
An impeccable education department source told City Press this week that
Makhanya’s misconduct hearing would go ahead on August 17 and that she was
facing several counts relating to the allegations made by Mqadi, who also laid
criminal charges of extortion and corruption against her late last year.
A chairperson and a representative of the department, who will act as a prosecutor in
the case, have also been appointed by the department.
The charges against Makhanya, a member of the board of the Coastal Technical and
Vocational Education and Training College, have been brought in terms of the
Employment of Educators Act of 1998 and could result in her being dismissed from
the department.
Mqadi (48), who is receiving treatment for cancer – and who served notice of
intention to sue the provincial education department for R10 million in damages
earlier this year – declined to comment, referring City Press to the department.
Makhanya, who has also been suspended by Sadtu, has appeared before the
Education Labour Relations Council on misconduct charges based on Mqadi’s
claims. She did not take calls from City Press.
Sadtu spokesperson Nomarashia Caluza said that she was unaware of any charges
and that Sadtu had no comment on the matter. She said Makhanya’s Sadtu case,
which related to allegedly running “parallel” union structures, had not been
concluded.
Sicelo Khuzwayo, spokesperson for education MEC Mthandeni Dlungwana, did not
respond to calls from City Press.
http://city-press.news24.com/News/jobs-for-cash-principal-to-face-hearing-20160806
Students want salary cuts for public servants
Penelope Mashego, Business Day, 11 August 2016
THE South African Union of Students has warned that more campus protests are on
the cards as it called for salaries of senior public servants — including the
president’s — to be decreased.
It has been almost a year since the Fees Must Fall university protests spread across
the country, bringing lectures to a halt.
The union made its call during a presentation to the commission of inquiry into higher
education fees. President Jacob Zuma appointed the inquiry, which sat for its first

hearings on Wednesday chaired by Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Jonathan
Heher, to look into free higher education.
Speaking on the sidelines of the inquiry, deputy secretary-general of the student’s
union, Fasiha Hassan said the union was concerned that it was unable to engage
properly with the commission and had been told there would be a follow-up meeting.
It claimed this was a delaying tactic and said it would not sit by and let it happen —
"we will be taken seriously and if needs be, by force".
"The fact of the matter is that our institutions of higher learning are in a volatile
space. The need for free and quality education is an urgent one. We cannot go back
to our students with nothing. And if that means that we do need to shut down, that
we do need to again prove the power of students, we will do so," Hassan said.
The union also wanted access to Zuma after Heher said the commission could only
make recommendations to the president.
The union’s president Avela Mjajubana said the state should rethink tender
procurement processes and reduce salaries for senior state employees, including
the president.
Wits University vice-chancellor Adam Habib said the state should look into
redirecting black economic empowerment (BEE) funds to higher education.
"I’m often stunned. We’ve spent anything between R500bn and R2bn in the last 20
years on BEE deals. A portion of those have been meant for social responsibility.
Imagine if you said 10% of that must be reserved for universities, you would be
getting R5bn."
Habib said new funding could only be found for universities if the political will existed
to do so. There should be other choices for young people — 50% of whom had not
completed Grade 12 — than studying at universities, he said.
Higher education director-general Gwebinkundla Qonde, agreed that not enough
people were looking at colleges including technical training, as an option.
http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/education/2016/08/11/students-want-salary-cuts-for-
public-servants
Local elections aftermath
Nurturing factions will aggravate the ANC’s disease
Natasha Marrian, Business Day, 11 August 2016
DEFLECTING attention from President Jacob Zuma and the electorate’s brutal
assessment of his leadership is likely to feature strongly at the ANC leadership
meeting this weekend. Already the blame is being shifted to the Gauteng leadership,
but disbanding or dissolving the party’s provincial structure could simply speed up
the demise of the organisation as a whole by cementing the party’s rejection by
urban voters.
When the Gauteng leadership was dissolved in May 2000, it was due to
irreconcilable differences between factions. This time, there are no such divisions.

The repeated misdiagnosis of the malignant illness afflicting Africa’s oldest liberation
movement continues to accelerate its demise and it looks set to commit the same
error after its largest electoral decline.
Among these were Gauteng’s metros — Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni as
well as Mogale City — and Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape.
Before the 2014 election, internal research showed that the party would battle to hold
on to Gauteng and may have to govern in a coalition. Again, ahead of the 2016 local
government election, party polls warned of a similar fate, with Zuma’s missteps at
the centre of the electorate’s unhappiness. But the national leadership continued to
ignore the signs and the research, instead "feeling in their hearts" that Gauteng
voters remained enamoured with its deeply flawed president.
Support for the ANC dropped in Gauteng from 60% in 2011 to 46% in this election, a
huge decline in a province that contributes 35% to GDP and is particularly vulnerable
to tremors in the economy. Zuma’s finance minister musical chairs in December hit
the province especially hard. Reports of the Gupta family’s alleged influence over the
president and ANC were another factor alienating Gauteng’s electorate, coming on
the back of the e-tolls debacle and Nkandla scandal.
Now, the Gauteng ANC is in the cross hairs, even though the outcome was largely
predicted. What was not expected was the considerable drop in support in ANC
stronghold provinces — the North West under Supra Mahumapelo fell from 74% in
2011, to 60% in 2016, the Free State under Ace Magashule fell from 71% to 62%,
Limpopo under Stan Mathabatha fell from 81% to 69%, and the Western Cape under
Marius Fransman was decimated by the DA, its meagre 34% in 2011 plunging to
26%.
After the ANC’s 2012 elective conference, the party set about hacking its structures
to pieces, from the ANC Youth League to the Limpopo provincial executive.
Gauteng, which opposed Zuma in Mangaung, evaded the purge, but the province
has continued to play the role of maverick, knocking heads with an increasingly
intolerant national leadership.
Similarly, the structure of the tripartite alliance was shredded, with Cosatu splitting in
2015. Those unions that remained in Cosatu entered the 2016 election deeply
divided. Its traditional role of providing organisational muscle to the ANC was
severely curtailed. Cosatu is itself facing membership losses for a number of reasons
including factionalism and the jobs bloodbath.
It should, therefore, not have come as a surprise that the ANC lost electoral support
in Ekurhuleni, where 111,000 jobs were lost in the first quarter. The National Union
of Metal Workers of SA (Numsa), a union most adept at mobilising for elections, was
expelled by Cosatu in November 2014 after it took a decision not to campaign for the
ANC. Ekurhuleni has a strong Numsa presence, as does Tshwane and the Nelson
Mandela Bay metro, in which the ANC lost its majority. At the heart of the purges in
the movement in the past five years has been opposition to Zuma. Instead of winning
over groups opposed to him, the president is naturally inclined to dispose of them,
injuring the organisation in the process. Weak, pliant structures have generally
replaced those that have been purged or disbanded — witness the ANC Youth
League and ANC regional branches in Limpopo and the Western Cape.

Disbanding Gauteng would have the same effect in the critical time before the next
national election in which the party stands a good chance of losing the province or
having to govern it in a coalition.
A factional approach to the "reflection" the ANC promised over its election decline
would simply serve to entrench the cancer eating away at the party, and the much-
vaunted "self-correction" the party claims to be adept at will come to nought.
• Marrian is political editor
http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/politics/2016/08/11/nurturing-factions-will-aggravate-
the-ancs-disease
Voters may act if ANC fails to uproot patronage
Steven Friedman, Business Day, 10 August 2016
EITHER city voters will get the ANC leadership they want by 2019, or the party may
well no longer govern the country on its own. The ANC’s huge setback does not
change the reality that, for a while yet, what happens in the governing party will
shape politics here.
The ANC still won double the vote of the next biggest party, the DA, and it is sure to
remain the largest party after the next election. The key story of this election is that it
is the first since 1994 in which ANC voters who were unhappy with their party stayed
away rather than giving it another chance. These voters have not crossed to another
party and may support the ANC in 2019 if it can find a way to win back their support.
All of this means the result’s effect on the battle to choose the leadership of the ANC
at the end of 2017, and so to decide what sort of party it will become in the next few
years, is crucial.
On one side is the patronage faction, which wants to use public resources to buy
support — the people who gave us Des van Rooyen as finance minister. On the
other, are politicians who take the market economy seriously, whether or not they
claim to like it, and who made sure Van Rooyen was minister for three days only.
Their battle will decide, at least for a while, if the ANC is to be the party of the urban
marketplace or of the patronage barons who take advantage of those who are
excluded from it.
The two factions have very different ideas on how the ANC should react to a drop in
support. Those who take the marketplace seriously want to win back city voters by
convincing them that the ANC will listen to them and work for them. The patronage
politicians insist this is impossible because black city slickers have turned their backs
on the ANC forever. Their answer is to work with traditional leaders to make sure the
ANC can rely on a block vote in the countryside to keep it in power.
According to a slew of commentaries, the ANC’s losses in the metros are likely to
produce a "perverse" result, strengthening the hand of the patronage politicians.
They will blame their opponents in the cities for losing municipalities, even though
their actions are the reason the ANC lost metros. More important, if the ANC is weak
in the cities and strong in the countryside, only the patronage politicians can deliver a

majority. So, while many in the cities may rejoice in an election that placed more
pressure on politicians to account to citizens, this joy will soon turn to tears as the
ANC of the rural provinces takes over, making life miserable for people in the
metros.
The election produced an unexpected twist, which shows that, contrary to these
predictions, a victory by the patronage barons would be short-lived. The ANC not
only lost votes in the metros, it lost them everywhere. In percentage terms, it lost
less in Gauteng than in the North West and Free State, home to the patronage
politicians of the so-called premier league. This shows that the urban-rural divide
between voters is more complicated than it seems.
But it also shows that the patronage politicians’ strategy is a nonstarter because they
cannot deliver the votes needed to keep the ANC in power if it continues to lose
ground in the cities. The vote base outside the cities is shrinking, and is not big
enough to make up for the loss of city support. And so, their dream of imposing a
rural block vote on the country is doomed.
If the ANC enters the next election led by its patronage faction, it is unlikely to win
50%. If it can lose eight percentage points in the past two years because of this
faction’s political style, it is hard to see why it cannot lose another five in the next
three. The only way it can prevent this is to win back the voters throughout the
country who stayed away last week — and that means electing a president who
relies on reconnecting with voters, not handing out goodies and demanding
obedience in return.
So, this election may have done more than show that politics has become more
competitive. It may signal that the ANC’s patronage faction will either be rejected by
the governing party — or by voters.
• Prof Friedman is director of the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for the Study
of Democracy
http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2016/08/10/voters-may-act-if-anc-fails-to-
uproot-patronage
International
Zambians head to polls amid tensions as economy struggles
EWN/Reuters, 11 Aug 2016
President Edgar Lungu & his rival Hakainde Hichilema both have said they are
confident of outright victory.
LUSAKA – Zambia braced for what is expected to be bruising battle on Thursday to
elect a new president and legislators, contested against the backdrop of lethargic
growth as weak commodity prices have hit Africa’s number two copper producer.
President Edgar Lungu and his main rival Hakainde Hichilema both have said they
are confident of outright victory, but either could fail to garner more than half of the
vote as required by electoral law, necessitating a second round.

After a campaign marred by violence, Lungu and Hichilema on Wednesday made
their final plea for votes in the capital, Lusaka, each pledging to steer the economy
onto a firmer footing.
“I have been on probation for one year, six months and I think I have done very well.
I promise to serve you even better,” Lungu told thousands of supporters at his final
rally, referring to last year’s vote to replace late president Michael Sata in which he
narrowly beat Hichilema.
“And I promise to respect the results and I will not fight even one day, to remain in
State House. But I will not allow somebody to come to State House (through)
violence or intimidation,” he added.
TENSIONS HIGH
Supporters of Lungu’s ruling Patriotic Front (PF) and Hichilema’s United Party for
National Development (UPND) have clashed in the run-up to the poll, forcing the
electoral commission to temporarily suspend campaigning at one point.
Tensions are high in what is otherwise one of Africa’s most stable democracies, as
Zambians grapple with rising unemployment after mine closures, chronic electricity
shortages and soaring prices of household goods.
Economist-turned-businessman Hichilema says Lungu, a former lawyer, lacks the
expertise to manage the economy.
“The difference between PF and UPND is what we bring to the table, knowledge of
the financial markets and economics,” Hichilema said on a radio programme on
Wednesday. “We are business people. We understand the economy, this economy
is broken.”
Zambia is in talks with the International Monetary Fund over a possible financing
deal, after conceding its budget deficit, which has averaged 4.8% of gross domestic
product in the last two years, was unsustainable.
Lungu insists the economic downturn was beyond his control given Zambia’s heavy
reliance on copper exports, but that his government has made strides in
commissioning new power plants and investing in diversifying the economy toward
sectors like agriculture.
To win, a presidential candidate will have to garner 50% of the valid votes cast plus
at least one additional vote, and a re-run must be held within 37 days if no one
succeeds.
Hichilema also says that with the police blocking several of his rallies and coverage
by state media biased in favour of the ruling party, the election will not be free and
fair. Lungu, however, insists the playing field has been level.
“The probability of a contested election result is growing, which would undermine the
credibility of the vote and trigger more widespread partisan violence,” said Robert
Besseling, head of the EXX Africa think tank.
http://ewn.co.za/2016/08/11/Zambians-to-vote-in-election-amid-tensions-as-
economy-struggles

Numsa urges Zambian voters to ‘resist the slide into violence’
TimesLive, 10 August, 2016
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) will hold told Zambian
President Edgar Lungu “liable for all the violence before‚ during and immediately
after” Thursday’s elections in that country.
The union’s general secretary‚ Irvin Jim‚ noted that: “It is not by accident that both in
South Africa and in Zambia workers’ blood has already been spilt in the elections.”
He added: “As Zambians go to the polls on the 11th of August 2016‚ it is impossible
to ignore the violent build-up to these elections‚ and for the first time in its 52 year
peaceful history of independence‚ the real possibility of civil war in Zambia‚ after the
elections.
“Just like South Africa after 1994‚ Zambia after 1964 has seen a tiny fraction of
Zambians become very rich‚ in the midst of all this national poverty and widespread
unemployment.
This situation in Zambia has become worse after 1991.” Jim said neither of the two
major parties – the United Party for National Development and the Patriotic Front –
have managed “to contain and eliminate violence for the period leading up to the
polls”‚ but noted that it “is the constitutional duty of the governing party and current
president of the country to stamp out violence”.
He said Numsa calls “upon all Zambians to resist the temptation to slide into more
violence‚ especially after the elections‚ and made “a special appeal to all the workers
of Zambia (employed or not) and the rural population – not to be used by politicians
for their selfish political interests to further violence”.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/africa/2016/08/10/Numsa-urges-Zambian-voters-to-
%E2%80%98resist-the-slide-into-violence%E2%80%99
Comment and opinion
Marikana: The missing consequences of a massacre
Greg Nicolson, Daily Maverick, 11 Aug 2016
Four years ago to the day, NUM members fired shots at striking workers at Lonmin,
Marikana, an escalation that would lead to a massacre few days later. Since then, an
inquiry has released a report, books have been published. We know so much more
about that week in August 2012, but another year has passed, and so little has
changed.
Frans Baleni sent me a text message, back when he was still general secretary of
the National Union of Mineworkers. Four people had already been killed as
thousands of rock drill operators went on strike, demanding R12,500 a month. The
deaths were blamed on union rivalry, NUM versus the rising Association of
Mineworkers and Construction Union. It followed another bloody strike, months
earlier at Impala Platinum.

“Daluvuyo Bongo,” Baleni responded to my request for a NUM contact in Marikana;
he included the branch chairperson’s phone number.
It was 13 August 2012 and Bongo had fled with about a dozen NUM members to a
hotel on the edge of Rustenburg. They sat on the grass in the sun, some still in their
overalls, as though on a break before starting a shift. Bongo suspected he might be
killed.
They have to return to work, he said, despite saying the striking mineworkers were
going door-to-door looking for prominent NUM members, targeting them and their
families. Bongo was killed in the aftermath of the 16 August massacre, his
predictions becoming a violent reality.
When we met, I didn’t know NUM members, and Bongo himself, had escalated
tensions during the strike through arming loyal unionists to defend NUM’s Lonmin
office and shooting at the rock drill operators, wounding two strikers as they marched
on 11 August 2012. I didn’t anticipate that he and so many others would die.
As the sun set over Lonmin’s platinum operations, I arrived in Marikana that
afternoon and stumbled upon what I later realised was called the “JOC”, the Joint
Operations Centre the police and mine security had established to deal with the
strike. Security and the SAPS were rushing in all directions, heavily armed. There
were two choppers in an adjacent field, the provincial and national police
commissioners having flown in.
A SAPS officer said I could go to see the striking mineworkers if I was willing to be
cut into to pieces. Lonmin security officials said it was too dangerous. Those at the
JOC were reeling after two cops had just been hacked to death. Three strikers were
killed in the encounter. It got dark and I left to file the story in Joburg, still stuck on
issues of union rivalry. On the way out of the mine, I got lost in Lonmin’s network of
roads that connect shaft to shaft, shaft to hostel.
The next day I flew overseas and read about the massacre through wire stories in
the international sections of foreign papers. When 34 people were killed on 16
August, we were still naïve. The police deceived the public and the media bought it
before Daily Maverick’s Greg Marinovich reported the story, not of charging muti-
crazed mineworkers, but of cops who had pursued and killed people in cold blood.
Today, four years on, we know so much more about both the 10 killings in the days
proceeding the massacre and the 34 killings on 16 August. Not all is known, but
anyone with access to Google can find out intricate details about each death and
arguments from the sides of the company, police, strikers, unions or government. So
why does it feel like we’re still as lost as I was on those Lonmin roads in 2012? I now
know the route, know so much more about what happened, but still feel
overwhelmed, numbed by years of outrage.
There have been numerous books published on Marikana. Documentaries too.
We’ve followed a commission of inquiry that lasted two years and published its
findings. Arguments and blame have come from all corners. The story has even
been turned into a musical. Eventually, even journalists did some good work.
We know the strikers killed non-striking workers, as well as security guards and
police officers in the days leading to 16 August. We know how Lonmin, the police,

government and the NUM influenced the classification of the strike, to change it from
a labour issue to a policing priority. We know that on 16 August the police plan was
insufficient, against standing orders – frankly, a joke – some would say destined for
death. And we know police officers were found to have killed people without
justification. The Marikana Commission of Inquiry, despite its flaws, made wide
recommendations for killers, across the board, to be investigated and potentially
charged by the National Prosecuting Authority.
We also know the killings tore breadwinners from families, leaving widows and
orphans, parents without sons, wives without husbands, children without fathers, and
dependants without providers.
Lonmin has given widows jobs and is providing for the orphans’ education. The
industry says it has learnt a lesson and needs to transform. Striking mineworkers
were charged for both the killing of non-striking workers and their own comrades,
which was more a knee-jerk response of a vindictive state than a pursuit of justice.
Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega has faced her own inquiry for her role at
Marikana and at the inquiry (the finalisation of her inquiry appears to be delayed).
The state has entered into compensation talks with the families of the deceased and
the injured and arrested mineworkers. There have been rumours the NPA will
actually charge the police involved in unjustified killings, but no charges as yet have
been laid against a single officer.
We know so much more about Marikana, so much more than when it occurred, but it
still feels like we’re lost in the dark. There are 44 souls hovering over that part of the
platinum belt, plus those, like Bongo, who lost their lives in the aftermath. A
massacre occurred without consequence. We’ve flipped the calendar for four years
and it’s time the knowledge amassed must be used for healing. Charges need to be
laid. Compensation must be finalised. Massacres must have consequences.
http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-08-11-marikana-the-missing-
consequences-of-a-massacre/#.V6wvg03lrIU