Mobilising Municipal workers chant slogans as they march past a clock in Johannesburg on Monday counting down to the Soccer World Cup. (Karel Prinsloo, AP)
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
LABOUR MINISTER CONDEMNS VIOLENT PROTESTS
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana on Tuesday "strongly
condemned" violent protests by municipal workers.
"The supposedly peaceful wage increment demonstrations
deteriorated into chaos as scores of marchers were seen causing
havoc - looting, harassing street vendors and spilling refuse on
the streets in most of the country's major cities yesterday
[Monday]," he said in a statement.
Police reported that several protesters were injured by rubber
bullets as thousands of rowdy municipal workers took to the
streets.
Mdladlana said the bad behaviour was tarnishing "whatever
genuine grievances that they have" and undermining the good cause
of the right to strike.
"I call on all those involved in these unlawful actions to
immediately observe discipline as they are demonising the real
concerns of the majority of the workers. Violence can only harden
attitudes," said Mdladlana.
PRETORIA 28 July 2009 Sapa
JOBLESS RATE UP SLIGHTLY: STATS SA
The country's official jobless rate came in at 23.6 percent of
the labour force in the second quarter of 2009, Statistics SA said
on Tuesday.
This was a slight increase from 23.5 percent in the first
quarter, the Pretoria-based agency said.
The number of persons in the labour force decreased by 325,000
from 17,8 million in the first quarter to 17,5 million in the
second quarter of the year.
Employment decreased by 2.0 percent between the first quarter
and the second quarter of this year, Statistics SA noted.
"A total of 267,000 jobs were lost between the two quarters,
with most job losses recorded in private households (105,000),
followed by the formal sector (93,000)," Statistics SA said.
"This decline did not translate to an increase in the number of
unemployed persons but rather to the increase in the number of
persons who are not economically active (419,000) with the majority
of them being discouraged work-seekers (302,000)," the agency
added.
The number of unemployed persons decreased by 59,000.
"As a result, there was virtua!lly no change in the unemployment
rate between the two quarters," Statistics SA emphasised.
Compared to the second quarter of 2008, there was an annual
decrease of 2.6 percent (360,000) in employment.
There was also an increase of 11,000 in the number of
unemployed persons and a massive increase of 724,000 in the
number of persons who were not economically active - 438,000 being discouraged work-seekers, the agency said.
JOHANNESBURG 28 July 2009 Sapa
SOLIDARITY ACCEPTS WAGE OFFER IN INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL SECTOR
Solidarity has accepted an offer of a nine percent wage increase
in the industrial chemical sector, a union spokesman said on
Tuesday.
The agreement followed several rounds of negotiations as well as
mediation sessions in the sector of the National Bargaining Council
for the Chemical Industry (NBCCI), the union said in a statement.
Solidarity spokesman Jaco Kleynhans said the agreement was
favourable and offered a welcome improvement on employees' salaries.
"The increase is one percentage point higher than the current
level of inflation and may ultimately provide the necessary relief
for employees," he said.
The increase would be implemented retroactively from July 1 this
year.
Solidarity said the agreement was reached with various large
companies including Afrox, Sasol, Foskor and Omnia.
The companies in this sector are, among other things,
responsible for the production of gas, fertiliser, certain types of
paint and various chemicals.
The SA Chemical Workers' Union had also reached an agreement,
Solidarity said.
However, it said the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and
Allied Workers' Union and the General Industries Workers' Union of
SA had not yet reached an agreement.
Earlier this month Solidarity reached a wage agreement in the
petroleum sector of the NBCCI.
"Solidarity succeeded in reaching agreements successfully and
without any industrial action in both of these sectors," the union
said.
PRETORIA 28 July 2009 Sapa
JOBLESS RATE UP SLIGHTLY: STATS SA
The country's official jobless rate came in at 23.6 percent of
the labour force in the second quarter of 2009, Statistics SA said
on Tuesday.
This was a slight increase from 23.5 percent in the first
quarter, the Pretoria-based agency said.
The number of persons in the labour force decreased by 325,000
from 17,8 million in the first quarter to 17,5 million in the
second quarter of the year.
Employment decreased by 2.0 percent between the first quarter
and the second quarter of this year, Statistics SA noted.
"A total of 267,000 jobs were lost between the two quarters,
with most job losses recorded in private households (105,000),
followed by the formal sector (93,000)," Statistics SA said.
"This decline did not translate to an increase in the number of
unemployed persons but rather to the increase in the number of
persons who are not economically active (419,000) with the majority
of them being discouraged work-seekers (302,000)," the agency
added.
The number of unemployed persons decreased by 59,000.
"As a result, there was virtua!lly no change in the unemployment
rate between the two quarters," Statistics SA emphasised.
Compared to the second quarter of 2008, there was an annual
decrease of 2.6 percent (360,000) in employment.
There was also an increase of 11,000 in the number of
unemployed persons and a massive increase of 724,000 in the
number of persons who were not economically active - 438,000 being discouraged work-seekers, the agency said.
JOHANNESBURG 28 July 2009 Sapa
PROBE INTO BALFOUR PROTESTS TO BEGIN SOON
A newly-formed task team will begin probing recent service
delivery protests in Balfour, Mpumalanga, before the end of the
week, the province said on Tuesday.
"The committee will ... engage with the community and all the
relevant stakeholders as it seeks to deal with the challenges in
the area," said the department of co-operative governance and
traditional affairs.
Township residents of Balfour, in Dipaleseng municipality, last
week protested over service delivery, accusing local officials of
corruption.
Their protest turned violent and xenophobic, resulting in the
attempted burning of the mayor's house, the ransacking of
foreigner-owned businesses.
About 30 foreign nationals sought refuge at a police station at
one stage.
MEC for co-operative governance and traditional affairs Norman
Mokoena had asked the community to assist in the probe by the task
team, his department said on Tuesday
"He urged the community to be engage with the technical task
team, and he assured the community that the government will work
with them to deal with the issues."
Upon completion of its investigations, the team would submit a
report to provincial and national government officials
JOHANNESBURG 28 July 2009 Sapa
UNION BRINGS FORWARD STRIKE ACTION AT SABC, TELKOM
Strike action at both the SABC and communications giant Telkom
has been brought forward, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said on Tuesday.
The union said in a statement this action had been taken after
requests from members.
"Our members in both Telkom and SABC have run out of patience
and requested their national leadership to allow them to bring
forward the strike program of action against these two employers,"
the statement said.
CWU members employed at the national broadcaster would be
"staying away" from work on July 29 and 30 countrywide, the union
said.
The two-day stay-away would be followed by "other forms of
industrial action" from the beginning of August until the "SABC
respects and implements the multi-term salary agreement".
The union said its members were determined to force the SABC "to
respect agreements".
The CWU has demanded an adjustment to salary scales and then a
7.5 percent raise at Telkom. The company, however, first wants to
implement the raise.
The SABC has offered a wage increase of between 9.25 percent and
10.25 percent, while CWU members have requested a 12.2 percent pay hike.
JOHANNESBURG 28 July 2009 Sapa
UNIONS ALARMED, NOT SUPRISED BY JOB STATS
The increase in the country's unemployment rate is alarming but
not necessarily surprising, labour unions said on Tuesday.
Union federation Cosatu was "seriously concerned" at the news of
yet another increase in the number of people unemployed, said
spokesman Patrick Craven in a statement.
"These figures clearly confirm Cosatu's view that we are in the
throes of a national unemployment emergency."
It was also particularly "alarmed" at statistics which showed an
additional 302,000 additional workers had given up looking for
work.
Uasa spokesman Andre Venter said the survey results came as "no
surprise".
According to Statistics SA's quarterly labour force survey about
267,000 South Africans lost their jobs between the first and second
quarters of 2009.
The country's official jobless rate stood at 23,6 percent of the
labour force in the second quarter of 2009, a slight increase from
23,5 percent in the first quarter.
Solidarity spokesman Jaco Kleynhans reiterated that the number
of discouraged job seekers was particularly alarming and said this
group should be added to the official unemployment figures.
"Leaving this large number of people out of the equation to make
the official unemployment figure appear rosier will not help to
solve the staggering unemployment problem."
Craven said all policies, from the government, business and
labour and the SA Reserve Bank needed to save jobs and create new ones.
"They must all now focus on measures to end the job loss
bloodbath and create decent jobs."
Kleynhans said retrenchments needed to stop.
"At this juncture, all efforts should be directed at retaining
skills, which will be vital at the onset of the economic upturn."
Uasa's Venter said the situation was so bad employers were no
longer willing to negotiate solutions like four-day work weeks to
prevent workers from joining the ranks of the unemployed.
However he said some improvement in the future should be
possible.
"As soon as the present strike and wage negotiation season comes
to an end, we should see increased stability and we can start on
the road towards the end of the recession and economic recovery."
Standard Bank economist Shireen Darmalingam said the survey
results showed employment creation in South Africa was still
"shoddy".
"Admittedly, in the current global economic fiasco, unemployment
rates across the world are threatening to fall off their recent
declining trend and extend beyond long-term averages of the
respective countries' official unemployment rates."
South Africa's labour market was in a far worse quandary than
its emerging market counterparts.
Moreover, with the rising unemployment rate the possibility of
failing to meet the United Nations' millennium development goals -
set in September 2000 - became all the more probable.
"In order to meet these goals, around 700,000 jobs are to be
created per annum," she said.
Earlier, the Democratic Alliance said the right legal framework
needed to be in place to ensure workers could find employment.
"Workers cannot better their income because they cannot access
training programmes, and the unemployed struggle to find jobs in a
heavily regulated market," said party spokesman Andrew Louw.
"It is crucial that the law makes it easier for workers to find
employment."
CAPE TOWN 28 July 2009 Sapa
MUNICIPAL STRIKE HEADS FOR THIRD DAY
Municipal workers have vowed to strike for a third day on
Wednesday despite an improved pay hike offer and a warning by
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana that the state would take a
tough line.
"Workers will continue to protest until their demands are met,"
SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) spokesman Dumisani Langa told Sapa on Tuesday, signalling unhappiness with the latest offer of a 13 percent pay rise.
"They will not stop until they are heard," he said.
Samwu has demanded a pay increase of 15 percent. Its Pretoria
branch secretary Zebulon Monkoe said it would issue a formal
reaction to the SA Local Government's Association's (Salga) latest
offer on Wednesday.
"We have discussed the offer and we have mixed feelings... we
are waiting for other members to come with their views so that we
can be able to consolidate a position on the offer," he said.
Fellow union, the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union
(Imatu), said it expected wage negotiations with Salga to continue
on Thursday.
After protests turned violent on Monday and 25 strikers were
arrested, Mdladlana warned municipal workers that breaking the law
would not help to sway the government.
"I call on all those involved in these unlawful actions to
immediately observe discipline as they are demonising the real
concerns of the majority of the workers. Violence can only harden
attitudes," Mdladlana said in a statement.
The minister said Monday's "chaos", which saw strikers loot,
harass street vendors, and spill garbage in the streets of major
cities, was undermining the "very good cause of their right to
strike".
There were fresh reports of disruptions on Tuesday though
strikers' marches in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Pretoria were generally peaceful.
In Cape Town, Samwu members were expected to bring the city
centre to a standstill on Wednesday with a protest march ending at
the Civic Centre at midday.
People were advised to avoid the town centre until the march was
over.
City spokeswoman Kylie Hatton said 16.3 percent of Cape Town's
total municipal work force had downed tools on Tuesday, forcing the
closure of five health clinics.
"The major issue in the city has been the closure of municipal
health clinics in Khayelitsha, Nyanga, Gugulethu, Ocean View, and
Masiphumelele," she said.
Hatton told Sapa strikers had caused "major disruption",
intimidating municipal workers at a number of the city's depots.
"The striking workers have been going into depots and
intimidating staff into joining them."
Durban Metro Police spokeswoman Superintendent Joyce Khuzwayo
said striking workers damaged a water pipe and used stones to smash a car outside Durban's Westville Civic Centre on Tuesday.
KwaZulu-Natal local government MEC Willies Mchunu warned that
the strike was straining the state's already depleted coffers as it
was forcing some municipalities to use private services.
"It is against this context that we urge all parties to narrow
their differences and find the middle ground as a matter of
urgency."
Garbage was piling up in parts of the country, including
Kimberley in the Northern Cape where municipal spokesman Sello
Matsi said the situation was made worse by strikers kicking over
rubbish bins.
"The city is dirty," he said.
There was some dispute between municipalities and Samwu on the
number of workers who downed tools.
Samwu general secretary Mthandeki Nhlapo claimed more than
150,000 workers from both unions out of a workforce of 190,000
stayed away from work on Monday.
However, Salga chairman Amos Masondo, who is also Johannesburg mayor, claimed only 60 percent of the workforce took part in the strike, which left Johannesburg streets dotted with unremoved rubbish bins and bus commuters stranded.
"We appreciate that yesterday [Monday] at least 60 percent of
our essential service workers turned up for work and we regret that
40 percent did not," Masondo told reporters at a press briefing,
saying these figures were from municipalities countrywide.
Economist Mike Schussler estimated the strike was costing the
country in the region of R15 million a day.
"I can't work out the damage of all the shops and the traders.
But the cost is around R15 million a day in workers' wages, I
guess," he told Sapa.
The longer the strike continued, the more the cost would
escalate.
"By the second week it becomes a huge problem, because then a
person pays out of his own pocket to remove his rubbish.
"All these factors have to be considered, so R15 million is a
little simplistic, but it's the best we can do at the moment," he
said.
JOHANNESBURG 28 July 2009 Sapa
SIX ECAPE MUNICIPALITIES DISASTER AREAS: SONJICA
At least six district municipalities have been declared disaster
areas in the Eastern Cape due to the drought, Water and
Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said on Tuesday.
According to the SABC, Sonjica told an indaba in Jeffreys Bay
that some areas were seriously affected by drought.
"The water supply has affected the areas negatively and the
situation cannot be allowed," she was quoted as saying.
Department spokesman Sputnik Ratau told Sapa there was a lack of
drinking water and infrastructure.
"South Africa is no longer receiving the amount of rain that
would make us comfortable.
"South Africa is one of the 30 driest countries in the world,"
he said.
Adelaide and Mthatha were among those identified as disaster
areas.
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