Cape Town — Govt Plans Contingency Against Public Service Workers' Strike
The Public Service and Administration Department has said that measures have been taken to guard against a planned strike by government employees, Eyewitness News reports. This comes as the Public Service Association (PSA), which represents over 240,000 workers, prepares to deliver a memorandum of grievances to the National Treasury. The government's decision to unilaterally implement a 3% increase despite calls from public sector unions for 10% and 6.5% have prompted workers to issue threats of disruptions at government offices. Despite the Department of Public Service and Administration saying it won't allow disruptions, government rather called on trade unions to begin wage negotiations for the 2023/2024 financial year.
Superyacht of Sanctioned Russian Tycoon to Arrive in South Africa
The 465-foot (142-meter) Nord belonging to Alexey Mordashov is expected to arrive in Cape Town in a bid to make safe harbour from sanctions which have led to the seizure of more than a dozen vessels, BusinessTech reports. The U.S.$500 million superyacht posted its arrival date as 9 November following its departure from Hong Kong bn October. It did not transmit its location since 26 October after it entered Sumatran waters, an area known for piracy and where it is not unsuaual for ships to disable transponders.
Mordashov, Russia's, third-wealthiest citizen, has been sanctioned by the European Union, U.S., and the UK. This came after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. South Africa, toghether with Hong Kong, asserted that it would not enforce the bans with the government saying last month: South Africa has no legal obligation to abide by sanctions imposed by the US and EU," Vincent Magwenya, President Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesman, said. Over a dozen vessels estimated to be worth over U.S.$2.5 billion and connected to multiple sanctioned Russian billionaires have already been seized by the U.S. and Europe.
Construction of Amazon's Cape Town Headquarters Gets the Go-Ahead
The Western Cape High Court has ruled that construction of Amazon's planned offices at the River Club development site may continue, TimesLive reports. The ruling comes despite complaints lodged by indigenous people and their supporters opposed to the R4.6 billion project due to its location at the confluence of two rivers, the ancestral home to the earliest Khoi and San inhabitants in Southern Africa. It carries cosmological, spiritual and environmental significance to these indigenous groups.
In its judgment, the Western Cape High Court ruled: "On the contrary, the papers indicated the development might enhance the land's resources, having regard to the degraded state of the site when the authorisations were granted." Amazon has sought to expand its presence in Africa by building data centres and planning additional offices in Johannesburg and Lagos, Nigeria.
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Impeachment of Suspended Public Protector Mkhwebane Resumes
The Section 194 inquiry into Busisiwe Mkhwebane's fitness to hold the office of Public Protector has resumed in the Western Cape High Court, Eyewitness News reports. The session began with the cross-examination of executive manager, Nelisiwe Thejane, by Mkhwebane’s legal team. Advocate Dali Mpofu also returned to proceedings following his departure in October. In Advocate Bright Tshabalala's questioning of Thejane, he questioned her qualifications and alleged she fabricated stories about Mkhwebane. "You also fall under the same category of the disgruntled employees who come here to make up stories against the Public Protector, baseless allegations," Tshabalala said, though Thejane denied she was a disgruntled employee.
Eskom Launches Platform to Crowdsource Solutions to Load Shedding
Eskom has introduced a new crowdsourcing platform that will draw on the expertise of engineers capable of assisting the embattled national power utility's load shedding crisis, SAnews reports. “Over the past few months, Eskom has received an overwhelming response to its call for highly skilled power generation personnel to come forward to assist in the operational recovery and rebuilding of skills inside the organisation,” the parastatal said in a statement. “A digital platform and governance mechanism have been designed and implemented to reap the full benefits of the diversity of skills across the country through the crowdsourcing of these skills into the business.” The database currently includes hundreds of candidates with 25 identified as individuals selected for the first phaser of the initiative. Eskom hopes this will address the massive skills deficit it faces following the departure of workers with the technical skills and expertise necessary to keep power stations running.
