Cape Town – Public Service and Administration Minister Lindiwe Sisulu will meet teacher union Sadtu this week regarding teachers’ pay, MPs heard on Wednesday.

The Presidential Remuneration Commission – announced by President Jacob Zuma in his State-of-the-Nation address – was meant to review the pay and working conditions of public servants, starting with teachers.

However, the commission could not start its work until the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) had dropped certain demands it was making.

“We are meeting Sadtu tomorrow [Thursday] and hoping we can strike an agreement, because this is an essential part of the work that we do,” Sisulu told Parliament’s portfolio committee on public service and administration.

She said that during the last public service wage agreement reached with unions, several concerns were raised.

These included teachers who had been teaching for two decades earning less than receptionists.

“We have never used an instrument that is scientific for all to understand on how we grade jobs and what the value for money is for those jobs… what is this value for money?

“We talked about it, but we never tested it,” she said.

The commission, chaired by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, would invite input from unions and various other interested parties.

Recommendations

Regarding the commission’s terms of reference, Sisulu said it would make recommendations to government on, among others:

– A fair and efficient remuneration system;

– Benchmarking public service remuneration and conditions of service relative to market remuneration;

– Inefficiencies in the remuneration structure as a result of excessive pay or inappropriate organisational design;

– General trends in salary level, structures, and wages;

– A uniform job grading system to improve job equity throughout the public service; and

– Measurable performance indicators for the public service, which might be used to evaluate individual and departmental performance against salary levels.

“We talked about productivity, but we’ve never tested it with our people… we never checked with our people whether teachers are paid sufficiently, or maybe overpaid, or whatever the case may be,” Sisulu said.

Government wanted an internationally recognised grading system.

“The teaching profession would be used as a benchmark against what we would say this is the salary we have worked out. This is what the state will get out of this particular person.”

If Sadtu did not drop some of its demands, the commission could prioritise another sector.

“We are now running out of time. At my last interaction with the president he said if we are not able to have an early settlement with Sadtu, rather start prioritising the nursing sector so we are able to make progress on this matter,” she told MPs.

Time sensitive

The commission would be given eight months to complete its work with a R25m budget.

“The proclamation has been prepared and we hope it will be gazetted as soon as the president has satisfied himself that the labour problems around Sadtu have been done.”

On 6 May Sadtu suspended all protests after Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga agreed to meet a host of its demands.

In a joint announcement, the minister undertook to support, among others, an urgent initiative to achieve parity in the public service, and to appoint a task team to deal with the union’s complaint about a failure to increase the salaries of matric exam markers.

Motshekga also bowed to the union’s demands for an investigation into allegations against her director general Bobby Soobrayan.

It has accused him of violating the Public Finance Management Act.

She said the matter would be referred to the Public Service Commission and dealt with as a matter of urgency.

At the same time, Sadtu dropped its call for Motshekga’s resignation.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Police were offering a reward of up to R100 000 for information about Johannesburg cluster commander Major General Tirhani Maswanganyi’s death, Gauteng commissioner Lieutenant General Mzwandile Petros said on Wednesday.

“We are working around the clock to make sure this case is solved,” Petros told reporters in Johannesburg.

“We are appealing to the public… [and] we are giving a reward of up to R100 000, depending on the kind of information you give.”

Chest wound

Maswanganyi was found dead in a field near Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, near the R101 road, in the early hours of Tuesday. His hands and feet were tied.

A police patrol found Maswanganyi’s abandoned Isuzu bakkie next to the road on Monday evening. A police uniform and police identification card were in the bakkie, which prompted a search.

Petros said a post mortem was being conducted to determine the cause of death.

Although there were no gunshot wounds, there was a wound on Maswanganyi’s chest. Police were not sure what caused it. Maswanganyi’s two cellphones were missing. It did not seem like anything was stolen.

Speculation

He said police did not want to speculate whether Maswanganyi was killed because of his involvement in a murder case.

“He would have been, as a cluster commander, involved in the investigation. We don’t want to speculate that this officer was killed because he was involved in the investigation.”

Petros said he was aware that Maswanganyi had been subpoenaed to testify in court because he had been present during the interrogation, but he was not the key witness. Petros said that Maswanganyi, who joined the police in 1982, was a passionate person who contributed immensely towards fighting crime in the province.

“The SA Police Service is shocked by the incident…we are working around the clock to make sure this case is solved,” he said.

– SAPA

By Obakeng Maje

Hartswater-The Department of Enviromental Affairs and Nature Conservation is planning to revive the Olive Tree project that was left crude in Hartswater.

A 120 Hector Olive Tree Project was one of 22 projects launched by the department back in 2007.

The Agricultural department spokesperson Norman Shushu said the aim of the project was to alliviate poverty and reduce unemployment in the area.

“The aim of the project was to help youth in the area to eradicate poverty and let them plant Olive Trees that in turn would’ve been sold overseas” Shushu told SABC Radio.

He said after the project dessicated, they are now trying to revive it and hand it over to another youth group.

“After we gingerly thought of this project, we agreed to revive it and hand it over to another group of youth because those who were in the project did not work hard to make it survive despite the support they received from the department” he said.

The farm turned into a white elephant. Shrubs and long grass made use of the opportunity.

However those who were involved in the project refutes Shushu’s claims.

They said the department never showed enough support on the project and never bother to help them with challenges they encountered.

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Johannesburg – The death of Major General Tirhani Maswanganyi is a senseless blow to Gauteng’s war against crime, Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said on Tuesday.

“In the memory of Major General Maswanganyi all of us law-abiding citizens should take up the cudgels and say: ‘We will not be cowed into submission by criminals. We will honour Maswanganyi by making sure that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are swiftly brought to book’,” she said.

The 52-year-old policeman’s body was found in a field near Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, on Tuesday morning, police said.

His family told investigators he left home to go to work shortly after 14:00 on Monday.

“Approximately 03:00 this morning, the body of the officer was found in a bushy area next to the road,” Gauteng commissioner Lieutenant General Mzwandile Petros said.

“His hands and feet were tied up.”

A police patrol found Maswanganyi’s abandoned Isuzu bakkie next to the R101 on Monday evening. A police uniform and a police identification card were in the bakkie, which prompted a search.

Police were waiting for a post mortem report on the cause of death. Petros said there were no gunshot wounds to the body.

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said Maswanganyi’s death was a loss to South Africa.

He had been in the police for 31 years.

“The SA Police Service [SAPS] is poorer. The Gauteng provincial team is poorer. The people of Johannesburg are poorer. The people of Gauteng and of the entire South Africa are poorer,” he said.

He condemned the killing of police officers.

“We have emphasised the point before that policing remains a very difficult and challenging duty…. On a daily basis our members face dangerous and vicious criminals, who will not hesitate to kill them.”

One policeman’s life lost was one too many, and enough was enough, he said.

‘Senseless murder’

The SA Police Union (Sapu) also condemned Maswanganyi’s death.

“We want to condemn with the strongest terms possible the senseless murder of this top cop,” said Sapu General Secretary Oscar Skommere.

“His cold-blooded murder has robbed the SAPS, as he was one of a few career officers who have dedicated their lives [to] the fight against crime in our society.”

The DA extended its condolences to Maswanganyi’s family, friends, and colleagues.

“By all accounts he was a dedicated policeman who keenly felt the need to make a difference in the fight against crime,” DA MPL Kate Lorimer said in a statement.

Petros said a team of detectives under the leadership of the deputy provincial commissioner for detective services, Major General Tebello Mosikili, and investigators from the provincial investigation unit and organised crime would investigate the murder.

– SAPA

Cape Town – The soon-to-be-launched political party, Agang SA, has concerns about the independence of elections, its leader Mamphela Ramphele said on Tuesday.

“The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has eroded as an independent electoral commission,” she told the Cape Town Press Club.

She said Agang SA was in talks with other political parties, the Democratic Alliance in particular, to double-check certain IEC processes.

“[We need] to be reassured that first of all, we are not going to have party hands, people going around purportedly doing voter education,” she said.

“We don’t need voter education, we need civic education and that has to be done independently, by professionals.”

She said she was concerned by the IEC’s service providers.

“That electronic platform used for elections – we need to be sure that it is the best that is available and that it’s tamperproof.”

Ramphele said that during a four month tour of the country, she became aware of “sinister” intimidation of voters.

She had heard of some people being required to take pictures of their ballot papers with their cellphones to be “rewarded for doing the right thing”.

Take away your house

“Voters don’t actually know that they have a choice. Many are being told that if you go into that ballot box, we can see who you vote for and therefore we will punish you and take away your grants or your RDP houses.”

Ramphele believed the country was in a state partly because it had disempowered citizens.

“… And that has been the focus of Agang: to build that self-confidence. South Africans have very low expectations of themselves, of their government and of their country.”

She said many of the people she spoke to were furious with the government.

“They’re furious with this corrupt behaviour, and yet they feel powerless,” she said.

“It is clear to me this is made possible by lack of accountability and good governance. Accountability relies on the relationship between the representatives and constituents.”

She believed that there would be greater accountability if MPs had to conduct regular meetings with their constituents.

“Without appropriate governance and accountability systems, the direction of our country is being allowed to drift to catastrophic depths.”

Agang SA will be formally launched as a political party on Saturday.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa was saddened by the death of Major General Tirhani Maswanganyi, whose body was found early on Tuesday morning, his office said.

“We are saddened by this tragic loss of a senior cop who dedicated his life to serve the vulnerable and the weak in society,” Mthethwa said in a statement.

“The SA Police Service [SAPS] is poorer, the Gauteng provincial team is poorer, the people of Johannesburg are poorer, the people of Gauteng and of the entire South Africa are poorer.”

The minister said the country had been robbed of a true patriot, a dedicated officer who contributed to the reconstruction and development of South Africa.

Maswanganyi’s body was found in a field near Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, on Tuesday, police said.

“Approximately 03:00 this morning the body of the officer was found in a bushy area next to the road,” Gauteng commissioner Lieutenant General Mzwandile Petros said.

“His hands and feet were tied up.”

A police patrol found Maswanganyi’s abandoned Isuzu bakkie next to the R101 on Monday evening. A police uniform and police identification card were in the bakkie, which prompted a search.

Mthethwa said South Africans could pay tribute to Maswanganyi, who had been in service for 31 years, by taking a tough stance against crime.

Maswanganyi and many other police officers had lost their lives in the line of duty, the minister said.

“We have emphasised the point before that policing remains a very difficult and challenging duty… on a daily basis our members face dangerous and vicious criminals, who will not hesitate to kill them.”

Probing the killing

One policeman’s life lost was one too many, and enough was enough, the minister said.

He welcomed Gauteng police commissioner Petros’s appointment of senior detectives to investigate the murder.

Police were waiting for an autopsy report on the cause of death.

Petros said there were no gunshot wounds.

A team of detectives under the leadership of the deputy provincial commissioner for detective services, Major General Tebello Mosikili, and investigators from the provincial investigation unit and organised crime would investigate the murder.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – A re-draft of the norms and standards for school infrastructure will take at least six months to complete, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Tuesday.

Last week, the Equal Education (EE) group said it was taking her to court for allegedly breaching an agreement to publish the document by 15 May. The matter was to be heard in the Bhisho High Court on 11 July.

On Tuesday, Motshekga said she has been communicating with EE to update it on progress with the norms and standards.

She wrote it a letter on 9 May in which she indicated that the compulsory consultation process with the National Economic Development and Labour Council had not been concluded. When she received its report, she would consider all recommendations.

“It is important to emphasise that norms and standards cannot be published at the whim of EE,” said Motshekga.

“The South African government is a democracy that requires all involved and interested in education to have ample time to make input to the final regulations,” she said.

Motshekga accused the EE of being disingenuous. She questioned the group’s sudden interest in the education of African children.

“…To suddenly see a group of white adults organising black African children with half-truths can only be opportunistic, patronising and simply dishonest to say the least,” she said.

The EE said it was shocked and disappointed by Motshekga’s comments.

EE chairperson Yoliswa Dwane said Motshekga should distance herself from these statements, which it viewed as racist.

“EE consists of people of every background and we are very proud of this. Any person who commits [themselves] to advancing the daily struggles of poor and working class youth is welcome in EE,” said Dwane.

“That these values exist is something that those responsible for education should celebrate, not attack.”

The EE has in the last few days mobilised school children in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria to participate in marches.

The children demanded that Motshekga publish the norms and standards, and called for safer and better resourced schools.

On Tuesday, a Grade 11 pupil from an Eastern Cape school took Motshekga, the Eastern Cape education MEC, her school principal, and school governing body to the Bhisho Magistrate’s Court about the condition of her school.

Palesa Manyokole, of the Moshesh Senior Secondary School in Queen’s Mercy, complained that the principal was often absent and unlawfully expelled pupils; teachers were absent and late; there was a shortage of qualified teachers; and there was no curriculum planning.

The matter was postponed to 22 October.

Basic education spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi said the department would appear in court if it received a notice.

“We believe this case is part of the gimmick of the EE to embarrass the department,” he said.

As from July, the basic education department claimed it would open one school per week in the Eastern Cape. These are an addition to several other schools opened in Mthatha in the last three months.

These former mud structures reportedly all have early childhood development facilities, administration blocks, soup kitchens, ablution blocks, water and electricity,

“Equal Education will not be brave enough to acknowledge this, or any progress we make on a daily basis regarding school infrastructure,” said Motshekga.

– SAPA

A court ruling dismissing an application by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa for a review of findings in a matter involving a Cape Town jogger was welcomed on Tuesday.

“We are very pleased with [the judge’s] finding that the minister must respect the [SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC)] and the work done by the commission,” its chairperson Lawrence Mushwana said in a statement.

“This should really send the message to other government officials who do not co-operate with the commission or its findings.”

The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg found in favour of the commission last week and dismissed the minister’s application with punitive costs.

Police ministry spokesperson Zweli Mnisi said Mthethwa had not undermined the commission, but had raised valid Constitutional issues.

The issue was whether litigants should have access to many forums in which to “ventilate their complaints against the state”, or if a particular forum within which to do so should be established, said Mnisi.

“The judgment does not clarify this important Constitutional issue, and may lead to extensive cherry-picking by litigants in the future.”

The SAHRC found in July 2011, that a number of political science student Chumani Maxwele’s rights had been violated.

Maxwele was detained in February 2010 and was quizzed about his political affiliations after he showing a rude hand sign to a convoy carrying President Jacob Zuma while jogging.

He alleged that his head was covered, his legs were tied, he was taken to two different police stations for interrogation, and that his home was searched.

Maxwele said he was held a day without being fed, and was released by the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court without appearing.

Review application

SAHRC spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the SAHRC found against Mthethwa and the president’s Special Protection Unit (SPU).

In January 2012, the minister brought an application to review, set aside and substitute the SAHRC’s decision on appeal, Mangena said.

In a hearing on Wednesday, the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg criticised Mthethewa’s behaviour and reminded him of his constitutional duties.

“[The judge] found that the minister had displayed a disconcerting attitude which, if not downright contemptuous of the commission, at the very least showed disrespect for the commission’s standing as a body instituted by the Constitution…,” Mangena said.

“The judge accordingly found that the minister’s conduct fell far short of its duty to assist the commission,” he said.

Mthethwa noted and respected the judgment, Mnisi said.

“The minister instituted the review proceedings on legitimate grounds that the findings of the SAHRC could impact on the legal proceedings instituted against the minister in this matter,” he said.

“The legal proceedings in this matter are at an advanced stage and are likely to be settled.”

– SAPA

Pretoria – Police plans to protect the Nkaneng informal settlement against armed protesters in Marikana last year were at issue before the Farlam Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday.

While North West deputy police commissioner General William Mpembe said the police’s plan had included the protection of the whole area, the commission’s evidence leader Mbuyiseli Madlanga submitted that: “… No provision was made for such.”

The hill where protesters held their meetings during the unrest is in the Nkaneng informal settlement, near Lonmin’s platinum mine in Marikana.

“The plan was to not let those protesters in groups through into the informal settlement as history has shown that, when in groups, protesters would go out of hand and destroy property,” said Mpembe.

He said the police planned to search, disarm and arrest groups entering the area. Those walking alone would be let through.

The commission’s chairman, retired judge Ian Farlam, said it seemed there was no plan, away from the police line at the hill, to chase those who escaped the police and entered through other sides of Nkaneng.

Mpembe said the aim of the police was to search those who entered in groups of at least 10, so as to protect residents.

“We did not know where those who faced danger and reported for work stayed exactly in Nkaneng. We deemed it safe to not let the groups into the settlement,” he said.

The commission, sitting in Centurion, is probing the circumstances of the deaths of 44 people during an unprotected strike at Lonmin’s platinum mine in Marikana, in August.

Thirty-four striking miners were shot dead when the police tried to disperse them on August 16. Ten people, including two policemen, died in strike-related violence the week before.

The hearing continues on Thursday. – Sapa

Platinum Stars have released a statement in which they make it clear that they want to keep Cavin Johnson but adds the coach is free to go the legal route if he feels he is entitled to leave.

Johnson, who has been strongly linked with SuperSport United, handed in a resignation recently but Stars insist they won’t accept it.

The statement reads:

“Platinum Stars Football Club has been inundated with calls from the media regarding its relationship with the club head coach Mr. Cavin Johnson.

“The facts are as follows-

1. Mr. Johnson has performed admirably while at the club, he has a contract with the club, and Platinum Stars have no intention of terminating the relationship.

2. Mr. Johnson has however indicated that he wishes to move on and Platinum Stars have been informed that there are various clubs interested in his services with whom he intends contracting.

3. Platinum Stars has every intention of commencing the coming football season with Mr. Johnson as the head coach of the first team and we hope that the club’s right to enforce its contracts will be respected by Mr. Johnson and all other stakeholders and participants in the game.

4. In view of the need for certainty – both for the club and Mr. Johnson – we have invited Mr. Johnson to commit to the club or, if he believes he is entitled to leave, to refer a dispute to arbitration in terms of the football rules as he is entitled to do.

“We have made these comments in view of the widespread reporting on the matter but do not intend discussing the issue any further in the media for reasons of privacy and also of course because any dispute or difference that there may be should be dealt with in the correct forums and not in the media.

“Our relationship with Mr. Johnson has always been professional and we intend maintaining that.”
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