COSATU statement on the Department of Labour’s prohibition order against the National Health Department in Pretoria

30 October 2018 

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has noted with the labour Department’s decision to issue a prohibition order against the National Health Department in Pretoria, where their building has been declared unsafe. This again exposes the cavalier attitude of the department of Health and government in general because workers have been raising this matter for a long time. The federation is fully behind the workers decision to refuse to enter the building for work.

What makes things even worse is that the same people who are supposed to be trusted with the healthcare of the nation cannot even guarantee the health of their officials in their head office. Workers need to refuse to work under inhumane and unsafe conditions and should only go to work once their employers meet all the occupational health and safety standards.

The Labour Department needs to act decisively with the employers who breach health and safety regulations starting with government.

The death of three firefighters at the Bank of Lisbon building in the Johannesburg should have been a wakeup call for the department of health and government in general.

It is therefore reckless for the department of health and public works to allow workers to continue to work in another building that lacks proper ventilation, faulty electrical systems and sprinklers that don’t work.

There is no difference between government and the private sctor when it comes to health and safety adherence. Government is as reckless as Sibanye Stillwater and this cynical and sinister collusion against the workers is deplorable.

In response to this reckless collusion COSATU has successfully applied and ultimately received a section 77 Notice at Nedlac in order to put pressure on employers to take health and safety policies seriously. Since 2008 , when the Presidential Mine Health and Safety Audit report found that there was poor compliance on occupational health risk management, occupational health and safety policy and codes of practice, very little has changed despite numerous commitments.

Over the last two years, we have seen mineworkers die like flies at a number of Sibanye Stillwater operations all across the country. COSATU’s Section 77 Strike Notice makes the following demands: 

- We demand a single legislative authority, a single Occupational Health and Safety act, and a single compensation authority.  This means the implementation of a cabinet memo of 1999, on the integration of the OHS inspectorate and compensation.

- Review the Occupational Health and Safety act for the election of a full-time health and safety representative.

- We demand a legislative review on penalties for non compliance with health and safety policies and laws.

- Shop stewards must be trained at the level of an inspector to be able to participate in the compliance, monitoring and evaluation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

- Workers must be entitled to a full salary during the mining closure as directed by section 54 and 55 of the mine health and safety act process.

- We demand commission of Inquiry into the status of Occupational Health and Safety in the country to investigate the compliance on the Mine Health and Safety Act, Occupational Health and Safety Act, Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act and Occupational Diseases in the Mines Act.

- The commission should among others investigate causes and solutions to rock burst and rock fall incidents, including seismic events. 

- We demand the review of mining seismology and rock engineering principles for all the mines, and with focus on the gold mining.  We further demand that the mining companies must strengthen their monitoring system and technology.

Issued by Sizwe Pamla, National Spokesperson, COSATU, 30 October 2018