Latest news with #PhakamileHlubi-Majola
IOL News
3 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Numsa secures vital wage agreement with Bombela Operating Company for Gautrain staff
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has welcomed the signing of a new wage agreement with the Bombela Operating Company (BOC). Image: Thobile Mathonsi / Independent Newspapers The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has confirmed and welcomed the signing of a new wage agreement of one year with the Bombela Operating Company (BOC), a company that manages the Gautrain. Numsa spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, in a statement on Thursday, indicated that the agreement was signed on Wednesday, July 16, and is valid from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, with the agreement broken down in different ways. "We have negotiated a 4.25% wage increase across the board, a housing allowance from R1,300 to R1,400, while for night work and transport allowance has increased from R112 to R125. Night shift allowance increased from R38 to R40 per hour, while KPI bonus increased in terms of the wage increase at a rate of 4.25% from R9,600 to R10,016. The agreement will be backdated to the 1st of July," she said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Hlubi-Majola stated that the union is satisfied with the agreement as it was negotiated under 'very difficult conditions' of a low March CPI rate of 2.7%. "One of the benefits of this agreement is that all of the allowances increased by more than 4.25% across the board. Numsa is satisfied with the agreement because it was negotiated under very difficult conditions of a low March CPI rate of 2.7%. One of the benefits of this agreement is that all of the allowances increased by more than the 4.25% across-the-board increase," she added. The latest agreement comes hot on the heels of a negotiation process that deadlocked on June 9 and threatened the possibility of a strike. In a separate statement, the BOC, which operates the Gautrain, revealed that the agreement follows a ballot held on Tuesday, July 15, in which the majority of Numsa-affiliated employees voted against a strike action. "The signing of this agreement reflects a shared commitment to constructive dialogue, mutual respect, and the long-term success of our operations. We extend our sincere appreciation to all employees and union officials for their professionalism, patience, and cooperation throughout the process," the operating company said.
IOL News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Red Wedding Warfare: How Israel Turned War Into A Spectacle To Conceal The Gaza Genocide
A woman mourns over the shrouded body of a Palestinian killed during a reported Israeli strike on a humanitarian aid distribution warehouse in the Sabra neighbourhood in Gaza City, in the central Gaza Strip on June 30, 2025. The global silence on Gaza is not accidental. It is rooted in decades of settler colonial ideology, dehumanisation, and the strategic rebranding of oppression as self-defence, says the writer. Image: AFP Phakamile Hlubi-Majola In June 2025, the Israeli military executed a strike so surgically devastating it borrowed its name from the popular television series, Game of Thrones. It was named the 'Red Wedding' operation, a name inspired by one of the most brutal betrayals in TV history. Just a brief recap, the Red Wedding was a massacre that occurred in Game of Thrones during the wedding of Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey. Lord Walder Frey orchestrated the event as revenge against Robb Stark for breaking a marriage pact that had been forged between the House of Stark and the House of Frey. The guests had their guard down as a result of the wedding celebration, and they were unable to respond decisively to defend themselves against a bloody ambush. This was the impact that Israel hoped to have on Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed he was compelled to attack because Iran was on the verge of building a nuclear weapon. But this excuse is wearing thin. For nearly 30 years, Israel has claimed Iran was 'months away' from a bomb, but there is still no bomb. Meanwhile, Israel holds a nuclear arsenal of its own, which is undeclared, unchecked, and untouched. Both the U.S. intelligence community and the International Atomic Energy Agency have confirmed that Iran is not building nuclear weapons. What we witnessed was not a genuine call for disarmament, but rather, it was about domination. We have seen this play out before in 2002 when Netanyahu misled the U.S. and the U.K. that Iraq was manufacturing 'weapons of mass destruction' to push Western allies into attacking Iraq. This is the same script, just a different cast. The Red Wedding was an ambush against key leaders of Iran's military. Over 200 Israeli fighter jets took off quietly, targeting 100 sites inside Iran. The strike eliminated some of Iran's most senior defence officials. Among the dead were General Hossein Salami, the head of the Revolutionary Guard; Iranian military chief Mohammad Bagheri; and Gholam Ali Rashid from the emergency command. The outcome was devastating. Iran lost several key military leaders within hours. At the same time, they launched Operation Narnia, a parallel mission that killed nine of Iran's leading nuclear scientists. It was a fast, unexpected, and ruthless attack. Within hours, Iran's nuclear and military elite were shattered, and hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians had been killed. It was swift, cold and calculating. And it was branded like prime-time television. It is deeply disturbing when a state-sponsored military assault is packaged with a pop culture metaphor, soaked in betrayal and carnage. This demonstrates that for Israel, war is not only a strategy, but also a spectacle. And in the shadow of this 'performance' is the ongoing genocide of Palestinians, whose destruction continues largely untelevised. The 'Red Wedding strike' and 'Operation Narnia' were not just military operations designed to neutralise threats. The goal was to dominate the narrative by playing on Hollywood-style theatrics. Israel was sending an ominous message: We can strike with impunity, and we will find you in any corner of the world. But more importantly, it was designed to distract from the ongoing state-sanctioned ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. To emphasise this, U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly views the war between Iran and Israel as 'the perfect war'. This is a reflection that, in his mind, it is the kind of war that captured imaginations, because it presented strength. Note that Trump is not at all concerned with peace or diplomacy, only the entertainment value of destruction. But this is not entertainment. Real people died. Over 1,100 Iranians were killed and thousands more wounded. And this is not an isolated event; it is part of a long and dangerous pattern of framing militarised violence as bold leadership, and the erasure of its human cost, by disguising it beneath the language of precision and power. Meanwhile, Gaza continues to bleed, largely off-camera. Since its campaign in Gaza in October 2023, Israel has killed over fifty-six thousand people and uprooted nearly the entire population of 2.3 million people, according to Al Jazeera. More than 16,750 children have been murdered, and over 1,000 have lost limbs, many amputated without anaesthesia due to Israel's deliberate targeting of Gaza's medical infrastructure. Hospitals have been bombed, and doctors and nurses are targeted by the military and attacked. Aid convoys and food have been blocked from entering. Those who have miraculously survived are slowly starving to death. The UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner issued a report that even if Palestinians can reach food distribution points, the 'Israeli military has shelled and shot Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points, leading to many fatalities'. This is not a tragedy. It is deliberate, systemic, state-sponsored ethnic cleansing. There is an attempt to distract the world's attention by focusing on the 'Red Wedding', a spectacle designed to dominate headlines while war crimes against Palestinians are reduced to background noise. This kind of selective outrage reveals the machinery beneath global diplomacy. Israeli military aggression toward Iran is applauded, but its sustained violence against Palestinians is ignored and even justified. What we are witnessing is not just hypocrisy; it is complicity. The global silence on Gaza is not accidental. It is rooted in decades of settler colonial ideology, dehumanisation, and the strategic rebranding of oppression as self-defence. From Washington to Brussels, the narrative is tightly controlled, and platforms like TikTok have joined the censorship regime. Creators documenting the Palestinian crisis face shadow bans or content removal for using words like genocide. To stay visible, activists now spell it as 'g3nocide' or 'g*nocide', a digital code for what many in power refuse to name aloud. It was Chinese philosopher Confucius who said, 'The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name'. And so those of us who know the truth, and who survived Apartheid in South Africa, must act with courage and call it what it is. It is genocide, erasure and Apartheid. There is no other vocabulary that captures the scale and intent of what is unfolding against Palestinians.
IOL News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Red Wedding Warfare: How Israel Turned War Into A Spectacle To Conceal The Gaza Genocide
A woman mourns over the shrouded body of a Palestinian killed during a reported Israeli strike on a humanitarian aid distribution warehouse in the Sabra neighbourhood in Gaza City, in the central Gaza Strip on June 30, 2025. The global silence on Gaza is not accidental. It is rooted in decades of settler colonial ideology, dehumanisation, and the strategic rebranding of oppression as self-defence, says the writer. Image: AFP Phakamile Hlubi-Majola In June 2025, the Israeli military executed a strike so surgically devastating it borrowed its name from the popular television series, Game of Thrones. It was named the 'Red Wedding' operation, a name inspired by one of the most brutal betrayals in TV history. Just a brief recap, the Red Wedding was a massacre that occurred in Game of Thrones during the wedding of Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey. Lord Walder Frey orchestrated the event as revenge against Robb Stark for breaking a marriage pact that had been forged between the House of Stark and the House of Frey. The guests had their guard down as a result of the wedding celebration, and they were unable to respond decisively to defend themselves against a bloody ambush. This was the impact that Israel hoped to have on Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed he was compelled to attack because Iran was on the verge of building a nuclear weapon. But this excuse is wearing thin. For nearly 30 years, Israel has claimed Iran was 'months away' from a bomb, but there is still no bomb. Meanwhile, Israel holds a nuclear arsenal of its own, which is undeclared, unchecked, and untouched. Both the U.S. intelligence community and the International Atomic Energy Agency have confirmed that Iran is not building nuclear weapons. What we witnessed was not a genuine call for disarmament, but rather, it was about domination. We have seen this play out before in 2002 when Netanyahu misled the U.S. and the U.K. that Iraq was manufacturing 'weapons of mass destruction' to push Western allies into attacking Iraq. This is the same script, just a different cast. The Red Wedding was an ambush against key leaders of Iran's military. Over 200 Israeli fighter jets took off quietly, targeting 100 sites inside Iran. The strike eliminated some of Iran's most senior defence officials. Among the dead were General Hossein Salami, the head of the Revolutionary Guard; Iranian military chief Mohammad Bagheri; and Gholam Ali Rashid from the emergency command. The outcome was devastating. Iran lost several key military leaders within hours. At the same time, they launched Operation Narnia, a parallel mission that killed nine of Iran's leading nuclear scientists. It was a fast, unexpected, and ruthless attack. Within hours, Iran's nuclear and military elite were shattered, and hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians had been killed. It was swift, cold and calculating. And it was branded like prime-time television. It is deeply disturbing when a state-sponsored military assault is packaged with a pop culture metaphor, soaked in betrayal and carnage. This demonstrates that for Israel, war is not only a strategy, but also a spectacle. And in the shadow of this 'performance' is the ongoing genocide of Palestinians, whose destruction continues largely untelevised. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The 'Red Wedding strike' and 'Operation Narnia' were not just military operations designed to neutralise threats. The goal was to dominate the narrative by playing on Hollywood-style theatrics. Israel was sending an ominous message: We can strike with impunity, and we will find you in any corner of the world. But more importantly, it was designed to distract from the ongoing state-sanctioned ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. To emphasise this, U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly views the war between Iran and Israel as 'the perfect war'. This is a reflection that, in his mind, it is the kind of war that captured imaginations, because it presented strength. Note that Trump is not at all concerned with peace or diplomacy, only the entertainment value of destruction. But this is not entertainment. Real people died. Over 1,100 Iranians were killed and thousands more wounded. And this is not an isolated event; it is part of a long and dangerous pattern of framing militarised violence as bold leadership, and the erasure of its human cost, by disguising it beneath the language of precision and power. Meanwhile, Gaza continues to bleed, largely off-camera. Since its campaign in Gaza in October 2023, Israel has killed over fifty-six thousand people and uprooted nearly the entire population of 2.3 million people, according to Al Jazeera. More than 16,750 children have been murdered, and over 1,000 have lost limbs, many amputated without anaesthesia due to Israel's deliberate targeting of Gaza's medical infrastructure. Hospitals have been bombed, and doctors and nurses are targeted by the military and attacked. Aid convoys and food have been blocked from entering. Those who have miraculously survived are slowly starving to death. The UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner issued a report that even if Palestinians can reach food distribution points, the 'Israeli military has shelled and shot Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points, leading to many fatalities'. This is not a tragedy. It is deliberate, systemic, state-sponsored ethnic cleansing. There is an attempt to distract the world's attention by focusing on the 'Red Wedding', a spectacle designed to dominate headlines while war crimes against Palestinians are reduced to background noise. This kind of selective outrage reveals the machinery beneath global diplomacy. Israeli military aggression toward Iran is applauded, but its sustained violence against Palestinians is ignored and even justified. What we are witnessing is not just hypocrisy; it is complicity. The global silence on Gaza is not accidental. It is rooted in decades of settler colonial ideology, dehumanisation, and the strategic rebranding of oppression as self-defence. From Washington to Brussels, the narrative is tightly controlled, and platforms like TikTok have joined the censorship regime. Creators documenting the Palestinian crisis face shadow bans or content removal for using words like genocide. To stay visible, activists now spell it as 'g3nocide' or 'g*nocide', a digital code for what many in power refuse to name aloud. It was Chinese philosopher Confucius who said, 'The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name'. And so those of us who know the truth, and who survived Apartheid in South Africa, must act with courage and call it what it is. It is genocide, erasure and Apartheid. There is no other vocabulary that captures the scale and intent of what is unfolding against Palestinians.
IOL News
02-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Gautrain shutdown looms as NUMSA secures strike certificate
Gautrain services could soon grind to a halt Image: Supplied Gautrain services could soon grind to a halt after the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) was granted a certificate to strike by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). This comes after the collapse of wage negotiations with the Bombela Operating Company (BOC), which manages operations of the high-speed rail service. According to a statement issued to the media by the union's national spokesperson on Wednesday, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola stated: "Wage negotiations deadlocked on the 9th of June 2025 and NUMSA filed a dispute with the CCMA, which was heard yesterday. Unfortunately, parties were still unable to find one another due to the arrogance of the Bombela Operating Company (BOC) management, which has resulted in a certificate to strike being issued." Some of the key demands from the workers include a 7% across-the-board wage increase, an increase in the housing allowance from R1,300 to R1,600, a rise in the transport allowance from R125 to R150, an increase in the night shift allowance from R38 to R50 per hour, and a boost in the KPI bonus from R9,600 to R15,000. Hlubi-Majola stated that the Bombela Operating Company (BOC) has failed to present a meaningful offer, instead proposing a mere 4.2% wage increase, which the workers have categorically rejected. 'Unfortunately, the CCMA facilitation by a senior commissioner did not yield any positive results,' she said. The union highlighted the rising cost of living as an additional pressure, saying that workers have no choice but to take to the streets. "This week, electricity went up by 12.5%, and the fuel tariffs have just been adjusted up. This has a negative impact on the price of goods because it means that goods and consumables are more expensive. "NUMSA further calls on the Gautrain Management Authority and the Gauteng provincial government to intervene and apply pressure on the BOC management to come to the party and put a meaningful offer on the table for our members to consider." IOL Business Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel
Daily Maverick
06-06-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Maverick
Goodyear to shut down Nelson Mandela Bay manufacturing plant — 900 jobs at risk
After 78 years of manufacturing tyres in Kariega, Nelson Mandela Bay, the Goodyear factory will close. Restructuring that includes the closure of the company's manufacturing arm in South Africa will take place – Section 189A retrenchment notices have been served. The jobs of 900 workers are at risk and thousands of jobs from secondary industries are being threatened as Goodyear announced this week that it was closing its factory in Nelson Mandela Bay. The factory, in Kariega (formerly Uitenhage), was opened in 1947. About 900 employees will lose their jobs, but fears are that this will have a larger secondary impact as other industries, such as catering, security and corporate social investment projects will be affected by the decision. Company representatives would not answer questions on Thursday, but issued a general statement confirming that it was shutting down its manufacturing arm in South Africa. 'Goodyear is transforming its go-to-market strategy in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region to optimise its footprint and portfolio. 'As part of that transformation, Goodyear South Africa is launching a restructuring process in accordance with the provisions of the Labour Relations Act to address proposals regarding the closure of its manufacturing facility in South Africa and the realignment of certain sales, administration and general management functions. Goodyear South Africa will continue to maintain a sales and distribution, and Hi-Q retail presence in South Africa,' the statement read. 'This proposal is in no way a reflection of the commendable efforts or the years of dedication of our South Africa team, for which we are grateful,' the statement added. The process will be facilitated by the CCMA. 'As a company, we recognise our responsibilities towards our employees and their families and are firmly committed to acting fairly and providing them with appropriate support,' the company's statement continued. National Metal Workers Union representative Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said the union had not yet received a Section 189 notice from Goodyear. CEO of Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber Denise van Huyssteen said the chamber would assist workers through its job loss mitigation initiative. The initiative connects companies seeking artisans with those whose jobs had been made redundant. Previously, the chamber helped redirect employees of specialist tyre manufacturer, Continental Conti-tech when it closed its plant in Nelson Mandela Bay. Van Huyssteen said the chamber was saddened to receive the news of the Goodyear retrenchments at the Kariega factory. 'This comes just months after Conti-tech announced that it was closing its plant, and the Bridgestone plant closure of over four years ago. 'This highlights the massive pressure which tyre manufacturers are under due to enabling environment issues such as the logistics challenges; lack of service delivery at a municipal level; inadequate maintenance of electricity, water and sanitation infrastructure; increased costs relating to safety and security; above-inflation input costs for essential services such as electricity; as well as cheap tyre imports which are flooding the market,' she said. Nduduzo Chala from the South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference said that while he wanted to allow Goodyear to go through the process it had begun, he could say that trading conditions for local manufacturers had been very difficult over the past few years. The conference represents the four big tyre manufacturers in South Africa — Bridgestone, Dunlop, Goodyear and Continental. 'The market has been plagued with an unfair trade environment. It is a question of producers vs importers, and low-cost products have been introduced into the market,' he said. He said they had persuaded the government, even though it took more than a year, to introduce anti-dumping duties on China recently. 'It was a very unfair trading environment,' he said. 'But there are always loopholes, and the Chinese companies are now shifting operations to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. We then had to do the same for these countries,' he said. 'However, the sustainability of manufacturing has become challenging,' Chala said. DM
