{"id":791348,"date":"2024-09-17T07:45:19","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T05:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=791348"},"modified":"2024-09-17T07:45:24","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T05:45:24","slug":"bmw-sa-workers-strike-and-r500-million-electricity-meter-fumble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/791348\/bmw-sa-workers-strike-and-r500-million-electricity-meter-fumble\/","title":{"rendered":"BMW SA workers strike, and R500 million electricity meter fumble"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Here\u2019s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>BMW SA workers strike: <\/strong>BMW SA has denied mass dismissals at its Pretoria plant, attributing worker protests which started on Monday to a fraud investigation involving the BMW Employees Medical Aid Scheme. The company emphasised its zero-tolerance policy for corruption and confirmed that any terminations would be followed by recruitment and upskilling efforts. Meanwhile a worker claimed the issue began with labor disputes and escalated to mass dismissals affecting hundreds of people, leading to the strike. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businesslive.co.za\/bd\/national\/labour\/2024-09-16-disgruntled-bmw-sa-workers-embark-on-strike-over-fraud-investigation\/\">Business Day<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>eThekwini&#8217;s R500 million electricity meter fumble:<\/strong> eThekwini metro&#8217;s R500 million pilot project for new smart electricity meters has failed, as the devices do not work. Launched in 2021, the project aimed to install meters capable of remote data transmission. However, internal audits revealed significant irregularities in the contracts awarded to Africa Utility Solutions (AUS) for this project.[<a href=\"https:\/\/www.news24.com\/news24\/investigations\/ethekwini-paid-r500m-for-smart-electricity-meters-that-dont-work-20240917\">News24<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Ballito protests<\/strong>: Hundreds of residents from Shaka\u2019s Head informal settlement marched on Monday to municipal offices in Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal, demanding toilets, water and electricity. The marchers are organised by Abahlali baseMjondolo. \u201cThe living conditions in the area are difficult because we don\u2019t have basic services,\u201d said community leader Ntombikhaya Ludziya. He said they wanted to be recognised by the Ilembe District Municipality and to be given housing and basic services. [<a href=\"https:\/\/groundup.org.za\/article\/hundreds-march-in-ballito-demanding-decent-living-conditions\/\">GroundUp<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Labour Court cracks whip on former national laboratory chief:<\/strong>\u00a0The Labour Court has dismissed former National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS)\u00a0CEO Joyce Mogale&#8217;s unfair dismissal claim and ordered her to pay over R22 million due to procurement irregularities during her tenure. Mogale, who was dismissed in 2019 along with former CFO Sikhumbuzo Zulu, faced charges related to R200 million in procurement issues. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymaverick.co.za\/article\/2024-09-16-labour-court-orders-former-national-health-laboratory-service-chief-to-pay-r22m-in-damages\/\">Daily Maverick<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Markets:<\/strong>\u00a0The \u00a0rand gained on Monday against a weaker dollar, as markets geared up for a week packed with interest rate announcements and a local inflation print. On Tuesday (17 September), the rand was trading at R17.64 to the dollar, R23.36 to the pound, and R19.61 to the euro. Oil is trading at $73.06 a barrel. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/africa\/south-african-rand-gains-interest-rates-focus-this-week-2024-09-16\/\">Reuters<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are 5 important things happening in South Africa today (17 September 2024). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":644551,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993],"class_list":["post-791348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5-things","tag-5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791348"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":791355,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791348\/revisions\/791355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}