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Education & Skills Development News

Patel offers insight into Level 4 balancing act as South Africans smart over irrational restrictions

By: Terence Creamer 30th April 2020 Amid growing opposition to some of the restrictions to be imposed as part of South Africa’s Level 4 Covid-19 lockdown, which begins on May 1, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel has sought to outline the philosophy underpinning the country’s evolving approach to working during... →

During pandemic, ASME seeking to fill engineering skills gap with virtual training courses

By: Rebecca Campbell 30th April 2020 In a response to the current Covid-19 pandemic, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is offering virtual training solutions that engineers can access from their homes. These training courses are flexible, applicable and are now available at significantly reduced prices. ASME... →

Productivity SA proposes economic recovery plan

By: Donna Slater 29th April 2020 Employment growth and productivity promotion agency Productivity SA has drawn up a document to potentially address economic shortcomings brought about by the spread of Covid-19 and economic disruptions resulting from the national lockdown. Productivity SA chairperson Professor Mthunzi Mdwaba... →

Covid-19 underscores need for multidisciplinary approach to diseases in Africa

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 29th April 2020 The Covid-19 pandemic that has swept the globe has become an additional burden in Africa’s list of epidemics and noncommunicable diseases, highlighting the continent’s vulnerability to disease, and thereby reinforcing the need to focus on a multidisciplinary approach when countering outbreaks of... →

UIF tweaks online platform to be more informative

By: Marleny Arnoldi 29th April 2020 The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has tweaked its systems to ensure that more pertinent information is available on its online platform. Employers, employees and organised labour are now able to see which companies have been paid. →

TERS benefit set to be extended to staff of non-UIF compliant firms

By: Terence Creamer 28th April 2020 The South African government is willing to consider extending the Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (TERS) to employees of firms that are currently not fully compliant with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi has stressed, however, that the... →

UFS has trained 500 hospital staff on the use of PPE since lockdown started

By: Schalk Burger 28th April 2020 The University of the Free State (UFS) says its Department of Anaesthesiology, in collaboration with the Clinical Simulation and Skills Unit, has trained 500 hospital staff members to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic since the start of lockdown measures in South Africa. The unit assisted doctors,... →

BLSA suggests rethink of how to ease business into staged lockdown

By: Donna Slater 28th April 2020 Getting some previously shut sectors back into safe production is key to getting the economy moving again, as has been done with the phased easing of the lockdown, suggests business promotion agency Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso. However, she fears that it will prove... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
Busi Mavuso

Govt urged to plan ‘for the long haul’ post-Covid-19

By: Simone Liedtke 24th April 2020 Without an effective reconstruction of South Africa’s growth path and distribution, the country will face “years of debt distress”, University of Witwatersrand (Wits) adjunct professor Michael Sachs says. In a webinar on April 24, hosted by the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE), the... →

Gold likely to rise as global Covid-19 restrictions start to ease

By: Donna Slater 24th April 2020 Financial services company INTL FCStone Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia market analysis head Rhona O’Connell says the majority of precious metals have moved into uncertain territory, with future trends difficult to predict as Covid-19 disrupts international buying and selling markets.... →

Covid-19 to forever change the face of offices, says Business Exchange

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 24th April 2020 Covid-19 and the South African lockdown have forced companies across the board to embrace strategies that allow their employees to continue working, but from home. And while this has been a relief for many, who no longer have to face the daily traffic grind and can work in their pyjamas if they... →

Association improves technicians training

By: Cameron Mackay 24th April 2020 The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Safety Association of South Africa has been investing in improving its LPG technicians’ installation training through collaboration with the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) as one of its mandates for the LPG sector. “This will enable us to ensure that... →

NIRVAN BRIJLAL The industry is well regulated, with many safety standards in place

Solidarity Fund raises R2.6bn

By: Sane Dhlamini 23rd April 2020 Government’s pro bono organisation, the Solidarity Fund on Thursday expressed gratitude to all those who have so far donated to the fund, which has received R2.6-billion in pledges to respond to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The mandate of fund is to mobilise and coordinate financial and... →

Labour dept making good progress on Covid-19 TERS payments

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 23rd April 2020 The Department of Employment and Labour has ramped up its payment of Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS), as well as normal benefits, to ensure workers are not inconvenienced during the lockdown. On April 22, the Unemployment Insurance Fund disbursed R92-million, taking the... →

UCT sets up dedicated Covid-19 emergency fund

By: Marleny Arnoldi 22nd April 2020 The University of Cape Town (UCT) has set up a Coronavirus Disease 2019 emergency fund to assist in the fight against the virus and its impact on the UCT community. The university has urged members of the UCT community to rally behind the fight against the pandemic by making contributions to... →

Chief executives report degradation in economic outlooks as Covid-19 crisis deepens

By: Donna Slater 22nd April 2020 Nonprofit international leadership community organisation YPO’s latest international Covid-19 survey has found that 84% of the 3 534 respondents are more negative about the outlook for the months ahead than they were on March 1. YPO conducted its first Covid-19 survey from March 10 to 13,... →

SAPS members that violate the regulations undermine government’s efforts - General Rabie

By: Sane Dhlamini 21st April 2020 South African Police Service (SAPS) Major General Leon Rabie on Tuesday said the abuse of power or involvement in any illegal activities by the members of his organisation during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic not only brings SAPS into disrepute but grossly undermines government’s efforts to... →

Nxesi seeks additional processing capacity as first R1.1bn in TERS claims are paid

By: Terence Creamer 21st April 2020 Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi reports that his department is in discussion with other public entities and the private sector to build additional capacity in order to fast-track the processing of the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme applications and the payment of benefits.... →

Photo by Creamer Media
Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi

Lockdown has revealed sad fault line in society – Ramaphosa

By: Sane Dhlamini 20th April 2020 As South Africa battles the spread of the novel coronavirus, President Cyril Ramaphosa has pointed out that the national lockdown has revealed a “very sad fault line” in society. In his weekly message to the country, the President said while the lockdown was instituted to save lives, it has also... →

President Cyril Ramaphosa

Universities develop public Covid-19 data-sharing repository, dashboard

By: Donna Slater 17th April 2020 A collaborative effort between the University of the Free State’s (UFS’s) Centre for Teaching and Learning and the University of Pretoria’s Data Science for Social Impact research group led to the development of a framework to share Covid-19 data with the public in the form of a data repository... →

Children’s author, publisher make Covid-19-awareness book available for free

By: Donna Slater 17th April 2020 As part of the response to fight the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business senior lecturer Athol Williams and his artist wife Taryn Lock have produced the seventh book in their acclaimed Oaky children’s picture books series with a focus... →

Nxesi’s new directive further streamlines UIF Covid-19 relief scheme

By: Terence Creamer 17th April 2020 Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi has made further changes to the directives governing the Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, following ongoing engagements with business and labour on the scheme at the National Economic Development and Labour... →

Photo by Creamer Media
Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi

Restrictions eased on various industries as South Africa enters extended lockdown phase

By: Terence Creamer 16th April 2020 The South African government announced the easing of lockdown restrictions for parts of the logistics, retail, services, mining and energy sectors on April 16, as the country entered the second phase of what was initially meant to be a 21-day nationwide lockdown in response to the Covid-19... →

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

ICA partners with Navigate Compliance in South Africa

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 16th April 2020 Professional body for the global regulatory and financial crime community, the International Compliance Association (ICA), has partnered with training and advisory firm Navigate Compliance to bring ICA education to South Africa. Navigate Compliance is a 100% women- and youth-owned small,... →

Teraco assists schools with broadband initiative

By: Marleny Arnoldi 15th April 2020 Data centre provider Teraco has announced it will provide a support grant valued at R7.5-million to the South African Broadband Education Networks (Saben) through the Teraco Connect Foundation. Teraco will partner with Saben to support the national drive to end bandwidth poverty in South... →

Innovation Hub calls on local innovators to help fight Covid-19

By: Donna Slater 15th April 2020 Pretoria-based science and technology park, The Innovation Hub (TIH), requests local innovators; entrepreneurs; scientists; small, medium-sized and microenterprises; research institutions; universities; and the public to submit solutions that can help curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus.... →

Wits University pursuing remote online teaching, learning methods

By: Simone Liedtke 15th April 2020 The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) will switch to remote online teaching and learning from April 20, alongside a range of other contingency and continuity plans. Wits academics have spent the past few weeks adapting the academic programme to go online largely through the university’s... →

Waste pickers get relief with food vouchers during national lockdown

By: Donna Slater 14th April 2020 An electronic food voucher initiative is being rolled out to waste pickers across the country, as part of a partnership between the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) and the packaging industry, to assist waste pickers who have lost their livelihoods during the national... →

Online hackathon launched to spur development of Covid-19-tackling solutions

By: Donna Slater 14th April 2020 The African Development Bank (AfDB) and partners will host an international 72-hour online competition, the #AfricaVsVirus Challenge – aimed at developing effective solutions to the coronavirus pandemic – from April 16 to 19. The hackathon, or as the AfDB calls it, the "ideathon", is open to... →

UJ Vice Chancellor pledges 33% of salary towards Solidarity Fund

By: Sane Dhlamini 14th April 2020 The University of Johannesburg Vice Chancellor Professor Tshilidzi Marwala has revealed that he will donate 33% of his salary to the Solidarity Fund to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. This follows president Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that members of Cabinet will donate one-third of their... →

Skills vital to develop local suppliers for automotive industry

By: Schalk Burger 10th April 2020 Skills are a critical requirement to sustainably allow for the establishment and development of local black suppliers to the automotive industry. Most of the suitable entrepreneur candidates to establish and run local component manufacturing and supply operations will come from the automotive... →

INDUSTRIAL SKILLS Economically feasibility will determine which components can be produced locally and the pace of deeper localisation

African countries urged to increase response to Covid-19 pandemic − WHO

By: Simone Liedtke 9th April 2020 World Health Organisation (WHO) regional director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti has urged countries across Africa to increase their response to mitigating the effects of the Covid-19 virus. While the economic impact of the pandemic is severe, she lamented that fragile economies – like found in... →

UJ, nonprofit find companies are failing to comply with Covid-19 requirements

By: Marleny Arnoldi 9th April 2020 A report compiled by the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Social Change and nonprofit organisation Casual Workers Advice Office finds that companies still operating during the lockdown are largely failing to provide adequate health and safety provisions. The report is based on analysis... →

Mobile learning platform launched to raise awareness of Covid-19

By: Donna Slater 8th April 2020 The head of the United Nations (UN) in South Africa Nardos Bekele-Thomas, supported by the heads of various UN agencies, has partnered with e-learning mobile service Funzi, to launch a mobile learning course – Covid 19: Adapt and Thrive – as part of the country’s official coronavirus response... →

Old Mutual provides free cover to healthcare workers

By: Donna Slater 8th April 2020 Financial services group Old Mutual is making R4-billion worth of cover available to about 430 000 registered healthcare workers across South Africa, the group announced on April 8. Unlike traditional cover, the initiative offered to these professionals is neither a product nor a policy and no... →

Ramaphosa places Ndabeni-Abrahams on special leave for violating lockdown regulations

By: Sane Dhlamini 8th April 2020 President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams on special leave for two months, one of which will be unpaid, for violating the regulations of the national lockdown amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. A recent social media... →

Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams

Research reveals gap in Covid-19 funding for businesses in townships

By: Donna Slater 7th April 2020 The Covid-19 pandemic and the current lockdown are already having a devastating impact on South Africa’s economy, with informal and small businesses in townships likely to feel the brunt of the impact. A study by postgraduate students at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and entrepreneurs from... →

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