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Labour News

Proudly SA launches new ‘buy local’ campaign

By: Simone Liedtke 2nd July 2020 Proudly South African (SA) this week launched its new “Buy Local” consumer education campaign that will go live on various platforms, including television, on July 3. The campaign calls on all South African citizens to contribute to putting the local economy and South Africans back to work by... →

UIF continues to accept Covid-19 TERS claims

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 2nd July 2020 The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) Commissioner has indicated that the fund will continue to accept and process Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) claims submitted for April, May and June as per the directive issued by Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi on March... →

We must be guided by facts, not rumours – Ramaphosa on Covid-19

By: Sane Dhlamini 29th June 2020 President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday expressed concern for frontline health workers who have died owing to the coronavirus and has also warned against the stigmatisation of people who have tested positive for the novel virus. In his weekly column to the nation said the country must be guided by... →

President Cyril Ramaphosa

Covid-19 has exposed weaknesses in our communities – Dlamini-Zuma

By: Sane Dhlamini 23rd June 2020 Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Tuesday declared that the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has exposed the weaknesses and deep fault lines in basic services, infrastructure, poverty and hunger, as well as in economic activities in rural... →

Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

No quick fixes for economy – Ramaphosa

By: Sane Dhlamini 22nd June 2020 President Cyril Ramaphosa warned on Monday that there would be no quick fixes for the economy as government gears up to launch its Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium on Tuesday. The Sidssa is organised by the Investment and Infrastructure Office within The Presidency and it is... →

President Cyril Ramaphosa

UIF pays close to R6bn relief payments in May

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 19th June 2020 The Department of Employment and Labour continues to support workers with payments through the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), as well as working on processing Covid-19 claims that have come in through the Compensation Fund (CF), it says. For May, the UIF had disbursed close to R6-billion to... →

B4SA calls out UIF shortcomings in TERS payments

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 19th June 2020 Industry organisation Business for South Africa (B4SA) has expressed surprise at the narrative being expounded by the Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi and the leadership of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) attributing the delays and shortcomings in the disbursement of Temporary... →

Welding institute championing training initiative

By: Mamaili Mamaila 19th June 2020 The Southern African Institute of Welding (SAIW) is championing work-based apprenticeship learning for the welding industry through the SAIW Foundation, and the Quality Council for Trade and Occupation (QCTO). →

OPEN UP THE INDUSTRY The noticeable lack of apprenticeship opportunities is regarded as one of the main obstacles facing artisan learners in South Africa

AMSA considering large-scale restructuring, jobs to be lost

By: Simone Liedtke 18th June 2020 While the full extent of the Covid-19 pandemic still remains uncertain as the economy slowly reopens within government’s risk-adjusted approach to easing lockdown restrictions, JSE-listed steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) has advised that it is considering a large-scale... →

Concor’s youth development strategy seeks to drive transformation through education

By: Terence Creamer 15th June 2020 Black-owned construction group Concor is implementing a youth development strategy that is focused exclusively on education and skills development, which the company views as the most critical driver of ongoing transformation. Concor’s history of contributing to youth development predates its... →

Concor offers support for learners is through partnerships, including the Tomorrow Trust Saturday School Programme

Labour department starts auditing UIF payments to ensure compliance

By: Donna Slater 15th June 2020 Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi reports that, during the second week of June, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) appointed auditors to investigate whether money paid to employers, to help bridge employees salary deficits during the Covid-19 pandemic, is being paid in full to... →

Mavuso laments all-time low in business confidence

By: Donna Slater 15th June 2020 Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso says business confidence in South Africa is destroyed. In a weekly newsletter, she points out that the latest Rand Merchant Bank/Bureau of Economic Research business confidence index shows that 95% of businesses are dissatisfied with... →

Covid-19 patients can only return to work after 14-day isolation, medical exam – Govt

By: African News Agency 11th June 2020 South Africa's employment and labour department on Thursday stressed that workers who had been diagnosed with Covid-19 could only return to their jobs after completing 14 days of self-isolation and undergoing a medical examination. The department issued its statement in the wake of local media... →

Covid-19 positive employees can return to work under strict conditions – labour department

By: Donna Slater 10th June 2020 Following a number of media reports that state that Covid-19 patients no longer need to test negative to resume work, the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) notes that this is false and instead that certain criteria need to be met before an employee that tests positive for Covid-19 can... →

South Africa must rapidly implement measures to attract FDI − Leon

By: Simone Liedtke 10th June 2020 The South African economy finds itself on the edge of a fiscal cliff, especially as the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a “massive and rapid shock”, says law firm Herbert Smith Freehills partner and Africa co-chair Peter Leon. While the effects of the pandemic were initially localised to Asia,... →

Herbert Smith Freehills partner and Africa co-chair Peter Leon discusses the fiscal cliff edge that the South African economy finds itself on, and highlights some potential measures that can attract FDI into the country. Video: Creamer Media's Kutlwano Matlala. Editing: Creamer Media's Nicholas Boyd.

Students, staff must register on HealthCheck before returning to campus – Nzimande

By: Sane Dhlamini 9th June 2020 Higher Education Minister Dr Blade Nzimande announced on Tuesday that the prerequisite for all tertiary education students and staff returning to campus was to register to the HealthCheck platform. Under level 4 of the national lockdown, final year university students were allowed the control... →

Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Blade Nzimande

CCMA launches digital platform for case processes

By: Simone Liedtke 9th June 2020 To ensure efficient and effective case referral and application processes, which are also safe during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has introduced a free digital platform for CCMA users to refer conciliation and arbitration disputes and... →

Solidarity opposes retrenchments at Agricultural Research Council

By: Marleny Arnoldi 9th June 2020 Trade union Solidarity is in talks with the Agricultural Research Council (Arc) about the best possible solution around the council’s impending retrenchments, which the union believes could pose a direct threat to South Africa’s food security. This follows after the union received a letter from... →

Entrepreneurs facing significant challenges amid Covid-19 pandemic

By: Donna Slater 8th June 2020 The Covid-19 pandemic has intensified South Africa’s economic challenges, with entrepreneurial businesses being more susceptible to succumb to a depressed trading environment, a new report published on June 8 has found. 'Global Entrepreneurship Monitor South Africa (GEM SA) 2019/20 – Igniting... →

Concrete batchers training in the works

By: Mamaili Mamaila 5th June 2020 The Concrete Institute’s (TCI’s) School of Concrete Technology is planning to offer a special one-day course for concrete batchers and batch plant staff in the second half of 2020. →

THE WHOLE BATCH Batching ensures high and uniform quality of readymix concrete for each batch produced by a batching plant

Solidarity issues letter of demand to stop pension funds going to Eskom

By: Donna Slater 4th June 2020 With a letter of demand addressed to the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) and the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), labour union Solidarity instituted legal steps to stop the exchange of Eskom debt for Eskom shares, on June 4. In doing so, Solidarity demands that plans by the PIC to... →

Gauteng claims majority of UIF Covid-19 benefit

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 3rd June 2020 Of the R16.5-billion disbursed by the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) as part of the Covid-19 temporary employer/employee relief scheme (TERS) benefits payment, almost half has gone to Gauteng, benefitting 1.5-million of the 3.46-million workers who have been beneficiaries. In monetary terms,... →

SA banks ready to assist distressed businesses amid Covid-19 pandemic

By: Sane Dhlamini 3rd June 2020 Global law firm DLA Piper, which has advised the Banking Association South Africa and South Africa’s biggest banks on the country’s loan guarantee scheme, has announced that the banks are ready to receive loan applications from businesses impacted by the coronavirus. The loan scheme, which was... →

United Steel condemns unnecessary protest at old Metso steel mill

By: Marleny Arnoldi 2nd June 2020 International metals and minerals company United Steel, a division of United Heavy Industries, has disassociated itself from allegations that jobs are up for sale at its steel mill, and condemned the protest action at the site, in Mandeni, KwaZulu-Natal, on June 1. The company recently acquired... →

Bowmans into Malawi, Zambia amid pandemic

By: Sane Dhlamini 1st June 2020 Law firm Bowmans has expanded its services to Malawi and Zambia despite the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic that is crippling the world economy. The announcement comes less than a year after it announced it was opening a new office in Mauritius and entering into an alliance with Assefa &... →

NPA gets two new deputy national directors

By: Sane Dhlamini 1st June 2020 President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Advocates Ouma Rasethaba and Rodney de Kock as Deputy National Directors of Public Prosecutions with effect from June 1. Advocate Mthunzi Mhaga has also been appointed Special Director of Public Prosecutions. The appointments come following consultations... →

President Cyril Ramaphosa

Coronavirus: Employees can refuse to return to work if they feel unsafe – labour minister

By: News24Wire 29th May 2020 Employees have a right to refuse to return to work next month if they have a "reasonable belief" their employers have not put in place required precautions against the spread of Covid-19 in the workplace, according to Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi. Nxesi was one of several ministers... →

Photo by Creamer Media
Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi

Department commends UIF's efforts

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 29th May 2020 The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) is continuing to make a difference to the lives of many people in South Africa, with timely cash injections, despite the pandemic continuing to impact on many lives, the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) said in a statement on May 29. Since the... →

Protocol to ensure safety on construction sites

By: Donna Slater 29th May 2020 The Construction Management Foundation (CMF) welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s reopening of all construction and infrastructure works under Alert Level 3 on the Risk Adjusted Strategy that will commence on June 1 as a positive step in helping to reinvigorate the construction sector. The... →

PRASA administrator announces new permanent executive appointments

By: Simone Liedtke 29th May 2020 Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) administrator Bongisizwe Mpondo on May 29 announced new permanent executive appointments to the State-owned rail entity. The appointments are the culmination of a rigorous process, overseen by external recruitment agencies, as well as experts in... →

Agility needed in sector transformation

By: Darren Parker 29th May 2020 The world is rapidly changing, with the onslaught of Covid-19 catalysing and concentrating the drivers behind this change. Consequently, manufacturers need to be agile in adapting their systems and processes, remain lean and use digital enablers in a digital transformation to remain relevant and... →

CONNECTING THE DOTS Digitalisation leads to connected plants and connected supply chains, which provides immediate benefits of reliability, stability, immediacy and agility

Health and safety burden shifts onto firms as Level 3 opens way for big resumption of economic activity

By: Terence Creamer 28th May 2020 The nationwide transition from lockdown Level 4 to Level 3 on June 1 would facilitate the return-to-work of almost eight-million more South Africans than had hitherto been allowed to do so, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel said on Thursday. He cautioned, however, that the... →

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel

Africa's debt burden to rise from Covid-19 capital disinvestments

By: Donna Slater 28th May 2020 As a result of the economic impact of Covid-19, there have been significant outflows of capital from emerging markets, many in Africa, thus far this year, as risk appetite weakens significantly and capital is redirected into safe haven assets, like gold, reports insurance company Alexander Forbes... →

Barloworld warns of group-wide retrenchments

By: Marleny Arnoldi 28th May 2020 JSE-listed industrial group Barloworld has decided to institute group-wide retrenchments, in light of foreseeable Covid-19 challenges on its operations. The company expects the retrenchment processes to be completed by the end of the current financial year, with significant staff complement... →

UIF apologises for delay in capturing May claims

By: Simone Liedtke 27th May 2020 The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has apologised for the break in its network which has affected plans to capture the May Covid-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) online applications. The system, which has been undergoing test runs since last week, was scheduled to go live on... →

More than one in six youth out of work owing to Covid-19 − ILO

By: Simone Liedtke 27th May 2020 More than one in six young people have stopped working since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, while those who remain employed have seen their working hours cut by, on average, 23%, says the International Labour Organisation (ILO). According to a report, titled 'ILO Monitor: Covid-19 and the... →

Alcohol industry submits safety protocol proposals to govt

By: Simone Liedtke 25th May 2020 The South African alcohol industry, which employes more than one-million people across the value chain, has submitted various proposals, including safety protocols for the manufacturing, distribution and trading of alcohol, to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC). South... →

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