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Labour News

Is there a need for TES in SA’s construction industry?

25th January 2022 It is without a doubt that many industries have taken a serious knock during the pandemic. Those involved in South Africa’s construction industry had their hands tied, especially at the onset of the pandemic when restrictions severely delayed and even terminated projects. When comparing GDP... →

Law firm unpacks issues around remote working, mandatory vaccination

By: Marleny Arnoldi 14th January 2022 As South African companies have started to experience normalised operations after the worst of Covid-19 and getting back to work after the festive season, questions have arisen over hybrid work models and mandatory vaccine policies. In response to these topics, law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr... →

Sappi highlights positive results from Higg FSLM self-assessment

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 13th January 2022 Dissolving pulp producer Sappi has completed a self-assessment of the Higg Facility Social and Labour Module (FSLM) at its Ngodwana and Saiccor Mills in South Africa. Sappi says the self-assessment results were very positive and that this highlights its commitment to maintaining a high level of... →

Survey makes the case for certification increasing professionals’ earning power

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 12th January 2022 Nonprofit organisation the Project Management Institute’s (PMI’s) twelfth ‘Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey’, highlights the power of continuous education and skill-building in the project management field, positing that it can increase professionals’ earning potential. According... →

Busa corrects Nxesi on mandatory vaccination declaratory order stance

By: Donna Slater 9th December 2021 Business Unity South Africa (Busa) disputes a December 7 claim by Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi that it has approach the Constitutional Court seeking a mandatory vaccination declaratory order. Nxesi claimed during the National Economic Development and Labour Council’s yearly summit... →

Up to 72 000 energy transition jobs could be created in Mpumalanga by 2030, study shows

By: Terence Creamer 8th December 2021 South Africa’s Mpumalanga province can compensate for a large share of the job losses that will arise in its declining coal sector and lay the foundations for the creation of a new clean-energy hub for the country by scaling up investments in renewable energy and accelerating coal... →

Strike ends at Walmart-owned Massmart after agreement reached

By: Reuters 7th December 2021 Thousands of striking workers at companies under Massmart Holdings in South Africa, which is owned by Walmart Inc, will return to work after reaching an agreement over disputes, a labour union said on Monday. The disgruntled workers had been on strike since Nov.19 over low wages, unilateral... →

Nedlac to hold emergency meetings on vaccine mandates, access restrictions for unvaccinated

By: Terence Creamer 29th November 2021 The social partners participating in the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) will hold emergency meetings this week about the institution of workplace vaccine mandates and the imposition of public access restrictions for the unvaccinated amid low vaccine uptake levels, the... →

Rigging qualifications awarded to youth

26th November 2021 Last month, Italian energy company Enel Green Power South Africa (EGP RSA) announced that it had decided to help 20 unemployed youngsters from the Raymond Mhlaba district in the Eastern Cape acquire basic rigging skills. Ten young men and ten young women completed a five-day course, which... →

A photo of Nxuba Wind Farm turbines at sunset with a South African flag attached to one of the turbines

NXUBA WIND FARM With Nxuba located in an isolated farm area, Enel aims to have a tangible impact on the lives of local community members

Socioeconomic factors worsened by Covid-19 pandemic

By: Donna Slater 24th November 2021 Several economy-influencing factors have been heightened by the Covid-19 pandemic, including asymmetry of socioeconomic factors, consumer and business disruption, population age discrepancies, socioeconomic polarisation and a lack of trust in leadership, PwC partner and chief economist Lullu... →

SMEs need to take up 4IR tech to align with larger players

By: Donna Slater 23rd November 2021 Smart manufacturing is important to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) because such businesses account for between 95% and 99% of every major country’s manufacturing sectors, Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association vice-chairperson Dr Ananth Seshan said during the organisation’s year-end... →

Saccawu to start indefinite strike at Walmart-owned firm Massmart

By: Reuters 16th November 2021 Workers will start an indefinite strike on Friday at all group companies owned by Walmart-led Massmart Holdings in South Africa, their union said, creating another problem at the retailer struggling to turnaround. The South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu), an... →

B4SA urges broad participation in Vooma Vaccination Weekend

By: Sane Dhlamini 12th November 2021 As government rolls out the second Vooma Vaccination Weekend this weekend, Business for South Africa is calling on people over the age of 12, and especially those over the age of 50, to take advantage of the weekend vaccination sites ahead of the upcoming holiday season. B4SA chair Martin... →

Whistle-blowing app launched to help in the fight against corruption

By: Donna Slater 10th November 2021 Professional advisory firm BDO on November 10 launched its BDO Tipoffs mobile application (app), enabling anyone willing to blow the whistle on misconduct to report offences anonymously. According to the company, the BDO Tipoffs app has been purposefully designed to be simple to use. It is... →

BDO launches mobile whistleblowing application to counter wrongdoing and abuse in workplaces

Business in Africa has to deal with greater compliance demands

By: Darren Parker 29th October 2021 African governments are demanding greater levels of compliance from businesses, which has resulted in a noticeable increase in red tape and bureaucracy owing to poor execution by officials, says consulting engineering and scientist firm SRK Consulting South Africa MD Vis Reddy. Among its... →

A photo of SRK Consulting South Africa MD Vis Reddy

VIS REDDY SRK Consulting expects the growth in agriculture to bring its own set of impacts on resources, such as water

CSIR nears launch of 4IR Learning Factory to bolster local skills

By: Donna Slater 25th October 2021 The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), in partnership with the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education Training Authority, has opened the doors of its newly developed Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Learning Factory (LF), which is designed to help... →

Community artisanal mining project well-received in Lower Orange River region

20th October 2021 Situated in a remote desert wilderness along the banks of the South African side of the Lower Orange River, which forms part of the border between South Africa and Namibia, LOR Diamonds has found a solution to illegal mining in the area. Simone Liedtke, who visited the mineral assets last month,... →

Community artisanal mining project well-received in Lower Orange River region

Nxesi calls for 'cool heads' to prevail amid labour strikes

By: Schalk Burger 7th October 2021 Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi on October 7 called for calm as employer organisation the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa (Seifsa) and union the National Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) remain in a deadlock over wage increases. Additionally, one of the... →

NUM gets behind Cosatu strike on October 7

By: Marleny Arnoldi 6th October 2021 The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has decided to join the October 7 national strike launched by Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu). The NUM has, therefore, issued a call to its members in the mining, energy construction and metals sectors to join planned activities across the... →

More equipment donated in the fight against Covid-19

1st October 2021 Integrated chemicals and energy company Sasol has donated mobile clinics, vaccine carriers, laptops, specialised World Health Organisation-approved medical refrigerators and freezers, as well as temperature loggers to the provincial health departments in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Free State to... →

A photo of a healthworker’s hands filling out a form at a table with Covid-19 vaccinations lined up in the foreground

SPREADING THE CURE Sasol is supporting Government’s vaccination rollout strategy by donating essential equipment and resources

Significant untapped potential in local waste economy

By: Darren Parker 24th September 2021 The current contribution of the waste economy to South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) could significantly increase if the importance of implementing the waste management hierarchy is fully recognised, says waste management company Interwaste human resources and transformation director... →

A photo of two informal waste reclaimers walking along the road dragging trolleys laden with recyclable waste

Photo by Reuters
UNDERVALUED Informal waste reclaimers perform a much-needed recycling service in South Africa with little support or appreciation

Engineering sector strike looms as wage talks deadlock

By: Donna Slater 21st September 2021 The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) on Tuesday announced that it would embark on a national strike in the engineering sector from October 5, after wage talks deadlocked. Numsa has deadlocked with employer associations in engineering, namely the National Employers... →

Reskilling programme for retrenched workers completes first run

By: Darren Parker 17th September 2021 The final intake of learners for the maiden year of the Road to Reskilling training programme is set to take place later this month in Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape. The programme was conceived as a means of reskilling and recapacitating 300 previously retrenched workers in the automotive... →

A photo of a high-tech automotive manufacturing facility and workers

MITIGATING THE IMPACT The Road to Reskilling programme was borne out of the need to reduce the impact of anticipated retrenchments from Covid-19

Covid-19 vaccinations can be made mandatory

By: Khutso Maphatsoe 17th September 2021 Owing to the latest guidelines provided by the Department of Employment and Labour, which stipulates that Covid-19 vaccinations can be made mandatory by employers, companies would need to update their policies and procedures to ensure that they comply with the guidelines, which correspond with... →

Successful year for initiative

By: Darren Parker 17th September 2021 The Automotive Supply Chain Competitiveness Initiative (ASCCI) World Class Manufacturing (WCM) programme has enjoyed a high level of participation over the past 12 months and is on track to complete 21 projects by the end of the year, National Association of Automotive Component and Allied... →

A photo of a pair of safety gloves resting on a skip filled with steel automotive components

LOCAL IS LEKKER Localisation requires commercial competitiveness founded on skilled and knowledgeable personnel

Brain drain must not dissuade development

By: Darren Parker 17th September 2021 To foster a sustainable automotive component manufacturing sector in South Africa, the risk of locally developed skills being poached by other countries must be accepted without dissuading development, says education and training services provider Tetelestai Holdings CEO Natalie Nelson.... →

A close-up photo of precision tooling in action with sparks flying

Photo by Adobe
BRIGHT SPARKS The National Tooling Initiative Programme has begun a targeted apprenticeship that funds 15 learners in the toolmaking trade

New Merseta chamber to positively impact on sector

By: Darren Parker 17th September 2021 The creation of an automotive component manufacturers chamber at the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Merseta) has been a “game changer”, says National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (NAACAM) executive director... →

A photo of a worker handling automotive components in a factory

Photo by Bloomberg
PLAYING ITS PART The creation of an automotive component manufacturing specific chamber at the Merseta enables this subsector to deal with its own unique skills issues

Initiative advances TVET system

By: Darren Parker 17th September 2021 Following its initial launch in March last year, skills development initiative High Gear and its partners are launching several technical vocational education and training (TVET) curricula upgrades over the next six months. The High Gear initiative is a collaboration between the National... →

A photo young black men and women being trained by an older white man in an automotive component manufacturing facility

PASSING THE TORCH The improved skills pipeline enabled by High Gear will contribute towards the automotive components manufacturing sector’s localisation and transformation objectives

UIF urges finalisation of outstanding Covid-19 Ters applications before December deadline

By: Donna Slater 15th September 2021 The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) appeals to employers to resolve any errors on their submitted Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) portal to enable the fund to finalise any outstanding claims. The UIF notes that claims cannot be finalised until certain corrections are... →

Municipality in support of niche and light industry

10th September 2021 According to Knysna Planning and Development MMC Mncedisi Skosana, the local leadership has been investigating ways of diversifying the area’s economic drivers and contributors. →

Metals, engineering industry wage negotiations deadline extended to Sept 14

By: Donna Slater 3rd September 2021 The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) reports that its affiliated employer associations – the National Employers Association of South Africa and the South African Engineers and Founders Association, have agreed to extend the deadline for concluding wage... →

Seifsa CEO Lucio Trentini

Gender mainstreaming seen as ‘transformative approach’ to include women in infrastructure

By: Simone Liedtke 25th August 2021 When properly addressed and implemented, gender mainstreaming is a transformative approach with a great potential for social change, a panel of speakers addressing the first-ever Women in Infrastructure Summit on August 24 agreed. Gender mainstreaming is, however, a long-term strategy, as every... →

Partnership formed to teach rural women excavator skills

25th August 2021 A partnership between Nkwe Platinum, Zijin Mining Group and Sany Southern Africa has resulted in six women from rural Limpopo being provided basic excavator operating skills. The initiative is part of all three companies’ corporate social investment drive and their efforts to empower women during... →

Partnership formed to teach rural women excavator skills

Failure to heed warnings about a disease like Covid-19 a bigger risk than the disease itself – Whitfield

By: Donna Slater 24th August 2021 The major risk posed by Covid-19 is not the disease itself, but instead humankind’s inaction to heed calls that such an event could lead to the crippling of global economies and other systems, independent broadcaster, journalist and writer Bruce Whitfield said on August 24. He gave the keynote... →

SA's unemployment rate hits record 34.4%

By: News24Wire 24th August 2021 Unemployment has hit a record high of 34.4%, or 7.8-million jobless people. Stats SA released the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the second quarter on Tuesday. This is the highest unemployment rate recorded since the survey started in 2008. The unemployment rate was previously 32.6%. The... →

New research finds employers ‘mistrust’ people to work remotely

By: Simone Liedtke 24th August 2021 While only 35% of employers trust their staff fully while working remotely, only 19% say productivity decreased since employees transitioned to remote working, an observation which creates “quite the paradox”, notes research conducted for electronics company Ricoh, by UK public relations firm... →

Impasse between government and labour sets tone for a testy day at the ConCourt

By: News24Wire 24th August 2021 Despite a hard-won public service wage deal being reached in late July, public service unions and government departments will on Tuesday return to the Constitutional Court where labour representatives are appealing a Labour Court ruling excusing government from sticking to a wage deal that dates... →

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