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Labour News

Pre-eminent representation reaffirmed by Seifsa

By: Mamaili Mamaila 19th July 2019 Owing to the country’s precarious socioeconomic outlook, it is critical for the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) to reaffirm its position as the preeminent representative in the best interest of its members, says Seifsa operations director Lucio Trentini. →

Seifsa intensifying role in metals and engineering sector

By: Mamaili Mamaila 19th July 2019 Seventy-six years later, the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) has made major inroads in intensifying its role and impact in the metals and engineering (M&E) sector. →

KAIZER NYATSUMBA The aspirations of the federation run concurrently with the aspirations of the sector, as well as those of the country

Repo rate cut welcomed

By: Sane Dhlamini 18th July 2019 Black Business Council (BBC) CEO Kganki Matabane on Thursday welcomed the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Monetary Policy Committee’s decision to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.5% from 6.75%. Matabane said the committee’s decision to decrease the repo rate will bring much needed... →

Nehawu 'disappointed' by government's intent to cut 30 000 public service jobs

By: African News Agency 18th July 2019 The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union said on Thursday it was disappointed by the department of public service and administration's intent to cut more than 30 000 jobs. Public service and administration minister Senzo Mchunu said the department would open an opportunity for... →

Responsible remuneration gaining traction, but more work needed – PwC

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 16th July 2019 The concept of fair and responsible remuneration is gaining traction in South Africa, with companies beginning to embrace this, but more needs to be done to turn this into a reality, including raising awareness nationally, says professional services firm PwC. Evidence of this acceptance is found... →

Total South Africa achieves Level 1 BBBEE rating

By: Marleny Arnoldi 15th July 2019 Petrochemicals company Total South Africa has achieved a Level 1 broad-based black economic empowerment rating. Total has since 2003 implemented a dedicated transformation strategy, which includes 52% black ownership, skills development programmes, preferential procurement, enterprise and... →

Denel’s liquidity crisis plunges employees into new financial crisis

By: Simone Liedtke 12th July 2019 Following a further breakdown in trust between the management of State-owned defence company Denel and labour after this week’s announcement that the company had not paid over either workers’ or the company’s retirement fund contributions, a special labour forum was held on Thursday to discuss... →

DA demands answers about 'go-slow' at Transnet's Ngqura port

By: African News Agency 12th July 2019 The main opposition Democratic Alliance said on Friday it would seek an urgent update from State-owned freight and rail company Transnet on a protracted "go-slow" strike at its Ngqura port. Workers have staged the protest action at the Ngqura container terminal for 13 days in a show of... →

South African ports ‘need to evolve’ – specialist

By: Simone Liedtke 11th July 2019 South Africa’s ports will need to evolve into a more entrepreneurial ports system, instead of being facilitators of trade, in order to continue trading in a world often characterised as volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, Transnet National Ports Authority logistics supply chain specialist... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Dylan Slater
Transnet National Ports Authority logistics supply chain specialist Lwandile Mabuza

Port operators’ 4IR strategies must have skills development focus

By: Simone Liedtke 11th July 2019 African port operators need to formulate Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) strategies and should take into account the skills readiness and the skills development required to adjust and adapt accordingly, Transnet National Ports Authority research and development senior specialist Thamsanqa Basi... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Dylan Slater
Transnet National Ports Authority research and development senior specialist Thamsanqa Basi

National minimum wage not the jobs poison pundits feared – Minister Nxesi

By: News24Wire 10th July 2019 Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi told reporters in Parliament on Wednesday that the employment market had taken well to the National Minimum Wage since it was signed into law, with only 7% of employers in the country not complying. Nxesi was speaking ahead of his first Budget Vote... →

Photo by Creamer Media
Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi

Saice bemoans the exodus of engineers from South Africa

By: Marleny Arnoldi 9th July 2019 The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice) has called for urgent intervention by government to attract engineers who have been emigrating at an alarming rate back to South Africa. Statistics from the Department of Home Affairs in 2017 showed that eight South African... →

South Africa ranked the thirtieth most attractive country for expats

By: Simone Liedtke 5th July 2019 Quality of life, career progress and the climate are the top reasons cited by people who move to South Africa to work, according to the twelfth annual league table published by HSBC Expat. The independent consumer research study into the global views of those who relocate for work provides... →

No significant changes in transformation, says BBBEE Commission

By: Simone Liedtke 4th July 2019 No significant changes happened in the levels of transformation during 2018, with black ownership reflecting a decline to 25.2% last year, from 27% in 2017, and management control still sitting at 38% for black persons, the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Commission said on... →

Solidarity serves Denel with demand to take legal action

By: African News Agency 28th June 2019 Trade union Solidarity on Friday said it had served state arms manufacturer Denel with a demand under section 165 of the Companies Act to take immediate legal action against those responsible for the financial muddle it finds itself in. The demand was served after Denel earlier this week... →

Union gets set to oppose Necsa restructuring plan

By: Rebecca Campbell 28th June 2019 The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) has asserted that it had “reliably learnt” that the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation’s (Necsa’s) Board was proposing to retrench 400 employees and perhaps sell public assets. These proposals were part of a turnaround... →

Growth in remuneration at an all-time low, says PwC

By: Marleny Arnoldi 27th June 2019 The South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB’s) latest quarterly bulletin showed that growth in remuneration paid to workers in the private and public sector had dropped from 5.5% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018 to 4.6% year-on-year in the fourth quarter. Consultancy PwC on Thursday... →

Education integral to solving manufacturing industry’s skills shortage

By: Simone Liedtke 26th June 2019 Solving the skills challenge in South Africa’s manufacturing industry and working towards its solution will require not only the identification of the skills needed now to meet short-term demand, but also the identification of the skills that will be needed in the future, a panel of speakers,... →

Concerns about not being employed trouble 39% of graduates – PPS Index

By: Thabi Madiba 26th June 2019 Financial services provider PPS has revealed that 39% of students are concerned that they may not be employed immediately after their tertiary education. PPS released its 2018 Student Confidence Index, which revealed that 36% of professionals thought the government should draft conducive policies... →

Amsol continues to make strides on economic empowerment

By: Marleny Arnoldi 25th June 2019 Specialist marine solutions provider African Marine Solutions’ (Amsol’s) employee share ownership scheme has benefited about 370 employees, who own shares for the first time. The scheme was introduced in 2016 and has developed into a catalyst for economic empowerment and shared value creation... →

SA adds 22 000 jobs in first quarter of 2019 – Stats SA

By: News24Wire 25th June 2019 Employment in South Africa's non-agricultural formal sector grew by 22 000 in the first quarter of 2019, Stats SA announced on Tuesday in its latest Quarterly Employment Statistics bulletin. This follows an increase of 87 000 jobs in the last quarter of 2018. Stats SA reported that employment... →

Denel confirms salary cut; union expresses shock and concern

By: Rebecca Campbell 25th June 2019 State-owned defence industrial group Denel confirmed on Tuesday that it will pay its staff only 85% of their salaries for this month. “Due to ongoing liquidity challenges we are now faced with unfortunate reality that the company is not in a position to fulfil the 100% salary obligation,” stated... →

Photo by Duane Daws/Creamer Media
Some of the Denel Group’s products on display – in the foreground, an Umkhonto naval surface-to-air missile, with a Badger infantry fighting vehicle behind, and just visible in the left background, a Seeker unmanned aerial vehicle

Perdekraal East Wind Farm turbine foundations completed ahead of schedule

By: Simone Liedtke 24th June 2019 The developers of the Perdekraal East Wind Farm, in the Western Cape, last week completed the project’s 48 wind turbine foundations – three weeks ahead of schedule and still within budget. The first of the foundations was poured in November 2018. →

Regulations enable organisations to develop graduates

By: Cameron Mackay 21st June 2019 Organisations need to play a more active role in developing engineering capacity in South Africa, as new regulations are in place to provide available funding for graduate training, says South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice) capacity building arm Civils Masakheni MD Allyson... →

ALLYSON LAWLESS Employers are mistaken in unrealistically expecting graduates to design and manage processes, projects and systems from their first day at work

Social enterprise here to stay, says Deloitte

By: Marleny Arnoldi 20th June 2019 Intensifying economic, social and political disruption are forcing organisations to move beyond mission statements and social impact programmes, to putting people at the centre of their business strategies and learning to lead the social enterprise. “To bring meaning back into the workplace and... →

South Africa urged to do more to develop its human capital base

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 19th June 2019 It is important for countries, and especially South Africa, to revisit how they build their human capital base. →

Unions demand reinstatement of former CEO of SAA and purge of its board

By: Rebecca Campbell 11th June 2019 The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the South African Cabin Crew Association jointly presented a memorandum to beleaguered State-owned national flag carrier South African Airways (SAA) on Tuesday. The memorandum contained a number of demands. “Should our demands not be met, we... →

Ramaphosa praises ILO's social justice approach

By: African News Agency 11th June 2019 President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday commended the contribution of the International Labour Organisation for the contribution and impact it has made to work and the lives of workers in its 100 years of existence. Ramaphosa said that the ILO played a pivotal role during South Africa’s struggle for... →

President Cyril Ramaphosa

Concrete knowledge crucial to produce sustainable concrete structures

By: Cameron Mackay 7th June 2019 In the context of the struggling South African construction industry, owing to a lack of investment in infrastructure projects, extended and institutionalised knowledge about improving the durability of concrete structures is crucial to the competitiveness of the South African concrete industry,... →

VITAL PRECEDENCE Building is built on precedence. One doesn’t change concrete technology quickly, it takes a long time for new technology to be implemented

Nissan set to create more than 1 000 jobs

By: Simone Liedtke 6th June 2019 Local production of the next-generation Nissan Navara is expected to create an estimated 1 200 new jobs in the automotive sector. Manufacturing is expected to begin in 2020 at Nissan’s Rosslyn-based facility, where output is expected to grow by more than 50%. →

President Cyril Ramaphosa pictured in a Nissan Navara

‘Black public’ offer for shares in Barloworld property spin-off oversubscribed

By: Terence Creamer 5th June 2019 Industrial group Barloworld reports that the public-offer component of its Khula Sizwe Property Holdings empowerment transaction was oversubscribed, with over 50 000 applications received and the R164-million funding target met. The offer, which was open to black investors only, closed on May 31.... →

ANC declares unemployment a national emergency, vows to reduce it by 13% in 5 years

By: African News Agency 4th June 2019 The African National Congress said on Tuesday that it was gearing for a re-imagined industrial strategy to help government deal with high unemployment and inequality in the country. ANC secretary general, Ace Magashule said unemployment and inequality remained some of the principal challenges... →

ANC secretary general Ace Magashule & spokesperson Pule Mabe

Imported chemicals hamper growth of sector

By: Mamaili Mamaila 31st May 2019 The impact of imported chemicals from countries such as China and India, has had a major detrimental impact on the local chemicals sector, says specialty chemicals supplier, Active Chemicals and Solutions director David Grimsley. “Similar to the textiles and retail food industries, where the... →

Photo by Bloomberg
UNINSPIRED There is a low motivation to build new factories as the chemicals supplier market is shrinking

Bigger staff complements company’s growth strategy

By: Mamaili Mamaila 31st May 2019 Multinational specialty chemicals producer Clariant hired 2 142 new employees in 2018 – an increase of 8%, compared with that of the previous year – to support its profitable growth strategy. The ratio of 689 women and 1 453 men is also more equal than that of 2017. →

JONATHAN CHETTY The way in which specialist chemicals companies and their clients innovate, collaborate and operate does not “change overnight”

TNPA obtains court interdict against planned Satawu strike

By: Simone Liedtke 30th May 2019 The Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) was, on Wednesday afternoon, granted a court interdict against a planned strike by mariners who are members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu). Satawu on Tuesday announced that its members, including pilots who move the... →

Satawu plans ‘total shutdown’ of South Africa’s ports

By: Simone Liedtke 28th May 2019 South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) members are set to down tools at all of South Africa’s ports from 06:00 on Thursday, May 30. Satawu on Monday served the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) with a strike notice after the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and... →

YES helps position S Africa as credible springboard into continent again

By: Marleny Arnoldi 17th May 2019 Foreign direct investment is critical to the development of the South African economy and some innovative thinking by the Department of Trade and Industry has turned recently gazetted amendments regarding the Youth Employment Service into an additional arrow in the DTI’s quiver on a recent... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Dylan Slater
YES CEO Dr Tashmia Ismail-Saville

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