Government attempts to keep loss-making South African steelmaker ArcelorMittal SA (Amsa) alive are killing the country’s downstream steel industry and costing thousands of jobs, says Gerhard Papenfus, CEO of the National Employers Association of SA (Neasa).Amsa, the country’s only steel producer, is protected by 20% import duties, forcing manufacturers in the domestic steel sector to pay cripplingly high prices for steel.The world selling price of steel is $513 (R7,800) a ton. Amsa’s cost price to make the same steel is $632 a ton. Its selling price is a…
Read MoreDay: Aug 18, 2019
South Africa’s construction industry could become safer. Here’s how
Uniform policies around health and safety management within the construction industry is lacking. Patrick Nwabueze Okonkwo / 17 August 2019 00:15 Stakeholders like the Department of Labour, employer associations, labour unions, tertiary institutions and industry bodies need to come together to address the lack of suitably qualified and registered health and safety professionals. Picture: Moneyweb Construction is tough, sometimes dangerous work. Globally, the construction industry accounts for about 7% of employment. But it’s responsible for between 30% and 40%of all work-related fatalities. The figure is at its highest in developing countries. This is because contractor organisations…
Read MoreOPINION: How automation can help people add value
OHANNESBURG – Mention automation in any conversation these days and the first thing that springs to mind is job losses. In much the same way that AI is inextricably associated with the rise of the machines and the fall of humans, so automation is inevitably linked to job losses. For a country like South Africa, which just released its highest unemployment figures since 2003, this is potentially devastating. Or is it? Automation – and specifically robotic process automation (RPA) – is indeed seeing back office processes and…
Read MoreGetting South Africans to heed message to buy local
JOHANNESBURG – One of the challenges that the Buy Local campaign faces is compliance from the public sector, says Proudly South African chief executive Eustace Mashimbye. Proudly SA hosted two forums in KwaZulu-Natal this week for both the public and private sectors. The forums are part of the national awareness campaign for increased local procurement in both sectors. The government, which is the largest procurer of goods and services in the country, legislated local procurement levels for certain items under the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act. “If we…
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