Tag: social unrest

Mining, until now, has been the sector in South Africa where social and labour plans are a legal requirement. These plans are designed to ensure that while companies take value out of the ground, as is the case for miners, they also leave something of value behind.

2023 is poised to be a year of accelerated change in and for South Africa. As the country heads toward a general election in 2024, a sea-change is on the cards. The African National Congress (ANC) are by all accounts on the point of obtaining below 50% at the voting booth; some estimates have the party even under 45%.

The possibility that the Government’s insurer South African Special Risk Insurance Association (SASRIA) may not be able to meet its solvency capital requirements caused by the large claims arising from the riots, looting and destruction of last July is becoming a reality.

The turbulent geopolitical climate is creating uncertain economic conditions across the globe. In South Africa, several unique challenges are worsening the effects of global risk factors, including load shedding, hefty fuel hikes and ongoing inflationary increases.

We have released the Global Megatrends 2022 report, an analysis of the global forces significantly impacting society and the project management profession today. Global Megatrends 2022 helps project professionals understand the world’s rapid transformation and the global context in which they work so they can use projects to solve complex problems.  

COVID-19’s devastating grip on economies may be dominating headlines but in many parts of the world – specifically South Africa – chronic unemployment is arguably, the more debilitating 'pandemic'. With the world record for the highest unemployment rate, close to half our population (44.4%) who are eligible to work, remain unemployed.

After the shocking riots that engulfed South Africa last month, all of us in this beautiful country have cause for deep reflection, regardless of our race, religion, age or political views. Was this a singular event, why did it happen? Few would deny that the inequality in our society, poverty and unemployment of so many are among the root causes.

The massive fire at the warehouse of chemicals company UPL in Durban has created an environmental disaster whose scale is still not clear, and has put the company into the headlines for all the wrong reasons. While the facts are not yet confirmed, it’s clear that the incident holds many lessons for directors and regulators across all industry sectors.

As calm steadily returns after the recent social unrest, analysts are hard at work tallying the cost of the looting and disruption to economic activity. So far, the damage to 2021 growth is estimated at between 0.5 and 1.0 percentage points.

The South African economy, like many emerging and developing economies, has high levels of poverty. As with many such countries, there are three primary objectives to reducing poverty, unemployment and inequity. These three objectives take precedence over almost all other goals.