Tag: unemployment

It is no secret to everyday consumers and industry professionals that South Africa’s retail industry has faced many obstacles throughout the years. Between the rise in load shedding hours, the extended economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, poor infrastructure, inflation, constrained consumer spending and unemployment, SA’s retail giants have certainly had to overcome some tough challenges.

For mining companies, social labour planning (SLP) should be more than a tick-box exercise when applying for a mining licence. If approached strategically, it is a powerful tool for fostering economic prosperity by building a skilled and diverse workforce.

Never Give Up on Success is the go-to resource for anyone wanting to change their life. We are all the products of our physical environment. Who we are and what we stand for is largely a result of our environment. Human beings are a composition of our genes, social upbringing, culture, traditions, beliefs and values of our society.

In South Africa, businesses are required to contribute to the social and economic development (SED) by the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act of 2003. This legislation stipulates the assessment of SED performance through a scorecard covering enterprise development, skills training, job creation, socio-economic projects, and preferential procurement.

We are acutely aware of the challenges posed by recent minimum wage increases mandated by the South African government. While the intention behind these increases is to improve the livelihoods of minimum wage earners, the reality is that they often create a complex web of consequences, particularly in industries like contract cleaning.

There is a rare opportunity to right a lot of South Africa’s wrongs in one go. Corruption and unemployment are two major roadblocks. Permit me to explain how they can be simultaneously addressed within the current administration. I suggest an amnesty largely on the African National Congress (ANC’s) past wrongdoing in office in return for liberalisation of labour laws. This may be for a bit further down the line.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa continue to face a business landscape that is simultaneously full of challenges and brimming with opportunities. A still-struggling economy, rising costs, high unemployment figures and an uncertain political future have created a business backdrop against which only the most resilient and innovative businesses will thrive.

Climate change-induced extreme weather events have remained elevated across the globe in the last decade, proving disruptive to both economic and social activities. According to the global reinsurance broker, Aon, the 2023 economic losses due to natural catastrophes was 22% above the 21% century average – raising questions about the long-term affordability and sustainability of cover for vulnerable communities.

One of the outcomes of the latest issue to swap the world – low growth, high interest rates and the threats of recessions – which will remain a driver for the growth of new ways of working and alternative business models for many years to come, is the increasing development of the side gig economy.

South Africa’s major banks registered resilient growth against difficult operating conditions and a complex macroeconomic environment. Combined headline earnings growth of 13.8% against FY22 to R113.2 billion, combined ROE of 17.6% (FY22: 17.1%), net interest margin of 458 bps (FY22: 430 bps), credit loss ratio of 102 bps (FY22: 82 bps), cost-to-income ratio of 52.2% (FY22: 53%), common equity tier ratio of 13.2% (FY22: 13.5%).