South Africa should not only be training artisans for current needs, but also replacing its aging workforce, says a human resources company.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development on Tuesday released a key report on the economic status of South Africa.
The government has criticised the "misconception" that foreign migrants steal jobs from SA citizens — a key reason for recent xenophobic violence.
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana raises hackles with his description of Chinese South Africans and Chinese employers.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced a barrage of calls to resign on Friday after he admitted taking cash from an American businessman at the centre of a police investigation into suspected bribery. But Olmert, whose departure could disrupt peace negotiations with the Palestinians, continued with his duties.
The Department of Labour on Wednesday said the death of nine workers at Gold Fields, the world’s fourth-largest gold producer, would take centre stage when South Africa and its international partners within the International Labour Organisation celebrate World Health and Safety Day at the end of this week.
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/ 25 February 2008
No life could be ”sacrificed” in the name of profits, mining magnate and businessman Patrice Motsepe told protesting workers at a ferromanganese smelter near Durban on Monday. He was speaking to workers who on Monday staged a protest at the Assmang smelter following Sunday’s blast, which claimed the lives of five people.
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/ 25 February 2008
An explosion that ripped through a ferromanganese smelter near Durban on Sunday and claimed the lives of five people sparked protests by workers as a Labour Department inquiry into workers’ exposure to poisonous fumes was about to start on Monday morning.
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/ 17 January 2008
The diplomatic stand-off with Russia entered a dangerous new phase on Wednesday as British officials denounced ”a pattern of intimidation” by Russia’s security services against British Council staff. The Foreign Office complained of unacceptable behaviour, after Russians working at British Council offices were called in for questioning by the FSB.
Military-run Burma put on a show of defiance on Friday on the 60th anniversary of independence from Britain amid global pressure for reform following the junta’s bloody crackdown on dissent. Soldiers raised the national flag at precisely 4.28am local time — the exact moment of freedom from Britain.
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/ 5 December 2007
What does President Thabo Mbeki like to do in his spare time? Ballroom dancing? Playing the piano? No, the man likes to work during leisure hours, says his spokesperson. As the ruling party’s national conference in Polokwane approaches members of the South African Cabinet certainly need ways to unwind.
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/ 28 November 2007
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown faces a grilling in Parliament on Wednesday over the funding row that has engulfed the Labour party. Despite pledging to return the donations, Brown will face calls to explain what he knew about the £600 000 that property developer David Abrahams donated through intermediaries.
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/ 25 November 2007
Incoming Labour prime minister Kevin Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former diplomat, has pledged closer Australian ties with overseas allies and unity at home after ending 11 years of conservative rule under John Howard. Rudd (50) has promised to pull Australian troops out of Iraq and sign the Kyoto Protocol.
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/ 24 November 2007
Australia’s Labour party claimed victory in national elections on Saturday, signalling an end to 11 years of conservative government led by Prime Minister John Howard. "On the numbers we are seeing tonight, Labour is going to form a government," Labour’s deputy leader, Julia Gillard, told Australian television.
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/ 24 November 2007
Australian Prime Minister John Howard cast his ballot in national elections on Saturday, hoping voters would reject a younger opposition leader offering generational change and return him for a fifth straight term. ”I hope we will win. I believe we will win. It is in the hands of my fellow Australians,” Howard told reporters.
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/ 18 November 2007
Comair will not be bullied by an inefficient and ineffective government department, the company said on Sunday. It was responding to accusations by the Department of Labour that the company did not hire black people. Comair’s joint CEO Erik Venter said: ”These allegations are not only blatantly false but also defamatory.”
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/ 14 November 2007
France was plunged into travel chaos for the second time in a month on Wednesday as striking railway unions staged a show of strength against the economic reforms of President Nicolas Sarkozy. Nationwide fewer than one-quarter of trains were running normally — and only 90 out 700 TGV fast trains.
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/ 14 November 2007
A leading centre-left figure in the government of Angela Merkel resigned on Tuesday, depriving the German leader of one of the linchpins of her fractious grand coalition. Franz Münterfering, a Social Democrat, stepped down as labour minister and vice-chancellor, citing personal reasons.
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/ 8 November 2007
A merger of the Federation of Unions of South Africa with the National Council of Trade Unions is a significant achievement that will unite workers in the country, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said on Thursday ahead of the launch on Friday of the new South African Confederation of Trade Unions.
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/ 2 November 2007
The Department of Labour said on Friday that preliminary findings of the ongoing inspections of compliance by the South African iron and steel industry painted a picture of an industry "fraught with high disregard of labour legislation countrywide".
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/ 25 October 2007
The use of consultants cost the Department of Labour over R23-million in the last financial year, the department said on Thursday. According to the department’s own documentation, it spent R23 601 014,40 on nine different contracted experts, including auditors and trainers, during the last financial year.
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/ 19 October 2007
The battle over the agenda of a conference on Palestinian statehood offers United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a glimpse of the gruelling process that awaits if and when the two sides enter formal negotiations. Four days of shuttle diplomacy by Rice this week were not enough to close the gaps.
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/ 18 October 2007
People with skills were not assisting those who were struggling, causing skills-development regulations to be introduced, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said on Thursday. He said the Department of Labour was currently developing regulations that would make it compulsory for employers to register all vacancies.
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/ 14 October 2007
It’s one of the most fashionable ideas to save the planet from global warming: buying up tropical rainforest to save it from destruction. But like all big ideas it is controversial, and this week a leading Amazonian campaigner will visit Britain to protest that this latest trend is linked to a health and social crisis among indigenous people.
The appointment by Burma’s junta of one of its most trusted troubleshooters as a go-between for detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi suggests the generals may be serious about negotiations. Aung Kyi is a major player within the junta and will act as more than an errand boy, those who know him say.
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/ 22 September 2007
The Dutch government rejected mounting calls for a referendum on Europe’s new reform treaty on Friday night, two years after Dutch voters killed off the European constitution in a referendum that stunned the European Union. Despite Friday’s decision in The Hague, the Dutch coalition is split.
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/ 22 September 2007
The Polish president has launched an advertising campaign to lure home an estimated two million young people who have emigrated abroad. Focusing mainly on Britain where an estimated 600 000 Poles work, President Lech Kaczynski said he wants to attract as many of his compatriots as possible.
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/ 21 September 2007
South Africa is dogged by a skills mismatch that is like a ticking time bomb, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said on Friday. The economy has been generating about 76% of jobs requiring semi-skilled and skilled labour, with only 26% of generated jobs requiring labour at the low-skilled level, he said.
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/ 16 September 2007
Zimbabwe’s main labour union will go ahead with a two-day strike next week despite government signals the wage freeze that triggered the protest would be relaxed, a top labour official said on Sunday. President Robert Mugabe’s government ordered a price freeze in June as part of ongoing efforts to stem rampant inflation, which is running above 7Â 600%.
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/ 12 September 2007
There are no plans to exclude white women from employment-equity policies, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said on Wednesday. He was addressing the Food and Allied Workers’ Union national conference under way in Randburg, Johannesburg, and commended the union on its conference theme.
Jane Barrett, Chris Bonner, Nerine Kahn, Dot Keet, Neva Makgetla, Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, Patricia Nyman-Appolis and Sahra Ryklief.