That private club of super-rich men, the World Economic Forum (WEF), was back in town this week. In Cape Town to be exact, to persuade, buy up and bully politicians and opinion makers to adopt policies that many trade unionists say are based on the myth that there is no alternative to the present crisis-ridden economic system.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 15 May 2013
There are many challenges when starting a business. Planning and marketing the business, determining prices, and managing the day to day running are not simple tasks. But entrepreneurs in low-income communities face additional challenges when starting out.
Margo FortuneSean Robson
News | 15 May 2013
May Day last week should have been a time for reflection, not celebration; reflection about the potentially dire situation the labour movement now finds itself in. It is a situation brought about by tensions largely resulting from the ongoing global economic crisis that has impacted on every aspect of society. To help with this reflection, Business Report is this week making available copies of my book, Right to Fight, to the first five correct answers drawn from responses to the question below.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 8 May 2013
Politics and personal ambition compounded by some sloppy journalism have clouded and confused the issues surrounding the bitter internecine feud within Cosatu and the governing ANC-led alliance. This has also confused the legitimate complaints that teachers have about the state of education in South Africa and the way the system is being administered.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 30 April 2013
Telkom is being accused of dismissing 23 learner interns without pay. The matter is going to the CCMA.
Mary-Jane Matsolo
News | 3 April 2013
BRICS has come and gone. It has been driven from the headlines by Jacob Zuma using the hopes and aspirations of the millions who vote for the ANC as a means to enrich his narrow circle of crony capitalists through misuse of the SANDF in the Central African Republic. But before the memory of BRICS fades, let's remember the B in BRICS is for Brazil, a country with which South Africa is often compared.
Jack Lewis
Opinion | 3 April 2013
The causes of the poor and the dispossessed continue to be manipulated by politicians
and unscrupulous individuals bent on accumulating power, personal wealth or both.
As a result, there is much cynical use and distortion of the evidence and of statements
emanating from painful occurrences such as the deaths at Marikana or the conflict in
the Boland winelands.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 27 March 2013
GroundUp sat down with Ingrid Woolard, Associate Professor in Economics at UCT and chair of the Employment Conditions Commission to talk about what goes into setting the minimum wage.
Kezia Lilenstein
News | 13 March 2013
The South African workforce is composed of all the people who are either working or available to work and are actively seeking work. Not everyone of working age participates in the work force. In South Africa the overall percentage of the working age population that participates in the work force is about 62%.
Issa Saunders
News | 13 March 2013
It was International Women’s Day (IWD) on Friday. And it seemed an appropriate
time for a reminder about the labour movement origins of the day and of its noble
aims and egalitarian promise. This because several recent studies reveal that the
female half of humanity is once again bearing the brunt of the global economic crisis.
After all, when it began in 1910, IWD was rich with the promise of equality.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 13 March 2013
The Expanded Public Works Programme aims to create millions of short-term jobs every year while also providing the county with much needed infrastructure such as roads, hospitals and schools in areas that need it.
Amelia Midgley
Opinion | 13 March 2013
Cancellation of a planned march by the farmworkers coalition against alleged intimidation by farmers has led to claims that the City of Cape Town is complicit in undermining the new R105 minimum wage.
Benjamin Fogel and Jeanne Hefez
News | 6 March 2013
The 2014 election campaign has clearly begun and promises to be long and almost
certainly very bitter. Labour relations — and relations with labour — are likely to be
in the forefront, with Cosatu, as a member of the governing tripartite allliance, in the
thick of it.
Opinion | 27 February 2013
During my lunch break on 26 February 2013, I walked past a worker, resting in his wheelbarrow with a bottle of Coca Cola in his hand, beneath a sign that reads, “Stock wanted”.
Gregory Solik
News | 27 February 2013
In stygian depths 4km and more below the surface of the earth gold continues to be
harvested, but by fewer miners and with the aid of more—and increasingly efficient—mechanisation.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 20 February 2013
This is a debate between Professors Nicoli Nattrass and Jeremy Seekings and the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU).
GroundUp Staff
News | 14 February 2013