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May 27 2012 11:21
There's a price war raging between South Africa's cellphone networks after Cell C lowered the rates of its prepaid calls by more than 34%.
May 27 2012 13:09
The oversupply of golf estates has claimed another victim.
May 27 2012 11:49
The country's 200 000-odd Tupperware agents are angry about the counterfeit products being sold as the real McCoy.
Johannesburg - R7bn building firm Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO) said it was worried multi-million rand ventures, including critical infrastructural projects, would grind to a halt should it not find a speedy agreement to wage talks which resumed on Friday.
"I'm just concerned and worried for the industry," said chairperson and former CEO Mike Wylie in an interview. He identified the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project and the Gautrain as projects potentially at risk.
Wage negotiations between construction labour and employers take place every three years. "I'm worried about labour generally, because it could affect all the big projects," he said.
South Africa has endured a wave of strikes recently with unions moving quickly from dispute to industrial action, a trend President Jacob Zuma condemned recently at the World Economic Forum.
For example, the petroleum, industrial chemicals and gold mining sectors have laboured under the cloud of strike action in June alone.
Some unions were emboldened enough to urge members to down tools in an effort to cut interest rates at Thursday's Monetary Policy Committee meeting. However, Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni kept the prime rate of interest at 11%.
In early June, the National Union of Mineworkers (Num) declared a dispute after failing to have the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC) agree to a 15% wage hike.
SAFCEC represents major construction sector employers such as WBHO, Grinaker-LTA (part of Aveng), Gautrain and all companies building 2010 stadia.
"Should we fail to reach an agreement at our conciliation meeting at the CCMA scheduled for the June 19, Num will take all workers to a strike action," said Bhekani Ngcobo, a Num negotiator at SAFCEC.
Construction work at major 2010 stadiums and the Gautrain could be severely affected. About 50 000 union members are employed by building companies such as Murray and Roberts, Grinaker-LTA and Group Five, according to reports.
Num will meet with the SAFCEC on Friday in a bid to avert the strike.
- Fin24.com