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WHEN the South African government this week said it would hold talks with foreign auto makers in the advent of prolonged labour strikes in the sector, I thought the move was too little, too late.
The government decided to talk to car makers because BMW had scuttled its expansion plans in South Africa and they wanted to persuade the German company to change its mind.
However, strikes in the mining sector have already caused a great deal of damage to the country’s economy and the government’s lame actions did not help at all.
I seriously doubt if there are still any mining companies based in other parts of the globe with ambitions to invest in South Africa, because of widespread mine strikes.
South Africa's strike mentality is prevalent not only in the auto and mining sectors, but all over the economy.
It is now also being used by jealous, mostly ANC, members in some parts of the country to get back at those that seem to be a little prosperous.
An example of this is that earlier this week, there was a strike in the Emfuleni District Municipality in the former Vaal area. More than 80% of the workers here are members of the ANC.
The strike was aimed at preventing a group of young and well trained people from being placed in the municipality’s environmental management desk.
These youngsters were taken to an intensive environmental management training course by the municipality itself. They went through tough two-year training, after a series of tough interviews.
But the demonstrators wanted only internal people - without the rigorous training that these guys have gone through
- to be placed in positions that are available on the environmental desk.
This is too sad for words, I must say. And it does not make sense.
This means there will be no delivery on environmental issues in this district because workers want only untrained people to be employed there.
Again, why do they want people who are already employed to stay in jobs, leaving out those who desperately need employment?
And yet the ANC keeps talking about creating jobs for the poor. This incident makes me doubt their sentiments around job creation.
The culture of striking has worsened to such an extent that it is now also affecting support for the ANC.
I am saying this because one of the youngsters in the group is my nephew - and I know for sure that he and his friends have supported the ruling party for many years.
Now if employed ANC members would refuse other supporters available opportunities in the municipality, it means we are heading for serious trouble.
I would urge the government or the ANC to look carefully into this matter. It is crazy, I must say.
The Emfuleni area has an unemployment rate of more than 80%. The municipality is the only major employer.
Now when the municipality tries to create job opportunities for the unemployed, the ANC blocks this.
The municipality should serve all communities, irrespective of political affiliation.
These poor young people had their hopes of getting their first salaries at the end of this month dashed.
Sadly, this happened at a time when all is not well for the country and many say we are facing a tipping point economically.
This week, it was reported that the stance taken by the German car giant BMW could be a sign that other companies - whether in the mining or auto sectors - could follow suit as labour instability is becoming a deterrent to investing in this country.
Labour strikes are the largest drag on the country’s economic advancement and the government should have addressed this from the get-go.
Just not having a massive strike action for 12 months can make a great difference as investors will start thinking about this country again.
These strikes are holding the whole economy captive while other African economies like Nigeria and Ghana have become investment destinations even for South African companies.
Speaking at this year’s annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), New York-based Professor Nouriel Roubini forecast that the next 24 months will be tough for South Africa.
“I put them (SA) in the category of being very fragile. They have twin deficits as well as political problems,” Roubini told delegates.
The IMF’s semi-annual World Economic Outlook has painted a gloomy picture of South Africa's economic performance. Its message is that sub-Saharan Africa would continue to be dynamic - however, this does not apply to South Africa, but to poorer states further to the north of the continent.
In one of its reports, the IMF states: “Growth in sub-Saharan Africa remained robust in 2012–13 and is expected to accelerate somewhat in 2014, reflecting strong domestic demand in most of the region.”
So it is not clear if the government’s effort to discourage BMW from dropping its expansion plans in South Africa will work at all.
- Fin24
*Mzwandile Jacks is a freelance journalist. Opinions expressed are his own.
The government decided to talk to car makers because BMW had scuttled its expansion plans in South Africa and they wanted to persuade the German company to change its mind.
However, strikes in the mining sector have already caused a great deal of damage to the country’s economy and the government’s lame actions did not help at all.
I seriously doubt if there are still any mining companies based in other parts of the globe with ambitions to invest in South Africa, because of widespread mine strikes.
South Africa's strike mentality is prevalent not only in the auto and mining sectors, but all over the economy.
It is now also being used by jealous, mostly ANC, members in some parts of the country to get back at those that seem to be a little prosperous.
An example of this is that earlier this week, there was a strike in the Emfuleni District Municipality in the former Vaal area. More than 80% of the workers here are members of the ANC.
The strike was aimed at preventing a group of young and well trained people from being placed in the municipality’s environmental management desk.
These youngsters were taken to an intensive environmental management training course by the municipality itself. They went through tough two-year training, after a series of tough interviews.
But the demonstrators wanted only internal people - without the rigorous training that these guys have gone through
- to be placed in positions that are available on the environmental desk.
This is too sad for words, I must say. And it does not make sense.
This means there will be no delivery on environmental issues in this district because workers want only untrained people to be employed there.
Again, why do they want people who are already employed to stay in jobs, leaving out those who desperately need employment?
And yet the ANC keeps talking about creating jobs for the poor. This incident makes me doubt their sentiments around job creation.
The culture of striking has worsened to such an extent that it is now also affecting support for the ANC.
I am saying this because one of the youngsters in the group is my nephew - and I know for sure that he and his friends have supported the ruling party for many years.
Now if employed ANC members would refuse other supporters available opportunities in the municipality, it means we are heading for serious trouble.
I would urge the government or the ANC to look carefully into this matter. It is crazy, I must say.
The Emfuleni area has an unemployment rate of more than 80%. The municipality is the only major employer.
Now when the municipality tries to create job opportunities for the unemployed, the ANC blocks this.
The municipality should serve all communities, irrespective of political affiliation.
These poor young people had their hopes of getting their first salaries at the end of this month dashed.
Sadly, this happened at a time when all is not well for the country and many say we are facing a tipping point economically.
This week, it was reported that the stance taken by the German car giant BMW could be a sign that other companies - whether in the mining or auto sectors - could follow suit as labour instability is becoming a deterrent to investing in this country.
Labour strikes are the largest drag on the country’s economic advancement and the government should have addressed this from the get-go.
Just not having a massive strike action for 12 months can make a great difference as investors will start thinking about this country again.
These strikes are holding the whole economy captive while other African economies like Nigeria and Ghana have become investment destinations even for South African companies.
Speaking at this year’s annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), New York-based Professor Nouriel Roubini forecast that the next 24 months will be tough for South Africa.
“I put them (SA) in the category of being very fragile. They have twin deficits as well as political problems,” Roubini told delegates.
The IMF’s semi-annual World Economic Outlook has painted a gloomy picture of South Africa's economic performance. Its message is that sub-Saharan Africa would continue to be dynamic - however, this does not apply to South Africa, but to poorer states further to the north of the continent.
In one of its reports, the IMF states: “Growth in sub-Saharan Africa remained robust in 2012–13 and is expected to accelerate somewhat in 2014, reflecting strong domestic demand in most of the region.”
So it is not clear if the government’s effort to discourage BMW from dropping its expansion plans in South Africa will work at all.
- Fin24
*Mzwandile Jacks is a freelance journalist. Opinions expressed are his own.
