Wits Entrepreneurship Clinic plans to tackle youth unemployment.
Alexforbes launches its transformation policy, with an emphasis on gender diversity to ensure more black women are included in strategic and investment decision roles, while the newly launched Wits Entrepreneurial Clinic’s practical approach to knowledge expects to improve the employability of graduates. Meanwhile, as strike season continues, Numsa announces that it has reached a wage agreement with ArcelorMittal and the National Council of Provinces passes the Employment Equity Amendment Bill.
WEC tackles youth unemployment
One of the focus areas of the newly launched Wits Entrepreneurship Clinic (WEC) is to assist students to learn skills and make practical knowledge gains outside formal lecture environments.
This, according to University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) School of Business Sciences senior lecturer and project leader Dr Robert Venter, will improve their employability as young graduates.
The youth unemployment rate currently stands at 60 percent, with about 40 percent of graduates aged 15 to 24 and 15 percent of graduates aged 25 to 34 are unemployed.
The Wits School of Business Sciences partnered with the University of Edinburgh, the Wits Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct and the African Circular Economy Network to launch the clinic as part of the British Council’s Innovation for African University programme.
NCOP passes Employment Equity Amendment Bill
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has passed the Employment Equity Amendment (EEA) Bill.
The Employment Equity Amendment Bill amends the Employment Equity Act, 1998, and empowers the Minister of Employment and Labour to determine sectoral numerical targets.
Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said the numerical targets seek to ensure the equitable representation of suitably qualified people from designated groups, including blacks, women and people with disabilities at all occupational levels in the workforce. The bill will now be sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa for approval.
Numsa and ArcelorMittal reach wage deal
Numsa has signed a wage deal with ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA), ending a two-week strike over a pay dispute.
The union, which was aiming for a 10 percent wage hike, said it had agreed on a 6.5 percent increase across the board – on basic pay and allowances – backdated to 1 April 2022.
Africa's biggest steel producer, which is majority owned by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, also agreed to make a one-off payment of R5,000 to all workers, the union said.
Alexforbes launches transformation policy
Alexforbes has launched a transformation policy that sets criteria for supporting and selecting asset managers and stockbrokers with an emphasis on gender diversity, to ensure more black women are included in critical strategic and investment decision roles.
Lebo Thubisi, head of manager research, says “Our policy clearly stipulates minimum representation of females required in investment teams because we believe that in any investment decision, diversity is important. If we want to make the transformation policy impactful, we need a strategic emphasis made by the larger asset management firms to have a truly broad-based transformation focus and make a strategic decision, for example, to have black females involved in decision-making relating to investments.”
