The Trade Activity Index (TAI) declined by four index points in July, said the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci). The...

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Statistics South Africa has released the findings of a survey, which revealed that the number of people running informal businesses has increased from 1.1 million in 2009 to 1.5 million in 2013.

According to the Survey of Employers and the Self-Employed (SESE) 2013 conducted by Stats SA, this was still lower than what was recorded in 2001, which was 2.3 million.

The survey also found that people who started informal business did so because they had no other alternative.

The survey, which was conducted in the third quarter of 2013, aims to estimate the contribution of businesses that are not registered for VAT towards economic growth.

Presenting the results of the survey on Thursday, Statistician General Pali Lehohla said the report had revealed that the majority of people running informal businesses were men.

Initially, the informal businesses were predominantly run by women. The businesses were predominantly run by black Africans aged between 33 and 44 years old, who were less-well educated.

According to the report -- which is conducted every four years -- the main reason people started informal businesses was due to unemployment. This was the reason stated by 60.6% of people in 2001 and by 69.2% in 2013.

In every province, except for Gauteng and the Northern Cape -- over the period of 2001 – 2013, reflecting the effects of the global recession -- there was an increase in the proportion of people who stated unemployment as the main reason for starting informal businesses.

The informal sector is defined in terms of registration and the size of the business in terms of the number of employees.

Most businesses operated in the trade industry, while the proportion of the working age population running informal businesses was at 6.3% in Limpopo; 6.1% in Mpumalanga; 5% in Gauteng and 4.7% in KwaZulu-Natal.

The majority who started businesses used their own money to do so. Those who did not use their own money mostly borrowed from friends and relatives.

Marketing was the most common type of assistance needed by businesses.

According to Lehohla, the survey revealed a few key things.

“The informal sector contribution to GDP [gross domestic product] has stayed at about 5% throughout from 2001 up to 2013.

“Informal sector composition has changed across time, both in terms of sex and in terms of composition of industry in which it functions. In terms of sex, it is now dominated by men, who constitute 55% currently, compared to about 35% in 2001,” Lehohla said.

The survey found that turnover levels and profit margins are relatively small for most informal businesses.

In 2013, as many as 52.3% of these businesses had a turnover of R1 500 or below in the month prior to the survey, while only 14.6% had sales above R6 000. Net profits for 64.9% of businesses were also low (at R1 500 or lower in the month prior to the survey) and only 9.2% of businesses made net profits above R6 000.

Non-VAT registered businesses in South Africa play an important role in job creation and income generation. In 2013, most people running informal businesses did not keep financial records for their business. – SAnews.gov.za

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant says the lack of transformation is one of the biggest hurdles to sound labour relations in South Africa.

Addressing the third annual Mining Lekgotla at Gallagher Estate in Midrand on Thursday, the Minister said while South Africa has good labour laws in place, the “lack of real transformation, socio-economic equity, mutual respect and trust in the work place” have contributed to the anger and frustration in the current industrial relations dynamics.

“Amid the prevailing developments, how do we explain the ever increasing wage gap between the top and the workers at the bottom end of the scale? And how do you explain the appalling living conditions of workers in the mining industry, generally speaking?

“… The challenge of unemployment, poverty and inequality feeds into the troubles that we have observed recently. The mediocre compliance with the existing labour laws also contributes to the militant stances that workers often take in dealing with collective bargaining processes,” said the Minister.

She said the recent five-month strike in the platinum belt, as well as the metal and engineering workers’ strike were more about these two aspects, rather than the labour laws.

“So we need to be very careful about tinkering with the law when the law is not the culprit. How do we bring back the integrity of negotiations, as prescribed in the Labour Relations Act (LRA)?

“Institutions dealing with industrial relations, such as the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, are sound. The proposed amendments to the LRA will strengthen these institutions and empower the inspectorate,” said the Minister.

Furthermore, she noted that the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) was the appropriate forum to deal with the recent violent developments in South Africa’s industrial relations.

“If indeed the industrial relations system requires some panel-beating, let that be informed by empirical evidence that points to which parts of the whole needs attention and how will it impact on the other parts that make up the system,” Minister Oliphant said.

Change in approach required

The Minister said a change is needed in the way labour negotiations are handled.

“Opting for a quick fix or an emotional solution will not be sustainable. The adversarial nature of South Africa’s industrial relations environment is historical, and that is important for the country to acknowledge,” she cautioned.

The Minister said South Africa’s labour market legislative framework was designed to create an enabling environment for workers and employers, and it is based on the principle of voluntary participation.

Putting women in their rightful place

Meanwhile, Minister in the Presidency Responsible for Women, Susan Shabangu, said if the country is to realise the objectives of the Mining Charter and the vision of the women of 1956, women must be given room to grow in the mining industry.

“Is it not time that we move to a situation where women do not just buy and own shares and satisfied at being portfolio investors? Does this mean women do not have the capability and capacity to own and operate these assets?

“We do have successful technical women, who have been given serious responsibilities in the industry. However, this is still like a curate’s egg... Are we training and building a cadre of successful mining engineers and managers capable of running complex operations…” said Minister Shabangu.

The lekgotla, which ends today, has been a platform for many robust discussions on issues around transformation and the industry’s role in growing the country’s economy.

The two-day symposium brings together key role players in the industry. It gives them an opportunity to thrash out ways of moving mining forward in an ever changing world. – SAnews.gov.za

Also on Thursday, South Africa’s Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi dismissed claims that the Ebola Virus Disease had arrived in South Africa.

This after the Democratic Alliance’s Jack Bloem caused a public panic with claims that a lady, from Guinea, who went into labour at the Rahima Moosa Hospital, west of Johannesburg, had contracted the disease.

The Minister said the lady tested negative for the disease and there is still no sign of the disease in the country.

“She did not even have symptoms…” he said.

“We did the PCR on the lady and she is negative -- that’s the normal test that the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) does for Ebola. We still took precautions… we did the serology, although it was not necessary, and it was also negative,” said Minister Motsoaledi on Thursday.

The test, called DoD EZ1 Real-time RT-PCR Assay, is designed for use on individuals who have symptoms of Ebola infection, who are at risk for exposure or who may have been exposed.

He added that no one should panic because there was no reason to. – SAnews.gov.za

Government will create 100 black industrialists in the next three years to contribute to the economy and create jobs, Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Mzwandile Masina said on Thursday.

“These industrialists… must be active participants in their companies. We want them to get involved in the productive sectors of the economy.

“…We want to make practical examples about people that have been created by this system because government accounts for 30% of the GDP [gross domestic product] and we want that to go to our people.

“We want to have more black people involved in the productive sectors of the economy, taking charge, opening those factories and so on because for us, if that happens, we would have achieved a number of things,” Deputy Minister Masina said.

He was speaking at a Black Industrialists Stakeholder Engagement session in Johannesburg.

The session highlighted the policies and support offered by government in empowering black industrialists towards full-scale industrialisation and inclusive growth.

The black business sector had an opportunity to interact with the policy makers and other key stakeholders.

“In the immediate, we are going to launch an incentive that is going to support black industrialists. We will also be launching an incentive for black film makers in the country.

“We have decided to create an advisory panel that is going to help us work fast in creating a framework strategy and implementation plan. I will be chairing the committee, and we want views outside of government,” Deputy Minister Masina said.

He said government needed to create a cohesive strategy and implementation plan on how the black industrialists would be created.

Deputy Minister Masina said that government had set a target that 75% of procurement in government would go to the black industrialists.

He encouraged black business to provide quality goods and services.

Deputy Minister Masina said the law needed to be amended to accelerate Black Economic Empowerment because policies such as the Preferential Procurement Policy did not promote transformation.

“The legislation has been a hindrance in creating transformation so when we reform it, we are going to reform it in such a way that it is able to allow government to perform and deliver on its targets,” he said.

Government would continue to support existing industrialists.

“If you look at the work that we are doing in the automotive and textile [sectors], we are already supporting industrialists. Some are black and some are not necessarily black but we will also continue to support them because we are managing the entire economy,” Minister Masina said.

He said work had begun to quantify how many jobs could be created by the black industrialists.

The BEE Act and its codes were amended last year to close a number of loopholes in terms of dealing with firms that engage in ‘fronting’ and to better align Broad-Based-Black Economic Empowerment imperatives with the need to promote the industrialisation of South Africa’s economy. – SAnews.gov.za

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The post Setbacks for Natural Gas appeared first on EconSpire.


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Eskom has launched the National Electricity Safety Week, which promotes and educates the public on the safe use of electricity.

National Electricity Week runs from 11 - 17 August.

“Every year, innocent lives are lost as a consequence of the unsafe use of electricity, particularly in the form of illegal connections. We believe that one injury or fatality as a result of the unsafe use of electricity is one too many.

“We have identified that the biggest contributors to electrical accidents, injuries and fatalities are contact with low-hanging conductors, unsafe connections, vandalism, illegal power connections and cable theft,” Corporate Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Operations Manager at Eskom, Alex Stramrood, said.

He was speaking at the launch held in Winterveld outside Pretoria.

During National Electricity Safety Week, the country’s power utility educates communities about the basics of safe electricity usage and the risks of electricity theft, including meter tampering, bypassing and illegal connections.

Businesses and residents regularly connect to the Eskom network illegally, said Stramrood. This is not only dangerous for the individual making the connection but also places the community at risk. Illegal connections draw too much electricity from the grid, causing power failures to paying customers.

Eskom called on communities to report unsafe electricity connections to 08600 37566 or 0800 112 722 and by reporting electricity theft to Operation Khanyisa by sending an SMS to Crime Line on 32211. The service is anonymous and costs only R1 per SMS.

This year, Eskom will conduct educational shows in areas such as Winterveld and Piet Retief to draw attention to the dangers associated with the unsafe use of electricity.

At each event, the public will enjoy an industrial theatre production that educates them on the various dangers associated with electricity, how to identify the dangers and to know what to do if they spot them.

Eskom also hosts these events at local schools to educate children, who are frequently the victims of illegal connections, on how to protect themselves when encountering unsafe conditions.

“We have found that most people understand that connecting illegally can be dangerous, but they continue to use illegal connections. That is why we are travelling across the country to educate people, with the ultimate aim of reducing fatalities and injuries,” said Stramrood.

In the area of Winterveld, illegal connections are regularly removed, in conjunction with the City of Tshwane and the councillors of the affected areas, and this has helped to improve the network stability and quality of supply in most of the areas.

Eskom wants to remind all South Africans that although electricity is an essential part of life, it can be dangerous if not used correctly.

It called on the public to not collect electricity illegally. Only Eskom employees and authorised contractors can work on networks, meters and substations.

Safety tips

Do not pull out plugs by the cord. This damages the cable and can lead to electrical wires being exposed.
Do not put bare electrical wires into sockets.
Do not touch any electrical appliances with wet hands.
Never use electricity in the bathroom; water and electricity are a dangerous combination.
Do not pass electric cords from one room to another through hinges of doors or windows where they can be squashed or damaged.
Do not overload plug points.
Never leave electrical appliances unattended while in use.
Switch off heaters, stoves, and kettles when no longer in use.
Ensure that you purchase electrical products from reputable companies, distributers, and retailers.
Report illegal connections and other forms of electricity theft.

If your children like to go out and play in the fresh air, warn them about the following:

Avoid playing near power lines or substations.
Do not fly kites near power lines. If a kite gets stuck in a power line, do not try to retrieve it; you could be hurt.
Never climb trees or other structures near power lines. – SAnews.gov.za

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