South African design creatives are using their craft to express their freedom as the country commemorates Freedom Month in April. Image: GCIS Vuk’uzenzele. You can express your freedom as a South African creative through art and design. Almost three decades ago, South Africa gained its freedom when it held its first democratic elections in 1994. […]

Zintle James, a 24-year-old pig farmer from Sterkspruit in the Eastern Cape, has embarked on a journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Image: GCIS Vuk’uzenzele. Young pig farmer Zintle James (24) is on an inspired journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Originally from Sterkspruit in the Eastern Cape, James began her enterprise in 2020 when […]

It is 10am on a Thursday morning and Dorah Ramugoni is pulling a trolley full of cardboard boxes and plastic, heading to a skip bin in President Street behind the Spar shop, in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo. Dorah Ramugoni turned to recycling in 2021 to earn a living for herself and her children. She is one […]

Youth unemployment remains one of the most significant challenges facing South African youth today so the City of Cape Town’s Social Development and Early Childhood Development Department’s invitation to young entrepreneurs to apply for participation in the annual #YouthStartCT entrepreneurial challenge is sorely needed. It will provide participants with opportunities to learn business skills and […]

The National Skills Fund is expected to launch a training package in digital skills for unemployed youth in the country. This was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his weekly newsletter. According to the President, the move is aimed at ensuring that as investment into the digital economy continues to grow, South Africans are able […]

1 in 5 South African households begs for food – the link between food insecurity and mental health At least ten million South Africans didn’t have enough food or money to buy food in 2019, according to the country’s statistics agency. This food insecurity remains a leading health problem that is unlikely to be eradicated any […]

For eight years I have studied digital nomadism, the millennial trend for working remotely from anywhere around the world. I am often asked if it is driving gentrification. Before COVID upended the way we work, I would usually tell journalists that the numbers were too small for a definitive answer. Most digital nomads were travelling […]

The Zimbabwean government says it has put in place a range of measures to help Zimbabweans returning from South Africa. But many say they are battling to make ends meet. With the expiry of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit system looming in June, many Zimbabweans in South Africa are returning to Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe government says […]

The first homeless count in the City of Tshwane, which was conducted in October 2022 and launched this week, has revealed that unemployment is the single main cause of homelessness in the city. A report launched this week counted 4,177 homeless people in Tshwane and surveyed 3,408 of them. Nearly half of those surveyed cited […]

If you hate Mondays, you’re most certainly in good company. After a couple of days off, many of us have difficulty settling back into our routines and work duties. You may even have dread and anxiety that seeps into the weekend in the form of “Sunday scaries”. You can’t always change your schedule or obligations […]

New research on several Fairtrade-certified wine farms in the Cape Winelands has found that the working and living conditions at some of these farms fall short of the standards set by Fairtrade International. New research has found that some farm workers on Fairtrade-certified wine farms, which are held to international standards, still have poor housing, […]

Work, it’s something most of us do though it isn’t always enjoyable. Whether it’s long hours, gruelling tasks or just the repetitive nature of a day-to-day routine, work can sometimes be something we have to do rather than something we want to do. But given that the average person will spend 90,000 hours at work […]

Equal Pay Day falls in 2023 on March 14 — a date determined by how long into the new year American women must work to catch up to American men’s earnings the previous year. In 2022, women earned 82% of what men earned. The wage gap for Black and Hispanic women is even higher — […]

On 1 March, South Africa’s new minimum hourly wage rate came into force, rising 9.6% from R23.19 to R25.42 per hour. This rise is above consumer price inflation (CPI) of 6.9%. But with food inflation rates of 13.4% in January 2023, which affects poor people disproportionately, labour activists at the Casual Workers’ Advice Office (CWAO) […]

Fatima Davids has been selling sweets, cereals and spices at her stall inside the Belhar Airport Mall for several years. She is among dozens of informal traders in the mall who have been issued notices by management to vacate the premises. They were initially told to leave by 28 February but it was extended to […]

The COVID-19 pandemic worsened the unemployment crisis in South Africa. In the second quarter of 2021, unemployment rates were the highest ever officially recorded. Many people who lost their only source of stable income fell into poverty as a result. Social grants provide income that helps people to survive the short-term economic hardship of unemployment. […]

Five years after a Standard Bank branch manager was fired for “misconduct”, the Johannesburg Labour Appeal Court has ruled that the “unpopular boss” should be reinstated. A fired Standard Bank branch manager must be reinstated, the Johannesburg Labour Appeal Court has ruled. She was an unpopular boss and the staff were “glad to see the […]

The decision to manufacture new uniforms for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) entirely in South Africa will create much needed jobs in the textile and clothing industry, says the Textile Federation. New uniforms for the South African National Defence Force will be made in South Africa, the SANDF says. This is in line […]

According to President Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s Presidential Employment Stimulus has assisted to create 8 000 new jobs. Launched in October last year in response to the economic impact of the pandemic, the Presidential Employment Stimulus is designed to support a spectrum of opportunities, focusing on job creation through public employment; job retention in vulnerable […]

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, has launched the latest National List of Occupations in High Demand (OIHD) in South Africa. “This list is updated every two years, and marks an important step towards helping us understand better the needs of the labour market, and signals opportunities where our students and graduates […]

The ANC Caucus in Parliament has laid all blame on the EFF for disrupting a public hearing in Limpopo today, on Expropriation of Land Without Compensation, which led to it being cancelled. The ANC said in a statement on Sunday evening that it condemns the EFF for “disorderly conduct” and that the “anarchy” today is […]

Despite the South African economy shedding 2.2 million jobs due to the COVID-19 lockdown, unemployment in the country dropped from 30.1% to 23.3% in the second quarter of 2020, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA)… the lowest rate since 2009! However, before we all celebrate, the sharp fall in unemployment – as published in […]

When you’re used to the standard 9-5 working day, you might find your mind wandering towards faraway destinations in those inevitable moments of boredom. Not many of us have the money or the time to drop everything and travel the world. Travel is expensive and entails a lot of hidden costs. But what if you […]

The signs painted on the safari vehicle driving through Nelspruit clearly pointed out the lunacy of the government’s lockdown regulations. While taxis can load 14 passengers in stuffy vehicles – risking the spread of COVID – open-sided safari vehicles that are rarely filled up have been told they cannot operate. Closed since March 2020, safari […]

The Democratic Alliance says its lawyers have written to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, over the continuous ban on personal care services, such as hairdressers. In a press statement on Tuesday, Dean Macpherson – DA Shadow Minister of Trade and Industry, said: “The continued criminalisation of the personal […]