Platinum strike has knocked economy to its knees

Ntsakisi Maswanganyi and Karl Gernetzky write that SA’s costliest and longest strike brought the economy to its knees in the first quarter.  Some economists are warning of a recession as there is still no end in sight to the 18-week wage strike on the platinum belt.  It has now spilt over into the second quarter, with mines in Rustenburg crippled in April and May.  That spans the first two months of the second quarter, strongly suggesting that economic data for the period will disappoint.  These factors, coupled with constraints such as disruptions to the electricity supply and a slow roll-out in infrastructure spending, are weighing on growth.  A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of contracting economic growth.  SA’s last recession, caused by the aftershocks of the global financial crisis, was in 2009.  A 24.7% contraction in mining and quarrying — the biggest contraction in almost 50 years — saw economic growth falter in the first quarter.  Manufacturing also fell.  Renaissance Capital economist Thabi Leoka said a recession was possible given that the strike had not yet been resolved.  But, Econometrix chief economist Azar Jammine said a recession was only possible if the strike at platinum mines continued for "the rest of the year".

• Read more at BDLive

Solidarity says withdrawal of racial equity regulations a step in the right direction

Trade union Solidarity on Tuesday welcomed the Department of Labour's reported undertaking to scrap racial regulations in the draft Employment Equity Act (EEA) regulations and said this was a step in the right direction.  The regulations, published in February this year, stipulated that employers employing more than 150 employees may only use the national race demography when appointing persons to the top three management levels.  Solidarity said implementation of those provisions would have meant that coloured persons in particular, but also many white, Indian and black persons inevitably would have had to relocate in order to find jobs.  According to Dirk Groenewald, Head of Solidarity's Centre for Fair Labour Practice, it seemed as if the provisions in the regulations dealing with the mirroring of the national demography would now be withdrawn.  “At the moment, we are trying to obtain official confirmation of the withdrawal as well as of the full new wording the codes are to assume.  We are still keeping options open for legal action after having undertaken earlier this year to fight the provisions in question right up to the highest courts.”  Groenewald commented: ‘It seems as if the huge public pressure brought to bear by Solidarity and others against the codes made the department rethink the matter.”

• Read Solidarity press statement at Politicsweb