Trade union Solidarity has asked that the Department of Labour intervene in stopping the University of South Africa (Unisa) from implementing its proposed promotion criteria, arguing that it is in contravention of the Employment Equity Act (EEA).
They have also asked that the university senate revisit the criteria in order “to produce a more equitable outcome”.
In terms of the promotion criteria, designated employees would be eligible for promotion or appointment, based on a lower standard or reduced minimum standards, the trade union argued.
Designated group
“Individuals of the designated group need not have the same qualifications and or experience than their white counterparts to be eligible for promotions or appointment,” said Annika Labuschagne, of Solidarity’s centre for fair labour practices.
The university defines “designated groups” as black people, women and people with disabilities.
In its staff transformation plan, the university notes that in line with the EEA, “Unisa is required to develop an Employment Equity plan and set numerical goals that will accelerate measures towards achieving demographic representation of designated groups in each occupational level where under representation has been identified”.
The reason Unisa gives for doing so is to achieve the objectives set in its affirmative action plan with the ultimate goal of having Unisa’s workforce reflect the country’s economically active population (EAP).
Insurmountable obstacle
But Solidarity says the criteria raises an insurmountable obstacle for all individuals not from the designated group.
“The criteria can create possible absolute barriers for individuals not belonging to the designated group… Therefore, we hope that the university and the department will both step in to establish a fairer application,” said Labuschagne.
“If this does not happen, we will be ready to take legal action and to act on behalf of our members at Unisa and elsewhere.”
Cape Town – Western Province coach John Dobson was disappointed with the lack of opportunities created by his side in the 20-5Currie Cupvictory over the Blue Bulls.
Despite scoring three tries to the Blue Bulls’ one at Newlands on Saturday evening, Dobson believes there is still plenty of room for improvement on attack.
“On attack, even though we went through phases, we didn’t seem to create opportunities. We always felt like there was a wall,” Dobson said after the game.
“One of our plans was the attacking kicks, and I think when we did them they worked well. That’s good, but we have to create more opportunities. I don’t feel that we’re putting defences under pressure.
“We have to create more fluidity and opportunities on attack.”
Dobson believes Province need to get their wings Seabelo Senatla and Edwill van der Merwe in to the game more, both of whom he rates as exciting prospects.
“He’s superb (Van der Merwe),” said Dobson.
“We know him as a striker and we know him for all the crazy Varsity Cup celebrations, machine guns and all that stuff. But his defensive work, his aerial work, his work rate this is a guy we’re really excited about for the future.
“Seabelo wasn’t meant to play, he did his ankle and came in with a walking stick and we planned our whole thing thinking he wasn’t going to play.
“But then he came. I think he got some muti or something, he had this funny shaped walking stick,” Dobson quipped.
“He’s also coming on great in Fifteens, so it’s exciting.”
Strika is looking for a senior-level writer with experience in writing across a range of mediums, including newsletters, infographics, comics, motion graphics, character animation and industrial theatre. Occasionally, we make board games too.
We’re not looking for unicorns. We just need someone who can apply their crap filter and apply critical thinking to logic check their work. An inquisitive mind with a fascination for figuring out how stuff works is good. An understanding of grammar is essential. Nerds welcome.
This role is situated in our Woodstock studio, with occasional travel (maybe twice a year), to Central Africa. The successful candidate would report to one of our Creative Leads (think Creative Director) and work side-by-side with a design team to output an ongoing communications plan for a number of large-scale industrial clients. These include mines and energy companies, so be comfortable with capitalism if you apply.
Requirements
You must be an actual writer with experience.
You need to be able to write well and at a relatively high speed (using a computer) as volume is high.
Most importantly you need to care about the quality of your work, be prepared to defend it, but at the same time know when a criticism is valid.
Send us your CV and make a case for joining us. If we like your CV, we will ask you to complete a test.
Don’t look at our website. Its rubbish
Posted on 16 Jul 16:11
Apply by email Niwe Gama
Or apply with your Biz CV
Create your CV once, and thereafter you can apply to this ad and future job ads easily.
Maximizing turnover, driving customer service & stock control
Leading & developing a team
Innovative visual merchandising to optimize sales
Reducing stock loss effectively
Maintaining health & safety practices
Previous practice in:
Inspirational leadership & passion
Taking ownership
Building & maintaining relationships
Innovation & change management
Thinking adaptability
Demonstrating DARE to LEAD with TEAM IQ to the TIP? (Internal Only)
Requirements
Do you have:
3 years of Management experience
Matric or Equivalent
Drivers license & own transport
Clear criminal record
Posted on 16 Jul 16:11
Cape Union Mart
Cape Union Mart International (Pty) Ltd has been equipping South African adventurers since 1933, and is South Africa’s favourite outdoor adventure store. Stocking everything one needs for outdoor pursuits – including hiking, camping, trail running, mountain biking, snow sports, travel and more – Cape Union Mart is an essential first step in every adventure. Cape Union Mart has stores across South Africa, and in Namibia and Botswana.
Do you love to buy your kids great quality merchandise made from natural fabrics rather than man made materials? Do you pride yourself in building authentic customer relationships and believe in exceptional quality service? Yes. Why not match your passion for kids and retail and begin your journey with Keedo?
Previous experience in:
Managing all aspects of a store
Maximizing turnover, driving customer service & stock control
Leading & developing a team
Innovative visual merchandising to optimize sales
Reducing stock loss effectively
Maintaining health & safety practices
Previous practice in:
Inspirational leadership & passion
Taking ownership
Building & maintaining relationships
Innovation & change management
Thinking adaptability
Demonstrating DARE to LEAD with TEAM IQ to the TIP? (Internal Only)
Requirements
Do you have:
2 years of management experience
Matric or Equivalent
Drivers license & own transport
Clear criminal record
Posted on 16 Jul 15:59
Cape Union Mart
Cape Union Mart International (Pty) Ltd has been equipping South African adventurers since 1933, and is South Africa’s favourite outdoor adventure store. Stocking everything one needs for outdoor pursuits – including hiking, camping, trail running, mountain biking, snow sports, travel and more – Cape Union Mart is an essential first step in every adventure. Cape Union Mart has stores across South Africa, and in Namibia and Botswana.
To plan, coordinate and supervise activities related to the design, development, testing, implementation and maintenance of application software and setup parameters.
Key Outputs [KPI’s]
Strong business partnering with senior management team to participate in planning changes to technology and encourage innovation
Actively support the transformation towards agile and participate in prioritizing and allocating outstanding work.
Ensure good collaboration through effective communication among various stakeholders and on-time delivery of projects in cooperation with project managers.
Ensure that business-as-usual requests and incidents are completed on time and according to requirements in cooperation with the business support team.
Ensure that service levels are met insofar as these are under the control of the teams concerned.
Participate in troubleshooting of incidents and interact with vendors and technical teams of our customers whose systems integrate with business systems.
Oversee task estimations which serve as input to project planning and quotations while enforcing standards, policies and processes, and ensure that audit findings are properly addressed insofar as they relate to application software.
Perform common line management functions including leadership, motivation, maintenance of an appropriate organisational structure, staff. development, retention, recruitment, leave planning and approvals, performance appraisals, time-sheet approvals and dealing with general staff issues.
Resolve conflict as may arise from time to time in connection with roles, technical design, priorities, resource allocation etc.
Requirements
A honours degree majoring in subjects related to information technology or computer science and at least a theoretical knowledge of programming C# as evidenced by appropriate degrees or certification 10 years software development experience and training in management, including project management and specifically agile methodologies Substantial experience managing and or leading productive software development teams
Posted on 16 Jul 15:56
Apply by email Miguel Cruz
Or apply with your Biz CV
Create your CV once, and thereafter you can apply to this ad and future job ads easily.
The ideal candidate for this role is a self-starter who can deal with complexity, has high levels of energy and has a suitable degree (or equivalent tertiary qualification) with a keen interest in the Marketing arena.
The 24-month programme offers you the opportunity to develop a successful career path in Marketing from the very start. So, if you want to be a future marketing specialist, your ambition has our attention. You will have the support and resources to create and grow your career in Marketing as well as the guidance’ input; mentorship and support from senior managers, executives and like-minded colleagues.
Most of the phases of the programme will be assessed, but we expect more from you than just meeting minimum requirements.
We expect you to make the most of the exposure you’ll enjoy in terms of learning and experience.
Duties and responsibilities
Meeting expectations and achieving deliverables regardless of obstacles.
Planning and coordinating own work to meet commitments and quality expectations.
Approaching problems in a systematic way.
Achieving proficiency in technical, functional and professional skills.
Demonstrating professionalism and integrity in interactions with clients/customers and others.
Working collaboratively with other team members (client/customer) from different disciplines and backgrounds.
Facilitating and motivating the effective performance of and collaboration among team members (client/customer).
Responding appropriately as issues arise or circumstances chan
Requirements
Requirements:
Please note: In order to apply for this and other internships, please click on the apply button which will take you to the interns’ platform – www.trustedinterns.co.za. Register your profile, and once approved, you can go ahead and apply.
Lee R. Callakoppen, Principal Officer of Bonitas Medical Fund
Bonitas Medical Fund (the Scheme) reported its financial results for 2018 announcing bolstered reserves from R4.0bn in 2017 to R4.13bn in 2018, despite difficult trading conditions. As at 31 December 2018, the Scheme had 330,993 Principal members with a total of 710,206 beneficiaries.
“The surplus achieved in 2018 will be invested back into the Scheme and contribute towards offering our members access to affordable healthcare of the highest quality,” says Lee Callakoppen, Principal Officer of Bonitas. “Last year our financial results were the best in our history and, even though we could not duplicate this, we are satisfied with the 2018 financials, especially given our stagnant economy and other negative fiscal influences.”
Callakoppen, who took over as Principal Officer in April, says the Scheme has been, and remains, proactive in a number of strategic areas to continue to curtail costs. “Some factors are beyond our control such as high healthcare inflation, the recession and increased claims, especially for lifestyle related diseases. But we can’t sit back and blame everything on outside influences; we need to constantly be looking for innovative methods to reduce costs while continuing to offer our members maximum value for money. And we believe we are achieving our mandate and getting this balance right.”
The big numbers: Although we took a multi-pronged approach to cost-saving, here are some top line achievements:
Reserves increased from R4bn to R4.13bn. We are in a robust financial position and are confident of our ability to meet member claims.
Hospital negotiations delivered savings of R290m.
Fraud, Waste and Abuse (FWA) initiatives delivered recoveries of R43.3m.
R153m saved from positive change in claiming behaviour – making a total of R174m realised.
Additional cost-saving initiatives of R59m (examples of this included the benefit adjustments).
An investment return of R197.4m.
A 25.2% solvency ratio, up from up from 24.5% in 2017.
A surplus of R164.8m.
However, there was an 8.9% increase in claims, 44.9% of all claims were for hospital admissions and 11.7% for specialists – these remain the two highest cost-drivers.
Callakoppen says, “The net healthcare results demonstrate the Scheme’s ability to implement strategies in order to remain resilient during difficult financial periods. This, not only to help limit contribution increases, but also deliver on our mandate of making healthcare affordable for all South Africans.”
Membership – The impact of a poor economic climate “It is not becoming any easier,” he says. “Stagnant economic growth impacts the affordability of medical aid for members, resulting in the transfer to less expensive options, limited entry of new members and increased job losses reduce membership numbers. For this reason we implemented a number of strategies to retain and attract new members.
“And although there was no membership growth during 2018, between January and May this year, we have already attracted 30,189 new principal members as a direct result of two new plans introduced. But, more importantly, the new member profile is around 10 years younger than the average age of the Scheme which is crucial for sustainability.”
Cost containment strategies 1. Hospital negotiations During the 2018 financial year, the Scheme experienced an increase in the utilisation of healthcare services, especially in terms of mental health admissions and oncology – which is a high cost driver. However Bonitas continues to negotiate robustly with hospitals in order to obtain the best possible rates. The savings, due to these negotiations, was R290m last year and R242m in 2017, which is a combined total of R532m over a two year period.
2. Fraud, waste and abuse (FWA) Around 15% of claims in the healthcare industry contain an element of FWA. For a Scheme the size of Bonitas, this translates to a loss of R190m. During 2018, FWA amounted to R106.2m and was made up as follows:
Facilities – R16.5m
Pharmacies – R15.7m
Medical professionals – R74m
The upside is that our fight against FWA is showing good returns.
There have been seven convictions of healthcare practitioners.
28 ongoing criminal cases involving false claims.
54 active cases reported to the Professional Council of South Africa (HPCSA).
762 hotline reports on FWA.
R297m quantified in fraud since 2016.
R84m recovered to date, R43.3m of that during 2018.
Total savings of R174m realised.
3. Managed Care initiatives There is an increased prevalence of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease as well as HIV/AIDS, cancer, chronic medicine management, back and neck pain, hip and knee replacements and mental illness. The old adage that ‘prevention is better than cure’ cannot be more apt than in the healthcare industry.
For this reason Bonitas has a number of programmes aimed at predicting and preventing conditions before they become chronic and managing them in the most clinically appropriate way.
The road ahead “There a number of issues facing South Africans: Governance failures at SOEs which limits the growth prospects and therefore prosperity in South Africa; uncertainty about NHI; the recession; taxation; healthcare inflation and the general high cost of living. However we have solid plans in place to help reduce the burden on our members, these include a renewed focus on prevention and our Managed Care programme, connecting with our customers digitally, expanding our distribution channels and adding value through negotiated discounts on GAP, Life, funeral and disability cover as well as income protection.
“As the second-largest open medical scheme we have a huge responsibility to find more affordable ways of providing quality healthcare We are pleased that our strategy is providing us with solid financial stability to continue our innovation in terms of our offering going forward,” concluded Callakoppen.
The Onion goes to Windhoek Lager, for relying on automatic ‘programmatic’ digital advertising, which damages the brand.
Screen grab from the ad.
Having animals and being a pet lover is not often regarded as a rational trait. It is supposed to be all about emotions, about how humans who struggle to express love to other humans have no such problem expressing it to a dog or a cat.
And having known a few strange pet fanatics in my time, I would say there is a little bit of truth in that.
But loving animals is not all irrational. Studies have shown that just having animals around you can improve your physical health. And animals are used in all manner of physical and psychological rehabilitation programmes.
Once you commit to an animal, it is a lifetime commitment. You took them into your life and are, therefore, responsible for them. And to not give them the best you can afford – or, on occasion, more than you can afford – is a betrayal of their trust.
So, it’s comparatively easy to lay a serious guilt trip on your average, reasonably well-off suburban family when it comes to pets and their comfort and health.
Recently, the veterinary hospital had no doubt I would not blink at the R3,500 deposit they required on a Sunday afternoon, when I brought our dog into the emergency room. I had run over her as she lay behind the wheels of the car. There is no worse sound than that of bump, crunch and squeals of agony.
Fortunately, there were no bones broken and no internal organs damaged. But the leg flesh was badly torn and must heal slowly because it can’t be stitched.
Simple as it sounds, it was not cheap. I’ve forked over about R12,000 so far. Duma (the victim) may well have said: You squash me, I squash your wallet… and it’s not over.
Which is probably why I was magnetically drawn to the latest Dotsure pet insurance TV ad. It features the Van Dyks, a couple speaking about their animals, how they lost two of them in a space of months and, with a combined vet bill of more than R40,000, they wished they had pet medical insurance.
Like us, they love their dogs, and the dogs are part of the family. Like us, they were prepared to pay… but nobody has a bottomless pit of money.
What is touching is the woman’s comment that had she had pet insurance for the second dog, it might still be alive.
So, I am now going to look at Dotsure, which promises plans to suit your pocket. Perhaps it’s timing, perhaps I’m in the perfect target-market space, but it has done its job.
So, you get an Orchid from me, Dotsure. I reckon your ads have generated plenty of business.
Another can’t-ignore-it ad this week came from – wait for it – a government department!
On behalf of the national department of health, the print ad was deliberately designed to look like one for a fast-food special.
It featured a bacon cheeseburger, chips and a Coke and looked delicious – until you read the copy.
“Obesity combo – served with cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.”
A label on the glass of Coke, with the skull-and-crossbones logo of death rammed it home: “Mind what you eat and drink.”
A simple, yet effective way of putting across the message that better eating is the first step in making our country healthier.
It gets this week’s second Orchid.
While on the subject of health, I was drawn to an online piece in the Daily Mail in the UK, all about how bowel cancer, hitherto thought to be the sole preserve of the 50-plus group and those who consume the sorts of food our department of health is trying to demonise, is now showing up in younger and apparently healthy people.
Many of the people spoken to in the Daily Mail piece were low consumers of meat, all had low or average BMI (body mass index) scores and most were fit and exercised regularly.
It was a pretty grim subject for a read.
There was a bizarre juxtaposition of the ads which popped up on the page. They were all for Windhoek Lager and the message was happiness and party time.
Clearly, Windhoek’s ad planners did not deliberately do this, but their reliance on automatic “programmatic” digital advertising – where a computer sends your ads based on numbers, not on content – led them to some, albeit slight, brand damage.
The point is that over-reliance on programmatic can do far worse damage to your brand. Imagine Windhoek’s Lager flying alongside porn or awful, racist, violent content…
The Onion goes to Windhoek for allowing this to happen. The unquestioning fascination for all things digital saw your brand’s image placed in the hands of a computer programme, which you don’t know and can’t trust…
