scholarly journals The Different Worlds of Labour and Company Law: Truth or Myth?

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 2103
Author(s):  
Monray Marsellus Botha
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Employee Participation ◽  
Company Law ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
The South ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Role Players

Recently the South African company law landscape underwent a dramatic overhaul with the introduction of the Companies Act 71 of 2008. Central to company law is the promotion of corporate governance. It is clear that companies are no longer accountable just to their shareholders but also to society at large. Leaders should, for example, direct company strategies and operations with a view to achieving the triple bottom-line (economic, social and environmental performance) and should thus also manage the business in a sustainable manner. An important question in company law still today is in whose interest the company should be managed. Different stakeholders of importance to companies include shareholders, managers, employees, creditors etcetera. The Companies Act aims to balance the rights and obligations of shareholders and directors within companies, and it encourages the efficient and responsible management of companies. When considering the role of employees in corporations it must be noted that the Constitution grants every person a fundamental right to fair labour practices. Social as well as political changes were evident after South Africa's re-entering the world stage in the 1990s. Changes in socio-economic conditions within a developing country were also evident. These changes had a major influence on the South African labour law dispensation. Like company law, labour law is to a large extent also codified. Like company law, no precise definition of labour law exists. It is clear from the various definitions of labour law that it covers both the individual and collective labour law and that various role-players are involved. Some of these role-players include trade unions, employers/companies, employees, and the state. The various relationships between these parties are ultimately what will guide a certain outcome if there is a power play between them. In 1995 the South African labour market was transformed with the introduction of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995. The LRA remains the primary piece of labour legislation that governs labour law in South Africa. The notion of industrial democracy and transformation of the workplace are central issues in South African labour law. This is due to the constitutional changes that have taken place in South Africa, where the protection of human rights and the democratisation of the workplace are advanced. Before the enactment of the LRA, employee participation and voice was a much-debated topic not only locally but also internationally. It is therefore essential when considering employee participation to take due cognisance of both the labour and company law principles that may be pertinent, as well as the need for workers to have a voice in the workplace and for employers to manage their corporations. This article will attempt to indicate how the different functions, theories and models of labour and company law accommodate and promote the interests of employees in corporations and will also attempt to reconcile these differences.

scholarly journals Post-1994 labour legislations: An overview of influence on employment relations in emerging markets

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 94-105
Author(s):  
David Isaac Ntimba ◽  
Karel Frederick Lessing ◽  
Ilze Swarts
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
Workplace Relationships ◽  
The South ◽  
New Era ◽  
Role Players ◽  
African Perspective ◽  
Labour Legislation

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the primary labour legislation that was promulgated after the democratization of South Africa after 1994. These legislations were introduced as regulatory and corrective measures for workplace relationships in work organizations (Booysen, 2005; Vettori, 2018). The data for this paper was collected through the perusal of scientific journals, newspaper articles, published/unpublished dissertations and theses, textbooks, and other relevant informative documents. The significant and influential role, which these labour legislations played in the development of a new era of employment relations in South Africa, cannot be overstated. The South African perspective of employment relations is also presented and discussed in this paper to reveal its nature and its role-players, such as the state, trade unions, and employers’ organizations (Ehlers & Jordaan, 2016; Smith & Diedericks, 2016). The workplace relationship between employers (through their management) and employees (through their trade unions), and the effects which such an antagonistic relationship has had on the South African labour market are also addressed (Finnemore & Koekemoer, 2018). The main finding of this paper is that there has been an improvement in workplace relationships, since the implementation of the post-1994 labour legislation although such improvement has been gradual.

scholarly journals The "Double-edged Sword" of Institutional Power: COSATU, Neo-liberalisation and the Right to Strike

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carin Runciman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
The South ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Institutional Power ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
The Right

On 1 January 2019 amendments to the Labour Relations Act came into force that significantly altered and curtailed the right to protected strike action in South Africa. Internationally, the right to strike has been eroded in recent years with many countries adopting legal provisions that violate the International Labour Organization’s principles. Comparatively, the rights of South African workers to go on protected strikes remain better than many other places in the world, a reflection of the militant history of the South African labour movement. But the erosion of these rights, with the active support of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, should be a cause for concern for activists and labour scholars in South Africa and beyond. This article develops the Power Resources Approach to consider how union institutional power has entrenched neo-liberalism in South Africa. Grounding the analysis of institutional power within the analytical framework of corporatism allows this article to develop an analysis of institutional power that is attentive to class forces. This provides an avenue for understanding the “double-edged sword” of institutional power in the South African context in order to comprehend when and under what circumstances trade unions advance and defend the interests of the working class and when they defend those of capital.  KEY WORDS: labour; neo-liberalism; institutional power; corporatism; South Africa

scholarly journals Translocal Activism and the Implementation of Equal Remuneration for Men and Women: The Case of the South African Textile Industry, 1980–1987

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-72
Author(s):  
Silke Neunsinger
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Women Workers ◽  
South African ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Textile Industry ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Wage Discrimination ◽  
The South ◽  
Wage Setting ◽  
National Union

AbstractThe struggle by women workers has largely been overlooked in the historiography of trade unions in South Africa during apartheid. This article analyses the strategies of the National Union of Textile Workers (NUTW) to end wage discrimination against women as part of the struggle against poverty wages in the South African textile industry during the last years of apartheid, c.1980 to 1987. The first South African equal pay legislation came into force in 1981, covering the minimum wages of just a small number of the workforce; it was not until 1984 that legislation set minimum wages for all workers. Before the legal reform, new domestic and foreign political opportunities helped the NUTW to create new mobilization structures and offered possibilities to connect levels of scale and make local action visible at home and abroad. Global framing of wage equality combined with a translocal repertoire was used in the cases of multinational companies to make relevant connections between levels of scale (international, transnational, national, and local) to add to the visibility of the violations. After the reform of labour legislation in South Africa, the union made reference to domestic legislation, but translocal activism remained important in bringing foreign companies to the local negotiating table. Drawing on these cases, the NUTW developed a national strategy to make wage setting more transparent across the entire industry, adding to the visibility of all forms of wage discrimination.

scholarly journals ’n Teologies-etiese beoordeling van onwettige immigrasie

2010 ◽  
Vol 44 (3/4) ◽  
Author(s):  
E.J. De Beer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Illegal Immigration ◽  
Illegal Immigrants ◽  
Immigrant Workers ◽  
The South ◽  
African Government ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Role Players ◽  
Effective Policy

A theological-ethical judgement of illegal immigration The immigration of people is a growing global phenomenon. People immigrate to South Africa mainly for economic purposes. Not all immigrants are,however, legally in the country. It is not certain how many illegal immigrants are in the country. The South African government does not have a clear, effective policy on how to solve the problem of illegal immigration. In this article the influence of illegal immigration on the South African labour sphereis analysed. The aim of the article is to give guidance from the Bible to role players on how their disposition should be concerning the problem of illegal immigrant workers. In the article the extent and causes of illegal immigration are investigated. Thisis followed byprobing into the effects of illegal immigration on the South African labour sphere and the action taken by the authorities to solve the problem. The influence of illegal immigration on labour in South Africa is judged according to biblical principals. In the assess-ment guidance is given as to what the disposition of different role players should be concerning the set problem.

scholarly journals THE SOUTH AFRICAN ACT REVISITED – SOME CONSTITUTIONAL AND POLITICAL REFLECTIONS ON LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE CENTENARY OF THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA IN 1910

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
GE Devenish
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Development ◽  
The South ◽  
Cape Of Good Hope ◽  
Cardinal Characteristics ◽  
Unitary Model ◽  
Role Players ◽  
Political Configuration ◽  
Vexed Question

Just over a hundred years ago South Africa became a politically united state governed by the South Africa Act of 1909, which constituted the first constitution for a territory comprised of the four erstwhile British colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony. This article revisits this historic constitution and attempts to revaluate its cardinal characteristics in the light of our subsequent constitutional and political development. This article also examines the constitutional and political configuration of the South Africa Act and how it came into being through a so-called National Convention and the part played by the prominent politicians and role players of the day. It examines the constitutional precedents that were available at the time. The crucial issues relating to the nature of the state that was to be established and why a unitary model and not a federation was adopted,are explained. It also considers the vexed question of the franchise and how a compromise was reached in this regard. Other important issues on which decisions had to be taken such as, inter alia, language, native and Indians affairs, are examined and evaluated. The article attempts to address certain important constitutional and political lessons that can be learnt from such an evaluation. 

scholarly journals The South African labour movement

Tempo Social ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-136
Author(s):  
Bridget Kenny
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Union Renewal

This paper reviews the state of the South African labour movement. It discusses trade unions within the context of national political dynamics, including the Tripartite Alliance and neoliberalism, as well as growing precarianization of work within South Africa. It examines splits within the major federation and explores debates around union renewal and new worker organizations. It argues that the political terrain is fragmented and shifting, but workers’ collective labour politics abides.

scholarly journals Market barriers for voluntary climate change mitigation in the South African private sector

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 639-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derick De Jongh ◽  
Carmen Möllmann
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
South African ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Voluntary Action ◽  
The South ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Change Mitigation

A key challenge in the twenty-first century is to enable economic growth and increase both environmentalquality and social inclusiveness, while mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change. The need for a transition to more sustainable consumption and production patterns is undeniable and sustainable economic growth must be placed at the heart of future development for all citizens. The South African private sector is under enormous pressure to remain globally competitive while balancing the interests of society, the environment and its shareholders. It has been suggested that there are discrepancies between what companies say and what they actually do, as they are challenged to move from policy to action. This paper evaluates the extent to which the private sector in South Africa adheres to voluntary climate change mitigation mechanisms and identifies potential market barriers impeding the large-scale uptake of such mechanisms. The research findings suggest that the private sector in South Africa has adopted a “take position, wait and see approach” which places them in a position to take advantage of and influence the opportunities and risks associated with climate change without having a negative impact on the bottom line. The primary barrier to voluntary climate change action is the vagueness of local and international policy frameworks. The different rules and resultant uncertainty around local and international frameworks appear to impede consistent and meaningful action. Although this uncertainty does not prevent the private sector from taking voluntary action, it does appear to negatively affect the overall scale and type of climate change mitigation efforts. While companies are continually improving the quality of sustainability reporting and public disclosure, the challenge still lies in translating these strategies into daily operations and sustainable practice that goes beyond ad hoc mitigation actions.

scholarly journals Kollektiewe bedinging binne die Suid-Afrikaanse vervaardigingsbedryftak

1984 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. O. L. Kamffer ◽  
B. C. Lessing ◽  
M. M. Fouché
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
South African ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Development Work ◽  
The South ◽  
Differences Of Opinion

A comparative literary study of the collective bargaining systems of four countries (U.S.A., Britain, West Germany and South Africa) is presented in order to facilitate the identification of conflict issues in the South African collective system. 165 Employers and 75 trade unions in the South African manufacturing industry were used as u randomly selected sample. A Likert questionnaire was designed to measure the attitudes of the sample employers and unions regarding conflict issues. The results indicate strong differences of opinion between the participating groups about the efficiency of the present industrial relations and collective bargaining systems in South Africa. An explanation for obtained results is given and recommendations for further research and development work are made. OpsommingDie gebrek aan konsensus aangaande 'n ideale nywerheidsverhoudinge en kollektiewe bedingingsisteem vir Suid-Afrika kan toegeskryf word aan die verskillende houdings van die onderskeie partye daarby betrokke. Dit lei op sy beurt weer tot konflik tussen die onderskeie partye. 'n Vergelykende literatuurstudie van die kollektiewe bedingingsisteem van vier lande (tewete V.S.A. Brittanje, Wes-Duitsland en Suid-Afrika) is gedoen ten einde konflikaan- geleenthede in die Suid-Afrikaanse kollektiewe bedingingsisteem te identifiseer. 'n Ewekansige steekproef van 165 werkgewers en 75 vakbonde in die Suid-Afrikaanse vervaardigingsbedryfstak is in die studie betrek. Die houdinge aangaande die geïdentifiseerde onflikaangeleenthede is met behulp van 'n Likertvraelys verkry. Die resultate dui op sterk meningsverskille tussen die deelnemende groepe omtrent die doeltreffendheid van die bestaande nywerheids verhoudinge en kollektiewe bedingingstelsel in Suid-Afrika. Aanbevelings vir toekomstige navorsing en ontwikkelingswerk word gemaak.

The Definition of Member / Shareholder in the South African Companies Act: A Brief Comparison with Australian Legislation

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Neels Kilian
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Company Law ◽  
Court Case ◽  
The South ◽  
Appeal Court ◽  
Locus Standi ◽  
Australian Case ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract This article discusses relevant Australian case law with reference to the oppressive remedy in company law. In South Africa, only shareholders who are entered in the shareholders’ register can make use of the remedy, contrary to the Australian application. The Australian case law explains the locus standi of shareholders who are not entered in the register. Reference is also made to South Africa's previous Companies Act 1973 due to the Smyth v Investec appeal court case, where the court applied the principles, relevant to an oppressive remedy under the 1973 act. In this regard, the appeal court's reasoning is compared to that of the Australian court; possible new perspectives relevant to South Africa's new Companies Act 2008 are also discussed. The Australian perspective is included to facilitate investigation of a South African court's approach to oppressive conduct concerning the narrow interpretation of “shareholder”. It is concluded that “shareholder” should also be interpreted to include a beneficial shareholder.

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