South Africa and India are set to reach a target of 15 billion US dollars of trade before the agreed upon deadline of 2014, said President Jacob Zuma. The two countries are keen on expanding relations as various areas for economic cooperation exists, such as manufacturing and energy.

Up skilling labour and creating jobs in the tourism sector can be greatly enhanced if government works together with the private sector and other industry stakeholders. These were the sentiments of Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk during his Budget Vote speech.

Telephone calls are often the first point of contact for potential clients, and the image you present over the phone will either attract customers or repel them. Here are some tips to ensure that your frontline employees are excellent representatives.

With the aim of creating five milling job opportunities by 2020 in South Africa, the Department of Arts and Culture has launched its Mzansi Golden Economy Strategy. The strategy will focus on promoting youth and women in the arts.

A year after the new Companies Act became law, thousands of companies may have already missed a key deadline of the act, according to a survey conducted by global audit, tax and advisory firm Mazars.

The development of a centralized disciplinary structure, which will assist departments with investigative work as well as prosecutorial and adjudication functions, has topped the list of priorities of Public Service and Administration Minister Roy Padayachie.

In order to address the concerns and issues raised by South Africans around the e-tolling of Gauteng roads, Cabinet has appointed a committee which will be headed up by Deputy President Kgalema.

What should managers do when an employee fails to meet a required performance standard? This week Ivan Israelstam provides his views on a few CCMA cases that involved poor performance dismissals.

Research offers different views on how big enterprise video is going to get, but the consensus is “pretty big”. After a relatively slow start the demand for video communication is rising to meet the needs of the modern business according to Bennie Langenhoven.

Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande discusses the plight of humanities and social sciences programmes in South African universities as technology and engineering skills begin to dominate government priorities.

The unstable and weakening condition of the business environment was reflected in the Business Confidence Index (BCI) which dropped to 94.3 points, the lowest in three years according to the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Essential Services Committee will receive the power to represent government in labour law matters. The number of workers required to be on duty during a strike is one of the issues the committee is expected to address and resolve.

The Human Resources (HR) Director is a title generally seen only in national and multinational businesses. But many generalist human resource practitioners and owners of small to medium sized businesses actually fulfill the role of the HR Director. Keeping up with changes in employment legislation and the strategic implications of such changes is one of the key Director roles. So how important are the amendments to labour laws currently under discussion?

The UK CIPD is reporting that a study of 39,000 people found that one in three people came to work "drunk". Not because they had been consuming alcohol or using substances, but rather because they were not getting sufficient sleep.

There was a time when companies supplying highly beneficial training interventions - that did not match the sometimes archaic Unit standards - were grouped as Recorded Providers by the Services Seta. This ensured that they were in some recognised for their value. This has fallen by the way.

The Green Paper gives a critical and very frank appraisal of the skills development system. It confirms the weaknesses and concerns that have been raised by informed commentators over a number of years. Employers and most key stakeholders should welcome the proposals in the Paper.

I attended a meeting today in my school for electing the new governing body. It was shocking to see how some parents neglect their role in education. Out of 620 learners only 19 parents attened the meeting, which was postphoned two weeks ago.

The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs has committed to ensuring that 55 percent of women and two percent of people with disabilities benefit from the department’s programmes.

Do you share an ID number with a fellow South African citizen? The names of 29 000 people who have duplicate ID numbers has been made public in various publications in a bid to notify individuals and provide assistance to those who have been listed.

As part of efforts to deepen relations with India, South Africa has invited the Asian nation to invest in the country’s massive infrastructure plan announced in the State of the Nation Address.

In project management, the aim is always to achieve the project’s goal while working within the time and resource constraints and capitalising on those things that are available to you. Here are the five stages of project management.