Restoring the reputation of the Police Service
- Public Sector
- Published on 29 Jun 2012
- Alison Eloff
There is a general pattern of police corruption in South Africa, as well as allegations of serious and violent crimes committed by police officers. Policy makers have resorted to mass recruitment to improve the situation - however, the current drive towards improved service delivery will not have a meaningful impact if the recruitment process is not done according to best practices for the industry.
Human resources: Transformation of parastatals
- Public Sector
- Published on 29 Jun 2012
- Frew Murdoch
The issue
In the last ten years parastatals have received a huge amount of criticism and negative media coverage, due to their poor financial results and colossal losses. The Institute of Race Relations revealed that, “Of the nine state-owned enterprises reporting to the department of public enterprises, only five produced a profit in 2009/10." Some companies, one example being Eskom, which reported a loss of R9.7 billion in 2009, have been able to turn their poor performance around by improving their human resources strategy. In 2011, Eskom reported a rough profit of 13 billion. How is the human resources function influencing parastatals’ organisational performance and turn-around strategies?
Casualisation-stepping stone towards the new underclass?
- Public Sector
- Published on 29 Jun 2012
- Alison Eloff
Over 1000 temporary employees (casual workers) at South African Postal Office (SAPO) agreed to return to work after a four month strike. These workers were represented by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) even though casual workers don't belong to the Union. The casual workers and the union leaders want labour brokering banned and temporary employees to be made permanent.
Living in a sick society
- Public Sector
- Published on 29 Jun 2012
- Alison Eloff
Throughout the world, there is an ongoing debate on it. While, the Europeans have made a great success of it and some say that their model should be applied to the entire world, American Conspiracy Theorists think that Former US President John F. Kennedy was probably killed for it. In 2008, Hillary Rodham Clinton lost the Democratic presidential nomination because of it. US President Obama mandated that everyone have it or companies have to pay a fine. Republican opponents scorned the law as ‘Obamacare’ and fought it with some success. Theoretically, National Health Insurance (NHI), should provide a respectable level of care to a large number of people, however it does come with a price.
