It’s a worrying wrinkle in what should be a time of excitement and anticipation, as children prepare for the 2021 academic year – now starting in February, due to Covid-19-linked postponements.

For example, she says, don’t invest in sports clothing and equipment at the moment – schools may not be allowed to offer their usual extramural activities, and kids may grow out of their sports clothing before they even get a chance to use it.

Among essentials that parents and caregivers should buy are school uniforms – but, Brinkmann advises, buy only for the summer season, as there’s too much uncertainty around whether a third wave of Covid-19 infections will occur during winter, in which case schools may close.

Hayley Friend, a teacher at Camps Bay Primary in Cape Town, agrees that a basic level of reliable, user-friendly technology is needed to keep up with distance-learning.

“Many of our kids come from areas outside that aren’t as well resourced, so things like access to affordable data remains a challenge for many families.” Brinkmann acknowledges that for many families, finding the money to buy this can be difficult, and she encourages parents/caregivers to reach out to their schools for help.

“Teaching staff can’t know the difficulties families face if they aren’t told about them, and schools may have contingency plans to help in situations like these.” Last year’s State of the ICT Sector report put smartphone penetration at 91,2% in 2019, up from 81,7% in 2018.

Local online shopping/auction marketplace meets rising expectations as global retail e-commerce traffic reaches 22 billion monthly visitsBidorbuy, one of South Africa’s largest online shopping and auction marketplaces, has strengthened its shipping offering with an easy-to-use facility that will source quotes from leading courier companies and offer the most competitive rate at the time of shipping.

The platform, called bidorbuy Shipping, is made possible through a partnership with uAfrica.com, a technology company that assists online merchants with omni-channel solutions, streamlining their order-fulfilment and shipping processes.

This comes as Statista, a global business-data platform, announced last Monday that global retail e-commerce traffic stood at a record 22 billion monthly visits, significantly influenced by the covid-19 pandemic, with demand exceptionally high for everyday items like groceries, clothing and consumer tech.

For smaller, independent and localised merchants who trade on platforms such as bidorbuy, the order-fulfilment process has up to now differed from one merchant to the next, because a standard shipping facility wasn’t built into the offering.

“Consumers in South Africa are now comfortable with selling or buying online, and with that comes an evolving set of needs and expectations, one of them being a commitment on how shipments are delivered and at what cost.” In a quick and easy four-step process, the bidorbuy seller may log in, navigate to the selling section, click on ‘Sign up with bidorbuy Shipping’, and follow the on-screen prompts.

uAfrica.com’s aggregating facility ensures that the buyer gets bang for their buck, but also allows the seller to maximise their profit on each transaction.

Johannesburg, 14 October 2020 – The mining industry has a reputation for being a risky business, with varied and serious health risks.

But mining doesn’t have to be unsafe – thanks to strict safety legislation, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy recorded only 51 fatalities in 2019, the lowest ever number of mining fatalities for the country on record.

That said, 51 deaths are still 51 too many, and medical deaths in 2019 due to occupational diseases (caused by, for example, coal dust or harmful chemicals) did actually increase compared to the previous year: 25 more cases were reported for gold mines, and 2 for coal mines.

Managing risk isn’t easy, and meeting Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) standards involves the laborious documentation of an entire safety management system, including identifying what the hazards are to workers, assessing their consequences and instituting mechanisms to control those risks.

“If only partial training is done, supervisors and workers themselves still lack the essential knowledge needed to ensure optimal health and safety, environmental management, or quality in the work place.” Now, a growing confidence in digitisation is seeing an increasing number of mining companies use e-training and e-monitoring to drive greater efficiencies in their business and meeting tough SHEQ requirements.

Indeed, the global accounting firm Ernest & Young’s (EY) annual Top 10 business risks facing mining and metals in 2021 noted that there were indications of growing digital confidence among miners, with digital becoming “business as usual” for large mining outfits.

Johannesburg 22 December 2020 - The COVID-19 lockdown saw many people either increase their use of online shopping, or use e-commerce for the first time.

McKinsey & Company in consumer surveys conducted in South Africa, Europe and the US verify this trend, stating that it’s increasingly clear the pandemic has materially changed consumer behaviour, perhaps permanently.

This has resulted in many retailers looking to alter their supply chains to compete in the new normal.

Shannon Wellcome, General Manager for Bidvest International Logistics’ (BIL) road-freight division, says, “There certainly has been an increase in demand for our services over the last two quarters, dating back to the start of July, with a significant jump in demand for October and November months.

“We’ve also partnered with key courier companies which can assist with executing door-to-door services for our clients in the retail sector.” He adds that demand for deliveries with BIL started increasing noticeably from the end of September to the end of November.

“In my opinion, this is due to the uncertainty caused by the lockdown and COVID-19, as most industries attempt to play catch-up on lost sales during the hard lockdown that restricted sales.” Craig Lubbe, CEO of bidorbuy, South Africa’s leading online auction site and marketplace, says their experience was slightly different.

Just two months earlier, the Auditor-General’s special report on the multibillion-rand covid-19 relief package highlighted a “weak control environment” in how the package was implemented, citing “clear signs of overpricing, unfair processes, potential fraud and supply chain management legislation being sidestepped.” This came on the back of a warning by the Auditor-General that poor financial management controls, a disregard for supply chain management legislation, an inability to effectively manage projects, and a lack of accountability in many of the government sectors needed urgent addressing.

“There is no reason why government cannot get this right,” says Muhammad Ali, managing director of WWISE, an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) training, consulting and implementation specialist.

The standards are designed to ensure checks and balances in an increasingly globalised marketplace in which consistency, quality and integrity from one country or industry to another can slide.

“The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has received seven consecutive clean audits because they follow ISO-principled governance frameworks like King IV.” SALGA is a constitutionally mandated organisation consisting of all 257 South African local governments.

King IV is a report that includes a code with additional separate sector supplements.

All standards, Ali says, focus on governance and controls in an organisation’s departmental processes and activities by stipulating procedures and systems needed to avoid any sort of deviation from legislation, and ensuring that they are implemented, upheld and easily audited.

Production output for the second quarter shrank by 73,1%, the third most affected by the global pandemic, after construction at 76,6% and manufacturing at 74,91%.

Copper and manganese had showed signs of growth, but a slump in gold and diamond production had dragged down the industry overall, with iron ore, platinum group metals and chromium also showing disappointing results.

“Never before have mining companies been under as much pressure as they are now to cut costs and increase productivity to remain viable, let alone operate profitably,” says Mike Hanley, managing director of New Leaf Technologies, a Joburg-headquartered learning software and solutions company that specialises in the mining sector.

Cost savings are a major benefit for mining companies embarking on eLearning for their employees, as it does away with having to fly in, accommodate and pay a daily rate for training facilitators, eliminates the need for other non-essential training personnel, and reduces the amount of off-the-job time employees need for training.

New, sophisticated technology is transforming mining operations, which means that existing skills sets are continually needing to advance, with rock-drill operators, blasters, drill-rig operators and other artisan roles being affected.

An additional wrinkle is that only 14% of miners have a post-matric qualification, according to data released by the Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA).

The businesses may be in the ether but the referrals are very real.

In the instant world of virtual marketing, community and personal recommendations are the lifeblood of many online retailers.Johannesburg, – ‘No longer do brands have to worry about one consumer telling another about bad service, but rather one disgruntled consumer telling hundreds of others through social media,’ says veteran marketer Chris Moerdyk about the new world of instant feedback between buyers.But this nightmare scenario is just one side of the coin for retailers; the other is that good products, great service and a positive all-round experience are as easily and widely shared.

And this ‘word-of-mouth marketing’ can be solid gold for sellers: a 2020 study by UK market-research firm Kantar Media indicated that 93% of consumers trust the opinions of friends and family when purchasing products or services, while a recent report on American technology site www.bigcommerce.com looking at consumer behaviour in 2020 highlighted that almost a quarter of online shoppers (23%) are influenced by social-media recommendations, while 42% find recommendations from friends and family influential – twice the number who cite advertisements as persuasive.‘Retail shops have the luxury of face-to-face meetings between their salesperson and the customer; online, we rely on what we present on our web page, perhaps a Google search, and social media, so community and personal recommendations are a vital aspect in enhancing trust and credibility for our brand,’ says Dr Alek Nikolic, founder and director of SkinMiles, an online skincare company.

‘The bidorbuy community is made up of buyers and sellers who share common interests, whether it’s antiques, electronics or crafting,’ says the company’s marketing manager, Anne-Marie Green.

‘Our community is strongest in the types of products that have a subjective appeal that’s not driven by branding or advertising – hard-to-find or unique products and collectibles such as stamps, militaria and antiques, items that people want rather than need, and that they’re passionate and knowledgeable about.

Purchasing decisions typically follow a period of research, and this naturally sparks conversations between people with common interests that may not be shared by the mainstream.’And for sellers, ‘being a part of the bidorbuy community means having access to our category managers and being able to speak to someone behind the scenes who can help them grow on the bidorbuy platform,’ says Green.

South Africa’s snap-happy influencers share insights for locals buying phones this seasonCovid-19 may have wreaked havoc on certain retail sectors around the world, but the smartphone market isn’t one of them.

In fact, with economies beginning to reopen and demand for devices having built up, heavy promotions and discounts are being offered, and this is translating into good news for both sellers and buyers.A report by the International Data Corporation (IDC), a premier global provider of market intelligence for the telecommunications and consumer technology markets, cited an improvement in the worldwide smartphone market for the third quarter of 2020 on a previous forecast of a 9% year-over-year decline, with shipments declining just 1,3% year-on-year to 353,6 million units shipped.

And Africa is standing her ground, with TECNO leading the smartphone market in the second quarter, holding at least 30% of the market share, according to the IDC.In a report released in March this year, the global data and evidence-based agency Kantar noted that Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012), who’ve grown up fully immersed in a digital world, generally have more reasons to buy a smartphone than their Generation Y peers (born between 1981 and 1996, often called Millennials).

And cameras are especially important to them – three out of five Gen Z users in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy buy for the quality of the camera and the phone’s app features.So what do South Africans look for in a smartphone, beside affordability?

Capetonian dance sensation Matthew Power, one of South Africa’s biggest TikTok stars with 261 300 followers, says, “I’m continually on the go, creating stuff for both my TikTok and Instagram feeds, so the camera, the size of the smartphone’s screen, and then of course its overall style are things that I look out for.”“The Expressionist” Anthony Bila, a street-style photographer who’s worked in fashion, commercial and documentary photography, with a following of over 15 500 Instagram followers, is also unequivocal about the camera qualities of a phone, as well as its processing power and speed.

“Editing photos and videos on the fly demands decent power,” he says, “but also just having a good-quality camera that captures those special moments is really the cherry on the top.”“Camera quality and general ease of use are important, and it’s a winner if you can get one for just under the R3 000 mark,” says Sanele Mkhize, former Idols SA singer/songwriter Top 10 contestant from Season 12, who as an artist spends a significant amount of time on Instagram and Facebook keeping his 37 000+ followers engaged.Reece Chloe Lewis, another TikTok dance sensation from Cape Town with over 167 200 followers, agrees that South Africans should think economically when deciding on a phone: “Buy something that’s in your price range, that you know will last at least one to two years,” she says.

How eLearning is keeping up effortlessly with a continually changing compliance landscape in the manufacturing sector.

As the South African economy struggles to get back on its feet, battered by slow growth and high unemployment, and compounded by the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, one area in particular remains of concern to potential foreign investors: compliance in the regulatory environment.

One recent study, funded by the European Union, found that while South Africa offers many attractive assets for foreign investors, they remain concerned about the lack of clarity concerning policy and structural reforms.

The ISO’s standards are designed to ensure checks and balances in an increasingly globalised marketplace in which consistency, quality and integrity from one country or industry to another can slide.

Ali clarifies: ‘Concerns about being able to comply with anti-bribery policies linked to ISO 37001 are common, while ISO 45001 health and safety, ISO 14001 environmental management and ISO 27001 information security are what give investors a level of confidence to consider South African-based companies.’ Other statutory requirements include compliance with basic conditions of employment, the Tax Act, the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act and the Promotion of Access to Information Act.

What’s more, ‘Banks are now asking for business continuity plans aligned to ISO 22301, which aims to safeguard an organisation from a wide range of potential threats and disruptions.’ For companies, what lies behind all these letters, numbers and titles is a continuous and ever-growing need for training – in order for a firm to be confident in its compliance with regulatory policies, staff at all levels, from the factory floor to top management, need to know exactly what’s needed, why and when.

South Africa’s manufacturing sector, the fourth-largest in the country, has been under significant pressure for some time.

It recorded a -10,8% drop year-on-year for August, with the fallout of the covid-19 pandemic, a lack of demand for goods, the unreliable power supply, infrastructure constraints, the high cost of doing business, and a lack of skilled workers cited as reasons for hampering growth.

A major shift towards automation in production processes is occurring, with employees who previously worked manually now being required to operate increasingly digitised machines.

“Our companies here are continually under pressure to find far more efficient, cost-friendly ways of keeping up with training challenges.” Not only is eLearning less expensive than facilitator-led classroom-style teaching, platforms like Learning Management Systems (LMS), which are loaded with specially designed courseware – and have become the go-to solution for companies wanting to customise and house all their courseware and training programmes online – offer more for a lot of different scenarios or employer needs, helping employers and companies address a lot more training needs.

“With employees being able to access an LMS via their smartphone or a laptop, learning can happen in their own time and at their own pace while still meeting course and timing objectives set by the employer.” Courseware for an online LMS can be designed in such a manner that it’s visually very appealing and engaging, which translates into greater learning retention.

And the sheer nature of learning online not only fosters confidence in employees to improve their digital skills, but also allows them to develop softer skills like critical thinking, initiative and independence,” says Hanly.