News South Africa

Wage demands, slow growth destroy jobs

South Africa's rigid labour laws are an obstacle to economic growth and foreign direct investment claims Ettiene Retief, chairman of the tax committee at the South African Institute of Professional Accountants.

He says the South African economy is receiving repeated blows as industries are forced to struggle with disruptive strikes, higher wage demands and the restrictive labour laws.

He says that workers are demanding higher wages - at rates above inflation - and are not doing anything to increase productivity. The danger of this, he says, is that employment costs grow disproportionately to production resulting in a potential death-knell for companies operating in this country.

He has called on labour unions and the government to work together to remove obstacles that will reduce the high unemployment rates in this country. He says consistent above-inflation wage demands place another obstacle in the way of job creation.

Read the full article on www.iol.co.za.

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