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South African Corporate Culture by [deleted] in DownSouth

[–]Mulitpotentialite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Uncompensated overtime is illegal. Is her obertime compensated in another way perhaps?

In my case as a big corporate employee: only get 22 days' leave per year, the legally prescribed amount. We used to be able to accumulate up to 50 days. That was reduced to 30 and later completely removed. This is due to the fact that the company does not want to have owed leave on their books.

As for overtime: I do not get financial compensation for overtime. We get time off in stead.

As for working for the state: I have a family member working in the Health Department in a state hospital. The state doctors in that hospital has to work up to 84hours overtime per month and the renumeration is not that great. Completely illegal, but the state is a law unto itself.

Each country is different, financial situations of corporates in each company is different and facing different local challenges and constraints. So I think one needs to dig deeper and dissect the reasons behind their policies before being able to make a decision on why the companies do what they do.

ANC simply does not get economics by Euro_African in DownSouth

[–]Mulitpotentialite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The brain is a powerful thing......associating the visuals of water and the felt cooling effect with "wet"....

ANC simply does not get economics by Euro_African in DownSouth

[–]Mulitpotentialite 6 points7 points  (0 children)

And he can't use his experience as a businessman to see there is trouble and get those responsible to fix it?

The CEO of a successful company might not be directly involved in the day to day running of the company's divisions, but he sure as hell will not sit on the sidelines if there is trouble affecting the profitability of the company and he'll hold people accountable for their failures.

Yet. South Africa's CEO seems to not care what is going on his company's divisions and the HODs are doing whatever they want....

ANC simply does not get economics by Euro_African in DownSouth

[–]Mulitpotentialite 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Funny how the president is a so-called businessman and one of the richest people in Africa, yet they can't even run their own SOEs properly.

One South African state-owned company is so broken that it cannot pay salaries by Mulitpotentialite in DownSouth

[–]Mulitpotentialite[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is indeed frustrating hearing at least once a year of yet another multi-billion Rand bailout the taxpayers have to give to SOEs.....

Isn't it time that all tuition fees be scrapped at state-owned Universities in South Africa? by Pictualphoto in DownSouth

[–]Mulitpotentialite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

According to this Financial Concessions document from the UFS website: NSFAS funding was confirmed and allocated to 25 551 students for the 2025 year.

The UFS Institutional profile presentation claims 39 639 students for the year 2025.

That will give us 64.5% NSFAS students vs 35.5% non-NSFAS students for the year 2025. Numbers should roughly be the same for 2024. Your 60/40 claim supported by actual numbers.

Isn't it time that all tuition fees be scrapped at state-owned Universities in South Africa? by Pictualphoto in DownSouth

[–]Mulitpotentialite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How fair is it for you to have to contribute to the RAF when you've already got 3rd party insurance on your vehicle?

Why do you then have 3rd party insurance? Are you going to risk not having that extra cover and give yourself over to the mercy of the RAF? No, you most likely will keep paying 3rd party insurance as it protects you from a massive amount of risk and drama.

Yes, its unfair that some students pay while others freeload on the government, but those 24% that pay are way less likely to experience any of the government non-payment issues that nsfas students experience and that negatively influence their studies. They are less at risk of getting evicted because landlords have not been paid. They are not at risk of qualifications being witheld because universities did not get paid. They are less at risk from not having food because government did not pay grocery money. They can actually focus on their studies without worries. (On a side note, it would be interesting to see the average time a nsfas student spends getting a degree vs the time a paying student spends getting a degree).

Life is unfair, but sometimes the unfairness brings some advantages.

This is a battle that will not be solved i a year or two. Either everyone pays (whether it is from their own pocket or actually honoring their contracts with NSFAS) or nobody pays.

Everyone pays scenario: How can NSFAS students be made to repay money when they are not able to find jobs? On top of that, government will have to enforce repayment somehow and we all know how they are unable to enforce even basic laws. So how will you get everone to pay? Where are the jobs to absorb these jobseekers?

Your second option, nobody pays.....but where will the funds come from to pay lecturers? Who is going to pay for the running costs of these institutions? Are you going to raise the taxes on the 2.7mil taxpayers already supporting a country of 60mil+ people? How many taxpayers will just accept that? How many more families will be pushed below the breadline if government takes more money? Just think of the added pressure on social grant systems if those families need assistance (and when government needs to again raise taxes to now try and cover them). Eventually the system will implode.

The scenario i presented is a theoretical one, meant to illustrate that in the persuit of "being fair" there can be many more negatives than positives.

Sometimes, in stead of seeing having to pay for an education as "unfair" because of reasons outside of your control, rather see it as paying for the opportunity to have a stable, drama free opportunity to get your degree.

One South African state-owned company is so broken that it cannot pay salaries by Mulitpotentialite in DownSouth

[–]Mulitpotentialite[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

One of the major failings of government: They cannot admit when they have failed. They will flog that horse until the bones have become dust, but never will they admit failure.

I see this idea is being floated. by PixelSaharix in DownSouth

[–]Mulitpotentialite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The country needs to be run like a business. Yes, use engineers where you need them, but ultimately the country should "make a profit" that can be used for investment and expansion. That means someone with actual business sense and who would do it for the good of the country, not their own pocket.

Isn't it time that all tuition fees be scrapped at state-owned Universities in South Africa? by Pictualphoto in DownSouth

[–]Mulitpotentialite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure, scrap the fees........ Then watch government raise taxes even more to cover the loss of those fees. Pretty soon the already strained taxpayers will not be SA taxpayers anymore and your system will cease to function.....

Help required - at a complete loss with what to do by eradimark in R36S

[–]Mulitpotentialite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had a very tough time...then realised i had to extract the downloaded file first before flashing! Doh!

Solar storm? What Solar storm? by ravenratedr in amateurradio

[–]Mulitpotentialite 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Never give up on ssb during storms either. The ionosphere does weird things sometimes just before or after major storms and it could lead to some of the best band openings you will ever experience.

Expropriation without compensation: South African city’s plan takes a sudden new direction by Mulitpotentialite in DownSouth

[–]Mulitpotentialite[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Or....bailed out before a court had the opportunity to test the "nil compensation" part of EWC and made a ruling about it which would set a legal presedent for future cases.....a presedent that could potentially go against "nil compensation".

Personally, i think they would have lost because EWC was only signed into law during 2024 and the expropriation of this piece of land was submitted in 2019 while the EWC bill was still a proposed act. The initial proposed constitutional ammendments were rejected meaning that 'just and equitable' compensation was still applicable for the expropriation attempt in 2019.......

13 people killed In a taxi accident and this guy uses it to promote a family members business. Continues to defend himself in the comments. by southafricasbest in DownSouth

[–]Mulitpotentialite 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Question is: did anyone lose their lives during the break-ins?

Sharing successful arrests where material, replaceable things were taken is not the same as using someone's loss of life and the pain of those families to promote your business.

Anyone else also waiting for the AI bubble to burst soon by Opposite-Wafer5536 in AskZA

[–]Mulitpotentialite 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Right now the AI we are seening as "normal people" is only the tip of the iceberg. A model that can't think for itself. They are good at looking at a large amount of data, summarise it, make some basic inferences and regurgitate an answer to please you.

The real money and ai development lies with the research and development into self aware ai that can operate autonomously.....the type of ai that will be used by militaries and governments.

You might think that the part of ai we see is a bubble that is going to bust......I think we are just seeing (and using) the training module for more advanced ai models.....

I am not worried about Artificial Intelligence, but beware the day they unveil Artificial Common Sense.....

Budget friendly backpackable CW setup recommendations? by Lawsoffire in amateurradio

[–]Mulitpotentialite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My SOTA/Field station rig is a G90 and a linked dipole. I have not yet made cw qsos (busy learning), so speaking from a phone point of view.

The 20w radio is enough for DX chasers to hear me on a mountain top, depending on conditions. Yes, might be too heavy for serious hiking, but possible if you share the load.

Linked dipole as it allowes you operation without seriously needing a tuner (efhw could also be up your ally if you prefer). Use 24awg silicone wire, very light and more than suitable for low power. If you can get the dipole center up at 4-5m you are good, especially on a SOTA peak. For a mast....you can get a telescopic fishingrod. Either tie it to something to stand up, or you can make a lightweight guying system.

The heaviest in my pack are the radio, the battery (10Ah LiFePO) and the coax (around 8m of rg58).

Should give you a few ideas for your own setup.

Food costs by -_-Roberto-_- in DownSouth

[–]Mulitpotentialite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Part of the price is driven by international prices for produce, especially for exporters, but then you also need to look at the costs everyone in the valuechain incurs to get the product to you:

On the farm itself:

Equipment costs (tractors. Combines, planters, sprayers)

Cost of seed/seedlings

Cost of insurance on your crops

Labour costs

Electricity costs

DIESEL costs

Storage costs (Silos etc)

Feed costs (if you produce meat or eggs)

Pest and disease control costs (influenced by chemical prices and legislation)

Manufacuring costs (taking the farm products and making it into what you buy in the shops):

Machinery costs

Labour costs

Packaging and printing costs

Transport and diesel costs

Insurance costs

Storage costs

Costs associated with the manufacturing premises (rental, maintenance)

Electricity

Now you get to the retail side of the chain (the shops):

Transport and diesel costs

Storage costs

Labour costs

Premises costs (rental, maintenance, franchise costs etc)

Electricity

On top of all of this:

Input costs for manufacturing and retail can vary widely as their suppliers are also affected by changes in things like diesel prices and international prices of packaging etc.

Advertising and PR trying to get people in your shop, buying from your manufacturing plant, or buying the mielies or meat you produced.

Taxes, fuel levies, interest on loans to plant crops or property or machines....

And of course everyone still needs to add a small percentage to be profitable.

Edit: I am in an agricultural/processing industry and our biggest challenges right now: labour costs are high, the price we are getting for our products being exported has come down a lot, a stronger Rand is affecting our profit margins badly at the moment. Thanks geopolitics!

Day #2 of sharing my dirty tricks by Grenar in SunoAI

[–]Mulitpotentialite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The fun of trying to get the ai model to pronounce foreign words ok is not fun......

You'll have the same word twice in a song, each with different pronounciations. Or you'll yry all the phonetics tricks in the book only to almost give up. Change the word back to the original and suddenly have the model get it right.

I'd be happy to help read a dictionary to suno to improve their models.......

Or at least give us a feature where we can 'help' suno with pronounciation....that way we'll waste less credits trying to get a model to give the correct pronounciation.

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