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Marking a 30-year milestone
Lorna Jones and PCB CEO Melanie Veness.

Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business stalwart Lorna Jones recently celebrated a milestone few employees can boast, a 30-year anniversary at the same company. Jones joined the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 1989, before its amalgamation with the Midlands Black Business Council and the Afrikaanse Sakekamer in 2002, to form the PCB. She also served the organisation under three CEOs.

   
   
 
     
  Today in History  
     
 

1971: A 30-metre high wave destroys a Peruvian mining camp and kills hundreds after a massive rock avalanche crashing into Lake Yanahuani from a height of 400 metres causes a tsunami.

Remember those awkward and embarrassing moments you’d rather forget? Well, today is Awkward Moments Day ...

 
     
  News worth knowing  
     
 

STAGE FOUR LOAD SHEDDING COMING YOUR WAY FROM 9 AM TODAY

Eskom will implement stage four load shedding until at least tomorrow as the effects of the tropical cyclone in Mozambique and problems at the company’s power plants continue to put severe pressure on the national power grid. Eskom said last night that stage four rotational power cuts will be implemented today from 9am to 11pm “due to a shortage of capacity”. Stage four requires 4GW of power to be cut from the grid, while stage two involved removing 2GB of capacity. During stage four, only 80% of South Africa’s power demand is being met. (Moneyweb)

 
 

BRACE FOR MORE FUEL HIKES

South African motorists are still reeling from this month’s substantial fuel price increases of 74 cents a litre for petrol and 93 cents for diesel, but there is more on the way thanks to a deadly cocktail of high oil prices, weak currency and additional taxes. The additional fuel levies that take effect at the beginning of April, as well as mid-month fuel price data supplied by the department of energy, point to the cost of petrol increasing by around R1.18 a litre, while diesel should rise by 90 cents a litre, according to the Automobile Association. (IOL)

 
 

COURT SMACKS DOWN SECONDARY MINING STRIKE

SA’s labour court has prevented a secondary strike across the country’s gold, platinum and vanadium industries, ruling that such an action would be unprotected. The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) said it would appeal against the judgment. Amcu had called for the seven-day secondary or sympathy strikes across a range of companies to support its 14 000 striking members at Sibanye-Stillwater’s three gold mines, who downed tools on November 21 in demand of higher wages. Sibanye has steadfastly said it will not entertain any increase in wages for Amcu because it has already signed a wage deal with three other unions. There is a process under way to determine whether Amcu holds a narrow majority of workers at Kloof, Driefontein and Beatrix, or if the other three unions have since become the majority. (BDLive)

 
 

COROBRIK THROWS ITS WEIGHT BEHIND KZN ARCHITECTS

Corobrik’s support of architecture has been extended with the sponsorship of the SAIA-KZN First Thursdays - a monthly programme that showcases the work of local architects. The inaugural programme was launched at The Heritage House in Glenwood, Durban, last week. The programme, started by SAIA-KZN in conjunction with the First Thursdays network, will comprise an architectural exhibition, film screening and discussion all centred on a new theme every month. March’s theme, Changing Colour, is an extension of the work by black South African architects which featured in the Changing Colour journal. (IOL)

 
 

SUSPECT DEALS COME TO HAUNT STEINHOFF

For 20 years, global retailer Steinhoff International thrived off deal-making — from the US and the UK to South Africa and Europe. Now, some of those transactions are back in the spotlight, and not in a good way. The long-awaited summary of PwC’s more than 3 000-page forensic investigation into Steinhoff’s activities has identified what it described as fictitious and irregular transactions with parties that appeared to be closely related to the same small group of people. Irregular transactions with eight firms not tied to the Steinhoff group from 2009 and 2017 amounted to 6.5 billion euros (about R106 billion), the 10-page PwC summary released on Friday showed. The summary did not name the deals the auditing firm had found to be questionable, but said they fell into four categories, including profit and asset creation, asset overstatement and reclassification, asset and entity support, and contributions. (Bloomberg)

 
 

DIDATA LOOKS TO CUT UMBILICAL CORD

Senior managers at Dimension Data are considering a buyout of some of the South African IT services company’s operations from its owner, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone. It is understood the executives are approaching lenders and investors to raise cash for a possible deal for Dimension’s Africa and Middle East operations, which could be valued at about US$800 million (about R11.6 billion). A transaction could lead to a re-listing of Dimension, the people said. If the approach is successful,  it is reported. Dimension’s management would also take control of Internet Solutions, a Johannesburg-based provider of cloud hosting services. The plans were first reported by TechCentral. (Bloomberg)

 
 

GLENCORE CLEARS FINAL HURDLE IN CHEVRON DEAL

The Competition Tribunal on Friday approved with conditions Glencore's proposed US$973 million (about R14.3 billion) acquisition of Chevron Corp's subsidiary in South Africa. The tribunal said there must be no job cuts at Chevron South Africa as a result of the merger for five years, the unit must invest R6 billion rand in a refinery in the country, and its head office must remain in South Africa. (Reuters)

 
 

AFRICA IN FRONTLINE AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

Africa’s soaring population, estimated at more than 2.2 billion people by the United Nations, is likely to put further pressure on regions already susceptible to drought and could overburden the creaking infrastructure of many of the continent’s urban hubs. A report from risk consultants Verisk Maplecroft in 2018 said that two-thirds of cities in Africa face extreme risk of climate change threats. “If cities don’t develop taking into account what climate will be 10, 20, 30, 40 years down the road it can be quite catastrophic for the populations,” said World Bank head Kristalina Georgieva. She said governments could proliferate policies that make it easier for companies to invest in renewables, waste management and habitat protection — and reap economic rewards by doing so. For example, across Africa — a continent not short of the sun — solar makes up just 1.5%  of energy production. (AFP)

 
 

… AS SCHOOL CHILDREN MARCH TO DEMAND GOVERNMENTS TAKE ACTION

Tens of thousands of school students around the world walked out of classes on Friday in a global strike to protest against government inaction on climate change. "Climate change is worse than Voldemort," read a handmade sign carried by one student in Wellington, referring to the evil wizard in the Harry Potter books and films. Student protests across the globe, from Wellington in New Zealand, to Paris, Madrid, Rome, Brussels and across the United States. The worldwide student strike movement started in August 2018, when 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg began protesting outside her parliament on school days. She has since been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. On Friday, she spoke at a Stockholm demonstration. "We have only been born into this world, we are going to have to live with this crisis our whole lives. So will our children and grandchildren and coming generations," Thunberg said. "We are not going to accept this. We are striking because we want a future and we are going to carry on." (Reuters)

 
 

MORE NEWS, NOTICES AND APPEALS


MASSIVE BLOOD DRIVE PLANNED FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

The South African National Blood Service is implementing a mass blood drive on Human Rights Day, on Thursday, March 21, to recruit new donors and ensure there is sufficient stock of safe blood available in South Africa. SANBS hopes to achieve a target of 1 500 units of blood in KZN. “Currently less than 1% of South Africans donate blood even though it demands little more than giving up 30 minutes of their time at least twice a year,” said SANBS regional marketing manager Sifiso Khoza. Blood clinics will be hosted throughout the province on the day, and In Pietermaritzburg, the clinic in Jabu Ndlovu (Loop Street), will be open from 8 am to 4pm, while donation centres will be in place at Liberty Midlands Mall and Brookside Mall from 9 am to 4 pm. For more information, see  www.sanbs.org.za or call 0800 11 90 31.

 
     
  Advertorial  
     
   
 

Exceptional Customer Service..and More

 

Connect with that Customer in  90 Seconds!

10 ways to make a Strong First Impression!

 

Tuesday 9 April 2019
8.30 - 1 pm
Chamber House, Royal Showgrounds
Costs : R675 pp, R640 pp for 3 more, R590 pp for 5 more.

 

Bookings: 031 563 4302; 082 820 2412; Maureen@trainsmart.co.za

 

The greatest way to make a positive impression is to demonstrate that the customer is the centre of attention.

 

Create an immediate connection that results in trust and rapport. We need good relationships.

 

The Benefits of Connecting:

  • Communicating for Service Excellence in the workplace - verbal , non-verbal, communication with staff, supervisors, management and customers.
  • Moments of Truth - any episode in which a customer comes into contact with any aspect of the organization and gets an impression of the quality of its service.
  • Attitude and Behaviour in the Workplace.
  • Telephone Skills - answer that phone in 3 rings and smile.
  • Adapting to change - handling the difficult customer - go that extra mile.
  • Absenteeism and Presenteeism in the workplace - staff not working to full potential.
  • Remember - The Customer is King (DVD).
  • Building effective teams is the basis of Service Excellence. Remember Commit to the team.
 
     
  QUOTE  
     
 
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Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. 

Francis of Assisi

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