Browsing by Author "Olivier, Marius"

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    Activation in the context of the unemployment insurance system in South Africa
    (Juta Law Publishing, 2011-01) Govindjee, Avinash; Olivier, Marius; Dupper, Ockert
    The main aim of labour market activation policies is to bring jobless people from unemployment or inactivity into work or, at the very least, to influence the employment prospects of the unemployed positively. Activation schemes typically make benefit receipt conditional upon job search activities, acceptance of available job offers and participation in training activities. This article addresses the appropriate role of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) in the establishment of activation in South Africa. It focuses on a number of principled and practical considerations and constraints that challenge the use of activation mechanisms, such as the fragmentation of the existing legal and institutional frameworks, the lack of available employment opportunities and human rights considerations. It is argued that the limited and short-term impact of the UIF, its strong labour-market orientation and its inability to appropriately contribute to preventing and combating unemployment or to reintegrate the unemployed into the labour market all point to the urgent need to reform the UIF. The gaps in the current unemployment insurance system are highlighted, as is the need to enhance the relationship between the unemployment insurance system and (appropriate) activation measures. The role of existing social security and employment creation initiatives in this dynamic is also considered. In particular, the absence of a link between those excluded from the UIF and the activation mechanisms introduced by the Skills Development Act 97 of 1998 is underscored. Proposals contained in the Employment Services Bill are also evaluated. It is suggested that an expanded form of employment services provision, incorporating a network of labour centres, ought to receive prioritisation in the South African context. This must be coupled with a move to consolidate the various available governmental databases in terms of which unemployed persons may register as job-seekers. The creation of an enabling framework to achieve such goals would require a variety of legislative changes, some of which are discussed in the article.
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    The conceptual design and development of novel low cost sensors for measuring the relative light emission in the pre-millisecond stages of detonating explosive charges
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012-12) Olivier, Marius; Perold, W. J.; Mostert, F. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: During the course of the CSIR’s research into the characterisation of explosive sources to devise methods of active intervention against threats, the need has arisen to research a particular means of early identification of the threat, which is the intense light flash during the threat detonation. For this purpose, a low cost rugged fast optical sensor was sought, since the application thereof would imply possible destruction, especially if integrated into an active intervention system later on. Given the average time of about 1ms available for intervention, it is clear that the active intervention system needs to operate within that period, hence the interest in the characteristic light emission of detonations in the pre-millisecond time frame. It was thought that by characterising this emitted light in terms of wavelength (temperature) and amplitude (and maybe other unique phenomena), the size of the threat could be determined and logic decisions derived therefrom. Needless to say, the environment in which the detonation light emission sensor is to operate, is extremely hostile in terms of shock, dust, flying debris, fast rise time of the explosive event, and Electro-magnetic Interference ( EMI) caused by the detonation itself. It must be noted that the light sensor research was driven by the outcome of research tests performed in aid of the development of an active intervention system. During this research the possibility of using commercially available low cost optical detectors at room temperature in combination with cost effective narrow band pass op- tical filters for the relative measurement of the light emission at discrete wavelengths during explosive detonation events were investigated. In 2006, not much applicable lit- erature could be found on this subject, hence the educated “shot-in-the-dark” approach then, which, by a systematic approach of explosive tests and continuous evaluation up to 2011, led to a surprisingly simple and robust low cost optical sensor. The research commenced with a range of optical detector elements selected for their responsivity and bandwidth in the optical spectrum of interest; the optical filtering by means of the recording of the emitted light signal during scaled down explosive tests at the Blast Impact Survivability Research Unit (BISRU) at the University of Cape Town. These tests were followed by full-scale tests at DBEL, and confirmed the findings at BISRU that the light emissions at the longer wavelengths (>2 m) manifest themselves too late for use within the intervention time frame. It was therefore decided to concentrate on the ultra-violet (UV) to near infra-red (NIR) spectrum of the emitted light for further full scale tests, since these discrete spectra showed the most promise for characterisa- tion of the emitted light. During this period a robust sensor housing with detector and filter mounts was designed for protection against blast shock and EMI. During the following years, certain types of optical detectors that were used during previous tests were eliminated according to results obtained, and more discrete narrow band pass filters added in the visible to NIR spectrum. A dedicated fast instrumen- tation amplifier (bandwidth > 1MHz and selectable gain up to 40dB) was developed to amplify weak signals (mainly caused by the heavy load in the detector circuit to improve rise times). However, the emission of light per wavelength in this region was measured to be relatively strong, and actually not as fast as was anticipated. This meant that the load resistor value of the detector element could be increased without affecting the signal negatively (bandwidth sufficient), thus adding to the amplitude of the signal to such a point that amplification in a 10m to 30 meter stand-off scenario was no longer needed. This culminated in an unamplified universal detector element being used with various narrow band pass filters up to 1 m, integrated as a very robust analog sensor at a discrete wavelength, and facilitating the direct comparison of light amplitude/relative intensity of the detonation at discrete spectral points. The sensor was employed in the field at various full scale explosive tests at DBEL, which led to the capture of a vast amount of light emitted data for different types of explosives, at various distances from the detonation, and of varying mass. Analysis of this data showed that the broadband light intensity of the emitted light scales to the explosive mass1/3 (as published by FJ Mostert and M Olivier in the Journal for Applied Physics, October 2011). Further analysis also confirmed the attenuation of the emitted light intensity by the square of the distance. Besides the aforesaid, various other key inputs to a possible active intervention algorithm have been identified. These findings are inputs to the determination of i.a. the detonation threat size, a vital component in the active intervention algorithm. The results of these experiments confirmed that the final low cost analog sensor can measure relative light emission at discrete wavelengths from detonation of explosives in the very early stages of development, and that the sensor has many other applications in the detonics research fields as well.
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    Extending coverage of the unemployment insurance-system in South Africa
    (Juta Law Publishing, 2010-02) Dupper, Ockert; Olivier, Marius; Govindjee, Avinash
    The scope of the Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA) is narrow as it continues to exclude the atypically employed (particularly independent contractors, so-called dependent contractors and those who are self-employed or informally employed), public servants, learners, and certain categories of migrant workers from its purview. Given the vulnerable position of these groups, it is arguable that South Africa should, as a matter of principle, broaden the scope of coverage to include them. While the importance of including all the currently excluded groups cannot be denied, it is acknowledged that it will not be financially feasible to include all of the groups at once. In prioritising the groups most urgently in need of inclusion, two important factors are taken into consideration. Firstly, the exclusion of certain groups may be vulnerable to constitutional challenge. The exclusion of, in particular, public servants and migrant workers fall into this category. This article proceeds from the standpoint that priority should be given to the inclusion of those currently excluded from the UIA where the exclusion raises concerns of a constitutional nature. Secondly, including some groups may possibly have no or negligible financial impact on the financial viability of the Fund, and their inclusion should therefore be supported. In this regard, the return of contributions to undocumented migrants, the inclusion of learners and the inclusion of the partially unemployed come to mind. However, this article also recognises that some of the recommendations made may have a significant impact on the solvency levels of the Fund, and that it may not be possible to accommodate all of them immediately. This relates in particular to the introduction of unemployment benefits to employees who resign to take care of children or to care for a terminally ill family member (the so-called “carer’s benefit”).
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    Redesigning the South African Unemployment Insurance Fund : selected key policy and legal perspectives
    (Juta Law Publishing, 2011-01) Olivier, Marius; Dupper, Ockert; Govindjee, Avinash
    This contribution examines selected issues from a policy and legal perspective. Against the background of the broader social security reform agenda in South Africa and the vision of a comprehensive social security system, the contribution covers five key areas, namely alignment with international standards; the need to develop synergies with the rest of the social security system and for institutional reform and alignment; addressing certain material deficiencies and inconsistencies in the UIF legislation (with reference to removing the restriction on certain contributors to benefit and redefining the range of dependants); re-aligning the current UIF benefit regime to focus on loss of employment; and improving the UIF benefit regime through the introduction of standardised measures and other reforms (with reference to the indexation of benefits, utilising a minimum wage arrangement as a basis for benefit enhancement, adjusting the contribution rate and developing a streamlined adjudication framework). It is argued that complying with relevant international standards will move South Africa closer to be in a position to ratify these instruments, in particular ILO Convention 102 of 1952 on minimum standards in social security. Ample opportunity exists to introduce streamlined approaches in among others the collection of contributions and shared benefit payment facilities and arrangements, and the harmonisation of benefits. However, particular considerations and substantive constraints define and circumscribe the extent and content of the alignment of the UIF that is currently considered. These relate in particular to the compensation function of the UIF; its role as a labour market instrument; and the need to recognise unemployment insurance as a separate risk category with a ringfenced contribution and benefit regime framework. It should also be considered to separate unemployment insurance benefits in the strict sense of the word (ie benefits accruing to a beneficiary as a result of loss of employment) from unemployment-related benefits such as sickness, maternity and adoption benefits.