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This article examines the regulation of labor in the context of artificial intelligence (AI) in Eastern and Southern Africa, with a focus on South Africa and Kenya. It identifies two main concerns: the regulation of labor for African workers engaged in low-end AI work and the sharing of information in authoritarian states and its impact on organized labor and civil society. The article also discusses the lack of regulation for low-end AI work, such as data janitorial work, and the potential biases and negative effects of AI on women in sectors like fintech. It provides country-specific examples, including the use of AI in South Africa's healthcare and transportation systems, as well as the limited attention given to AI by established unions. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of responsible AI practices and addressing regulatory concerns while harnessing the economic potential of AI. In South Africa, the call center industry is at risk of job loss due to AI, and the lack of AI policy and regulation exacerbates this issue. In Kenya, the development of a strong Fintech sector based on AI technologies has led to financial inclusion but also raises concerns about data privacy and protection. The article also highlights the emergence of union-like organizations in Kenya to represent workers in the digital platform economy. Overall, AI regulation in Africa is incomplete, and progress towards informal regulation has been uneven. [Extracted from the article]

This review article supplements and extends earlier reviews on the state and practice of HRM and employment in Africa, encompassing earlier landmark empirical studies. Work published from 2014 is reviewed and concentrated on. Recent empirical concerns have centred on MNE HR practices, and ones from emerging markets; this reflects changing patterns of FDI and the decline of African large firms. There has been persistent interest in indigenous modes of management. The study accords particular focus to South Africa, given the relative volume of work published on that country. In theoretical terms, there has been an interest on comparative institutional analysis, and how this explains similarity and diversity in HRM; we explore present theoretical controversies and future research directions. The conclusion is that recent literature on HRM, and work and employment in Africa remains fragmented in scale, scope, and in terms of reaching distinct scholarly communities; the article argues for theoretical synthesis, and increased dialogue between different disciplines. Despite the undeniable heterogeneity of studies, a key divide at theoretical and applied levels is between studies that focus on unique contextual features, encompassing culture and material circumstances, and those that locate HR in Africa within broad trends in the global political economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the attempt in a democratic South Africa to shift from an adversarial class struggle approach (with heavy racial overtones) towards a more participatory and cooperative industrial relations system based on workplace forums. The authors argue that the experiment failed because this attempt at institutional transfer from the successful system of German co-determination did not take sufficient account of the specific social and economic context of South Africa's distinct industrial relations system. The majority of organized workers in South Africa have over the past three decades opted for engagement with employers on the basis of a union agenda and union independence in order to transform and democratize the workplace. At the centre of this strategy has been the shop steward as the instrument for worker participation at plant level. However, the ethnographic account of participation at plant level suggests that workers feel disempowered and unable to significantly shape decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to provide explanations for why a spectacular strike (in 2012) at Kumba Iron Ore's Sishen mine followed after the highest Employee Share Ownership Programme (ESOP) linked pay-out of dividends to workers in South African history. It is argued that a hidden transcript challenged the company's official version of the ESOP and that some workers saw a political opportunity shortly after the events at Marikana and subsequent wage dispute settlements outside the ordinary collective bargaining procedures. The context for this was an approach to ESOPs that involved shares held in trust, but funded by loans dependent on future income, as well as contestation over the ownership of mineral rights at the mine by a politically influential rival firm. To this end, the ESOP was politicised in public debates. The situation was aggravated by a divided union branch. The functioning of the ESOP and how workers experienced it are analysed by means of publically available documents and primary research. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the case study for ESOPs in the mining industry as a form of ownership diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A series of illustrated examples is presented here to demonstrate the capabilities of ground-level monitoring using InSAR (interferometric synthetic aperture radar). Greater London is an ideal area to demonstrate and validate measurements derived using InSAR; its continuous urban fabric and the regular acquisition of SAR images from high-resolution sensors, such as TerraSAR-X, allows detection and monitoring of over 1.7 million measurement points with millimetre-scale accuracy. The results, some of which are shown here, reveal fascinating spatial and temporal patterns of ground motion across London and demonstrate the benefit of using high-resolution InSAR technologies in engineering applications. Interpreting the motion patterns can be challenging, however, owing to their complex and sometimes mysterious causes; we therefore welcome any assistance in doing so and we hope this photographic feature serves to trigger interest. Thematic collection: This article is part of the Measurement and monitoring collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/measurement-and-monitoring [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa is characterised by extremely high unemployment, at a level that has the potential to derail its future political stability. This paper explores constraints on the job creation capabilities of micro and small enterprises, specifically focusing on the consequences of existing institutional and regulatory frameworks, looking at a panel of firms within the manufacturing sector. This study revealed that most of the small firms interviewed were locked into a ‘coping mode’, and were extremely reluctant to expand, which owners ascribed to inappropriate regulation, outright regulatory failures and/or poor labour relations. At the same time, many employers openly admitted to not adhering to at least some labour regulations. At a theoretical level, it is argued that there is much more to promoting enterprise than the formal protection of owner rights. The paper concludes with an assessment of the possibilities and challenges of the practicalities of reform. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Résumé. A partir d'entretiens, les auteurs analysent les raisons pour lesquelles de nombreuses petites entreprises d'Afrique du Sud respectent partiellement le droit du travail: elles observent plus la législation du travail que les ententes sectorielles conclues par les conseils de négociation, organes établis en vertu de la loi. Les auteurs attribuent cette sélectivité à l'attitude antisyndicale des employeurs durant la période qui a suivi l'abolition de l'apartheid. Ces conseils ciblant davantage les entreprises qui comptent de nombreux travailleurs, les PME sont réticentes à se développer et préfèrent recourir à la sous-traitance. La taille même de l'entreprise devient dès lors une variable de flexibilité. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on in-depth interviews, this study explores the reasons why many South African small businesses abide by some aspects of labour law, but not others: they generally comply with legislated labour regulations, but less so with regulations set by the statutory industry-level Bargaining Councils. Such selective engagement with the system is attributed to employer hostility to unions in the context of post-apartheid industrial relations. Since a larger workforce attracts closer scrutiny by the Councils, small firms are reluctant to expand, relying on outsourcing to increase production. The very size of the firm is thus a pliable concept, positioned between formal and informal norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]