Conflict Dynamics

Blog and Opinions

Conflict management skills and workplace mediation and well-being at work

01 December 2022

Employee well-being is a key factor in determining an organisation's long-term effectiveness. Many studies show a direct link between productivity levels and the general health and well-being of the workforce.

Recommended reading on mental health and well-being in the workplace

24 November 2022

Vanessa Botha

So, here are five great reads to consider if you are wanting to learn how to personally work, and support a team, in a healthier way.

Generational Diversity and Mental Health, Occupational Health and Safety Obligations

15 November 2022

Amandla Makhongwana

The workplace is changing significantly as new trends are emerging, including the focus on mental health. Mental health can be impaired by various factors including a workplace that does not understand the diversity of its employees and/or a toxic workplace. As a start, it is important that we understand the diverse generations that are at play in the workplace. In the modern workplace, we have five generations, being: the Traditionalists, the Baby Boomers, the Generation Xers, the Millennials and Generation Z.

Mediating International Disputes in Africa

25 October 2022

Chris Todd

In 2021, M&A deals with sub-Saharan African involvement were recorded at USD130 billion, four times the 2020 level and the highest recorded to date. Greater use of mediation in international disputes would serve African economies well and would also benefit those investing in them.

Has the Time for Investor-State Mediation Come?

25 October 2022

Wolf von Kumberg

With the signing of the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (the "Singapore Convention on Mediation") in Singapore in August 2019, mediation has been given new credibility as an international process for the resolution of disputes.

Our Mediation Heritage

19 September 2022

September marks Heritage Month in South Africa, with National Heritage Day celebrated on 24 September. On this day, South Africans are encouraged to embrace what we inherited from our ancestors, to celebrate our history and cultural roots together as one nation.

The 2022 Collective Bargaining Journey So Far and Where to Next?

25 August 2022

Vanessa Botha

So here we are, 8 months into 2022 post-Covid South Africa and well into the collective bargaining season. If we were to insert a hypothetical thermometer into our current labour relations landscape, where on the continuum of “stable and healthy” to “head immediately for the emergency room” would we find ourselves?

Case law - Code of Good Practice: Collective Bargaining

23 August 2022

Ingrid Lewin

There are very few cases relating specifically to the collective bargaining stipulations in the Code. Most of the cases relative to the Code involve misconduct during a picket and the breach of picketing rules.

Where are we at with Collective Bargaining so far this year?

23 August 2022

William Thomson

South Africa is currently facing one of its most difficult and challenging periods as the leadership of the social partners from the public and the private sectors meet across negotiating tables to negotiate with each other with very little room for flexibility.

You Strike a Woman, you Strike a Rock

27 July 2022

Robin Monakali

August marks Women’s month, a time in which we commemorate the iconic freedom fighters and political activists who fought in the struggle against apartheid. Women’s month is also a time when we empower, honour, and celebrate the beauty, courage, strength and resilience of South African women and the role they play in society.

Harassment in the Workplace

19 June 2022

Ingrid Lewin

Now that employers and employers have been provided with clear guidelines on how other forms of harassment which persist in the workplace must be handled, including an injunction in the Code that employers adopt a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of harassment, one can only hope that they have the same effect.

Uniform Rule 41A (Mediation as a dispute resolution mechanism)

25 May 2022

John Jeffery

Marion Shaer met with representatives of the Rules Board and of the Department of Justice to discuss their views on how Rule 41A will facilitate more effective access to justice in the Magistrates and High Courts.

Weaponizing Rule 41A

24 May 2022

Hendrik Kotze

I recently had a conversation with an attorney who has been in litigation practice for a good 10 years. With me being a mediator, our conversation eventually turned to Rule 41A. I asked how this Rule was impacting her practice. She was quick to respond that everyone has now adapted to the new Rule.

Rule 41A: The Promise of Mediation and the Role of the South African Courts

23 May 2022

Judge Roland Sutherland

The true value in mediation is in the techniques that mediators use to trigger fissures in the impasse of a particular dispute, and the intrinsic bias towards a fair result. Measures to encourage disputants to use mediation should emphasize the character of mediation as a technique suitable for a particular dispute; ie mediation as a professional intervention possessing role-specific attributes.

Collective Bargaining in South Africa : Post-COVID

24 April 2022

Andrew Levy

The past few years have changed the face of the SA workplace and have been difficult for everyone on all fronts. Whilst the signs are pointing to a return to normality, with the worst ravages of Covid and the associated lockdown period behind us, do we have cause to be optimistic for the future – particularly from a labour point of view?

Opportunities for mediation in the tertiary education sector

14 March 2022

In some respects, the tertiary education sector is little different from other sectors in the economy. There are a variety of stakeholders with seemingly competing interests and limited resources, and the usual potential for conflicts and disputes. These are opportunities for mediated outcomes.

Transforming schools into collaborative and problem-solving communities

14 March 2022

James Taylor

In South Africa, issues such as bullying, racism, sexism, exclusion, victimisation, misbehaviour and violence are a growing crisis in our school system. Despite the clear frameworks and discipline guidelines, there are very few programmes being implemented so that schools effectively deal with conflict in more suitable ways.

Managing Employees Remotely: Strategies and Solutions

14 February 2022

Ingrid Lewin

Although restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic are beginning to ease and more people are now returning to work at their employer’s premises, many employers have realised that there are significant advantages to allowing those who can, to continue working from home. In any event, in terms of current regulations, an employer must still ensure that those who can work from home, do so.

I'm a lawyer, why do I need to know about mediation?

24 January 2022

Chris Todd

In South Africa, evolving standards of corporate governance best practice, growing judicial support for mediation in appropriate circumstances, and the introduction of Rule 41A of the High Court Rules leave no room for doubt that commercial litigators now have a duty to explain to clients what opportunity mediation presents for resolving their dispute. Parties must necessarily be empowered to make informed decisions on their approach to mediation either when instituting or defending proceedings.

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