Latest news with #VanHeerden
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NZ watchdog mulls tightening grocery rules to create fairer playing field
New Zealand's competition regulator is proposing measures to create a fairer playing field between emerging grocery producers and the major supermarkets. In a two-pronged initiative, the Commerce Commission is also concerned that smaller grocery retailers face a disadvantage over their more dominant counterparts when it comes to securing competitive prices from large suppliers. The Commission presented its findings today (5 June) following a review of the Grocery Supply Code and is reaching out for feedback before it publishes its final report in September. "If the Commission doesn't see meaningful progress in 12 months, it will decide if regulations should be changed," the regulator said in a statement. Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden explained: "We know the current grocery market is not serving Kiwi consumers well. The status quo lets a few major players set the rules for the rest of the industry which is negatively impacting consumers, new and expanding competitors, and small suppliers." He added: "These major players are the three main supermarkets and large national and multi-national suppliers. Their significant market share allows them to influence the settings of the market. This limits the ability for competing retailers to enter and grow in the market and often results in smaller suppliers getting an unfair deal." The draft recommendations to the Supply Code include curbing the circumstances in which supermarkets can bill suppliers for routine retail tasks, such as shelf stocking and display arrangement. Van Heerden highlighted the issue of a power disparity, saying that a "power imbalance between the major supermarkets and small suppliers creates a reluctance among suppliers to push back on supermarket demands or behaviour for fear of damaging relationships or losing access to supermarket shelves". New Zealand's grocery market is dominated by Foodstuffs and Woolworths. "The major supermarkets are the largest customers for most grocery suppliers," van Heerden said, controlling 82% of the market. The proposed modifications by the Commission would mandate supermarkets to keep records on how they are complying with the Code when undertaking "certain activities", including "negotiating promotions with suppliers and making deductions to payments without written consent". Looking into the wholesale supply of groceries, the Commission pointed out that promotional payments and rebates are generally inaccessible to newer or smaller retailers. 'A significant issue new and expanding supermarket competitors face is securing access to cost-effective groceries from large suppliers," Van Heerden said. "Competing retailers can't negotiate similar levels of support due to their weaker buying power." He also noted that the prevalent high-low pricing strategy used by New Zealand's major supermarkets is more extreme than in other countries, and a reduction in promotional dependence would result in more consistent and lower prices for consumers. 'The best option is for large suppliers and the major supermarkets to voluntarily change their behaviour. If they don't, we'll have to consider our other alternatives,' van Heerden said. "NZ watchdog mulls tightening grocery rules to create fairer playing field" was originally created and published by Just Food, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Citizen
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
‘Where character is shown': Van Heerden honoured with URC's Tackle Machine title
'It's easy for players to go and hide in defence but I think that is where character is shown,' said Stormers lock Ruben van Heerden after receiving his Tackle Machine award. With the first United Rugby Championship (URC) awards coming in, and a Stormers man receiving a top prize, we can expect to see more South Africans receiving recognition for their role played in the scintillating season we have had so far. Lock Ruben van Heerden, 27, was the first local player to receive a nod, winning the Tackle Machine award. He made 171 tackles at an incredible 98% success rate in the regular season. The URC explained that they considered all players who had attempted more than 150 tackles for this award. The 27-year-old edged Glasgow Warriors forward Rory Darge who made 160 tackles with an accuracy of 97%, as well as Hollywoodbets Sharks star Phepsi Buthelezi in third place, with 157 tackles, and a tackle accuracy of 96.82%, the organisation explained. 'I never want to be known as a guy who is inconsistent,' Van Heerden said in a video shared by the Stormers. 'There is a good quote that goes 'consistency is the only currency that matters'. So that is something I definitely take to heart… It's easy for players to go and hide in defence but I think that is where character is shown. So for me it is just a great honour.' SA players miss out Buthelezi can be proud of his tally, having played 154 minutes fewer than Van Heerden. But he may appear in the semi-finals and final, while the latter will not. Van Heerden's Stormers teammate Leolin Zas almost took the prize for top try-scorer, equaling the winner's tally of nine tries. However, Cardiff's Harri Millard played fewer minutes and so took the trophy home. Stormers fullback Warrick Gelant (118 points) and Lions star Quan Horn (111 points) also played second fiddle to Munster's Tom Farrell, who earned the Playmaker of the Season Award for creating chances leading to 158 points. Sharks flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse (108) missed out on the Golden Boot award to Ioan Lloyd of Scarlets (124 points). Who could still win URC honours? Jordan Hendrikse, Deon Fourie and Henco van Wyk are all up for the Try of the Season Award. Lions centre Van Wyk has his name in a second hat. The 24-year-old rising star is joined by teammate Quan Horn, Bulls stars Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Cameron Hanekom, and Stormers players Suleiman Hartzenberg and Andre-Hugo Venter for the Next-Gen Player of the Season Award. While Bulls boss Jake White said he hopes Wilco Louw wins the South African Player of the Season Award, Louw is joined by teammate Cameron Hanekom and Stormers mercurial back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu in the running.
NZ Herald
11-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Auckland couple's struggle after sudden job losses and redundancy payout battle
'We had a plan set up for our future, you know, buy a small freestanding property and build our own little house as I go.' Van Heerden had to sell the family's possessions to pay bills, his credit cards were maxed out, and all loan opportunities had been exhausted. 'There were times I didn't even know where our bread and milk was going to come from.' He said there were days when the family didn't eat, but he remained grateful to those who, out of the blue, provided food parcels. Some even gave cash, including, on one occasion, $500. 'I'll tell you what, $500 was like a million dollars for us.' Van Heerden also used a family inheritance to pay for living costs, meaning he now has no retirement funds as he heads towards 60. 'Twenty-five years of marriage nearly went through the window twice. I packed my bags the first time and she packed her bags the second time. 'They say that, when financial problems walk in, love walks out the back door, but we stood together and we put our heads together, and here we are,' he told NZME. A new life in NZ The family arrived in New Zealand from South Africa a decade ago and set up a business, Maintenance Refurbishments and Installations. Longevity first engaged van Heerden in 2021 to work as an independent contractor, until he was employed fulltime as the firm's construction operational manager in May 2023. At that point, he had to forfeit his clients, as he was the main contractor for Longevity. Elsje worked as Longevity's project assistant. In January 2024, they were called into a meeting and told on the spot that their jobs had gone, because the renovation side of the business had closed. Didi van Heerden said it was like 'having our throats cut'. The pair each raised unjustified dismissal claims with the Employment Relations Authority, before Elsje managed to settle her case. She managed to find a new job, but her income did not cover the family's living expenses. Didi was trying to get his business running again, but it was tough in a depressed climate for building. He has since been successful in his dispute with Longevity and its sole director, Anthony Corin, and was awarded a total of $207,000 in remedies for his unjustified dismissal. However, he's not counting on seeing a cent of it. 'The chances are low,' he said. An application was recently made to the High Court to liquidate Longevity, which was to be reviewed again by the court at the end of this month. The ERA thought it prudent to grant van Heerden leave to recover his wage arrears and other money from Corin personally, if Longevity defaulted on paying. The company was also ordered to pay interest on any part of the $207,408 that van Heerden had not received by the deadline this month. The remedies included $166,000 for lost remuneration, almost $5000 in lost benefit to his KiwiSaver fund, $35,000 in stress compensation, and $2000 in penalties split between the company and Corin, as second respondent. Director responsible for 'serious breaches' The ERA determined that Corin was personally responsible for Longevity's breaches of van Heerden's employment agreement. They included the company unlawfully deducting $3000 from his final pay, without telling him, and failing to pay him for his last day of work. Authority member Rachel Larmer said they were 'serious breaches of minimum code legislation'. She said the penalty imposed needed to signal to all employers the importance of adhering to minimum obligations, the most important of which was paying employees correctly and on time. 'Longevity acted in a high-handed and unlawful manner by failing to pay an employee whom it had just made redundant correctly and on time,' Larmer said. She said it was not until the authority became involved that van Heerden was repaid the $3000 deducted. Corin told NZME he intended to appeal against the decision and that he would 'not be paying' van Heerden a cent. 'It [the decision] is completely over the top. The company ran out of work and I kept them on as long as possible while trying to find work while informing them of the situation on a daily basis,' Corin claimed. Larmer said that Corin told van Heerden at the January redundancy meeting that he could become an independent contractor, but then failed to follow through on it. The next month, Corin offered van Heerden the position of site manager on a specific project. However, after van Heerden questioned aspects of the role, he was told the company had changed its mind, and Corin withdrew the offer. Corin told NZME the 'punishment does not fit the crime' and alleged he had been framed by earlier media coverage. Van Heerden described his unsuccessful job searching since as 'soul-destroying'. Being rejected was hard, but getting no response was worse. 'The market is so flooded. There are thousands of people looking for work. Instead of maybe 10 good operation managers to choose from, they've now got 1000 to choose from.' Van Heerden said the building industry was also in a downturn. 'Everybody's closing doors, or scaling down.' He said the family missed South Africa, but had no intention of returning. 'We're here for the long haul. I mean, there's nothing to go back to.'
The Citizen
07-05-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
South Africa's retirement time bomb is ticking…
Even people who have retirement plans say they will have to continue working after reaching retirement age because they cannot save enough. South Africa is sitting on a retirement time bomb, with only 6% of the country's population on track to retire comfortably, while half of the country's adult population (49.2%) is living below the poverty line. According to the sixth edition of 10X Investments' Retirement Reality Report 2023/2024 based on the findings of the 2023 Brand Atlas Survey, the majority of South Africans have not formally planned for retirement and of those who have are not confident that they are on track to support themselves for the long-term considering inflationary pressures and the economic climate. Brand Atlas tracks and measures the lifestyles of 15.4 million economically active South Africans, defined as those living in households with a monthly income of more than R6 000, older than 16 with, internet access through online completion surveys. Tobie van Heerden, chief executive officer of 10X Investments, says this year's survey shows that there has been little fundamental change in South Africans' inclination or ability to plan for retirement compared to the findings from last year's report, although there was an increase in the number of people recognising the importance of having a retirement plan in place. Consumer confidence, as measured by the FNB/BER Consumer Confidence Index, has been negative since the last quarter of 2019. When Covid-19 hit, it dropped to a record -33 points, recovered to about -10 points in 2021, but dropped again, hovering around -20 points in 2022 and the first half of 2023. ALSO READ: The three phases of retirement and how to maintain your quality of life Big difference between expectations and realities of retirement 'The difference between what South Africans expect their retirement to look like and the realities faced by those in retirement and approaching it cannot be underestimated. Knowledge and information are key to closing the expectation-reality gap. 'It will be in the long-term interest of South Africans to be better informed about the importance of saving, the power of compound interest, the consequences of not saving, the additional disadvantages that women need to overcome and the impact of costs,' he says. About half of the respondents who had a retirement plan indicated that their plans were 'probably' or 'definitely' on track, with some variation across age groups. It is significant that 29% of the respondents older than 50 indicated that their plans were 'definitely not' or 'probably not' on track. Van Heerden warns that it is extremely difficult to correct any deficit in savings after reaching 50, and then you must invest at least 30% to 40% of your monthly salary in retirement savings to comfortably retire. ALSO READ: South Africa's real retirement age? 80! People are unable to save for retirement Almost three quarters of the respondents (72%) whose plans were not on track gave 'I am not able to save enough' as a reason. Van Heerden says this ties in with reasons given for not having a retirement plan in the first place, where 70% of the respondents without a plan agreed with the sentence 'I cannot afford to save, I have nothing left over at the end of the month'. Van Heerden says the survey responses underline the harsh economic realities for the majority of South African consumers. 'Year after year, we see a large proportion of respondents who have a partial or strong view that they will need to continue earning a living after their formal retirement date.' Only 37% of the respondents who do have a retirement plan could give a definitive answer on the costs, as an annual percentage of assets, of their retirement investments. Another 37% had no idea what the costs on their investments were, while 13% believed that the fee depended on performance and 13% believed they were not being charged at all. ALSO READ: Warning! The retirement savings gap is widening in South Africa Concern that women are saving even less Van Heerden also points out that there are concerns about women's financial health. 'Over the years, women have consistently been rated lower than men in most metrics concerning financial wellbeing and retirement planning.' Half (49%) of all female respondents to the survey indicated that they do not have a retirement plan, compared to 43% of the male respondents. More than double (11%) the number of men said they were diligently following a well-conceived retirement plan, compared to only 5% of women. However, women (30%) tend to save more than men (26%), while men tend to invest more (24%) than women (14%). Van Heerden says although a prudent, cautious approach to investing as demonstrated in the report findings is admirable, it may ultimately be to women's detriment, as only higher-risk investments, such as listed equities, can deliver inflation-beating growth over the long-term. ALSO READ: We are living longer – how to plan for a long retirement Other factors affecting people's ability to save for retirement He also points out that stagnant gross domestic product (GDP) growth, large-scale retrenchments and the impact of Covid-19 resulted in people increasingly changing their jobs. According to the report, 56% of working people changing jobs admitted to cashing in their retirement savings. Fewer people are able to retire on their own terms, Van Heerden says. 'In the 2021 report this figure was 70% but this year it dropped to 60%, one of the most significant statistics to come out of the survey. 'This trend reflects the challenging economic times we live in, indicating an increase in employers compelling their older workers to take early-retirement packages.' The survey showed that only just over a third (35%) of the retirees who had saved for retirement indicated that they were 'fairly' or 'very confident' that their savings would last. It is also significant that 2% of retirees who participated in the survey said they had already run out of savings, meaning they were relying either on family or state support.
The Citizen
04-05-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
Colour Cup race thrills Polokwane crowd
POLOKWANE – The Polokwane Oval Raceway was abuzz with excitement on Saturday as it hosted the Colour Cup Piet Venter Memorial race, drawing both seasoned and up-and-coming drivers from across South Africa. The oval track came alive with the sound of revving engines as drivers arrived early to warm up their vehicles and prepare for the high-octane competition. Adding to the thrill of the day was special guest Danie 'Pitbull' van Heerden, a world-ranked super heavyweight power slap athlete who travelled from Pretoria to attend the event. Currently ranked fourth globally, Van Heerden was warmly welcomed by fans of all ages, who eagerly lined up for photos and autographs before he joined spectators to enjoy the action on the track. Event organiser Susan van Jaarsveldt expressed her gratitude to the sponsors and supporters who made the day possible. 'A huge shout-out and thank you to our sponsors – Dunlop Zone Tyre Rack in Dahl Street, Midas Capricorn, QSV, Blue Fish, Maizeys, Capricom Networks, Mobile Marketing, and Polokwane Truck and Car – as well as to all officials involved in making the day a success. A very special thank you to Danie for honouring the event with his presence.' At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
