The level of government pension funding may be cause for concern, writes Mike Metelits The level of funding of government employee pensions, along with the method of paying for these obligations, may be distorting how foreign investors look at the level of indebtedness of South Africa, and thus how they rate our future prospects and […]
Stewart Dalby Spending it It used to be said that television would see an end to newspapers, but newspapers are still with us. Similarly, the computer was supposed to herald the paperless society. What use pens, then? In fact, pens are very much with us and vintage fountain pens are now highly valuable and collectable […]
Carolize Jansen The Sports Information and Science Agency conducted an extensive and enlightening study on the participation of women in sport last year. The main objectives of the study were to obtain the number of women participating in various sports in South Africa, segment the number of these participants in categories according to, for instance, […]
Wonder Hlongwa The absence of street names and house numbers in some townships and informal settlements is a permanent inconvenience for both residents and service providers. Companies like Telkom and ambulance services rely on locals for directions to their destinies. It can be a dangerous dependency in criminal- infested townships. For residents, the inconvenience is […]
Matthew Krouse Johannesburg’s Newtown cultural precinct’s rather tarnished image as the social hub of the great African city has been amply lambasted. Suburbanites now bypass the city centre, believing it has fallen apart – especially Newtown, with its derelict buildings crowded with squatters, revelling township drunkards and stoned teenage ravers. So a visionary new scheme, […]
Economists may need a crash rethink of the basic tenets of economic orthodoxy, writes Larry Elliot Another normal week for the global economy. Russia’s on the point of financial meltdown, the Chinese government is battling to stave off devaluation, bankruptcies are up 35% in Japan, stock markets are down almost everywhere, the biggest industrial merger […]
off air Ferial Haffajee Just as viewers were starting to get used to presenter S’bu Khumalo doing his cool and chatty thing on Sunday nights, the long-awaited television arts programme, aRt, has been taken off air. aRt played out for the last time on Sunday night and will be replaced in October by a new […]
Andy Capostagno Rugby There was a moment when it became clear that South Africa could win the 1995 Rugby World Cup. It was the moment that Stephen Hilditch blew his whistle to signal the end of the match between Swansea and the Springboks on Saturday, November 5 1994; bonfire night. The final score was Swansea […]
I was at cocktail party last week when I heard the terrifying news. A notice in Scientific American reported that video games change brain chemistry. In a study conducted at the Cyclotron Unit of Hammersmith Hospital in London, Dr Paul Grasby and his fellow researchers determined that playing video games triggers the release of dopamine […]
Bryan Rostron Returning home after many years, I have discovered a rudimentary litmus test for gauging how the political land lies. Mention the name Robert McBride. A litmus test, you will recall, produces simple either/or results. In this case: a hero or villain. The reaction seldom has anything to do with McBride. It’s like holding […]