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/ 22 February 2008
A friend in the United States who watches Barack Obama tells me that he, unusually for a politician, has Mandela-like qualities in that he acts as a unifying force, finding common ground on which to build consensus on the way forward. We could well do with someone with Mandela-like qualities now.
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/ 22 February 2008
Undoubtedly one of the budget’s highlights was the removal of exchange controls for institutional investors, all but dealing a death blow to exchange control. Under the new provisions, foreign investment will be guided by prudential investment guidelines rather than the laager mentality that has driven exchange-control legislation.
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/ 22 February 2008
The government has promised Anglo American that its mining rights will be renewed under new rules governing the industry — even as data summarised in the budget shows just how badly regulatory barriers continue to limit South Africa’s ability to cash in on the biggest commodities boom in living memory.
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/ 22 February 2008
Analysts say that Transport Minister Jeff Radebe has made all the right noises about public transport being the legacy of the 2010 World Cup and, if the budget is anything to go on, the Cabinet fully endorses his view. Trevor Manuel has allocated R6-billion to building public transport infrastructure over the next three years.
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/ 22 February 2008
Provinces will receive R238-billion this year, a whopping 16% higher than last year’s allocation. By 2010/11, provincial budgets will have doubled on their 2004/05 levels. All increases to key portfolios outstrip inflation by significant margins. But will they spend it well?
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/ 22 February 2008
Higher Education South Africa, the association of university vice-chancellors, has rejected the idea of the capping of tuition-fee income by the education department. Hesa asserts that the sector’s autonomy could be at stake. Instead, it wants a strengthening of the government’s contribution to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
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/ 22 February 2008
Johannesburg police are still looking for the perpetrators of a violent sexual assault on a woman inside a Johannesburg taxi rank last weekend. Nwabisa Ngcukana (25) was stripped naked, had alcohol poured on her head and was sexually assaulted at the Noord Street taxi rank — apparently because she was wearing a miniskirt.
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/ 22 February 2008
The South African Communist Party in the Western Cape is poised to suspend Mazibuko Jara from the party after dissolving the Cape Town Metro District structure he was serving in last weekend. This is the second time Jara has been in trouble with party structures — he was expelled from the Young Communist League two years ago.
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/ 22 February 2008
It is with glee that the organisers of the Design Indaba 2008 announced on their website that the event has been sold out for the fourth year in a row. Tickets for a “young designers” simulcast, however, were available late this week. (Strangely enough young participants include anyone over 25.)
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/ 22 February 2008
The housing war raging in Delft between about 2 000 homeless backyard dwellers and the government’s housing agent, Thubelisha Homes, the city and the police, has manifested as a racial fight between African and coloured people. But the cause of this war can be traced to the decision to build the controversial N2 Gateway housing project and the political fights between the ANC and a city led by the DA.