No image available
/ 25 January 2008

January 18 to 24 2008

Stand up, the real Gwede Gwede Mantashe, the ANC’s new secretary general, is commendably frank about the way the ANC thinks it is going to achieve the impossible — meeting the widespread expectations from within its own ranks for radical change while not spooking the market (‘What now for the ANC?” January 11). Mantashe expects […]

No image available
/ 25 January 2008

Tanzania’s stock exchange: Small but motivated

Almost a decade on, Tanzania’s tiny stock exchange is still working hard to convince sceptical businesses it is a cost-effective way to raise capital and expand. "The problem is that not many people understand the mechanics of the stock exchange and how it operates. That takes time," Jonathan Njau, CEO of the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), says in an interview at his downtown office.

No image available
/ 25 January 2008

Shape up or ship out, top officials told

Ministers, directors general and senior government officials are now at risk of getting the chop if they don’t improve in running their departments. This follows a decision by Cabinet not to accept the perennial excuses that departments give Parliament when called to explain their qualified audit reports, writes Mandy Rossouw.

No image available
/ 25 January 2008

An outbreak of outrage

At the second appearance of accused Skielik murderer Johan Nel recently in Swartruggens, it was clear that racial tensions in the town had not died down. His appearance at the town’s magistrate’s court attracted different groups, each with its own agenda. Local politicians insisted that Nel’s shooting spree was a ”racially charged” crime.

No image available
/ 25 January 2008

Eskom workers take a punch

While Eskom heads rake in about R35-million a year, a large number of the company’s general workers could be out of pocket. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity and the National Union of Metalworkers South Africa (Numsa) are protesting against Eskom’s implementation of a new job-grading programme late last year.

No image available
/ 25 January 2008

Slugfest sees end of neocon alliance

Chinese terrorists are streaming across the border. Barack Obama is a violent socialist. Mexico has been launching military attacks against the United States. God has endorsed Mike Huckabee. Spend a week with Republicans in South Carolina and you will hear the most incredible things. That a small minority in any group might say crazy things is not surprising, writes Gary Younge.

No image available
/ 25 January 2008

Wanted: an efficiency champion

Despite a national energy crisis in South Africa, the country’s energy-saving strategies remain fractured and lacklustre, several analysts told the Mail & Guardian this week. At a time when South Africans, both in industry and in the private sector, should be working together to save power, there seems to be a fractured response to what needs to be done.

No image available
/ 25 January 2008

A big ‘gemors’

If it’s not energy efficiency, it’s power rationing; if it’s not power-rationing, it’s load-shedding; if it’s not load-shedding it’s blackouts; and if it’s blackouts – well it’s just one big gemors. South Africa’s power crisis has commercial, industrial and domestic power users pulling their hair out in frustration as they search for ways to save power. But what can be done, and how?

No image available
/ 25 January 2008

It’s always dark in here

She looks down while washing dishes in a bucket as we enter the house where she lives with 56 people scattered around the house and on the property. “Please sit down. Sorry, the couch is a bit wet,” she says. It is striking how dignified she looks while sitting up straight in a pink dress with her hands folded on her lap.