More than half the 658 000 jobs claimed by Statistics South Africa’s Labour Force Survey as having been created in South Africa in 2004/05 were in the informal hawker sector, leading critics to question Stats SA’s definitions and measurement of informal employment.

Two German nationals living in South Africa, but with overseas bank accounts, have been targeted by banking scamsters using personal identity and banking details, which were apparently leaked by a government department.

Indian vehicle manufacturer Tata, having quickly established itself as a leading player in the South African bus and truck market, is starting to make inroads into the car market. Tata’s distributor Accordian Investments launched its Indica and Indigo passenger vehicles in December 2004.

There are no clear written or recorded guidelines that specify the conditions under which the government can authorise the use of South African Air Force jets for the deputy president, the Mail & Guardian learned this week. This despite presidential spokesperson Murphy Morobe’s insistence that the deputy president family trip to Dubai last December was in line with Cabinet guidelines.

Payments to SABC non-executive board members increased by almost 200% over the past financial year, as the board held almost double the number of board and sub-committee meetings it is required to do. Non-executive emoluments for the year ended March 31 2005 stood at more than R2-million, while in the previous financial year it amounted to R714 000.