Lloyd Gedye
Lloyd Gedye is a freelance journalist and one of the founders of The Con.
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/ 23 September 2005

Verneuk!

Details of how three senior Saambou officials set up elaborate operations involving a string of companies that received payments and loans to buy shares and improve Saambou’s capital position are contained in the charge sheet against the three. These transactions were initiated after Saambou was unable to secure funding in the marketplace to cover bad debts.

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/ 16 September 2005

Broken telephones

The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) was angered recently when Telkom called in the police to break up a picket outside Telkom Towers in Pretoria. The picket was organised by the FXI in response to the ”contempt” Telkom had shown the institute by failing to attend a forum held last weekend to discuss access by poor communities to telecommunications.

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/ 16 September 2005

Clothing bosses feel hemmed in

A Durban denim-clothing manufacturer is among the first to have a writ of execution issued against it as a result of rulings made in favour of the industry bargaining council by the South African Labour Court. Hein van der Walt, the director of the Confederation of Employers of Southern Africa (Cofesa), says there are another 877 manufacturers who are to have writs issued against them.

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/ 14 September 2005

It all starts with a glass dildo

Condoms everywhere, the stink of latex … thousands of them rolling off the machines like sausages. From its nondescript factory south of Johannesburg, Latex Surgical Products makes about 200 000 condoms every day. Jeffery Hurwitz, the factory’s MD, showed the <i>Mail & Guardian Online</i> the ins and outs of making a condom.

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/ 14 September 2005

ICT charter: No boot-up date

With the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector set to experience high growth rates, the implementation of the ICT Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Charter is critical, yet it is currently unclear when the charter will come into operation.

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/ 12 September 2005

Cellphone operators deny rip-off

Prepaid cellphone users, who are generally lower income consumers, are paying up to twice as much as middle and high-income contract subscribers in South Africa. This is according to the communications regulator discussion document on mobile phone pricing.

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/ 9 September 2005

Telkom gets the hell out

Telkom has dropped a R5-million damages action against Gregg Stirton’s website hellkom.co.za, which he launched in response to the telecomms giant’s "incredibly high prices". The website features, amongst other things, the "Hellkom Vent", where users can publish their frustrations with the fixed-line operator.

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/ 9 September 2005

A blessing in disguise

By refusing to accept Stuart Baxter’s resignation and steadfastly dispelling any notion that the beleaguered coach might be forced to step down, the South African Football Association is at last positing itself as an organisation that won’t be swayed by popular sentiment but by long-term principles and objectives whose overall aim is to find solutions to the current problems.

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/ 2 September 2005

Zim link threatens Old Mutual deal

Old Mutual’s takeover of Swedish life and funds management group Skandia is hanging in the balance after eight of Skandia’s 11 board members objected to the deal on grounds that Old Mutual has a substantial share in Zimbabwe Newspapers, proprietor of such notorious purveyors of government propaganda as The Herald and The Chronicle.

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/ 31 August 2005

Gem of a scheme may not work

With preferred tender-bidders identified and enrolment set to begin in January next year, will the roll-out of the Government Employees Medical Scheme address disparities in the healthcare sector or merely provide civil servants with top-quality medical care? The Department of Health argues that, more public servants will pay for healthcare in public hospitals, generating income for improved services.