As demand for South African exports increases, mining houses can expect profits, but the consumer will be hard hit, writes Bronwen Jones COAL will be in short supply this winter as overseas demand soars and the rand makes foreign sales more attractive. Add to this the lulls in production enforced by heavy rains earlier this […]

While House Republicans thwart Democratic efforts to pass an increase in the minimum wage, their natural allies – business groups – are divided on the issue and seem much more willing to compromise. The National Federation of Independent Businesses, the largest small-business organisation in the United States, mounted aggressive opposition to a wage hike proposal […]

Raising interest rates may not be enough to save the rand. Government needs to define a firm strategy for growth, argues Madeleine Wackernagel When the authorities finally moved to stabilise the battered rand, it was a case of too little, too late. If a hike in interest rates was the solution, the Reserve Bank should […]

Eddie Koch A new batch of secret documents handed to court in the Malan murder trial last week, provide a rare glimpse into the workings of the State Security Council (SSC) set up to co- ordinate the National Party’s “total strategy” against insurrection in the 1980s. Apart from the light they shed on the military’s […]

A new document on commissioning will bring the SABC in line with broadcasting worldwide, provided internal resistance can be overcome. Eddie September reports Independent television producers say the new SABC document on commissioning is bringing the broadcaster in line with the rest of the world, but they still have reservations about the SABC’s ability to […]

Was the ANC’s support for this week’s Cosatu strike a trade-off? Jacquie Golding-Duffy reports While labour analysts say the strike this week by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) was “relatively successful”, some are questioning why the federation opted to avoid any direct conflict with the African National Congress. The 1,6-million-strong federation embarked […]

Philippa Garson talks to an adviser who is determined to help turn South African universities into world-class institutions The drive by South African universities to become world-class institutions is endangered by the number of top administrators leaving their stressed jobs for greener pastures, according to a top American educator who has been advising these campuses. […]

BARBARA Hogan, the African National Congress MP hotly tipped to succeed Gill Marcus as chairman of the influential Joint Standing Committee on Finance, this week stepped down as a candidate for the chair. Hogan, who has been one of the committee’s most active members, said she had opted out of the running as she preferred […]

I READ your article “TML’s nervous editors” (April 19 to 25) with keen interest. The editors and their managers have every reason to be nervous. In fact, they should be shaking in their boots. If a black consortium does take over Times Media Limited, it should bring an end to racism at this self-proclaimed citadel […]