The launch of the National Housing Finance Corporation will open new avenues for finance, reports Karen Harverson At present, South Africa’s traditional financial institutions provide housing finance to just 30% of the total population (mainly middle and upper income earners) and non- traditional lending institutions are mushrooming to fill the gap. These institutions are targeting […]
With a code of conduct coming into existence, MPs will be compelled to disclose their financial interests. Philippa Garson reports WINNIE Madikizela-Mandela’s mysterious financial circumstances will come under the spotlight when the code of conduct for parliamentarians comes into effect. Her financial position has been the subject of intense speculation following disclosures in court records […]
As the Nigerian crisis increases and more students face the wrath of the regime, little help from Africa or the West appears forthcoming. Gaye Davis reports WHEN the telephone rang in Austin Abada’s sparsely furnished Cape Town flat this week, it heralded news as familiar as it was terrible. Abada, a Nigerian student leader seeking […]
Questions are being raised about why Alfred Nzo’s Chinese visit included ANC MPs, writes Gaye Davis A POLITICAL row is brewing over Minister of Foreign Affairs Alfred Nzo’s visit to China, with questions to be asked in Parliament as to why his delegation included four African National Congress MPs. Questions have also been raised over […]
Bafana Khumalo Black, White, Coloured, Indian … these categories don’t exist. There are only two races of people in this country: reasonably normally dysfunctional people like you and me and a sector who should not be out on the streets. I had the pleasure of meeting a member of this race last week when I […]
Gaye Davis, Rehana Roussouw and Madeleine Wackernagel SOUTH Africa got its first black finance minister late on Thursday — in the person of Trade and Industry Minister Trevor Manuel. In a Cabinet reshuffle sparked by the resignation of Chris Liebenberg, Deputy Minister of Finance Alec Erwin will now take over Manuel’s portfolio, while ANC MP […]
AS the parties move into intense negotiations about “provincial powers” at an Arniston bosberaad, the African National Congress is trying to dismiss the suspicion that its latest drafts on provincial competencies do not comply with the constitutional principles, inherited from the multi-party negotiations at Kempton Park. The constitutional principle in question states that provincial powers […]
Bronwen Jones The old academic slanging match between excellence and relevance took on a new form this week when a South African scientist condemned the new Academy of Science of South Africa (Assa) as “elitist and unrepresentative”. Assa, launched this week as an initiative to unite South African scientists across ethnic lines, was lauded by […]
South Africa must be treated as a developing country by the EU if the free trade agreement is to succeed, says ANC MP Rob Davies. Lynda Loxton reports The European Union was sharply criticised this week for trying to treat South Africa as a developed nation rather than one with special development needs. African National […]
A new structure will replace the archaic Publications Control Board, writes Jacquie Golding-Duffy South Africa’s apartheid-era censor board is grinding along on taxpayers’ money to the annual tune of R2,5-million, although censorship is in direct conflict with the government’s interim Constitution. The Directorate of Publications, commonly known as the Publications Control Board, will, however, be […]