A senior Egyptian mediator will on Monday present to the Israeli government a new ceasefire proposal agreed with the Hamas Islamist movement that could halt the conflict in Gaza and begin to resolve the mounting economic crisis that has engulfed the strip.
Gaza’s population has been reduced to a ”subhuman existence” where basic humanitarian needs are going unmet in the face of rapidly deteriorating conditions, according to a senior United Nations official. An Israeli economic blockade on the Gaza Strip has produced shortages of fuel and basic supplies and has closed most private businesses and pushed up poverty rates.
Inflation targeting is likely to be reviewed, because if South Africa’s policymakers only use interest rates as the tool to fight inflation, the country is in for a nasty generational learning experience as the policy will not be removing the cause of inflation, said Chris Hart, chief economist from Investment Solutions.
Land reform needs to make its beneficiaries and the country better off. Little is gained in the long run if justice turns out to be purely symbolic, leaves people poorer or even aggravates grievances. So it’s worrying that, as the director general of land affairs is reported to have said, at least 50% of government land-reform projects have failed to make their beneficiaries permanently better off.
The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) will probably have to impose much more stringent regulations to combat money laundering and terrorist financing than the customer identification, record keeping and reporting of suspicious transactions it currently requires, says its director, Murray Michell.
Experts say the often chaotic land reform programme has compromised food production: white farmers facing land claims are reluctant to plant crops, while emerging black farmers have insufficient training and support to produce the quantities of food needed by the domestic market.
Most South African schools have enrolled a significant number of foreign learners from neighbouring countries that are experiencing political and economic instability.
PRIMARY EDUCATION IN CRISIS: Why South African schoolchildren underachieve in reading and mathematics by Brahm Fleisch
Nigerian investigative reporter Azubuike Ishiekwene’s book <i>The Trial of Nuhu Ribadu</i> chronicles the rise and fall of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who as chairperson of the economic and financial crimes commission led the battle against corruption in Nigeria. He was accused of doing then-president Olusegun Obasanjo’s dirty work in knocking out opponents and after Obasanjo left office was suddenly redeployed and his work downgraded.
Tax is one of the most important features of any expatriate contract because of the interaction of various tax jurisdictions. Being a financial issue, companies are alert to ensure their employees do not become liable for tax in two jurisdictions. For tax purposes, a person is regarded as a South African resident if he or she physically resides in the country for an unbroken period of more than 91 days in the current year.