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/ 22 February 2008
The controversial consulting company embroiled in an alleged 2010 stadium tender irregularity in Nespruit now faces a strike by its sub-contractors. The sub-contractors working on the construction of the 2010 Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit have threatened to strike next week because they haven’t been paid R9-million due to them.
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/ 22 February 2008
President Robert Mugabe on Thursday compared ex-finance minister Simba Makoni to a ”prostitute” and said he was surprised by Makoni’s decision to challenge him in March presidential elections. In his first reaction to Makoni’s announcement to stand for the presidency in polls on March 29, Mugabe said his decision was ”absolutely disgraceful”.
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/ 22 February 2008
With Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya recently intimating that the child-support grant would eventually be extended to include children up to the age of 18 hopes had been raised in the child advocacy sector. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s capping of the grant at 15 was met with criticism from NGOs and lobby groups.
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/ 22 February 2008
The accountants at the Treasury finally seem to have heard the desperate pleas from the Department of Defence. While the defence budget is set to increase by 6,1% in the next three years, the gradual winding down of major equipment acquisitions means slightly more is going to be left over to keep the military functional.
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/ 22 February 2008
Although land reform, including restitution, received an additional R2,6-billion this year to reach a new high of R6,6-billion, the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs got a dressing down from Finance Minister Trevor Manuel. At a press conference after the budget speech, Manuel questioned whether the department would be able to handle more funds.
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/ 22 February 2008
Provinces will receive R238-billion this year, a whopping 16% higher than last year’s allocation. By 2010/11, provincial budgets will have doubled on their 2004/05 levels. All increases to key portfolios outstrip inflation by significant margins. But will they spend it well?
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/ 22 February 2008
Analysts say that Transport Minister Jeff Radebe has made all the right noises about public transport being the legacy of the 2010 World Cup and, if the budget is anything to go on, the Cabinet fully endorses his view. Trevor Manuel has allocated R6-billion to building public transport infrastructure over the next three years.
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/ 22 February 2008
The government has promised Anglo American that its mining rights will be renewed under new rules governing the industry — even as data summarised in the budget shows just how badly regulatory barriers continue to limit South Africa’s ability to cash in on the biggest commodities boom in living memory.
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/ 22 February 2008
Undoubtedly one of the budget’s highlights was the removal of exchange controls for institutional investors, all but dealing a death blow to exchange control. Under the new provisions, foreign investment will be guided by prudential investment guidelines rather than the laager mentality that has driven exchange-control legislation.
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/ 22 February 2008
A friend in the United States who watches Barack Obama tells me that he, unusually for a politician, has Mandela-like qualities in that he acts as a unifying force, finding common ground on which to build consensus on the way forward. We could well do with someone with Mandela-like qualities now.