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/ 10 December 2007
Events of the past two weeks, especially the nomination outcomes of the ANC Women’s League, have been a subject of much commentary, reflecting a range of opinions and degrees of understanding. To put matters into context, it is necessary to reflect on a number of issues.
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/ 10 December 2007
Last week the European Union signalled Togo’s rehabilitation among the international community when it announced the resumption of normal relations after a 15-year hiatus. The resumption of cooperation will give Togo immediate access to a much-needed â,¬123-million in aid money in addition to â,¬41,6-million in previously frozen funds.
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/ 10 December 2007
From the beginning of September to the end of November there were 26 new listings on the JSE — a whole mixed bag of them, too. The performances of the various listings is a reminder to investors that everything that lists is not necessarily a good investment. But if you choose your companies well it is an opportunity to get in at the beginning of a successful growth of a company.
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/ 10 December 2007
Think about climate change long enough and you soon realise that it is more than our lightbulbs that we are going to have to change. Colleagues have argued, as delegates gather in Bali to hammer out a global accord to avert this catastrophe, that a more fundamental overhaul will be required. Madeleine Bunting suggested a return to wartime rationing, in order to curb a hyper-consumerism that is unsustainable.
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/ 10 December 2007
Rick Wilkie, one of hundreds of volunteers canvassing for Barack Obama, recalls JFK’s inauguration speech with reverence. Wilkie, now 67, tramped kilometres through the thick snow in January 1961 to hear Kennedy. "On the way home, I was walking three feet off the ground," Wilkie said. Since that day, he has had no involvement in politics — until now.
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/ 10 December 2007
When Jhiymy Mhiyles arrived in Sydney homeless and broke during the 2000 Olympic Games, he decided he liked Bondi beach so much that he set up camp on the cliffs overlooking the famous stretch of sand. He’s stayed there ever since, enjoying million-dollar views from a surfside squat made of tarpaulins and rope.
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/ 10 December 2007
It takes one bad leader, or leader turned bad, to destroy a country. It takes generations to rebuild. To add to Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s words of wisdom, it is not just about choosing a leader who we will not be ashamed of, it is about us choosing a leader who will not roll back the fragile gains that we have made, including gender equality, writes Colleen Lowe Morna.
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/ 10 December 2007
The ANC and its alliance partners have often been described as a family. Families can evoke the deepest love from which courage can emerge against great danger. They can also cause bitter feuds and vengeful hatred. This month, when Polokwane is on our minds, it is also the time of Christmas holidays, family gatherings and the worst period of domestic violence and suicides.
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/ 10 December 2007
In a class action suit that recalls the Treatment Action Campaign’s battle to access free antiretrovirals, the residents of Phiri in Soweto have instituted legal proceedings against the City of Johannesburg. They are challenging the installation of prepaid meters in March 2004 and the decision of the city on the amount of water allocated free to the city’s poor residents.
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/ 10 December 2007
Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni announced yet another interest rate hike of 50 basis points on Thursday, in an unwelcome blow to consumers. This brings the repo rate — the rate at which the Reserve Bank lends to other banks — to 11% and prime to 14,5%.