Jobs are being lost in South Africa because of bad attitudes to customers, training company BizTech said on Monday. ”Whether it’s slow delivery of infrastructure to people in poor areas, overcharging tourists or rude call-centre agents, South Africa’s poor customer service is developing a reputation that is stymying business.”
Table Mountain will be patrolled by police and guards from South African National Parks after a spate of muggings at the popular tourist spot, the Western Cape’s community safety department said on Monday. On Thursday a meeting will be held to discuss further security measures after at least 18 muggings were reported between January and August 2007.
South African gold-mining group Harmony said on Monday it would not be selling any of its South African gold assets. The world’s fifth largest gold producer told those attending a presentation of its June quarter and annual results that "vultures" were circling its South African operations but that the businesses were not for sale.
The JSE retained its strong tone at noon on Monday, riding on the back of calmer overseas markets — but traders refrained from pushing too high ahead of Wall Street opening. At 12.01pm, the all-share index was up 1,59%. Resources gained 1,87% and the gold- and platinum-mining indices climbed 2,05% and 2,45% respectively.
Watching thousands of tourists stroll through Venice’s Saint Mark’s Square, steward Giovanna is ready to step in at the first sign of unacceptable behaviour — picnics, bare torsos or discarded food wrappers. Speaking languages ranging from Chinese to Polish, Giovanna and six other women have been deployed by the lagoon city to improve decorum and cleanliness in the square Napoleon called ”the drawing room of Europe”.
Alexandria, the Egyptian coastal city where Cleopatra had love affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony, is trying to regain some of its old glory as a tourism destination for European and Arab elites. This summer, a new luxury hotel opened on the site of a grand old establishment where Austrian archdukes and Egyptian khedives would gather for Viennese pastries or tennis a century ago.
Seventy-one Ugandan soldiers were killed and another 41 injured, many seriously, when their huge truck crashed into a concrete barrier at the side of a mountain road, a spokesperson said on Monday. ”It was a trailer and the soldiers were changing location from eastern Uganda. Apparently no one escaped unhurt,” army spokesperson Major Felix Kulayigye said.
China’s Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday expressed ”grave concern” over reports that Chinese army hackers had penetrated German government computers systems and he vowed to crack down on such activity. ”We in the government took [the reports] as a matter of grave concern,” Wen said after meeting visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
South Africa’s rand firmed to a two-week high on Monday and bonds also strengthened as investors slowly returned to high-risk assets. At 06h45 GMT, the rand stood at 7,16 versus the dollar after firming to 7,1498 earlier — its strongest level since August 13, according to Reuters data.
Polluters along two of China’s main rivers have defied a decade-old clean-up effort, leaving much of the water unfit to touch, let alone drink, and a risk to a sixth of the population, state media said on Monday. Half the check points along the Huai River and its tributaries in central and eastern China showed pollution of ”grade five” or worse — the top of the dial in key toxins.