A post template

No image available
/ 25 September 2007

Propaganda as journalism?

”In the light of the brouhaha about the nominations to the South African Broadcasting Corporation board, I’d like to ask a question: Are some South Africans eligible to nominate and be nominated to lead public institutions while others should rather be ignored?” writes Prince Mashele.

No image available
/ 25 September 2007

Jatropha: fuel for thought?

A small inedible seed from a Mexican tree is seen by some as the answer to the world’s fuel crisis. But the seed from the jatropha tree, used to make biofuels, is still hugely controversial in South Africa and the government is not at all sure that the plant will solve the country’s biofuel woes.

No image available
/ 25 September 2007

‘Donkey economics’ damaging Ahmadinejad

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has suffered an embarrassing blow to his prestige after his own party attacked him for adopting a jocular tone towards inflation at a time of rampant price rises. The Islamic Revolution Devotees Society has added its voice to a rising chorus of economic discontent by warning the president that spiralling living costs are hurting the poor and undermining his stated goal of social justice.

No image available
/ 25 September 2007

Basic foodstuffs are now a hot commodity

Sithabile Khuzwayo is one of many women who bring groceries and clothing from across the borders of neighbouring Botswana and South Africa to sell at the flourishing flea markets of Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, Bulawayo. She said the hostility of Botswana’s locals to Zimbabwean traders has made buying wares in Botswana risky.

No image available
/ 25 September 2007

From banker to arms gorilla

Terry Crawford-Browne has done something incredible. He has spent R5-million on a battle from which he stands to make nothing: his campaign to expose corruption in South Africa’s multibillion-rand arms deal. Not many people can understand this in an era of greed and opportunism.

No image available
/ 25 September 2007

Africa, the new money frontier

In the first seven months of this year Africa saw $8,2-billion of new listings, already 13% higher than last year. Moreover, Nigeria, not South Africa, was the largest recipient of inflows for new listings. Africa has seen foreign investment inflows triple in the past decade from $10-billion to $30-billion a year.

No image available
/ 25 September 2007

UK govt bails out bank

You might have expected Northern Rock to sound apologetic as queues formed outside its branches and its website was overwhelmed. Here is a bank that lent aggressively and tried to grab a big share of the mortgage market. Now its business model has been exposed as fragile and its brand damaged, perhaps beyond repair.