The Johannesburg economy must grow at 9% for the country to achieve its economic growth target of 6%, according to economist Michael Schussler, speaking as a representative of the Johannesburg Business Forum at the recent Presidential Imbizo. During the imbizo, traffic congestion, electricity and telecommunications costs and the country’s skills shortage emerged as some of the constraints to higher economic growth.
It is 3.30pm and a dozen little boys in long shorts, blue check shirts and ties are sitting around tables in a London schoolroom that is decked out with typical infant-class paraphernalia — alphabet charts, winter-themed paintings, and posters of healthy foodstuffs. On the teacher’s instruction, the four-year-olds close their eyes, then open them on command to describe a scene drawn on the back of a paper plate.
Edward Pastorini called, apparently. The mystery — and controversial — investor who, for a short time, added 11% (about $1billion) to Gold Fields’ market capitalisation, has been the subject of intense media and regulator scrutiny after news of his possible takeover bid was published last week.
A key figure in the World Bank, said to have links to the Roman Catholic sect Opus Dei, was accused this week of undermining its commitment to the health of women by ordering the deletion of goals, targets and policies relating to family planning. uan Jose Daboub, the bank’s managing director, ordered staff to remove all references to family planning from its country assistance programme document for Madagascar.
Polo Radebe, the chief director of the black economic empowerment (BEE) unit in the department of trade and industry, said that the greatest challenge the unit faced was regulating the labyrinth of empowerment legislation, which included eight Acts and 15 industry charters. On February 9, the broad-based BEE codes of good practice passed into law.
British finance minister Gordon Brown has announced his country’s backing for a global education rapid reaction force designed to provide schooling for millions of African children in war zones or fragile states. In an attempt to replicate the success of the Red Cross and Medecins Sans Frontieres in health, Brown has provided £20-million to flood areas where education systems have broken down with “clusters” of skilled personnel.
When the cloud of apartheid still hovered over our heads, an atmosphere of fear pervaded the country, pushing its way into the thoughts of every activist — the fear that the car trailing you might pull you into detention, the jolt of adrenalin that woke you when a car stopped outside your house at night, writes Kumi Naidoo.
Paul Nkuna takes honey with his coffee. It’s a quirky detail I cannot help noticing, perhaps because of its almost-ordinariness. Usually, honey goes with tea, right?But then Paul Nkuna is almost- ordinary himself. Almost. Starting out as a teacher, he ended up as treasurer of the National Union of Mineworkers, before switching tack to the NUM’s investment company, the Mineworkers’ Investment Company.
Thousands of small shop owners throughout South Africa are bearing the brunt of the national lottery freeze, with some reporting a dramatic loss of Saturday turnover and earnings. "It is now the second Saturday with no Lotto and my turnover on those two Saturdays has dropped by as much as 50%," says Jan Snyder, who runs Pasty’s, a convenience store in Durbanville.
Vehicle insurance premiums have been soaring by 10% to 20% a year, adding to the cost of owning a car. Apart from the usual suspects — crime and the high cost of spare parts — reckless driving is becoming a major factor. But should cautious drivers be picking up the tab for the lunatics out there?