While the government’s affirmative action and black economic empowerment (BEE) policies help a few people in South Africa, they do so at the expense of the desperate many, says Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon. However, if such policies are implemented without sacrificing merit, it is theoretically possible to achieve a ”win-win” situation for all.
United States computer software titan Microsoft reported on Thursday that third-quarter income rose 16,4% due to demand for its latest products. Net income for the quarter tallied ,89-billion, or 29 cents per share, as compared with ,3-billion for that quarter in 2005, according to Microsoft.
Cricket Australia on Friday opened a state-of-the-art facility that its Test team will use as a base while fine-tuning plans to regain the Ashes from England. The new Centre of Excellence in Brisbane includes a video analysis room, a top-class gymnasium and integrated sports science facilities.
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The state completed its closing arguments in the Jacob Zuma rape trial on Friday, asking the Johannesburg High Court to find him guilty. Prosecutor Charin de Beer told Judge Willem van der Merwe that Zuma’s version of events should not be considered the truth.
Opposition political groups and civil society movements in Zimbabwe have started consultations to form a united front to support a single candidate in the 2008 presidential election, 23 months ahead of the crucial poll — along the lines of Kenya’s National Rainbow Coalition, which brought President Mwai Kibaki to power in 2002.
Both the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) — principal providers of scarce funds to the film industry — turned down the Oscar-winning movie Tsotsi several times when approached by its producers, the Mail & Guardian has learned.
The Oil for Food programme may become a focus of the Donen Commission of Inquiry, which starts public hearings on May 8.
The government has once again dashed Khutsong residents’ hopes that the controversial legislation on cross-border municipalities will be reversed, leading them to vent their frustrations on newly elected councillors. Violence resurfaced in Khutsong recently after the inauguration of the mayor and the new council.
More people have died in connection with the security guard strike than any other since 1994, prompting one prominent Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) leader to suggest that Cosatu’s South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) should consider calling off industrial action.
”For the strike, neh, we need money, of course. You see, you’re supposed to strike but it’s wrong [for strikers] to fight people like us. What’s your family going to eat? Nothing.” The Mail & Guardian‘s interview with Johannesburg security guard Roger highlights a paradox — many non-strikers appear to support the goals of the countrywide labour action by security guards, citing the dangers of the job and poor pay.