"Nothing short of a skills revolution by a nation united will extricate us from the crisis we face … The most fatal constraint to shared growth is skills," said Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka at the launch of the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa).
Let’s be grown-up about this — South Africans should not condone or romanticise the violence of striking security guards or the mayhem unleashed during other recent labour disputes. It is not a case of heroic class struggle or justified worker counter-violence against repressive capitalist bosses and their state lackeys.
Hereunder are a set of what could well turn out to be yet more hoax e-mails. They seem to relate to current political turbulence in the Mother City and came into the possession of <i>Loose Cannon</i> investigators as a result of diligent backbiting among interested municipal bureaucrats at all levels.
Waiting for grants: International community representatives on the board of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria have voiced concerns that, unless the process of calling for grants begins soon, grants may not be disbursed this year.
Attempts by industry regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa to bring more competition to the telecommunications market, by making radio spectrum available for low-cost mobile phones, are being resisted by state-owned telecoms company Sentech.
The fresh fragrance released by trees in northern pine forests is a significant component in slowing climate change, according to research. The particles that carry the forests’ olfactory assault also help to cool the planet by bouncing energy from the sun back into space.
A glimpse of an alluring woman is all it takes to ruin a man’s decision-making skills and the more testosterone coursing through his veins, the worse the problem gets, researchers claimed on Wednesday. The finding is unwelcome confirmation that those most likely to be in a position of power are most susceptible to the subtle influences of the opposite sex.
Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny’s differences over disarmament appear to be the main stumbling block to holding presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire. Elections originally scheduled for October last year were postponed and Gbagbo’s mandate extended for 12 months following international intervention under United Nations Resolution 1633.
The George W Bush administration has yet to decide on a clear plan B for Iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. But military planning is progressing to fill that policy vacuum and may create a momentum of its own, say former administration officials and political observers.
Britain’s hard-pressed manufacturing base received a new blow on Tuesday when French car-maker PSA Peugeot-Citroën said it was pulling out of the United Kingdom, closing its Ryton car factory at Coventry in the West Midlands with the loss of 2 300 jobs. The news was received with dismay by trade unions and local business leaders.