A man will on Thursday contest legislation preventing him from inheriting his gay partner’s estate after his partner died without leaving a will, the man’s attorney said on Wednesday. ”Mark Gory ‘married’ his partner in a commitment ceremony. Since they had no children, he should be recognised as the surviving spouse of his partner and therefore the legal heir to his partner’s estate,” said Gory’s attorney, Crystal Cambanis.
The woman who blew the whistle on the accounting scandal that brought down Enron spoke on Wednesday about how she tried to get out of the firm when she discovered the extent of its dodgy accounting. From June 2001, Sherron Watkins, who joined Enron in 1993, worked for Andrew Fastow, the disgraced former chief financial officer.
Journalist Lynda Loxton, parliamentary correspondent for Business Report, died in a Cape Town hospital on Wednesday evening. Business Report editor Alide Dasnois said Loxton had been in a coma for several weeks, following an accident boarding a suburban train in the city last month.
Four men have appeared in the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court in connection with a series of thefts that cost nine pension funds R213-million, police said on Wednesday. They were arrested at their homes on Tuesday night and charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, theft and money laundering. All are aged between 60 and 70.
With a mix of flair, an eye for things of beauty and, er, dried bugs, four men are turning food-crazed Barcelona into a candy lovers’ paradise on earth. First up is Christian Escriba, a fourth-generation pastry chef who often seems closer to an artist than the baker down the street. His Candy-Glam rings look like something made by a glass blower.
Absa’s MyHome gives individuals or couples with joint monthly incomes of between R1 500 and R7 500 access to an affordable 100% mortgage bond that can also include a five-year fixed-rate option. MyHome is a completely unique concept in that the qualifying criterion is based primarily on proof of regular income.
As a result of the high divorce rate in South Africa, financial advisers are increasingly receiving queries from their clients regarding the effect of a divorce on their retirement-fund benefits. The Divorce Amendment Act came into effect on August 1 1989.
"Is the bubble about to burst?" That’s the question many people are asking in the wake of months of a particularly buoyant stock market. According to Robert Keip, CEO of FNB Investment Products, many people have grown their wealth significantly because of the strength of the equities market.
Fuelled by strong investor demand, the assets of Absa’s NewGold Gold Bullion Debentures have shown remarkable growth of 216% in the period December 2005 to January 2006. Absa’s NewGold allows investors to invest directly in actual gold rather than gold companies.
Tonga produced the only surprise in the opening 12 matches of the Commonwealth Games rugby union sevens competition in Melbourne on Thursday, beating medal contenders South Africa 26-19. The hard-tackling South Pacific islanders deserved their Pool D win at the Telstra Dome and were led superbly by inspirational captain Tevita Tu’ifua.