After opening in the black, the JSE surrendered its gains on Friday morning, extending its losing streak into a third day. The bourse’s weakness was in line with the global trend. By 12.05pm, the all-share and all-share industrial indices shed 0,85% and 1,08% respectively.
Mpumalanga Premier Thabang Makwetla’s office on Friday morning vehemently denied reports that he had to be rescued from a stone-throwing crowd in Delmas the previous afternoon. Makwetla was meeting residents on the typhoid outbreak and was seeking to reassure them that the water in the area was safe to drink.
Yahoo chairperson Terry Semel belittled rival Google’s recent efforts to expand beyond its leading internet search engine, describing the diversification as a haphazard attempt to catch up with his company. ”So far they don’t seem to have a plan, but maybe they do,” Semel said on Thursday.
Erotic-club owner Andrew Phillips failed in his Constitutional Court bid to have a restraining on his assets rescinded, the court ruled on Friday. Phillips was arrested in 2000 to face charges under the Sexual Offences Act and a restraining order was placed on his assets.
China’s embassy in Harare has appealed to the Zimbabwean government to protect its nationals following the murder of a Chinese man in the capital. In a statement, the embassy noted with concern that several Chinese nationals and companies had been ”plundered by armed robbers”, the state-controlled Herald reported.
The chase, for Flavio Briatore, is everything. Whether he is masterminding a third formula-one drivers’ world championship at Renault or attempting to buy Chelsea Football Club with Bernie Ecclestone, the climactic moment always seems hollow in comparison to the build-up. Briatore reveals the secrets of Fernando Alonso’s success to Donald McRae.
As hirings and firings go, you couldn’t get a much greater contrast than the two that happened in South African rugby this week. The Griqualand West Rugby Union passed a vote of no confidence in its president, Baby Richards, accusing him of failing to vote in the manner instructed by his union.
Strike action by staff of beauty and pharmacy retailer Clicks who are members of the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union was under way across the country on Friday, although most stores were open, both the union and New Clicks said.
The chairperson of Skandia Insurance, Bernt Magnusson, has decided to resign from the company’s board due to differences of opinion with fellow board members about Old Mutual’s bid for the firm, AFX reported from Stockholm on Friday. The board of the Swedish insurer was split over the R38-billion bid from Old Mutual.
”In one-day cricket, adequate contributions in all disciplines are considered more valuable than high-class specialisations: a utilitarian, faintly Marxist outlook, suited to a game designed for uncritical consumption by the masses. Usually it works well enough,” writes Tom Eaton.