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/ 30 August 2005

Don’t judge a car by its spelling

So, what do you look for when buying a car? Gorgeous styling? Impeccable attention to detail? Stunning performance? Despite what the motor industry would have us believe, the average working-class South African buys largely on price. Give him all the bells and whistles at a reasonable price and a queue starts developing outside dealers’ doors.

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/ 30 August 2005

Oil prices remain high following hurricane

Oil prices remained within striking distance of $70 a barrel in electronic trading on Tuesday on worries that Hurricane Katrina may have heavily damaged United States crude production facilities, dealers said. The contract had struck an all-time high of $70,80 on Monday as the market braced for Katrina’s landfall.

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/ 30 August 2005

Lies, damn lies and small surveys

"Although Statistics South Africa conducts exhaustive surveys on a regular basis, an odd reliance on small, private surveys persists in the media and among politicians. Given the economic, social and political divisions in South Africa, smaller surveys are more likely to be inaccurate," writes the coordinator of fiscal, monetary and public sector policy at the Congress of South African Trade Unions, Neva Makgetla.

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/ 30 August 2005

Folly of political football

Students of European soccer will know that at midnight this week Wednesday, the transfer window closes until Christmas. The rumours and counter-rumours, the hyperbole and avarice of player’ agents, the acquisitive hopes and dreams of the coaches and club supporters will cease.

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/ 30 August 2005

Life’s not a TV show

Almost three-quarters of Britons are happy to give up civil liberties to make us safer from terrorist attack, according to a recent Guardian/ICM poll. Having seen the all-too-real threat of the July bombings, 73% are ready to pay the price, ready to let their protectors do whatever has to be done.

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/ 30 August 2005

Absa man blew whistle

South African banking giant Absa had repeatedly been alerted to irregularities and unexplained payments authorised by the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ) with which it exchanged financial vows in 1998. Absa has a 26% controlling stake in CBZ, now known as Jewel Bank.