It is always gratifying to see big business tightening its belt, and Absa should be praised for its decision not to pay extravagant fees to an advertising agency to handle its "My bank" campaign. Indeed, it has become abundantly clear that Absa has not only economised by eschewing professional copywriters altogether, but has empowered previously marginalised camps by entrusting its re-branding to a band of rhesus monkeys chained to typewriters and supervised by crack addicts.
Stephen Ward (the Profumo Scandal). Gordon Liddy and E Howard Hunt (Watergate). Now, you can add the name of Schabir Shaik. Small men, all of them, with their 15 inglorious minutes of infamy. But with big trials and with big consequences that overshadowed their pathetic samples of human fallibility.
Vodacom barely caused a ripple with its announcement last month that it would start subsidising computers in the same way it has cellphones in an effort to increase data use on its network. Beaming from a 19,5% leap in profit to R27, 3-billion and dividends of 61,9% to R3, 4-billion in the year to March, Vodacom is also hoping to boost its data traffic.
As Google’s share price flirted with $300, the world’s largest search engine shot to top spot as the most valuable media company, eclipsing Time Warner. Just 10 months since Google so controversially listed using an auction share sales method, its stock price hit an all-time high of $293 this week, giving it a market capitalisation of $80-billion.
Telkom’s share price hit an all-time record high this week as the company reported massive profits for its last financial year. Shareholders — who will be getting a R9 dividend for shares some bought for less than R30 — were delighted. Politically, the results were more ambiguous, with Telkom customers grumbling about being overcharged and the Democratic Alliance calling the results "embarrassingly good".
On Monday Sanlam will be the first life insurance company to challenge the ruling of the pension fund adjudicator in the case of Mr de Beer in the Cape High Court. De Beer wanted to reduce the premium on his policy. Sanlam sought to penalise him R43Â 000 — the value of the policy was R46Â 000.
Jendayi Frazer, the United States ambassador to South Africa, speaks to the <i>Mail and Guardian </i>about the the primary strategic cosiderations driving American policy on Africa and the continent’s prospects for the G8 summit in Gleneagles.
The National Prosecuting Authority is preparing the ground for charges against Deputy President Jacob Zuma, and President Thabo Mbeki is ready to announce his decision on Zuma’s future. But they may both hold their fire until the appeal process in the trial of Schabir Shaik is concluded.
”We as PetroSA are concerned that in the course of what’s become known as the Oilgate affair (‘The ANC’s Oilgate’), the public was left with an impression that there was something sinister about the payment PetroSA made to Imvume; and that Imvume was used as a cover to channel the public money towards the African National Congress election campaign.”
Bolivia’s outgoing president, Carlos Mesa, who has offered to resign to help defuse three weeks of crippling protests, has warned that the country could slide into civil war unless early elections are held. ”The country cannot continue playing with the possibility of splitting into a thousand pieces,” he said.