The Merrill Lynch survey of South African fund managers in June saw fund managers forecasting a stronger rand in 12 months time than they did in the May survey. The 12-month consensus forecast on the rand is now R7,10 to the dollar compared with R7,64 in the May survey, while the range was from R6,20 to R7,50 compared with May’s range of R7,30 to R8.
The stars have come out, just as they always did. There’s Uma Thurman, hair beacon-blonde. Glenn Close gives a little wave, taking up her place just a few seats away. Spike Lee is here somewhere. Officially, they’ve all come to the Skirball Centre in New York’s SoHo district for a movie premiere.
The surprise cloudburst that marked the winter solstice saw motorists around Gauteng skidding into each other with at least 10 accidents reported around Johannesburg on Monday. ”Motorists should increase their following distance and reduce speed,” said Johannesburg Metro police spokesperson Inspector Wayne Minnaar.
The World Bank’s drive to promote fossil fuel-generated power for 1,6-billion people lacking electricity will drive developing countries deeper into debt, a report by a development think tank claims on Monday. On current trends, in 2030 there will be more people relying on wood and dung for cooking and heating than there are now.
Automatic-weapon fire and grenade launchers resounded throughout a major northern Côte d’Ivoire city on Sunday evening, in what a military source said was an outbreak of fighting between rival rebel groups. ”It seems there are two rebel factions who have been fighting each other over the last few hours,” said a military official.
Standard Bank has launched a new style investment product, known as a discount share instalment, that is designed to provide investors with a simple, low-cost alternative to buying shares directly in the market. The product is designed to mimic the movement of a range of leading South African shares without having to pay the full purchase price upfront.
South Africa needs to improve communications to dispel misconceptions among potential foreign investors about government’s black economic empowerment (BEE) programme, President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday. Briefing the media after the seventh presidential International Investment Council meeting in Cape Town, he said there was an imbalance between the perceptions and the reality of South Africa among some abroad.
Military police are investigating claims that British soldiers mutilated the bodies of Iraqi insurgents after a firefight last month near the southern Iraqi town of Majar al Kabir. The allegations are contained in official death certificates written by Dr Adel Salid Majid, the director of the hospital in Majar al Kabir, on May 15, the day after the battle.
The controversial United States attorney Ed Fagan is to sue South African President Thabo Mbeki, former president Nelson Mandela and eight multinational companies for ”siding with industry against the people” in the exploitation of natural resources.
A 30-year-old woman was arrested on Saturday after she was caught by her mother apparently trying to strangle her four-month-old baby girl in Sharpeville, south of Johannesburg, police reported. Captain Nthabiseng Mazibuko said on Sunday the woman was visiting her mother’s house in Sharpeville with her daughter.