We are of our time. Just a few years ago, even a relatively progressive Budget from a National Party government drew almost universal howls of outrage and fury at its lack of concern for the majority of people in the country. Now, a conservative budget from an ANC- led government draws almost universal praise for […]
CDs/Malu van Leeuwen SWANS: The Great Annihilator (Young God) MICHAEL GIRA must be the most depressed individual in=20 the galaxy. “I am insane,” he intones on I am the Sun,=20 with Jarboe warbling somewhere from the third ring of=20 Saturn. Still, if Gira ever cheered up, scores of Swans=20 devotees would sink into irreversible melancholia. […]
Pat Sidley Despite difficulties which will become more evident when the provincial budgets are announced and debated in the coming weeks, and a presentation which many regard as “messy”, the budget presented this week in parliament is designed to begin the process of redressing wrongs. Not only has a larger proportion of the budget than […]
It is incumbent upon legislators to pen their semantic outpourings in a manner comprehensible to the populus … Sorry, government language should be simple, argues Justin Pearce ‘ESSENTIAL budgetary reforms, linked to the enhancement of systems and institutional management and the improvement of professional practice, will bring major equity, efficiency and productivity gains, amounting to […]
So cautious was this week’s budget that the finance=20 minister has been dubbed the Kepler Wessels of finance=20 ministers, writes Reg Rumney It could be described as a Banker’s Budget, cautious=20 and conservative to a fault. Indeed, one humourist this=20 week described Chris Liebenberg as the Kepler Wessels=20 of finance ministers. To be fair to […]
Gaye Davis FREEDOM Front member Tom Langley’s nomination as South Africa’s ambassador to Portugal has sparked frantic behind-the-scenes lobbying in a bid to stop his Sources told the Weekly Mail & Guardian there was deep concern in Portugal over the move to post Langley, a former National Party and Conservative Party MP, to the country. […]
Stefaans Brummer BOTSWANA authorities are reviewing charges of trust fund embezzlement against South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Safety and Security, Joe Matthews — who skipped bail there in 1985 — and may ask for his An official in the Botswana attorney-general’s office this week said charges against Matthews “have not been withdrawn, neither have they […]
President Mandela’s report to the UN World Summit on Social Development shows that South Africa still has a long walk to prosperity, writes Justin Pearce South Africa is one of the most unequal nations in the world with regard to income distribution. This is the essence of the National Social Development Report which President Nelson […]
The proliferation of nominee companies to obscure=20 ownership continues despite the King Commission’s=20 recommendations to the contrary. “One wonders what will=20 trigger a confrontation,” says the latest edition of=20 McGregor’s Who Owns Whom. “One hopes that the sane international norms will soon=20 replace South Africa’s obsession with secrecy,” says=20 Over the past 12 years the […]
The government is threatening to use the law against=20 tax advisers who come up with fancy avoidance schemes,=20 reports Reg Rumney THE first Budget of the new Government of National=20 Unity studiously avoided gnashing its teeth at anyone=20 other than those who use dodgy tax avoidance schemes. Finance Minister Chris Liebenberg took these schemes to=20 […]