FRIDAY, 1.00PM HEADLINE share earnings for Liberty Life rose 20% in 1997 to R12,15, helped by a new, internationally standardised accounting system. The dividend rose 33% to 425c, including a 40th birthday 40c share bonus. Earnings attributable to Liberty Life shareholders rose to R1,18-billion, new business rose 32,6% to R3,08-billion, and total assets increased from […]
Marion Edmunds Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel’s copy of the 1998/1999 budget speech was a prize attraction this week at a lavish banquet for South Africa’s top black businesspeople who gathered to toast Manuel and the country’s foremost black entrepreneur, Cyril Ramaphosa. The document – which included some gentle tax cuts for the richest of […]
WHO ARE . . . JOEL NETSHITENZHE AND YACOOB ABBA OMAR? Ferial Haffajee It’s appropriate that the modest Joel Netshitenzhe is reading Primary Colours. The novel about an obscure southern governor and his election trail to the White House is a testament to spin doctors – the powerful back-room advisers whose job it is to […]
Angella Johnson No road signs mark the way to China Town. Unlike its wealthy neighbours which flaunt thatched-roof mansions to passing motorists, the impoverished township lies concealed behind a curtain of tall leafy trees. Also hidden in this dusty informal settlement – tucked between St Francis Bay and the Cape St Francis resort village in […]
James Ambrose Brown: A SECOND LOOK If you were to tease my memory about the exhibits of the museum in the gardens of the library in Johannesburg, I would have to admit that I remember only two things – one is the reputed chair of Shaka, king of the Zulus; the other is a Zeederberg […]
Belinda Beresford The government is continuing its campaign to ensure that taxes become as unavoidable as death for South Africans with the latest budget, which reduced the overall income tax burden while attacking fringe benefits such as car allowances. The budget saw about R3,7-billion knocked off the income tax burden for South Africans, with the […]
FRIDAY, 11.30AM: FORMER anti-apartheid activist Dean Snyders, who was arrested last week on charges of dealing in uncut diamonds with a value of R1,8-million, has accused his former friend, Northern Cape Premier Manne Dipico, of framing him in a sting operation as a result of a power struggle between senior African National Congress officials in […]
Coenraad Visser: On stage in Pretoria Two productions, one traditional, the other innovative; one a confident affirmation of established opera values, the other an equally confident glance at the future of opera in this country. The productions are Rigoletto by the State Theatre Opera in Pretoria and Cape Town Opera’s La BohSme: Noir at the […]
Tony Twine A wise woman once told a class of students attending their first lecture on the subject that economics was nothing more than common sense made difficult. With the benefit of 25 years of hindsight, her students can now vouch for this rule, which has turned out to be far more immutable than the […]
Gwen Ansell On Thursday March 19, the annual Windybrow Festival kicks off: the usual mix of dance, drama and music with a heavy emphasis on youth. As far as the music goes, opening night features singer Ringo Madlingozi, with material from his latest album Sondelani: an indication that this festival is following a slightly different […]