Monhla Hlahla, MD of the Airports Company of South Africa, is riding the crest of the tourism wave. Robust domestic growth, increased business travel and the introduction of budget airlines has sent air passenger demand soaring, which is good news for a monopoly airport operator. Revenue reached R2,564-billion (up 18%) for the year ending in March.
Sudan said on Saturday it has invited back a European Commission envoy who was expelled a day earlier for "interfering" in domestic affairs, following an apology. "Sudan has accepted the apology of Louis Michel, the European development commissioner, to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ali al-Sadek said.
North Korea said on Saturday that at least 600 people are dead or missing following devastating floods, twice the previous official toll. Torrential rain, strong winds and landslides left at least 600 people dead or missing and thousands of people injured, the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing figures from the Central Statistics Bureau.
A man pleaded guilty on Friday to driving at 277km/h in a high-performance sports car on a public road, making him the fastest motorist ever caught speeding in Britain. Timothy Brady was caught driving a £98 000 Porsche 911 Turbo in a random police speed check on a trunk road near Abingdon, south central England, in January this year.
Zimbabwe central bank chief Gideon Gono was recently refused entry into Britain after the government in London said his visit could lead to public protests, state media reported on Friday. Britain accuses Gono of "involvement in corrupt practices that have undermined democracy and the rule of law" in Zimbabwe, the <i>Herald</i> newspaper reported.
Oil prices were slightly lower in Asian trade on Friday as investors kept an eye on global financial and equity markets shaken by a crisis in United States lending to risky home-loan borrowers, dealers said. Prices have firmed in recent days after falling sharply from an all-time peak $78,77 on August 1 as the financial markets calmed down.
We have bemoaned the weakening of Parliament over the years due to the loss of skilled personnel and their replacement by what we called B-grade politicians. It is therefore appropriate that when work such as the comprehensive review of the Chapter Nine bodies and other state-supporting institutions is performed by parliamentarians, they equally deserve our plaudits.
Africa has confirmed its status as a low-correlation investment destination during the recent spate of equity reverses on international markets, according to the Imara financial services group, whose Imara African Opportunities Fund rose 1% as world markets softened.
A nine-year-old maths prodigy was on Thursday admitted to a Hong Kong university, telling reporters he struggled to communicate academically with his own age group. March Boedihardjo, an Indonesian-Chinese boy resident in Hong Kong, earlier this month gained two grade As and a B in his A-levels — normally taken by 18-year-olds.
More than two million tickets have been sold for the Rugby World Cup, which kicks off on September 7, the organising committee of rugby’s showpiece four-yearly event said on Wednesday. "We have sold 2,05-million tickets and it’s not finished since we’re still shifting about 1Â 500 a day," said committee head Bernard Lapasset.
If it were up to Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan, the potential of South Africa’s music industry would be felt all over the world. His strong belief in the cultural sector was shared with those present at the opening of the Moshito Music Conference and Exhibition 2007 at MuseuMAfricA in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
The HIV prevalence rate in Madagascar may be lower than that in Southern Africa countries, but the level of stigma is just as high.
Former journalist and gender activist Colleen Lowe Morna, who is the executive director of Gender Links, talks about her regrets, Rastafarians and scantily dressed women on newspaper back pages as she answers questions from key players in the media industry.
A self-proclaimed communist who became an idol of the opposition, the "bourgeois" media and global capital institutions, has ended up in conflict with the government she represented. This is how one can sum up the three-year period of Nozizwe ÂMadlala-Routledge as the deputy minister of health, which ended last week, writes Sibani Mngadi.
Davison Maruziva, the editor of the <i>The Standard</i> newspaper, a Zimbabwe-based weekly, offers some insight into the media in our neighbouring country and explains why he is "absolutely, positively optimistic" about its future.
Howard Thomas cannot help but wonder how broadcasters measure creativity and quality.
Johan Prins of Mercury media agency tries his hand at selling diet pills to children. This is the sixth edition of our monthly Planner’s Perspective feature where we give a fictitious brief to a media planner. This is how Prins would have convinced parents to buy a revolutionary new treatment for obese children.
A well-known research company is contemplating a study that looks into the similarities between blacks and Afrikaners, which are many, according to Matebello Motloung. She touches on some she’s picked up over the years.
Organisers of a race in Scotland have taken out a £1-million insurance policy against attack by or sighting of the fabled Loch Ness monster. Transport operator FirstGroup said in a statement that its policy with insurers Royal & Sun Alliance would pay out should "Nessie" emerge from the murky depths of the vast watercourse and/or attack one of the competitors.
Investors around the world, including South Africa, have noted with concern that many of their equity investments are now worth several percentages less, largely because United States homeowners with subprime mortgage loans have started defaulting on their loan repayments.
Stanlib, the country’s largest unit-trust company and an early proponent of listed property investment, has shed light on the category’s success. Listed property funds retain their place as investment industry favourites because they "hug" their investors rather than the sector index, it says.
Despite central bank interventions to stem the liquidity crunch arising from the United States subprime lending crisis, this is not likely to be the end of the volatility, according to Old Mutual Investment Group South Africa chief economist Rian le Roux.
South African insurer Santam on Tuesday reported a 61% increase in headline earnings per share to 803 cents for the six months ended June from 498 cents a year ago. Diluted headline earnings per share were up 63% to 793 cents from a previous 488 cents. An interim dividend of 166 cents per share was declared.
Have you ever wondered what the possible reasons are for the slow disappearance of fish from our rivers and if we will ever see their numbers restored? A recent research initiative by the Water Research Commission has assessed the ability of indigenous fish species to negotiate different fishway designs in an attempt to optimise and develop new models.
Allan Gray has established 10 annual scholarships worth a total of R1,25-million for full-time MBA students at the University of Cape Town graduate school of business (GSB). The company has been providing funding for previously disadvantaged students at the school for a number of years.
The country’s biggest microlender, African Bank Investments Limited (Abil), disclosed on Monday that it had submitted a letter to the board of directors of furniture group Ellerines expressing an interest to acquire the company. It said that the Ellerines board was supportive of the strategic rationale.
Six months after sniffing their way to fame in Malaysia, Labrador crime dogs Lucky and Flo were awarded medals on Monday for "outstanding service" in tracking down pirated discs. The exploits of the canine sleuths, who nosed out about $6-million in illegal merchandise, endeared them to Malaysians and regularly landed them on the front pages in the country.
Power cuts plagued the Gaza Strip anew on Monday as the European Union was reviewing whether to renew its financing of fuel deliveries for the impoverished territory’s sole power plant. Gaza City hummed with the sound of generators and candles disappeared off supermarket shelves as residents stocked up on supplies on the fourth day of intermittent power supplies.
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said on Monday that the worst of the United States mortgage crisis was over even if some US investment houses and funds could still be in trouble. Stock exchanges worldwide were sent reeling this month as US borrowers with risky credit histories — the so-called subprime sector — defaulted on their mortgage repayments.
Motorists across the country, but particularly those still smarting from Gauteng’s latest fuel shortage, breathed a collective sigh of relief last Friday when Cabinet approved a new Energy Security Master Plan for liquid fuels. Since it’s not always possible to know whether your next litre of petrol will actually be available at the local service station, it is comforting to know that government Is Working On It.
While many land claims in rural areas have been settled, land restored to communities has often failed to bring hoped-for jobs and income. But one Mpumalanga community has found a way to break the deadlock and use its land to start tourism ventures. The beauty of eastern Mpumalanga and the evident prosperity of tourism ventures disguises the endemic poverty in the area.
It is generally agreed that South Africa’s violent present can be traced back to its violent past. Then, logically, given our intolerant and dictatorial history, we should be an intolerant and dictatorial people today. So it comes as no surprise that we have a president who is not exactly famous for tolerating views different than his own. He is not alone. He is a man of his times — past and present.