South African sugar producer Illovo Sugar announced on Monday that it has entered into an agreement to sell its interests in the Gledhow sugar mill and refinery and the associated cane-growing estates to broad-based black economic empowerment company Grand Bridge for R335-million.
When 70 mercenaries landed at Harare airport, intending to have a smooth ride in their arms buying spree before flying on to stage a coup in Equatorial Guinea, Uncle Bob’s men were waiting for them. It’s Uncle Bob’s theatre of the absurd all over again. And the world’s reaction was exactly as the great impresario had intended it to be — outrage from the deluxe seats, cheers from the peanut gallery.
Last week the Competition Commission announced an investigation into high new car prices. In February it recommended a R3,7-billion fine for Telkom’s anti-competitive bandwidth policies. It has stopped price-fixing in the health industry and also helped reduce the cost of patented anti-Aids drugs. We spoke to compliance division manager Zodwa Ntuli.
According to a <i>Sunday Times</i> report, there are now nearly 700 "ultra-high-gross-worth individuals" with assets of at least R200-million each. I doubt that many of the local 25 000 "dollar millionaires" simply give away R100 000 each month. But this is exactly what the National Arts Council (NAC) is doing, writes Mike van Graan.
United States President George W Bush promised $15-billion for the fight against HIV/Aids in developing countries over five years. But former Eli Lilly CEO Randall Tobias, who runs the president’s Aids emergency plan, said the money would be spent only on high-quality patented drugs from the giant pharmaceutical companies.
African National Congress MP Vincent Smith’s coronation as leader of Parliament’s public accounts committee, Scopa, brings to a sad end one the most inglorious chapters in South Africa’s new democracy. Smith has been rewarded for shielding the executive during Parliament’s ill-starred efforts to hold it to account over the multibillion-rand arms deal.
South African media group Kagiso has been given the go-ahead to increase its stake in Gauteng radio station Jacaranda FM. The Competition Commission has unconditionally approved a merger in which Kagiso Media sought to increase its stake from 42,5% to 65% in Jacaranda FM.
South Africa has agreed to give former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide a temporary home nearly three months after an armed revolt forced him to flee his poor Caribbean country. Cabinet spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe on Thursday said the arrangement will be a temporary one "until the situation in Haiti has stabilised".
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=66273">DA slams Aristide decision</a>
South African London-listed information technology group Dimension Data (Didata) on Wednesday reported a return to profitability, after two reporting periods of losses. The group reported interim basic earnings per share of 0,1 US cents for the six months to March 31, 2004, up from a 2,2 US cents loss in the previous comparative period.
Botswana has said that criticism of its policy of routine HIV testing for people using public health services is hindering treatment efforts.
Rebel Shiite Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr vowed on Wednesday to carry on fighting the United States-led occupying forces and die a martyr, saying he will not disband his Mehdi Army militia unless religious authorities demand it. "We are ready for any US escalation and don’t expect otherwise from the American occupation," he said.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=66166">American beheaded in revenge</a>
Banco Austral, the Mozambican bank within the Absa Group, has announced solid growth in earnings for the year ended March 31 2004, the second consecutive year since Absa acquired it that the Mozambican bank has shown positive growth. The strong performance is attributed to a focus on the core capabilities of the bank.
According to the first national HIV prevalence study among South African children, conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council, it appears that children run a much greater risk of contracting HIV-Aids than previously thought. The study shows that prevalence among children in the two to nine age group was 6,7%, higher than previously expected.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=66196">Bid to stem Aids deaths</a>
"Remember the fuss over the Hale-Bopp comet? You couldn’t open a paper without comet-related media or pix — yet right now, there are <i>three</i> comets visible in our night skies at the same time, and there are a couple of asteroids inbound towards Earth. Odd how there seems to be a virtual media blackout on comet information and news." Ian Fraser illuminates the public on these and other oddities.
"The City of Johannesburg’s official website claims renewing licences has been made "hassle free" with no more lengthy queues. I arrive at 7.40am. A 12m queue runs along the pavement, making me wonder if I should pay the queue-for-you entrepreneurs to do this for me." In the second of a series on delivery of basic services, our reporter puts licensing departments to the test.
Aggrieved banking clients received R11,1-million back from banks in 2003, the ombudsman for banking services said on Tuesday. This was an increase of R2,3-million over 2002, banking ombudsman Neville Melville said at the release in Johannesburg of his office’s fourth annual report.
South African banking group Standard Bank has been chosen as the best bank in sub-Saharan Africa in <i>Euromoney</i> magazine’s annual Awards for Excellence survey, the company announced on Tuesday. Standard Bank beat last year’s winner, Citigroup, as well as Barclays and Standard Chartered.
As part of the unbundling of listed black empowerment group New Africa Investments, its subsidiary New Africa Publications Magazines Limited has been sold to unlisted publishing house Cape Media for an undisclosed sum. Announcing the sale on Tuesday, Nail said the main asset in the company is business publication, <i>Leadership</i>.
As part of the unbundling of listed black empowerment group New Africa Investments, its subsidiary New Africa Publications Magazines Limited has been sold to unlisted publishing house Cape Media for an undisclosed sum.
The recent protests at the University of the Witwatersrand are a harbinger for all of us. While the reshaping of higher education is vital, aspects like financial aid need rethinking. Here’s why: most of the 70 000 students who are able to attend higher-education institutions every year need financial assistance.
Shares in listed South African investment holding group Rebserve soared on the JSE on Monday afternoon following news that the company has signed a memorandum of understanding with black empowerment group Mvela Holdings that will see a reverse takeover of Rebserve by Mvela to create a black-controlled, diversified industrial group.
I finally got Rashid Lombard cornered in New Orleans. It took enormous effort to get to that point. Why couldn’t we have done it in Johannesburg or Durban or Cape Town? After all, we are, unavoidably, sons of the same soil. It took a jazz festival in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, to get us to finally get to grips with each other’s crazy ideas.
Confusion reigned on Friday as President Robert Mugabe’s government vowed to "nationalise" private schools that had raised fees above state-stipulated charges, while the country’s high court declared the regime’s closure of 46 of the schools was illegal.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=66012">Zim court unshackles ‘mercenaries'</a>
This week served as a reminder of the hard work South Africa still has to do to achieve the kind of growth that changes people’s lives. The University of Stellenbosch’s Bureau for Economic Research released its economic forecasts for the next two years, predicting that growth will average 2,7% this year – up from last year’s tepid 1,9% – and 3,3% next year. Better, but nowhere near enough to start rolling back unemployment.
President Thabo Mbeki’s restructuring of his Cabinet has shown that he has a logic quite beyond the comprehension of ordinary minds. It takes very special political nous to reappoint as Health Minister someone as subversively brilliant as Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. Cynics are saying her surprise reappointment was a payback for her primary ministerial activity these past five years …
South Africa’s effective corporate tax rate of 37,8% — unchanged since 2003 — is substantially higher than the global average of 29,07%, a KPMG world survey has highlighted. The survey confirms the global trend of decreasing corporate tax rates. The average for all the countries surveyed in 2004 is 29,07%.
The South African Chamber of Business’s (Sacob) Business Confidence Index (BCI) rose to a fresh record high of 124 in April from 121,9 in March. The previous record was 122,4 in December 2003. Sacob said in a statement on Thursday that the movements of the sub-indices of the BCI from March to April were rather mixed.
The Disney company is blocking distribution of Michael Moore’s forthcoming film, <i>Fahrenheit 911</i>, which exposes the links between George Bush and prominent Saudis. Moore’s agent said Disney had pulled out because its involvement could jeopardise tax breaks the company receives from the state of Florida, where Bush’s brother, Jeb, is governor.
The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa will co-operate with the Competition Commission in its investigation into vehicle pricing, the association said in a statement on Thursday. It said that vehicle manufacturers as well as importers and distributors of vehicles in South Africa take independent decisions on sales and marketing-related issues.
It is 5pm. An exhausted-looking man wearing dusty clothes is desperately struggling to fit an oil cap on the wheel of his aged minibus taxi. Old tyres, rubbish and food are strewn everywhere. The nauseating stench of urine pervades the air. This is Randfontein taxi rank. "We are used to these conditions. The municipality never comes here to clean the place," taxi driver Collin Shoroma says.
"Sisters in high office, like their brothers, we presume, should ‘sing for their supper’ (‘Sing out sistuh’). But to suggest, as you did, that until women in decision-making prove themselves worthy there should be no further push for equal representation is as flawed as white minority regimes of old arguing that blacks should only be fairly represented when they ‘prove’ that they are capable," writes Colleen Lowe Morna.
Thabo Mbeki’s new presidency is not the first to announce a "government for the poor". Perhaps the experience and antecedents of the African National Congress leadership mean this aspiration is sincere, and that new ways will be sought to achieve it. Wealth does not trickle down, it siphons up. And checks are needed to revert this upward surge of income.