Economic growth in Africa slowed to 3,2% last year from 4,3% in 2001, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca) estimated. South Africa’s growth by contrast accelerated to 3,0% last year from 2,1% in 2001.
When Nedcor’s hostile takeover attempt of Standard Bank was shot down by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel three years ago, the South African banking group’s long-cherished dream of becoming the region’s biggest bank able to compete with global players seemed all but dead.
Sello Rasethaba’s empowerment company, Matodzi Resources, has offered to take over Durban Roodepoort Deep’s ailing gold mines, Hartebeesfontein and Buffelsfontein, in the North West province.
I thought this week we’d go through the looking glass, and examine stories that just don’t ‘fit’ in the accepted view of reality as we know it, as well as look over some rather cool pranks and fun things you can do.
While a trade policy that ensures fair play, avoids monopolistic tendencies and discourages rent-seeking is a necessary if not a sufficient condition for economic growth, the same, however, may not be said for industrial policy.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco), which represents more than 100 000 taxi owners across the country, has committed itself to a minimum wage and basic conditions of employment in the taxi industry.
Vinpro, the representative body for South Africa’s wine producers that has taken over the role previously fulfilled by KWV, has now been formally established with the registration of its name, the group announced on Tuesday.
Trade union Solidarity will meet with the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) on Wednesday in order to discuss which line of protest action they will embark upon in the metal and engineering industry.
South Africa has caught the global call centre fever and is capitalising on a trend that has seen international companies, particularly UK and US-based firms, outsourcing their labour intensive call centres (telephonic customer interface hubs) to countries that can provide inexpensive, quality alternatives.
"All thinking people throughout the world recognise that global poverty constitutes the deepest and most dangerous structural fault," writes Thabo Mbeki.
Some short-term suffering before the patient recovers next year — that’s the diagnosis for the South African economy. SA’s economic slowdown has been stronger than expected, but analysts remain optimistic.
The huge picture on the front page of <i>The Star</i> said it all. There was Dubya, Master of the Universe, striding down a red carpet in the garden of the presidential guesthouse in Pretoria, with our own president trotting dutifully along beside him, trying to stay in the picture. Behind them, in soft focus, came the two first ladies.
A Malaysian business consortium has invested R30-million in a condom-making factory in Mpumalanga province, South African government news agency Bua News reported on Monday.
South African gold mining company Durban Roodepoort Deep (DRD) may be forced to close its North West operations because of the weak gold price.
South African banking group Absa’s forensic team is probing several cases of internet fraud. This follows incidents where three clients in the Western Cape have had money removed from their accounts by a hacker who gained unauthorised access to their computers.
The transformation of the accounting profession in South Africa was enhanced this week with the merger of MSGM Masuku Jeena Inc and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the world’s largest professional services firm.
Fifty more workers were retrenched on Thursday as the new plastic bag regulations continued to take their toll on jobs in the industry.
The South African retail petrol price is likely to see a rise of some 20 cents per litre (c/l) on August 6.
South African trade union Solidarity on Friday distanced itself from a looming strike in the mining industry called by the National Union of Mineworkers.
A number of South African gold and coal mining firms are looking to avoid a threatened strike by the National Union of Mineworkers (Num), with the outstanding issues being the level of wage increases, retirement fund contributions and job grading.
It isn’t often one South African columnist gets the chance to say helpful things about another. A splendid opportunity has now come my way and I’m grabbing it to write with enthusiasm about the publication last week of a collection of South African humour, satire and so on.
Libyan and other interest fuels growing speculation that there is oil in the Mozambique channel. The South African team led to the Comores this week by Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was multitasking.
Peace brokers will have to unpack the Arusha Agreement to bring the two major rebel movements into the peace process.
The controversial empowerment deal dubbed "Mzigate" was unlikely to happen now because of a new stakeholder approach to black economic empowerment, officials and industry analysts insisted this week.
Some 160 000 South African gold and coal miners, who are members of the National Union of Mineworkers , are set to embark on their first strike in 16 years, following the breakdown of talks between Num and the Chamber of Mines on Thursday.
The four vice presidents for the two-year transitional government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) took their oath of office on Thursday in the capital, Kinshasa.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) and the predominantly white-member trade union movement Solidarity have held a meeting to discuss strategies for stimulating growth and development in South Africa.
The municipality of the City of Cape Town has appealed for assistance in conserving the city’s water supplies after warning on Thursday that the storage dams supplying the city were currently sitting at only 53,6% full, compared to 86,6% the previous year.
More than three million South African children are registered for the Child Support Grant, it emerged on Thursday.
Mindset Network, a multimedia satellite TV network was launched in Johannesburg on Wednesday, with corporate support valued at R225-million. Mindset Network is a non-profit organisation which will address the education challenges which face South Africa including schooling, health and entrepreneurship.
Readers of the US Travel & Leisure magazine have voted the Londolozi game reserve in the Sabi Sands Reserve as the top hotel in Africa and the Middle East and top small hotel in the world.
What have Jack Straw and Nelson Mandela got in common? Not much, really. But both were presidents of the Leeds University Student Union in Britain in the 1960s.