At the beginning of the “Tender Revolution” when BEE became fashionable, many previously disadvantaged black folks scrambled to set up companies in their quest to emancipate themselves from economic subjugation. The promise of prosperity offered through preferential procurement opportunities inspired many to abandon formal employment in preference of exploring the unfamiliar business terrain. BEE is […]
2010
Posted inLifestyle
Ready, aim, make fire!
By Hansie Smit Heritage Day is around the corner and it’s time again to braai like our lives depend on it. That means buying wood, buying dop — some meat if you want — and making a fire convicted arsonists would envy. I bet some pyro-crazy angel in heaven lights a match every time a […]
Posted inGeneral
Sundowns right on track
Mamelodi Sundowns have started their 2010/11 Absa Premiership season like a house on fire, taking all nine points from their first three games. They are second on the log behind Ajax Cape Town, who have a better goal difference. Coach Antonio Lopez-Habas must be a happy man, so far it looks like he is on […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Make jobs and economic growth the tests for media tribunal
The governing party’s proposed media appeals tribunal will be a rare discussion point attracting some consensus at its National General Council (NGC) meeting in Durban this week. If it was thought that the tribunal was supported when it first emerged at Polokwane due to the media’s treatment of ANC President Jacob Zuma during his rape […]
Posted inGeneral
Aussie Rules: A crazy game built on passion
It was with interest that I was invited to an Aussie Rules game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, known to us as the MCG and to the locals simply as the G (said with an Aussie twang). What I knew about Aussie Rules was that it’s sort of a combination of netball, rugby and soccer, […]
Posted inGeneral
Disabled in an able society
By Michael Watermeyer To be alive and among other people means that we are subject to regulation. There are important rules which govern our interactions with others. These are social, administrative and economic rules of engagement in the home; in the workplace; on the street or in the shops; whether interacting with government, or institutions […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Everyone stands to lose if the secrecy bill succeeds
The Protection of Information Bill (POI) saga is probably more of a farce than a black comedy, but doesn’t it make that late nineties movie Wag the Dog spring to mind? Perhaps not because of similarities between its plot and the POI saga, but definitely as one considers the lame attempts of those championing the […]
Posted inGeneral
Journos too lazy to cover black opinion
By Cedrick Ngalande It’s difficult to get correct news about South Africa by simply reading the Western press. I have lived in the US for nearly a decade. Every morning I look through the press to get news on Africa. In those 10 years I have never seen a single news article that correctly and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Not just SA’s media that’s under fire
By Levi Kabwato From a distance, the ongoing debate about the ANC’s Media Appeals Tribunal proposal seems unrelated to the discomforting comments made by Malawi’s president, Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, that he will close down all newspapers (read media) that report and continue to report that at least one million Malawians are facing hunger in […]
Posted inGeneral
Springbok coaches: Who’s in, who’s out?
National rugby coaches are like lightning conductors for raw emotions and there is no such place on earth like the seat of the South African rugby coach, he gets struck multiple times with the intensity of heaven and hell colliding. When it’s good — the coach can do no wrong and when the Springbok team […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
The international press and investors are onto us
There are a host of factors affecting investment decisions that governments cannot control. Think of natural resource endowments, proximity to major markets, the climate or even inherited developmental legacies. With our global economy’s sustained dependence on oil and gas, surpluses of these commodities to export may still ensure countries certain advantages in attracting foreign direct […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Cope must put its money where its mouth is
The Congress of the People must practice what it preaches and implement the direct election of its president, as it advocated during the election campaign. With preparations under way for the Cope national elective and inaugural congress to legitimately and democratically elect its leaders, it is imperative that the party seriously considers and implements the […]