The magnitude of the problem of inequality in our country, compounded by the painful reality of unemployment and poverty, will hobble any future development prospects unless we seriously debate the efficacy and appropriateness of our policy responses in post-apartheid South Africa. Let me put the problem in context. It had always been clear in the […]
Business
Posted inBusiness, General, Lifestyle, News/Politics, Tech
Is the motor industry killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?
So there you are, an ordinary guy with an ordinary job who wants to buy the best car that you can afford. It has to be reliable and economical rather than have a “WOW” factor, so you’ve pretty well set your mind on a boring new 1.3-litre hatch for R160 000 when up pops a pristine […]
Posted inBusiness, General, Lifestyle, News/Politics, Tech
Goodness gracious! This Dacia is a Nissan!
So poor old Sydney Gordon (65) of Johannesburg is suing Nissan South Africa because he bought a Nissan NP 200 from them for R131 342 on February 22 2012 and a year later discovered that it had “Renault” stamped all over it. He must have gone to a lot of trouble stripping the bakkie to identify […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, Equality, General, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Ms Joburg 2013’s most ardent wish
I claim I love Johannesburg more than anyone else on the planet. I was born here. I eat these streets. I declare myself Ms Joburg 2013 — for today (you can have it tomorrow) — and here, for my inaugural address, is my ardent wish for our town: On orders from the executive mayor of […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment
The natural resource T-junction in Mozambique
By Antonio Macheve Junior Since the beginning of the current decade, Mozambique has and continues to be a key destination for foreign direct investment. The government and international companies involved in the prospection of hydrocarbons have made several announcements of significant discoveries of natural gas in the Rovuma Basin. A South African Institute of International […]
Posted inBusiness, Health
An open letter to Discovery’s CEO, Dr Jonny Broomberg
Dear Jonny Thank you for coming to speak to us last week. In light of recent media exposure the prospect of meeting 20 angry doctors and specialists must have been daunting. Your DM to me that you were “looking forward to it” was a surprise, but it strikes me that you are up to any […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, Lifestyle
Who are you calling radical?
The planet needs activism. It is being drilled, mined, excavated, pumped, and fracked more than ever before. Rivers are clogged with clingwrap, Simba packets, and toxic dyes; saturated with the run off from crops that are lathered in pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilisers. Forests are being wiped out: Even in the DRC where the Congo […]
Posted inBusiness, General, Lifestyle
The curse of being liked by the wrong people
There is a fundamental belief in the field of liberal arts that art has an intrinsic value. Marxist theory made out a good case for art being merely a commodity with a market value like any other, but the notion of inherent value refuses to die. Cultural relativism, similarly, has attempted to connect the value […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, Media
Corporate paedophilia is the hypersexualisation of our young girls
Adult sexuality is often imposed upon children rather than chosen by them. Some clothing retailers carry completely inappropriate and sexualised clothing ranges for girls as young as six. They sell thongs sized for seven-year-old girls. Imagine a five-year-old girl wearing a cut-off T-shirt that says “flirt”. How does a seven-year-old understand the plastic sexuality of […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Why exchange controls aren’t going anywhere
So there is the on-going saga that is exchange controls. Every year there is also the usual pontificating, at national budget time, on the future of exchange controls. The financial pundits will all agree that exchange controls need to go and that maybe this is finally the year that the minister of finance will pluck […]
Posted inBusiness
Oops, you just gave your invention to Telkom
“UPDATE, 8 Nov 2013: Telkom have now changed the rules of the competition, and no longer require entrants to cede or licence their IP. Here’s the media release [http://www.telkom.co.za/about_us/mediacentre/press_release/articles/2013/article_1216.html] It’s not clear yet whether Telkom will cede IP back to entrants where they’ve already ceded IP to Telkom. I’d encourage anyone who entered the competition […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, Health, Tech
The Arctic: Why you should give a damn
The Arctic is melting. The Arctic is thawing — reaching record lows this decade as Arctic temperatures are at their highest in the last 44 000 years. Climate change is heating our planet, and we could soon see ice-free summers at the North Pole. In their latest climate report, scientists around the world are more emphatic […]