Business

The deep rumbles of discontent that have exploded into an orgy of violence, death and destruction may, rightly or wrongly, be the poor’s version of Affirmative Action. Of course, AA is nothing else but implementation of the culture of ‘putting local blacks, first.’ Its widespread and, ironically, justifiable practice has, over the last decade resulted […]

Here’s an idea. We have a problem with too many students dropping out of their degree courses — so let’s make degrees longer! Why would anyone think that would cut the dropout rate? I guess it doesn’t rate up there with, “ask not what your country can do for you…” but my new favourite quote […]

One is tempted to leave this question unanswered to mock the conscience of those apologists of the greed driven market economy (let’s be clear: there’s nothing ‘free’ about this system), but it’s exhilirating to know they don’t have a conscience. Their only concern is ‘getting ahead’, stepping on others as they haste to ‘explain’ the […]

Thabo Mbeki must go. The president who has failed to see any crisis with the world’s highest rates of Aids, worst crime statistics, exploding power stations, the stolen election of a neighbouring country and scenes of unmitigated barbarism against foreigners is destroying our nation. African National Congress treasurer general Matthew Phosa is right, we need […]

Judge Korman was the lone dissenting voice against the appeal of the Khulumani lawsuit in October 2007. The appeal was lodged against the judgement dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims under the United States’ Alien Tort Claims Act. The Khulumani Lawsuit, on behalf of Khulumani Support Group and less than 100 named plaintiffs, charges 23 foreign corporations […]

Last night (6 May 2008), a high-level South African government delegation arrived in Doha, Qatar for bilateral talks with that country. The agreement that would be signed by President Thabo Mbeki and Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, would conclude negotiations between the two countries that started a long time ago, but […]

I’m really tired of drug company apologists. Take Thompson Ayodele, for example, the executive director of the conservative “think tank” Initiative for Public Policy Analysis. In a recent op–ed piece published in the Mail & Guardian, he trotted out old, tired and discredited arguments in support of uniform high levels of patent protection for medicines. […]