IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn is to visit Africa to gauge how the continent’s economies were coping with the financial crisis, officials said on Thursday. During his five-day trip beginning Sunday, the International Monetary Fund chief will visit Kenya, South Africa and Zambia for meetings with the authorities, trade unions, representatives of civil society, and […]
S.Africa: Mining plan is opposed
An application made for prospecting rights for minerals in areas of the Cape Winelands has met with staunch opposition. Made by state-owned African Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation (AEMFC), the application seeks the right to prospect for tin, zinc, lithium, copper, manganese and silver in areas considered critical biodiversity areas. Adding their voice to the […]
Sasol plea opens can of worms in the oil sector
A SASOL application to the Competition Commission for leniency has opened a can of worms in the oil industry. The commission said yesterday it had found that major oil companies had fixed their bitumen prices. The commission ruled against Chevron SA; Engen; Shell SA; Total SA; Masana Petroleum Solution (BP is a shareholder in the […]
S.Africa: Gordhan bemoans response to Eskom
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said yesterday he was “disappointed” by the response of developed countries to Eskom’s plan to seek about 4bn in loans from the World Bank to build power plants. “It’s the first loan SA is asking the World Bank for, and suddenly there’s all sorts of doubts,” Gordhan said in an interview […]
Governments must set up changes to halt global warming
Businesses are looking to government for leadership in establishing the necessary behavioural changes to halt global warming. This was one of the findings of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ report released on Thursday entitled “Appetite for Change: The global business perspective on tax and regulation for a low carbon economy. In the South African supplement to this report, the […]
S.Africa: SARS must get its share, Court rules
The tax collector must get his share from imported wefts used to attach hair or wigs to a person’s scalp or own hair, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) held on Thursday. The court upheld an appeal by the Commissioner of the Revenue Service (SARS) concerning the correct tariff classification for customs duty on synthetic […]
Patel eyes pensions billions for state fund
Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel is to explore ways of investing some of the R1,5-trillion of public and private retirement funds in development projects, including the possibility of issuing a development bond. The use of retirement funds for development is one objective of the Department of Economic Development’s strategic plan tabled in Parliament this week. […]
S.Africa: Bring back gallows – PAC
The Pan Africanist Congress has reacted with fury to the removal of the gallows and floorboards in the apartheid era’s execution chambers at the Pretoria Central Prison. The families of six PAC activists who were hanged in 1967 and 1968 were shocked to discover that the gallows and the trapdoors had been removed when they […]
S.Africa: Mkhatshwa is out of ANC race
The race for the ANC Gauteng provincial leadership has taken another twist. Sowetan has learnt that that Tshwane speaker Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa could be co-opted to the ANC’s national executive committee. The move would rule him out of the leadership race. Premier Nomvula Mokonyane might go head- to-head with current ANC chairperson Paul Mashatile. Mkhatshwa’s […]
'Crass materialism' endangering the ANC – Vavi
“Crass materialism” and “tender entrepreneurs” in the ANC leadership is endangering the ruling party, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Thursday. “The new tendency is trying hard to take us back to the politics of labelling, back-stabbing, rumour and scandal mongering, marginalisation and the closure of state for free and democratic debate.” This “small […]