| BUSINESS WATCH |
Local strikes are giving global car makers the jitters  2010-09-02 04:00:01 THE South African economy and motor manufacturing industry workers could pay dearly for the persistent disruption to new vehicle production in the country. The strikes in the new tyre and automotive component manufacturing sectors follow the strike last month by motor manufacturing workers, which resulted in some manufacturers losing export revenue. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Private hospitals show caring hand during strike 2010-09-01 04:00:01 Private hospitals - criticised in the past for being driven by the pursuit of profit - have in recent weeks opened their doors for those in need as the public service strike has crippled government hospitals. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Newcastle factory strike is ironic hangover of old 2010-08-31 06:00:01 Industrial action has been turned on its head in the KwaZulu-Natal town of Newcastle and its surrounds, where 85 factories went on strike against a law that sets minimum wages. Unlike most businesses, the Chinese- and Taiwanese-owned factories are not afraid to play hardball and closed their doors. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Upward mobility is no distraction for Woolworths 2010-08-27 04:00:01 Good news, just in time for Women's Month, is Woolworths' decision to shed (no pun intended) several layers of its historically conservative approach to underwear. It will be displaying a new range of provocative lingerie soon. [Full Story...] 0 Comments This August is no month for women giving birth 2010-08-26 04:00:01 What a sad irony! August is the month that the nation puts aside to celebrate women each year, yet it is mostly women who probably want this August to be the month to forget. This is because women are bearing the brunt of the public sector strike that has crippled hospitals, schools and other essential services for a second consecutive week. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Public services needs performance-based wages 2010-08-20 04:00:01 With striking public service workers inflicting as much damage as possible on the lives of ordinary people, it's difficult to imagine that they can retain public sympathy - assuming they had it in the first place. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Mineral Resources needs to clean up on all fronts 2010-08-19 04:00:01 At the same time as Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu was pledging to clean up her department this week, her written response to a parliamentary question was winding its way into the public domain. Its contents, made public yesterday, admirably illustrate why a clean-up is necessary in the first place. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Brazil more in love with digital TV than World Cup 2010-08-18 04:00:01 One would assume that by now the soccer-mad, five-time World Cup-winning nation would be adorning everything in sight in its national colours and every day would be celebrated as another day closer to the final countdown. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Blow to fishy business as Sars makes a big catch 2010-08-17 04:00:01 East Asia is a major destination for local exports - not least illicit exports. Along with the highly publicised illegal trade in rhino horns, the smuggling of abalone (perlemoen) is big business for criminal syndicates. Both commodities are regarded as aphrodisiacs in the Far East. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Peek into lean mean SAB distribution machine 2010-08-13 04:00:01 For a while there it looked as though the public was going to miss the opportunity to get an insight - however brief, however superficial - into the workings of SAB's all-powerful distribution system. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Shut loopholes, Zungu cries after bagging Mittal 2010-08-12 04:00:01 Sandile Zungu, the leader of the Ayigobi consortium selected as ArcelorMittal South Africa's black economic empowerment (BEE) partner, has between himself and the companies he owns acquired 1.3 percent of the underlying operations of the steel maker, gratis. [Full Story...] 0 Comments State gives mineral rights windfalls to chosen few 2010-08-11 04:00:01 The department of Mineral Resources appears to be carrying out a redistributive programme that has the potential for making talk of mining nationalisation - usually deeply unsettling to any potential investor - almost inconsequential. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Old Mutual still pleased with struggling Nedbank 2010-08-10 04:00:01 Analysts remain sceptical that the grand dame of life assurance, Old Mutual, will sell its 52 percent stake in struggling subsidiary Nedbank, though stranger things have happened. Old Mutual's management, who had anticipated fielding questions about Nedbank on the hour-long conference call on Friday, appeared to have taken bets as to when the first question about the bank would be raised. [Full Story...] 0 Comments State puts cart before horse on vehicle carbon tax 2010-08-06 04:00:01 The way the government is introducing a carbon dioxide emissions tax on new cars is unfair on consumers and looks like a revenue-raising fiscal intervention rather than one aimed at equitably limiting harm caused to the environment. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Female faces are scarce higher up the totem pole 2010-08-05 04:00:01 WOMEN continue to play second fiddle to men when it comes to getting those plum top jobs. As Madge Gibson, a partner at Jack Hammer Executive Headhunters points out, the proportion of women decreases dramatically as one moves up the corporate pyramid, with only 7.1 percent of all directors of JSE companies being female. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Kumba shrugs off China's ore import restrictions 2010-08-04 04:00:01 The China Iron & Steel Association announced new rules yesterday restricting the number of licensed iron ore importers, a move intended to reduce smaller traders blamed for inflating prices. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Voting secrecy suits institutions and bosses alike 2010-08-03 04:00:01 Full marks to Altron for encouraging institutional shareholders to disclose details of their voting patterns. Altron regards this form of communication as "an extremely useful management tool". And it is looking forward to the release of the Code for Responsible Investing by the Institutional Shareholders' Committee later this year, hoping that it will have some constructive recommendations on the issue. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Competing subsidies fail to ignite solar geysers 2010-07-30 06:00:00 Coming in the next five years to a roof near you: one of a million solar water heaters. That is the government's plan but there is no clarity on how the target is going to be met, as the industry is governed by an incomplete regulatory system and important policy decisions have yet to be taken. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Wiese considered stash of cash safer than a bank 2010-07-28 06:00:00 The touted stress test on EU banks, which was aimed to demonstrate to the world that the EU banking system was sound, seems to have crashed against a wall of cynicism. It thus seems to render most of the test's objectives pointless. European commentators are already arguing that the test was designed to ensure that most banks would pass and suggest that it does nothing to resolve concerns about the strength of the banking system. [Full Story...] 0 Comments Vavi looks to China for ideas on controlling rand 2010-07-29 06:00:00 Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi this week called for research into how other emerging markets were keeping their currencies competitive and stable. This came after rand strength helped shave off 61 000 South African jobs in the second quarter. [Full Story...] 1 Comment |
