During Thomas Piketty’s Nelson Mandela lecture a friend tweeted that, despite the standing ovation, many would choose what to remember. They would parrot his call for investment in education because that was unthreatening. Forget land redistribution, a wealth tax and the national minimum wage, just get the kids in school!
Doron Isaacs
Opinion | 6 October 2015
We, as a nation, are deeply in debt. And that is very worrying, with declining disposable incomes the rising costs of living and with another festive season fast approaching. Government admits that many households are drowning in debt”. So the plea is for citizens to save more and to retain pensions rather than cash in existing provisions.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 5 October 2015
"I can't comment - the matter is sub judice." This is the refrain beloved of senior politicians from Cyril Ramaphosa to Nathi Nhleko to Thandi Modise to Baleka Mbete to President Zuma himself when faced with a difficult question.
Leo Boonzaier
Analysis | 2 October 2015
To hear those two words from a majority of the Constitutional Court after another wave of tireless campaigning on one of the oldest and most fundamental issues we face as a country was brutal.
Gregory Solik
Opinion | 1 October 2015
In the wake of the Hitachi/Chancellor House investigation in the US and Hitachi Corporation’s agreement to pay a huge amount to settle the corruption allegations made against it, the Constitutional Court’s judgments in My Vote Counts NPC v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others, handed down on Wednesday, could hardly be more pertinent.
Shanelle van der Berg
Analysis | 1 October 2015
Thomas Piketty, French economist and author of the bestselling Capital in the 21st Century, was due to arrive and deliver a lecture on inequality at UCT on Wednesday afternoon. He was prevented from flying (apparently for not having enough blank pages in his passport) and it was arranged that he would deliver the lecture virtually, via a live stream.
Ben Stanwix
Opinion | 30 September 2015
This year’s Annual National Assessments (ANA), which are administered in literacy and numeracy to all learners in grades 1-6 and 9, have been postponed till December following opposition to their administration from teacher unions. How should we understand the value of these assessments, the reasons for the opposition from unions and how the assessments can be improved for the future?
Stephen Taylor
Opinion | 30 September 2015
To test or not to test? That is not the question although it is the way the current row about basic education has largely been presented.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 29 September 2015
Martin Shkreli was the most hated man on the internet for a brief time this week. His company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, pushed up the price of a medicine, pyrimethamine, used to treat a life-threatening disease from $13.50 (approx R185) to $750 (approx R10,250) a pill.
Nathan Geffen
Opinion | 23 September 2015