Financial freedom is but a dream for most South Africans. Statistics from the Credit Bureau Monitor (CBM) show that at the end of March 2013, credit bureaus held records for 20.08 million credit-active consumers, an increase of 0.6% from the previous quarter.
Nwabisa Pondoyi
News | 21 August 2013
Four days after the bloodletting that has become known as the Marikana massacre, this column supported the call for a comprehensive and independent inquiry. And it noted, reflecting a widespread view within the labour movement: “The Lonmin tragedy is a wake-up call that South Africa will ignore at its peril.”
Terry Bell
Opinion | 20 August 2013
Today the fuel price goes up 32 cents per litre. This means diesel, which drives our big trucks that distribute food and other goods across the country, will be over R13 a litre. Commuter transport will become more expensive as will the price of paraffin used by by the poor for cooking and lighting.
Jack Lewis
Opinion | 7 August 2013
The discussion of socialism and nationalisation in this column last week has upset some trade unionists and at least one academic. They felt that the demands of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) of Julius Malema were equated with those of movements of the traditional Left.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 29 July 2013
I think about land matters quite a bit, especially now that I’m living on a small holding in the Karoo. In 1999, I was invited to make a video showing the "challenges" (yes that was still an acceptable word back then) of land reform in the Free State.
Jack Lewis
Opinion | 24 July 2013
“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived. But, if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” So wrote American author and poet Maya Angelou; providing an insight that seems highly pertinent to the South Africa of today, especially when considering the fraught situation in the mining sector.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 16 July 2013
With the winter in full effect, people are queuing in petrol stations for paraffin, filling up their gas tanks but most importantly using even more electricity in their homes.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 10 July 2013
Trade unions are irresponsible and greedy, demanding double digit pay rises and so driving up inflation and threatening the stability of the currency and the economy. And while they criticise government policies, protest about the system or refuse immediately to accept government brokered deals, they provide no adequate explanations or alternatives.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 10 July 2013
The advice of the Italian revolutionary, Antonio Gramsci constantly comes to mind these days: exercise pessimism of the intellect, but optimism of the will. I must admit that it has become a great deal easier over recent months to exercise pessimism of the intellect — and increasingly difficult to exercise optimism of the will to do something about changing things, domestically or globally.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 2 July 2013