This section houses interviews conducted by Biznews, both video and audio, and other interesting inputs sourced from Third Parties.
The deluge of labour unrest in South Africa at the moment is beginning to carry with it the whisperings of a new era of labour-employer interaction in the country. The ramifications and norms that were introduced by the five month long platinum sector strike, have created a dangerous quagmire of practices that can only have … Read more
The direct impact of the platinum strike is evident in today’s Purchasing Manager’s Index which remains stubbornly in pessimistic territory (below 50). Were it not for that destructive event, now being followed by a potentially even more hurtful strike by 220 000 NUMSA members in the engineering sector, one would expect relatively benign economic conditions. … Read more
After an extended period of rolling blackouts and threats of more, South Africa’s State-owned electricity utility Eskom is bracing for a full frontal attack from the militant NUMSA trade union which has threatened to picket its head office tomorrow. NUMSA wants roughly 20 000 of its members who work at Eskom to join the other … Read more
As Indonesia and other weak-currency members of the so-called Fragile Five economies grow their exports and shrink their current account deficits, membership of the group could whittle down to a Fragile One …South Africa. That is a concern expressed in this Alec Hogg interview by Old Mutual’s Peter Brooke. Key to the solution, he says, … Read more
Once-bustling Rustenburg will take a year, probably longer, to get back to pre-strike levels of economic activity after the battering it took over the past five-months. Anne Trusler, a member of the North West Province’s Business Forum is concerned that many businesses have been mortally wounded. Sadly, it remains to be seen whether or not … Read more
My first engagement with Richard van Rensburg was in the dot com heyday when he was charged by Datatec and Wooltru to run a business called Affinity Logic. That was ahead of its time, as was now Pick n Pay chairman, then joint CEO Gareth Ackerman’s drive into financial services in 1997 with Go Banking. But … Read more
Bidvest’s Brian Joffe must be wondering whether he acquired a poisoned chalice when successfully beating off the Chilean takeover bid for struggling SA pharma group Adcock Ingram. The efforts of Adcock’s new chairman to shake things up have now hit an unlikely obstacle in the form of the Competition Commission which reckons Bidvest has not … Read more
Just as South Africa is starting to recover from the longest strike on record in almost 100 years, the workers at NUMSA, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, are gearing up for their own strike in sectors ranging from communications to engineering. Almost a quarter of a million South Africans may go on … Read more
Suing a company like Investec is always going to be an uphill battle. Investec has deep pockets, all the time in the world, and no conscience to answer to, so the potential for delays, nitpicking, and endless argument is enormous. Randgold shareholders, who are suing Investec over claims that it helped the now deceased Brett … Read more
The unfolding story around the unregistered, over-the-counter share exchanges that are being used to trade shares in broad-based black economic empowerment schemes like MTN’s Zakhele is fascinating and instructive. When Zakhele was conceived, shareholders were promised that after a certain period, they would be permitted to trade their Zakhele shares with other black persons – … Read more