The news cycle is like the proverbial caravan. The dogs bark daily, but it keeps moving on, always seeking out the freshest stories. In the process, some obvious flashpoints get ignored – and when they do hit, surprise everyone. Especially Mr Market. One of the biggest “surprises” waiting to hit South Africa is worsening labour … Read more
Will there be another Marikana? A year after violent clashes in the mining sector brought into sharp relief the socio-economic challenges that continue to bedevil South Africa, Gideon du Plessis, General Secretary of trade union Solidarity, reflects on what went wrong. He lists at least 20 reasons behind the conflict and warns that the problems … Read more
Have spent today at the Mining Lekgotla at the Sandton Convention Centre. It wasn’t the most uplifing experience. A bit like being the quiet kid at the jock’s after-match party. Standing one side and watching testosterone levels rise in direct proportion to alcohol consumption. There hasn’t been much drinking here. But there’s that same awful … Read more
I bought some Village Main Reef shares this afternoon. A full trading session since my interview with CEO Marius Saaiman (below), I’m fulfilling my internal rule of never using the advantageous timing we journalists enjoy to buy or sell a share. By now, the whole world could have studied what Saaiman told me on Friday … Read more