In every country in the world, the healthcare industry is a target for a great deal of debate and argumentation. There are many conflicting pressures on the healthcare business. On the one hand, there is the pressure of social justice, which demands that all citizens be given access to the care needed to sustain life … Read more
Hi there, Many White South Africans, especially the logical types you find in executive suites, find it hard to suppress sighs when politicians blame problems on the Legacy of Apartheid. What they’re thinking is rarely expressed in words – that’s too un-PC – but all too easy to read in faces: It’s been two decades, … Read more
By Pascal Fletcher and Ed Cropley MAPUTO (Reuters) – Africa is “taking off” with strong, steady growth but poverty is unacceptably high so that governments need to build infrastructure and institutions and educate people to share the benefits more widely, the IMF’s head said on Thursday. Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow by around 5.5 percent this year – … Read more
(Reuters) – South Africa’s No.3 private hospital group Netcare Ltd reported a 20 percent rise in first-half profit on Monday, thanks to a weaker rand currency and strong local demand. Netcare, which also runs one of Britain’s largest private hospital networks, said adjusted headline earnings per share totalled 76 cents in the six months to end-March, compared with … Read more
In popular culture, retirement is often painted as the golden years, a time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of a lifetime of hard work. Unfortunately, that attractive dream is very far from the reality for the majority of South Africans. According to a recent survey, only 29% of working South Africans who are … Read more
Twenty years ago when South Africa emerged from its experiment with Apartheid, the country’s leading business strategist reckoned only SA Breweries deserved the description of World Class. A few more names would be added to a similar list drawn up today, including financial services group Discovery which was just two years old when the democratic … Read more
There are few industries that get people as worked up, or that require as much regulation, care, and clever policy-making as healthcare. The healthcare-related problems facing countries around the world are similar – costs are ever-rising, quality is erratic, outcomes are hard to define, and people have strong feelings about all the issues. In this … Read more
It’s well known in Johannesburg that the smartest kids have a straight choice between joining Discovery, the locally-based financial services group, or Glencore, the global resources giant run by Joburger Ivan Glasenberg. Both groups put a premium on intellect and an ability to embrace complexity. But while Glencore is already established in its field as … Read more