An extraordinary story of allegations and counter-claims will be heard in the Labour Court today when two of the most senior executives at the SA Revenue Services fight their suspensions by a new politically appointed boss.
Before his mysterious death, the late Jeff Wiggill (55), who masterminded the R1bn First Strut fraud, had his life insured for tens of millions of rand. Among the underwriters was Discovery Life, still smarting since paying a fortune to the Brett Kebble estate after the apparent murder of the mining fraudster – an event later … Read more
Good satire requires a light pen and a sharp intellect. One of the best local examples was my former colleague Jeff Zerbst (sadly, now an Aussie) a highly educated horse-racing nut who penned the brilliant Thomas Equinus column in the Mail & Guardian. Thanks to a good friend, we have discovered another in the same … Read more
Net1 has had some very bad publicity over the last few weeks, with a slew of articles criticising its practice of making various deductions to the social grants that it pays out using its proprietary payment solution, and for making what some have called predatory loans to social grant recipients. The kerfuffle has involved the … Read more
There’s only one sin worse than not being on social media these days – and that is to engage badly through these modern communications channels. Journalist Mandy Collins reckons there’s much room for improvement out there among South Africa’s professional social media practitioners. Mandy is a social media expert, particularly on Twitter (@CollinsMandy). She’s nice … Read more
Journalism is an interesting business. It is simultaneously a profit-making enterprise and a crucial support structure for democratic governance. Journalists seek to please audiences, but their salaries are paid by advertisers and they answer to owners who are sometimes subjects of the stories they write. All in all, it’s an awkward business, as the recent … Read more
Kanthan Pillay is a dream mealtime companion. Educated, well-read, plugged-in and opinionated, it’s always a treat to break bread with him.