Building collapse in Nigeria kills scores of South Africans
By Agency Staff – SIXTY-seven South Africans have died in the building collapse that occurred at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Nigeria, President Jacob Zuma said in a statement on Tuesday. Scores more sustained injuries when the multi-storey guesthouse belonging to the church collapsed on Friday. “This is a particularly difficult time for […]
EDITORIAL: Skills crisis needs more than money
BLACK African youths have “regressed in terms of skills”, statistician-general Pali Lehohla said at the release of Statistics SA’s 20-year review of skills and youth unemployment this week. More accurately, what the review appears to show is that relatively fewer black South Africans have acquired skills over that period than their white, coloured and Indian […]
Lonmin ‘pleaded poverty but paid dividends’
BY NIREN TOLSI – MINING company Lonmin continued paying out dividends to shareholders — sometimes more than R2bn in a financial year — despite pleading that it had no money to fulfil its legal obligation to build houses for employees. This emerged on the penultimate day of evidence being led at the Farlam commission of […]
Fall in UIF claims is good news for job losses
BY NTSAKISI MASWANGANYI – THE number of claimants for unemployment insurance benefits fell in the first half of this year compared with a year earlier — suggesting the economy is not shedding as many jobs as previously thought, Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) head Boas Seruwe has said. Mr Seruwe said the decline in the number of […]
Southern democratic pillars stand tall
By ANN BERNSTEIN – After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Western democratic capitalism seemed to have triumphed. But the 2008 economic crisis, and the relative decline of Western influence that followed, significantly undermined the appeal of Western democracy in the developing world. While Western powers struggle to overcome political gridlock and slow growth, the […]
Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry, Phase One: Putting a finger in a leaking dik
BY MARIANNE THAMM – A little over two weeks after the handing over of the final 580-page report of the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into dysfunctional policing in the area, the Western Cape government announced plans to implement some of the findings. Meanwhile, in neighbouring townships, residents still battle with the same disturbing policing issues. […]
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ICC: Gbagbo to face trial
The International Criminal Court on Thursday confirmed that Ivory coast’s former president, Laurent Gbagbo will face trial for crimes against humanity, throwing out an appeal by the defence. No date has yet been set for the trial of Gbagbo on four counts of crimes against humanity, allegedly committed at the end of his 10-year rule […]
“Ebola will trigger economic decline in Liberia, Sierra Leone: IMF”
By Reuters – Economic growth in Liberia and Sierra Leone could decline by almost 3.5 percentage points as the world’s worst outbreak of Ebola has crippled mining, agriculture and services sectors in the two West African states, the IMF says. Growth in Guinea, where industrial mining has been unaffected so far, could fall by more […]
“Mining may contribute to disability levels”
By Adam Wakefield – The mining industry could play a role in the high levels of disability in the Free State, Northern Cape, North West, and Eastern Cape, statistician general Pali Lehohla said on Tuesday. “In fact it is these provinces, Free State, Northern Cape, and North West that dominate in terms of disability,” Lehohla […]
