Posts tagged with 'Africa'

 

It’s time to man up, Cyril – Ramaphoria is dead and SA is in the toilet

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Femicide, rape, murder, a tanking economy – everything’s getting worse, and action from the top is our only hope

SA is in a terrible spiral of negativity. The past two weeks have been horrendous: men killing women, men raping children, supposedly “pro-poor” politicians like Julius Malema allegedly feeding himself from monies stolen from grandmothers’ pensions at VBS Bank, the country’s finances in a terrible state and about to be tipped into junk status, the crime statistics worse than they have ever been – and the economy continuing in the downward spiral it’s been on for ages.

Lest we forget, Hlaudi Motsoeneng appeared at the Zondo commission into state capture and reminded all of us just how absolutely horrific, low-grade and corrupt the past 10 years of our lives were. If you want to see the epitome of a failed state, you just have to listen to any five minutes of his appearance at the commission this past week and you would w
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Medical funds are becoming increasingly unreasonable – People will now have to pay more for towards their medical aid premium, this while state hospitals are plunged into chaos

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Although it has become a common practice for medical schemes to adjust their rates upwards every year, there are concerns that they will increase significantly for 2020.

Medical costs in South Africa have skyrocketed while the state hospitals are in chaos and no one can dare to be admitted.

The problems of those who do not have a medical aid are far worse than those who now have to accept a sharp rise in rates.

Of the schemes, rates increase by up to 11%, which has become so high for many members of a scheme that it is unaffordable.

Younger people can afford to only take out a hospital plan as a package, but the older people get, the more they need a comprehensive package, which is where the financial bottleneck comes from.
Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) members will pay significantly more for their medical coverage in 2020.

DHMS’s weighted average premium increase of 9.5% for 2020 does not bode well for premium
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Farmers in SA are left on their own to fight against forces of nature, only fellow farmers have sympathy

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Droughts, floods, plagues, high input costs, unfair competition, theft and farm attacks are just some of the many problems food producers face in the country.

Along with that is an unfriendly government that just doesn’t realize that food cultivation is more important than any other industry in the country.

As if all this is no more than enough, the ground-breaking policy there is to cause uncertainty, unacceptable labor laws, are all part of the farmer’s troubles that cause nights’ waking.

It is mainly co-farmers from another region of the country who hear and understand the cry of other producers, and then offer a helping hand.

Dairy farmers are discouraged by the authority that could allow dairy to be imported from Poland, and frustration is building up as farmers sit in large parts of the country and perish under the worst conceivable drought conditions while the government prefers to look the other way.

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Hawks are investigating fraud of more than R150 million at Sedibeng Municipality

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A senior investigation team is investigating fraud, corruption and maladministration where there are alleged contracts involved in the Sedibeng municipality.

Sedibeng is in Vereeniging and the municipality’s operations are now being investigated for alleged fraud of more than R150 million.

Godfrey Lebeya from the Hawks unit has appointed senior investigators to investigate the alleged fraud brought to the attention of a Falcon by a group of more than 600 people.

The march in Pretoria appears to have served as a trigger for the Hawks to take action, but experts believe the investigation could take months and concerns about the possibility of prosecution.

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Businesses go bankrupt in SA – Not only Edcon is struggling to keep head above water, many companies are closing their doors and causing unemployment

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It is not only the Edcon clothing industry that is struggling, as many businesses have had to close their doors in recent months.

This is a far darker picture than Edgars had managed to get a loan to relieve his debt burden and retain his staff.

Edcon would not have been able to smoke the pipe if it had not received a lifeline of R2.7 billion, but that benefit did not befall the smaller businesses and more companies were forced to close the doors.

Edcon had another advantage – no one wanted to see its 140,000 workers lose their jobs, but small businesses couldn’t keep their staff, and retrenchment was pretty “unobtrusive”.

Construction company is suffering from poor economic conditions, and Group Five is struggling to keep its 3,500 workers in service.

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg, and if the scale does not swing positively, economists provide a greater dark time for workers in the country.</
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Admission lists for the registration of gr. 1- and gr. 8 pupils in 2020 at Afrikaans schools in Gauteng in chaos – no room for mother tongue education

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The new online application system, on which parents could apply for admission for their children between May 13 and July 22, had previously worried many organizations and unions as it left no space in which to indicate applicants’ mother tongue. Furthermore, anarchy is once again threatening at certain Afrikaans schools in the Gauteng province after the Department of Education does not comply with its own requirements for the enrolment of Gr. 1- and gr. 8 pupils in 2020.

Great dissatisfaction prevails in the province after schools on Friday received lists of learners enrolled at schools, especially schools located in the north of Pretoria. The governing body of some accuses the Department of Education of not adhering to agreements on admission policy at schools. According to legal and management consultant Marius Botha, an agreement was reached earlier this year to stop the interdict against the Education Department, on the condition that mother tongue
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SA’s fiscal position – Great possibility that economy will be downgraded to junk status

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Tito Mboweni is expected to paint a gloomy picture of the country’s fiscal position later this month.

The agency Moody’s has had a fairly stable rating so far, but economists warn that the view may change to negative.

Moody’s has already made “negative” comments at its quarterly conference last week. The chance that SA will be finally downgraded to junk status is a possibility, and this is due to the poor growth and continuous cash injection into the country’s bankrupt state intimacies such as Evkom, SAA, Denel and SABC.

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Airlines transports illegal aliens to SA even though Immigration Act of 2002 states that no one can enter the country without a passport

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According to the Foreign Minister, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, eight airlines have been fined more than R31 million over the past 2 years after illegal aliens were brought into the country during flights.

The Immigration Act of 2002 states that no one is allowed to enter the country without a passport. Undocumented immigrants may be arrested without a warrant. Despite the fact that eight airlines were ordered to raise R8.8 million in 2016-17, they did not pay and breached on a larger scale, with fines amounting to R22.6 million in the following financial year.

Emirates faces fines of R2.67 million and R6.96 million, respectively, and tops the list of offenders, with the South African Airways (SAA) second, with fines of R2.16 million and R4.44 million. The other culprits are Ethiopian Airlines (R1.7 million and R4.1 million), Kenya Airways (R390 000 and R2.34 million), British Airways (R975 000 and R1.35 million), Qatar Airways (R435 000 and R1, 34 million), Rwandair (R225 00
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Imported milk from Poland is causing SA dairy farmers to suffer financially

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A dairy farmer Rudolf Burger, from Brandfort in the Free State is upset after he recently discovered a consignment of long-life milk under Woodlands Dairy’s First Choice brand, hailing from Poland at one of SA’s large retailer groups Metro. According to him, South African dairy farmers can supply enough milk to meet local demand. It is totally unnecessary to import long-life milk.

Burger sketches the picture and says that he is certain that Polish dairy farmers are subsidized, South African dairy farmers are in a difficult position due to rising costs such as wages, power and fuel. However, he believes there should be import tariffs on imported milk and other agricultural products because in most cases the consumer is not favoured and the trader is the only one benefiting.

According to Mr. Lex Gutsche, chairman and CEO of Woodlands Dairy, the Polish milk in question was imported to make sure there was enough milk on the shelves in winter. This
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African Wealth Report – The richest cities in South Africa vs the rest of Africa

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New World Wealth and AfrAsia Bank have published the latest African Wealth Report, showing the levels of wealth of various African nations at the end of 2018.

According to the report, South Africa is still the richest country in Africa, with the high net worth (HNWI) population of 39,200 people holding the most wealth at $649 billion.

This is double that of the second wealthiest African nation, Egypt, where the HNWI population of 16,700 people holds $303 billion.

Egypt is followed by Nigeria ($225 billion), Morocco ($114 billion) and Kenya ($93 billion).

Total wealth held on the continent amounts to US$2.2 trillion. Around US$920 billion (42%) of this is held by HNWIs, New World Wealth said.

While South Africa ranks at the top of the list, on a per capita basis ($11,450), it is only the second wealthiest nation – following behind Mauritius, where wealth per capita sits at $31,000.

Africa’s richest cities

South Afr
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