While you were asleep

Credit Suisse is in the news again. For all the wrong reasons. From an internal spying scandal and the resignation of its chairman over flouting coronavirus rules to being a bank for dictators, drug lords and criminals. A massive data leak reported on by dozens of media outlets across five continents much like the Panama Papers-style investigations into the data, exposes the details …

While you were asleep: From a bank for drug lords, dictators and criminals to Ukraine jitters and a resilient rand Read More »

Seeing that it’s Friday, here’s some news for discussion over the weekend with family and friends. When does Elon Musk not get in trouble for using his Twitter account to espouse his worldview? This time, the South African-born tech billionaire is in hot water for comparing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler. Where …

While you were asleep: Elon Musk’s Twitter account lands him in trouble, again Read More »

Every day hundreds of millions of people are denied their right to be human as a result of poverty and the unavailability of basic necessities such as food, jobs, water, shelter, education, healthcare and a healthy environment, the late, former president Nelson Mandela said almost a quarter-century ago. Never has this been more true for our …

While you were asleep: From hospital shame to what’s keeping Ramaphosa up at night and a robust rand Read More »

Former health minister Zweli Mkhize is making headlines again and it’s for all the wrong reasons. Mkhize is featured in a new report where he is said to have scored a luxury property thanks to a R1.37 billion Public Investment Corporation (PIC) deal that saw the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), which supplied the money, lose …

While you were asleep: The hits keep on coming for Zweli Mkhize Read More »

It has happened. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s failure to act has caught up to him. The official opposition, the Democratic Alliance’s John Steenhuisen has not minced his words when he tabled a vote of no confidence in Ramaphosa’s cabinet on day one of the parliamentary debate on the State of the Nation Address Ramaphosa delivered on 10 February. The …

While you were asleep: From Ramaphosa under siege and killing fires to a surprisingly resilient rand Read More »

There is no love lost between the US and its allies and Russia, and President Joe Biden’s failure to woo his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to pull back some 130,000 troops massed near Ukraine has sent the world starting a countdown to war. Russia has accused the US of stoking hysteria. Bloomberg reports that while Ukraine says it …

While you were asleep: Reaching out to Russia, with love Read More »

Dressed in a suit and shirt made locally by the Foschini Group and leather shoes from businesses based in Cape Town and Pietermaritzburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa touted the need to buy locally produced products in his State of the Nation Address on Thursday evening. Localisation was one of the key points on the president’s agenda …

While you were asleep: Here’s what Ramaphosa said in his SONA speech Read More »

Today is the big day as the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) to ever take place outside of the Parliament Precinct will kick off at around 7pm at Cape Town City Hall when President Cyril Ramaphosa takes to the podium to deliver his speech. Final preparations have been put into place with road …

While you were asleep: Here’s what to expect from SONA Read More »

A research paper just published ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address on Thursday makes for depressing reading. But if there was ever any doubt about the real state of our nation, the numbers don’t lie.  The working paper, led by Ricardo Hausmann for the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics …

While you were asleep: The real state of the nation – numbers don’t lie Read More »

President Cyril Ramaphosa is faced with mountainous challenges as he prepares to deliver the first-ever State of the Nation Address outside of the parliamentary precinct. Which brings us to his first: state security. Way back in his 2019 SONA he listed state security as one of the institutions that had been affected by state capture. A …

While you were asleep: Shining the light on Ramaphosa at his watershed SONA Read More »