Sunday’s newspapers were more interesting from a political risk and investment point of views than normal. This is what I thought mattered, as far as financial markets were concerned, in last week’s Mail & Guardian, the Sunday Times, Sunday Independent and City Press: Construction industry – possible prosecution and fines for fraud and racketeering GovernmentContinue reading “Political risk and the weeklies”
Category Archives: Cosatu
Marikana – ways of seeing
Background This is a summary of my analysis of the news from of the weekend press (August 19) – and radio and TV commentary – concerning the events in which 34 striking miners were killed by police last Thursday (August 16) at Lonmin’s Marikana mine in Northwest Province. (Written Sunday night, so some new factsContinue reading “Marikana – ways of seeing”
The massacre at Marikana
I comment on, and interpret, incidents like the shooting by police of at least 35 strikers at Marikana yesterday. Even as the gunfire fell silent the price of Lonmin shares fell and the price of platinum spiked in response to supply concerns. It’s what I do for a living – the people that pay myContinue reading “The massacre at Marikana”
My growing worries about the ANC’s plans for economic intervention
Remember kaleidoscopes? Basically a tube that you held up towards a light and peered through as if it was a telescope? But unlike kid’s telescopes – which, like kid’s microscopes, were blurry and disappointing and stupid – the kaleidoscope was a device of astonishing power and beauty. The point for my six-year-old self who received his first kaleidoscope for a birthday, probably,Continue reading “My growing worries about the ANC’s plans for economic intervention”
The Second Transition
Occasionally I publish slides from a current presentation series and here are a few from something I am busy with called: “The Second Transition – SA politics and policy somewhere twixt hither and yon”. The general idea is the ANC government is determined to move beyond the ‘transitional’ arrangements that it agreed to in 1994 andContinue reading “The Second Transition”
Cosatu, the Democratic Alliance and the middle classes – is it love, actually?
Think of the various interests of classes and groups in our society as constituting an ecology in which political parties and organisations find niches to graze, hunt and be sustained. The system can change and niches shift, narrow or broaden – and in response the denizens that live in each niche must adapt or becomeContinue reading “Cosatu, the Democratic Alliance and the middle classes – is it love, actually?”
Therefore send not to know for whom the bell tolls – it tolls for free
I think the e-tolling saga is important precisely because my headline bastardising the denouement of John Donne’s famous poem is, in truth, wrong. Gauteng’s road upgrade does not come for free. The R20bn was borrowed by Sanral and lent by people and institutions (which) who assessed the risk attached to repayment on the basis that e-tolling wasContinue reading “Therefore send not to know for whom the bell tolls – it tolls for free”
Notes on the relationship between Cosatu and the ANC
After last week’s Cosatu strike against labour brokers and e-tolling the question of the future of the relationship between the Cosatu and the ANC has again consumed public debate. I have quickly jotted down some of the issues as I see them and how I think the situation might play out in the longer termContinue reading “Notes on the relationship between Cosatu and the ANC”
The SACP and Cosatu are trying to rescue the ANC and the state – but there is an optimism differential between them
Has the South African state become an instrument in the hands of the class of predators that dominate our politics? Think a crowbar or a 9mm automatic and think of the Nkandla or Limpopo crews using that tool to rip or rob huge sections of provincial and national budgets. Cosatu is clearly suspicious of theContinue reading “The SACP and Cosatu are trying to rescue the ANC and the state – but there is an optimism differential between them”
Nationalisation revisited revisited … if you know what I mean
In case anyone was wondering if I had disappeared into the ether: I have been seriously busy and have had no time to post on the blog. If you were paying extra attention, you may have noticed that a post reviewing the nationalisation of mines debate appeared and disappeared a few weeks ago. My mistakeContinue reading “Nationalisation revisited revisited … if you know what I mean”
Pravin Gordhan and the Labour Market
You might have picked up from warm and welcoming statements by the Democratic Alliance and a flood of beaming news stories that our Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan said something slightly more exciting about economic policy than the bland pap from the policy kitchen of the increasingly awkward compromise which is the Ruling Alliance. ButContinue reading “Pravin Gordhan and the Labour Market”
Of course Cosatu wants to nationalise the mines!
Wouldn’t you want to have a job for life as a public servant, with guaranteed medical and benefits in a parastatal company that government would push up borrowing and taxation to keep afloat no matter what? Of course you would – any of us would … just like the Greeks did up until very recently.Continue reading “Of course Cosatu wants to nationalise the mines!”
Some observations about the election lead-up
I am feeling the welcome pressure of a flood of paid work. The only drawback to this happy state of affairs is I have not been able to put as much effort into updating this website as I would like. In future I will generally be posting the quirkier side of politics and investment riskContinue reading “Some observations about the election lead-up”
Is this the way the cookie crumbles?
This way: The business of government becomes the business of enriching the governors … rather than the business of governing and thereby serving the electorate’s overarching interests? The extremely rich rewards to be gained from holding political office cause the party list process – especially in the ANC – to become one of mayhem andContinue reading “Is this the way the cookie crumbles?”
The State of the Zuma Nation
‘Not as bad as I feared; perhaps even better than I hoped’ – is my reply to the question implicit in the title. I have been flat-out covering the event for paying clients and I was at parliament in the gracious hands of the lovely people from Radio 2000 – where I commented for aboutContinue reading “The State of the Zuma Nation”
Nic Borain 