Herewith my news commentary as of yesterday morning. I thought I would republish it here because it includes my brief assessments of how to think about the Zimbabwe election, Vavi and the EFF. I also, politely, imply that the Seriti commission might be a cover-up and that Amcu’s underlying objectives in the gold sector areContinue reading “Zimbabwe, Vavi, EFF, Amcu and other delights”
Category Archives: labour market
Freedom day good news, the bargaining season, Vavi and other matters
Herewith is an extract from my weekly news summary/analysis of what I thought was important in the main weeklies. Freedom Day, April 27 – nineteen years on from the first democratic election … a good story by-and-large City Press has a useful op-ed page by the always excellent Ferial Haffajee (who is also the editor)Continue reading “Freedom day good news, the bargaining season, Vavi and other matters”
Cosatu’s splitting headache, the ANC and DA try on new party dresses and those awful Mandelas
In high anxiety at my failure to publish here for several weeks (what with 12 days visiting fund managers in the UK and Europe and new commitments to the Daily Maverick – see here and here for the first two of those) I have decided to again post a modified version of my usually bespoke Continue reading “Cosatu’s splitting headache, the ANC and DA try on new party dresses and those awful Mandelas”
SA political risks for investors
I was looking for a shorthand way of summarising what I thought were the main political risks that are in the minds of investors in South African financial markets. Note that the emphasis here (in what appears below) is what I think is an appropriate prism for investors in financial markets, and specifically those withContinue reading “SA political risks for investors”
Strikes and Malema
The among the reasons I have failed to publish here for almost six weeks is I have been on a seemingly endless roadshow (series of presentations to fund managers domestically and in Europe and the UK) that started with Marikana, morphed into Telkom and is on its way back to its origins by focusing moreContinue reading “Strikes and Malema”
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”
‘Economic Freedom’ debate rescued from hijackers
Two brief thoughts – on a rainy Cape Town Sunday: Firstly – a by-product of Malema’s (possible) retreat I have a feeling that debates ranging from mine nationalisation, land distribution and continued white economic dominance in the South African economy have just been saved from the gangsters in the ANC Youth League who have beenContinue reading “‘Economic Freedom’ debate rescued from hijackers”
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”
How to look at the budget
The budget is the spending, taxation and borrowing plans of government. Don’t just think of it as a series of hefty documents (the national budget review, the estimate of national expenditure, the appropriations bill and the division of revenue bill) – hundreds of pages and millions of calculations, graphs and tables. It is more thanContinue reading “How to look at the budget”
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”
The labour market is not a charity auction
Capitalism, at its most basic and unbridled, is a system that says: okay, the king is dead and therefore no longer owns all this stuff; take what you can … if you can hold onto it, it’s yours. Oh yeah, and you can pay the people who don’t manage to hang onto any stuff toContinue reading “The labour market is not a charity auction”
Cosatu’s plans for full employment
Cosatu has released its long awaited document in which it provides the facts (as it sees them) and theoretical underpinnings for “A Growth Path Towards Full Employment” – and in doing so attempts to align its views with those emanating from Minister Ebrahim Patel’s Department of Economic Planning (the Two Year Strategic Plan) as wellContinue reading “Cosatu’s plans for full employment”
Sink or swim
Here is the summary of South Africa’s performance in the Global Competitiveness Report 2010 – 2011. The highlights are mine and the seriousness of the problems is obvious.. While we quite rightly bemoan health, education and labour market failures it is interesting to note we were top ranked – in the whole world! – inContinue reading “Sink or swim”
Youth unemployment – our deepest sytemic threat
If you thought the interminable debates about the laws and institutions that structure our labour market and government subsidies for first time youth workers were just silly ideological wrangling then take a look at this graph from the OECD economic survey of South Africa. Let the extraordinary relative numbers speak for themselves. Youth unemployment seemsContinue reading “Youth unemployment – our deepest sytemic threat”
Cosatu and the ANC: the fat’s in the fire
I have been sitting on this for a few days partly because Cosatu’s Central Executive Committee statement on Thursday last week and the ANC response are as harsh as we have seen – and that includes the tone of voice that accompanied Cosatu’s huge strike against ‘Mbeki’s privatisation’ in 2002. Cosatu has a long andContinue reading “Cosatu and the ANC: the fat’s in the fire”
Nic Borain 