Tag: patronage

Behind the façade of South Africa lies a brutal shadow world. Mafias, cartels and crime syndicates rule it, locked in a ruthless war over the country’s riches. The tobacco mafia dominates its trade. The water tanker mafia exploits scarcity. The taxi mafia thrives, alongside the hospital mafia and the construction mafia. The kidnapping mafia expands its reach.

Considerable negative public comment notwithstanding, the National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) have pressed ahead with the establishment of a new statutory body, this time a state insurer of bank-deposits.

Dumping is described as international price discrimination, wherein a product is cheaper in the importing market than it is in the market that is exporting said product. This practice is frowned upon, as exemplified by calls to curb dumping through measures like tariffs or outright bans on certain imports.

One of the elephants in the room at this year’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) was the conspicuous absence of any mention of the need to appoint the right people to the boards of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

“The world would be a better place if men thought like women.” This is the conclusion of John Gerzema and Michael D’Antonio, the authors of The Athena Doctrine, published in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial meltdown – the direct result of testosterone on steroids!