Economy
Let’s forget about tomorrow .. Let’s forget about the money.. For tomorrow never comes… (Sinatra) – us old folks would recall. Today’s generation is in the throes of central bank spending like there is no tomorrow and, we are told that if this had not been entered into, the financial contraction worldwide would have been thrice worse. What happens next? Traditionalists would have inflation follow, but we don’t really know – an experiment in the making.
At the time of writing the EDO (early debit order) payment system has been replaced with the AC/DebiCheck payment system which will apply to all new debit orders. The changeover is an initiative of the collections industry to ensure the safety and efficiency of payments.
South Africa is set to spend billions of rand on renting so-called KarPowerships and, the loser in the bidding war, alleges that minister Mantashe had involved himself in a relationship which would have resulted in the outcome of the tender being predetermined. The following text speaks for itself and was reportedly quoted by the person soliciting the bribe offered to the loser: “One thing you must understand is that there is a system in this country and, if you don’t work in accordance with that system, you will fail, even if your project is the best, and I suspect that your project will be the best but that means that you must be part of the system.”
If the loser is successful in court, Mr Mantashe might even have to step aside – maybe.
Eish!
Business
The future (4IR) is upon us, well, sort of: BL reported on digital transformation in South Africa and says that we are stuck somewhere in the early stages of the previous revolution, where one thinks it revolutionary to centralise and automate access to information. The writer, a Sowetan editor, says that more implementation of the benefits of the Internet and less fruitless planning would revitalise and empower many in our economy.
Hard news, this time of the year, is thin – we are down to the ranking of universities! UCT heads the list with Wits hot on its heels. Internationally Harvard and MIT still rule.
As we grow older, our weight distribution shifts: likewise, the earth; it appears that global warming has caused the earth to wobble in its spin because of the redistribution of water and ice. Reference
Practice
News:
The RAF is, again, in the news: this time it says that 15c of each 60c paid to claimants is spent on lawyers. Apparently some 40c out of 100c is spent on its own administration. The figures in the somewhat sensationalist article confuse me. Oh yes, a promised turnaround is imminent – yawn! Reference
A case, in which it is requested that the law of prescription in civil matters is changed in respect of rape, has been launched in the Constitutional Court. The Women’s Legal Centre is assisting. Tennis coaches should emigrate now!
Hard news:
We learn at university of an old-time rule that a person, who writes the will of another, in his own handwriting, is ineligible to inherit under that will. This scenario presented itself to me this week past. It caused me to wonder whether typing of a will by the would-be heir, or having another, such as an attorney, draw a will, on the instructions of the child of the testator, should not also be prohibited. The fact is that children often assist their elderly parents in making wills and especially the elderly, who have not maintained their e-skills, do require assistance.
There has been a spate of cases in which the state is relieved of liability for a contract entered into by it, because it had failed in its own obligation to obtain the necessary prior consents. I have yet to see the state, or the official involved being taken to task for this. The Ocean View Hotel had been let to Brightwater and which lease has now been declared invalid. I spent a night there this September past and must say that the hotel was a shadow of its former self. Reference
Of general interest is a judgement against the Ombud for Financial Services, overturning a judgement by that entity against a financial adviser who had recommended investments in a dubious scheme. Reference
Quotables
State capture and corruption have taken a great toll on our society and indeed on our economy as well.
They have eroded the values of our constitution and undermined the rule of law. If allowed to continue, they would threaten the achievement of the growth, development, and transformation of our country.
A somewhat repentant Ramaphosa
Property
There is little news: a repetition of sorts is contained in a BusinessTech article on home rentals: Reference
Yesterday I had the opportunity of driving out from Pietermaritzburg to Richmond. The roadside, just outside Pietermaritzburg, a la India, is lined with houses, built on communal land within our municipal boundaries, many of which are larger than that I occupy. These are all serviced, but none pay rates. They all have direct access onto the main road which, in any other development, would be verboten. The reason is that Eskom (and the municipality?), contrary to its/their own rules, was/were politically pressurised into providing such services to homes which are not rated, and which do not comply with building or electrical standards. All these houses would have been built cash as one cannot bond a property which does not belong to one. Hardly poor people, yet who enjoy the amenities that our city provides but do not contribute to its rates basis. This action by a municipality that has gone broke for the second time and has no reasonable prospect of recovery. Politics.
Comment
Its just a jump a to the..side? Somehow, the time warp that the ANC finds itself in, because of the Prez fessin up to corruption, is going to be interesting in the next few weeks. The fact is that the party has not fully come to grips with the consequences of its corrupt past. Cadre deployment has simply shifted its focus and there is now talk of political solutions (whatever this means) and uncertainty as to what stepping aside (clearly a difficult concept) entails and so on. An ANC spokesman said on Monday that the new policy had to be approached with great sensitivity. WHAT! Members involve themselves in corrupt dealings and cannot be called out for that? But then, at the time of writing, Ace, and those of his ilk, have not stepped aside, and, the party, that brought us freedom, soldiers on.
