₦airaland Forum

He is Popular already. What is being popular?

The bright side of the article is that, it paints a picture that doing business in Nigeria can potetially pay dividends. However, 90% of the article shows Nigeria's volatility in establishing a working sytem. It is also written as an arlet to those who may wish to do business over there. It talks about contacts and commitment: that in stable economies cannot serve as a determinant for good business.

She never learn. Remember, her Mother is here in Mzansi. Another thing, she has a boyfriend in South Africa. If she wants to stay here like she has indicated before, let her go through the standard procedure at Home Affairs. Shame.

By MATTHEW SALTMARSH
New York Times

To many outsiders, South Africa has long been an unstable business environment with an economy overly dependent on natural resources.

An airplane engine is tested by Adept Airmotive, which develops and manufactures fuel-efficient for light aircraft.
Now, the government and a new breed of entrepreneurs are optimistic that they can change perceptions and climb the industrial ladder.

A group of companies is working in sectors like clean energy, aviation, engineering, military contracting and mining, hoping to benefit from positive growth forecasts for the region.

The state hopes this will lead to job creation and other benefits, and has played its part in some cases by offering direct financing and other sweeteners. It has also backed new university research positions and is trying to promote centers of excellence.

“We are a producer and exporter,” said Naledi Pandor, the minister of science and technology. “Now we’re saying: let’s become an innovator.”

South Africa’s many hurdles — notably unemployment, crime, illegal immigration, corruption, income inequality and health problems — have not disappeared. But executives and officials believe that the environment is improving and that the country’s success as host of the recent soccer World Cup can act as a catalyst.

“There has never been a greater opportunity for South Africa than today,” said Ivor Ichikowitz, a South African of Lithuanian descent who controls and runs an aerospace, security and military contracting company, Paramount Group.

The security obsession and regional conflicts of the apartheid era left an industrial and research legacy — and comparatively strong infrastructure. That, he said, makes South Africa an ideal place from which to make inroads in a continent often neglected by Western companies.

“Africa is the current economic battleground and the last frontier,” Mr. Ichikowitz said recently in Paris, where he was attending a conference. “The Chinese and the Indians are coming in with huge amounts of cheap capital and a very open approach.”

Based near Johannesburg, Paramount makes mine-protected vehicles, sold primarily to African clients for peacekeeping missions. It also refurbishes and upgrades Mirage jet fighters, and finances and supplies security forces.

Created in 1994, it had African countries involved in peacekeeping, like Uganda and Ghana, for its initial clients. More recently, it has signed deals to manufacture vehicles in Jordan, India and Azerbaijan, and it has alliances as far off as Singapore, raising its profile in global procurement bids.

Last year, it added a 19 percent stake in Aerosud, South Africa’s largest independent aerospace company, which manufactures parts for Airbus and Boeing including galleys, fuel supply systems and wing and fuselage components.

Paramount employs 3,500 people and is privately held. Mr. Ichikowitz would not divulge financial data except to say that the group is “very profitable.”

A recent report on the country by Jane’s World Defense Industry said that the military budget has fallen in recent years as the government focuses on social programs. But in 2008, South Africa authorized military export deals worth $2.6 billion, up from $406 million a year earlier, and sold equipment, munitions and components to 96 countries.

The country’s biggest military contractor, Denel, is state-owned. It posted a loss of 543 million rand, or $74.6 million, on sales of 4.05 billion rand last year.

Mr. Ichikowitz, a longtime member of the governing party, the African National Congress, owns a venture capital firm, an oil business, a teddy bear retailer and an exclusive luxury retreat in the bush.

“You cannot be in business in Africa if you are not respectful of the political environment,” he said. “A lot has to do with faith in people, trust and personal relationships.”

The democratic government that came to power in 1994 inherited an economy racked by internal conflict and external sanctions. Yet from 2004 to 2007, gross domestic product grew on average over 5 percent annually. It contracted by 1.8 percent in 2009, affected by energy shortages, slower consumption and the global recession, but it is expected to grow at 3.3 percent in 2010 and 5 percent next year, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Mining accounts for almost a tenth of output, but in contrast to much of the rest of the continent, South Africa also has well-developed manufacturing, whose output accounts for over 50 percent of exports.

“South Africa’s ambition to climb the value-added chain is valid, justified and doable,” said Andreas Wörgötter, an economist at the O.E.C.D. who wrote a recent study of the country. The main challenges, he said, will be to “broaden economic activity” by creating jobs, moderating wages and improving the regulatory environment.

Unemployment remains a huge hurdle; the O.E.C.D. forecasts it at 24.5 percent this year. Industrial strikes remain a feature, the health and education systems are also troubled and social inequity runs deep. A recent study from the University of Cape Town described the country as “the most consistently unequal economy in the world.”

Development ChallengeCorruption is also cited as a drag by executives. South Africa has experienced a number of high-profile scandals within public-sector agencies, provinces and even senior levels of government. The O.E.C.D. criticized South Africa in a report last month for failing to enact any prosecutions for foreign bribery and called for “a more proactive approach.”

Despite such problems, examples of South African regional and global corporate success stories include Standard Bank and Investec in financial services; Sasol in chemicals and fuels; South African Breweries; Steinhoff International in furniture; and De Beers, Anglo-American and Impala Platinum in resources.

But there is a sense that the global breakthroughs have been few, and sometimes — in cases like Anglo-America, now based in London — the benefits can migrate.

“There are lots of good ideas here and a strong history of engineering and design, but we don’t commercialize and build sustainable business — we sell them to others,” said Diana Blake, sales and marketing director at Optimal Energy, which is preparing to produce the Joule, Africa’s first battery-powered car.

Examples of this include the Zebra, an advanced battery developed by a research body in Pretoria but now produced in Switzerland, and thin-film solar panel technology developed at the University of Johannesburg and now produced in Germany.

“Now there’s an enormous drive to keep the value in South Africa,” Ms. Blake said.

Optimal was co-founded in 2005 by an entrepreneur, Kobus Meiring, who was helped by an investment from the national innovation fund; the South African government holds more than 50 percent.

The standard five-seater Joule has a top speed of 135 kilometers, or 84 miles, an hour and a nominal driving range of up to 300 kilometers. It will start retailing at $30,000 to $38,000 — around the same price as the comparable Nissan Leaf.

About 80 percent to 90 percent of sales are expected to come from abroad once the car hits showrooms in 2013; the company hopes to export to Australia, Israel and Europe. Optimal hopes to be making 50,000 vehicles — and a profit — by 2015.

Production will be located in the Eastern Cape, near a Mercedes-Benz plant, and Optimal will work with EDAG, a German specialist in low-volume production, to ensure quality. Once production starts, the company expects to employ 2,300 people directly, with a further 8,000 in support industries.

A smaller company also being helped by the state is Adept Airmotive. It focuses on the design, development and manufacture of fuel-efficient engines for light aircraft and is working on products to run on leaded fuel, unleaded fuel mixes, including ethanol, and even L.P.G.

The company was formed in 2003 and financed by a handful of businessmen and a private equity firm. In 2007, the government took a 25 percent stake, which it eventually hopes to sell.

“I think South Africa probably has one of the best environments for a start-ups anywhere,” Richard Schulz, managing director, said from his base in Durban, South Africa, where he employs seven people in design and subcontracts manufacturing to a number of companies.

“We had planned a slow phase of market entry, but the demand is amazing,” he added, raising the possibility of an initial public offering of shares, stake sale or licensing agreement with a larger player. “There’s a broad spectrum of interest.”

South Africa also hopes to win a bid to host a giant radio telescope project known as the Square Kilometer Array. A collaboration among 19 countries, it would be the most powerful radio telescope ever built, attracting significant related investment in astrophysics and cosmology.

Construction is expected to cost €1.5 billion, or almost $2 billion, and is scheduled to begin in 2013 for initial observations by 2017 and full operation by 2022.

The government hopes that other projects, already established, like the Karoo Array Telescope and the Southern African Large Telescope, will help it to beat Australia in the final decision, due 2012.

“We in South Africa can’t afford to be pessimistic,” said Mrs. Pandor, the science minister. “We came out of such terrible times that we have to believe we can do it.”

Damn; i didn't know your currency was this low. In South Africa, with 17 000 Rands, u can afford to stay in a good Surbub, u can drive a BMW, GTI and even an Audi. Again, even someone who gets 8000 Rands can drive a new car and still go out to good Restaraunts. Damnit Nigeria grow.

How much is 1 Naira to 1 $? anyone?

South Africa president, Jacob Zuma has signed a number of deals while on an official visit to the neighbouring Angola, including cooperation in the oil sector.

The trade agreements come following major bilateral talks yesterday, aimed at strengthening economic relations between the two countries.

Mr Zuma was expected back home today, after a visit to the former bases of the South African freedom fighters in the northern part of Angola.

According to reports by the government agency, the agreement signed yesterday, will allow South Africa's state oil company PetroSA and Angola's Sonangol to work together in oil projects, as well as in the areas of exploration, refining and distribution of oil.

The report further noted that, Angola, which is Africa's biggest oil producer, has only one refinery in Luanda and that it currently imports a great deal of its refined gasoline.

Both Mr Zuma and his host President Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola have also agreed to work together in other areas such as regional programmes for integration and security as well as cooperation.

Mr Zuma was accompanied by 11 ministers and more than 150 business leaders to Angola, a team said to have been the biggest delegation South Africa has sent outside the country since 1994.

A huge South African business delegation arrived in Kampala today accompanying President Jacob Zuma for his two-day state visit.

The delegation is said to be on the Uganda mission to seek investment opportunities especially in the recently found oil prospects.

The countries are also expected to discuss the visit ways through which enhanced business and political cooperation could be achieved.

Uganda's assistant minister of foreign affairs, Isaac Musumba, has been quoted in the local media saying that the visit was a huge opportunity for both countries to explores each others’ potential. He further said oil was not just the only issue.

The East African nation has recently been found to be holding some sizeable amounts of oil fields which are yet to be fully explored.

Meanwhile, human rights groups in Uganda had also said they would use the visit by Mr Zuma to try and lobby him to soften the position of the Uganda government on the proposed tough laws against gays, when he meets the country’s President, Yoweri Museveni.

The law which has been criticised across the world proposes to introduce the death penalty as the highest punishment for same-sex criminalised acts.

South African and African giant financial player, Standard Bank, has announced a major deal in China following the signing of a $1 billion loan facility with four major Chinese banks.

The loan, said to be the largest ever by a South African bank in China, was signed in Macau with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau) Limited, Bank of China, China Development Bank and China CITIC Bank.

"This transaction is a first for a South African borrower dealing in the Asian market," said Jacko Maree, the Standard Bank group chief executive, also adding that the deal reflects the trust that Chinese banks have in the South Africa bank as well as the continent and emerging markets as a whole.

He also stated the deal was only the begging of the cooperation between Standard Bank and its Asian partners.

According to a statement released by Standard Bank, the deal is for a five-year loan facility.

South Africa’s real quarterly GDP increased in the fourth quarter of 2009, meaning the country is officially out of recession according to figures published by Statistics South Africa today.

“The seasonally adjusted real GDP at market prices for the fourth quarter of 2009 increased by an annualised rate of 3.2 percent compared with the third quarter of 2009. The corresponding real annualised economic growth rates for the first three quarters of 2009 decreased by 7.4 percent, 2.8 percent and increased by 0.9 percent respectively,” the government bureau, Stats SA said in its publication.

The agency said the main contributors to the increase in economic activity for the fourth quarter of 2009 were the manufacturing industry, which contributed 1.5 percentage points, the general government services, contributing 1.0 percentage point, the mining and quarrying industry, the transport, storage and communication industry, finance, real estate and business services and personal services, each contributing 0.2 of a percentage point as well as the construction industry which contributed 0.1 of a percentage point.

“Negative contributions by other industries included the wholesale, retail, motor trade and accommodation (contributing -0.1 of a percentage point) and the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry (contributing -0.2 of a percentage point),” Stats SA said in the statement.

Stats SA also said the unadjusted GDP at market prices recorded decreases of 0.7 percent, revised from a decrease of 0.8 percent; 2.7 percent revised from a decrease of 2.6 percent; 2.2 percent, revised from a decrease of 2.1 percent, and; 1.4 percent during the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2009 compared with the four quarters of 2008 respectively.

It also stated that the real annual GDP decreased by 1.8 percent in 2009.

“First preliminary annual estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) are derived as the sum of the GDP for the four quarters of the specific year. These estimates indicate that the real annual GDP at market prices for 2009, decreased by 1.8 percent compared with 2008 when the real annual economic growth rate was 3.7 percent,” said Stats SA.

The main contributors to the decrease in economic activity in 2009, the agency said, were the manufacturing industry (contributing -1.8 percentage points), the mining and quarrying industry (contributing -0.4 of a percentage point), the wholesale, retail, motor trade and accommodation industry (contributing -0.3 of a percentage point) and the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry (contributing -0.1 of a percentage point).

Positive contributions by other industries mentioned by Stats SA included the general government services (0.5 of a percentage point), finance, real estate and business services (0.3 of a percentage point), the construction industry (0.2 of a percentage point) and personal services (0.1 of a percentage point).

afrol News, - South Africa’s unemployment rate has remained unchanged, according to new figures released by Statistics South Africa yesterday.

The government bureau of statistics said while there is a slight improvement in terms of job creation from the last part of 2009, this did not however translate to a big decrease in the number of unemployed persons (27 000), but rather a slight increase in the number of discouraged work-seekers (54 000). “This resulted in the unemployment rate remaining virtually unchanged between Q3:2009 (24.5%) and Q4:2009 (24.3%),” Stats SA said.

The report further shows that the number of persons in the labour force increased slightly by 61 000 between the two last quarters of 2009.

Employment also increased significantly by 89 000 between Q3:2009 and Q4:2009 with the formal sector creating 41 000 jobs, the informal sector creating 116 000; while Agriculture and Private households lost 38 000 and 31 000 jobs respectively in the same period, Stats SA said.

The report also states that as compared to Q4:2008, there was an annual decrease of 6.3 percent (870 000) in employment; an increase of 292 000 in the number of unemployed persons and an increase of 947 000 in the number of persons who are not economically active, 518 000 being discouraged work-seekers.

The report points out that jobs were generated across all industries, with most of the job gains in Finance, which accounted for 77 000, followed by Construction (28 000) and Trade (21 000). “Job losses were experienced in Agriculture (38 000) and Private households (31 000). The year-on-year comparisons show that job losses were experienced in all industries except Finance and Utilities with Trade accounting for 291 000 of the job losses, followed by Manufacturing (202 000), Private households (163 000) and Agriculture (149 000). There were job gains in Finance (123 000) and Utilities (12 000) although there was an overall decline of 870 000 in employment between Q4:2008 and Q4:2009,” the report added.

It further went on that all industries had an increase in the number of informal sector jobs except Mining, Utilities and Trade where there was virtually no change between Q3:2009 and Q4:2009.

South African President, Jacob Zuma promised his government would help create about two million jobs from last year as part of the response to the global recession and fighting poverty.

While the country has been hit by a serious of violent uprising against poor service delivery, analysts have also said joblessness, affecting mainly the black populations was also a trigger for the violent protests.

By staff writer

The United States had no choice at all. They have voted against 88 loan application of the same magnitude in less than two years, basing their "no" vote on climate change friction.

By CELIA W. DUGGER: New York Times
Published: April 8, 2010


Eskom, the government-controlled utility, got its $3.75 billion loan on Thursday from the World Bank, mostly to finance a giant coal-fired power plant. The Obama administration, despite its unhappiness with the plant’s significant carbon emissions that will contribute to global warming, abstained rather than voting no and profoundly upsetting a regional powerhouse. The United States explicitly warned the bank in a statement that it would not actively oppose the loan because of South Africa’s acute energy needs, but that the bank should not bring forward similar coal projects in the future “without a plan to ensure there is no net increase in carbon emissions.”

Dream on fellas.

There is no science that can prove God's existence neither there is science that can prove his non-existence. Why? Science is about proving the facts, science is about logical imperilism, its about that which is tangible.

Religion on the other hand is spiritual. That domain does not click with science. Can science prove wether there sujch thing called holly spirit? No. Why? cos it cannot be proven. Let me put it this way, anything spiritual, science cannot prove at all.

Its like going to court and say, i shot him because hne is bewitching me. What the Bleep. There is no jury that can seek to proceed with that case, because it c annot be prove.

It is like the only spark left in the whole continent. The only country that keeps hope coming in Africa. The voice of the poor Africans. South Africa keeps attacting people. Of late according to StasSA there are more than 90 000 African Americans who have relocated in SA. 20 000 Europeans relocated in 2009. 3 000 Chinese have also relocated during the same year. Most of these people are skilled at their own right. South Africa is Turning.

GOD BLESS SOUTH AFRICA, THEN WE WILL BLESS OTHERS.

There is no universally agreed defination of terrorism. Even the UN Security Council has been debating this content for decades.

Firstly, Mandela is a native-native of South Africa (like me). When the white settlers arrived in the Cape, they pronounced every black person as sub-human. That is something that does not deserve to live. What they did, they started to segregate us along the racial line. The goverment policy delebarations never took any black living being into consideration. That was exclusion at its best. In 1911, one-year after the formation of the British colony known as the Union of South Africa, Pixley ka Isaka Seme addressed the diminishing rights for blacks in the country, urging the people to form one national organisation, united against oppression. As a consequence, tribal Chiefs and heads of religious groups gathered in Bloemfontein in January 1912, forming the African National Congress, an organisation designed to promote the rights and freedoms of the African people. This was way before Mandela was born.

Even more crippling legislation followed. The 1913 Land Act stripped blacks of their rights to land that they already occupied and made it impossible for them to obtain land rights in anything other than impoverished areas demarcated by the government, while at the same time, forcing blacks to work in 'white' areas in order to pay taxes. This created a migrant labour system, and blacks outside of the demarcated areas were required to carry 'passes' indicated their lawful presence in white areas. In 1919, the ANC in the Transvaal region (now Gauteng) initiated a campaign against the pass laws. Mandela was one year old. The success of Mahatma Gandi's non-violent protests in South Africa led to conflict within the ANC, however, as some members advocated this approach instead of the most confrontational strike action. Appeals by ANC leaders to British leaders failed, however, as London continually ignored their protests.

As the ANC maintained its passive approach, organisations such as the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union and a number of other subsequent socialist-oriented societies began to gain ground as they addressed the needs of blacks, who had been increasingly forced into the mines and other menial jobs through legislation. JT Gumede, elected ANC President, urged alliances with these parties, advocating active opposition, but the conservative and elitist ANC leadership voted him out of office. In 1948, the Afrikaner-oriented National Party was voted in by the white-electorate, necessitating a new approach by the ANC. No longer could it afford to remain an elitist movement with a passive-opposition agenda and a new militancy and populism began to define the party. The ANC Youth League was formed in 1944 and this organisation was the primary mover behind the 1949 Programme of Action and the subsequent Defiance Campaign of the 1950's. Mandela was a founding member of the Youth League. This is where he begun to feature. The Defiance Campaign preached non-compliance with the savage apartheid legislation; the Group Areas Act and the Bantu Educations being two onerous examples. The campaign forced the hand of the apartheid government, who took to banning and arresting campaign leaders, white, black, indian and coloured and passing even stricted legislation.

Other organisations partnered the ANC in these acts of defiance, the SA Indian Congress, The SA Coloured People's Organisation, the predominatly white Congress of Democrats and the SA Congress of Trade Unions, all of whom passed the Freedom Charter in 1955. Tensions grew as increased resistance was met with greater force and even within the ANC, party members rejected the decision by leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Govan Mbeki to partner with whites and indians whom they felt were 'settlers'. Consequently, a breakaway group, the Pan-African Congress (PAC) was formed. The Anti Pass Campaign precipitated the notorious Shareville massacre of 1960, an event that received widescale media coverage for the police opening fire on an unarmed crowd, killing 69 people and wounding 186. After this, the government banned a host of organisations, including the ANC and the PAC and declared a state of emergency.

In 1961, left with no other option, the ANC launched the armed struggle against the government.

The Military Wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe carried out over 200 acts of sabotage within an eighteen month period, prompting the government to make the Death sentence a competent verdict for sabotage. The leaders of the movement were arrested in 1963 and prosecuted during the Rivonia Treason Trial, perhaps the most famous of whom was Nelson Mandela, subsequently jailed until the early 1990's. The ANC was then forced to adopt a different strategy, appealing for international support and operating in a more covert manner within South Africa. An increasing number of strikes typified the 1970's and early 1980's, the Soweto Riots of 1976 in which police opened fire - and killed - unarmed schoolchildren included. As a result of international pressure and defiance by the people, the National Party introduced reforms to apartheid but these were merely token gestures designed to appease the black majority. The corner was turned in 1990 when President PW Botha was replaced as leader of the country by fellow-National Party member FW de Klerk.

As a consequence of increased internal destabilisation and external economic sanctions by countries opposed to apartheid, de Klerk unbanned a number of organisations including the ANC and the South Africa Communist Party in February of that year. Nelson Mandela was released, and soon elected president of the ANC who four years later swept to power with a 63% majority in the first free elections. Mandela was elected President of South Africa afterwards and succeeded by ANC leader Thabo Mbeki in 1997.

Mandela was Never a terrorist

WHAT'S the difference between a liberation movement and a band of terrorists? The simple answer - the one that most often influences policy decisions - is point of view. Consider the African National Congress (ANC). During the long struggle against apartheid, what the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) saw as a liberation movement, the racist minority government of South Africa labeled as terrorists. Ask one person in Washington and another in Riyadh today about Al Qaeda and you're bound to get the same diversity of opinion. But political agendas and legal definitions are two different things, and the distinctions matter. As defined by the OAU, national liberation movements are the organisations that fought for freedom from colonialism or apartheid: Swapo in Namibia; the MPLA in Angola; Frelimo in Mozambique; Zanu and Zapu in Zimbabwe; Kanu in Kenya; and the ANC. Armed oppositions that fought against their own repressive regimes - such as Paul Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front - do not meet this definition.

The 1960 UN Declaration on Decolonisation granted peoples the right to self-determination if they did not have their own state or were under colonial domination, alien occupation or racist rule. This right did not automatically legitimise violent means (or even secession), but subsequent UN General Assembly resolutions and declarations did condone the waging of armed struggles by recognised liberation movements. The UN also granted observer status to a number of liberation movements in the General Assembly. Defining terrorism is more problematic. Despite several international conventions against terrorism, there is, as yet, no agreement on what the term refers to. Scholars have found no less than 109 definitions used from 1936 to 1981. The one used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for example, contains three elements: illegal use of force; intention to intimidate or coerce; and underlying political or social motives. The Security Council has never legitimised the use of force by any liberation movement, but it does have the authority to decide when force is legal under international law. Even then, however, not all acts committed in the course of an internationally recognised armed struggle would automatically be acceptable. Freedom fighters waging just wars still commit atrocities. Does that make them terrorists? Legally, no. But practically, the answer often depends on who holds the power to affix the label.

Remember, the aprtheid goverment was illegitimate to begin with. It has killed millions of black people all over the sprectrum. The US only managed to remove Mandela from terrorists watch list, just recently. Countries that supported the Apatheid govt were bound to label freedom fighters like nelson as such. The Americans had too much interests in SA.

I hope this gives a little enlightment of the whole situation.

South Africa is capacitated Chief.

How shallow. You are chilling your asses down debating and braggin about stupidity. Who provides you with internet? Do not answer that one. My point here is, you c an be no1, who cares, does it add any value to ordinary Nigerian peasants? Does it add value to you? Cape Town, was once awarded the best tourist City in the world, but you did not here South Afric an jumping and braggin like you are doing. Its annoying how super being you wann potray yourself.

South Africa has got 43 Million people, and 38 Million own cellphones, for that matter most of these phones have got 3g Memories. If your phone has 3G, you can access internet whereever you are.

Yo. I am so amazed by a level of your deliberate twisted misinformation. Black people are moving here. More than anywhere in the world, including the US. Before i break it down for you, let me tell you the following. The ANC goverment came into power with a priority of redressing the injustices of the past. That it why in 2003, the policy of Black Economic Empowerment emerged. This policy has its own flaws and unintended effects, but it has worked so far. South Africa's policy of black economic empowerment (BEE) is not simply a moral initiative to redress the wrongs of the past. It is a pragmatic growth strategy that aims to realise the country's full economic potential.

"Our country requires an economy that can meet the needs of all our economic citizens - our people and their enterprises - in a sustainable manner," the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) says in its BEE strategy document.

This will only be possible if our economy builds on the full potential of all persons and communities across the length and breadth of this country. Black economic empowerment is not affirmative action, although employment equity forms part of it. Nor does it aim to take wealth from white people and give it to blacks. It is essentially a growth strategy, targeting the South African economy's weakest point: inequality. This reflects the government's approach, which is to "situate black economic empowerment within the context of a broader national empowerment strategy focused on historically disadvantaged people, and particularly black people, women, youth, the disabled, and rural communities.

How to achieve BEE?

Black economic empowerment is driven by legislation and regulation. An integral part of the BEE Act of 2003 is a sector-wide generic scorecard, which measures companies' empowerment progress in four areas:

Direct empowerment through ownership and control of enterprises and assets.
Management at senior level.
Human resource development and employment equity.
Indirect empowerment through:
preferential procurement,
enterprise development, and
corporate social investment (a residual and open-ended category).

This scorecard, as well as a scorecard for multinational companies, is defined and elaborated in the BEE codes of good practice. The codes of good practice, which govern how companies do business in South Africa, allow global and multinational companies some flexibility in how they structure their empowerment deals. For example, representation does not only have to be at ownership level.

The codes are binding on all state bodies and public companies, and the government is required to apply them when making economic decisions on:

procurement,
licensing and concessions,
public-private partnerships, and
the sale of state-owned assets or businesses.
Private companies must apply the codes if they want to do business with any government enterprise or organ of state - that is, to tender for business, apply for licences and concessions, enter into public-private partnerships, or buy state-owned assets.

Shut up, i am still talking, damn you.

BLACK DIAMONDS

"Black Diamond" is conferred on members of South Africa's booming black middle class who now hold nearly a third of the country's buying power.
Black Diamonds" are categorised as black South Africans, wealthy or salaried in "suitable" occupations, who earn at least R12,000 a month, are well educated and credit-worthy, and own or are acquiring homes, cars and household goods. I personally have bought a Townhouse i live in and i also own a car. I have moved out of the township and live in a largely white-populated Joburg Northern suburbs. Even though i do not personally call myself a black diamond, i guess they will call me one. On top of that i am single, and i am 25 years old, BORN IN 1984.

South Africa's black middle class is still growing at a healthy rate and remains surprisingly recession-resilient, with an annual spending power estimated to be R250-billion. These findings form part of the latest research by UCT Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing and TNS Research Surveys into SA's black middle class, commonly referred to as Black Diamonds. The Black Diamond studies are widely recognised as the definitive research into SA's growing black middle class and the latest study dispels many myths about their current status quo. In the 12 months since the last study was conducted, black South Africans who are categorized as middle class now number 3 million people, representing a 15% growth rate since 2007, says Professor John Simpson, Director of the UCT Unilever Institute. Despite dire predictions that this sector of society is facing a financial melt-down due to debt pressure, the opposite is true, reveals Simpson. "The most astounding evidence of their financial resilience can be seen in a 39% increase in spending power - from R180 billion in 2007 to R250 billion this year," explains Simpson.

According to UCT Unilever Institute's Professor Simpson, Black Diamond women are becoming a force to be reckoned with. "Due to economic empowerment, many women respondents revealed that their earning power had a significant impact on decision-making when it comes to making purchases - not only for purchases such as grocery shopping, which one may expect, but with regard to much larger purchases such as household appliances, investments and cars," Simpson added. The study also investigated changing consumer mindsets and the impact this was having on buying behaviour, explains Maponga. "Almost half of the women interviewed for the study said they earned over 50% of the household income, whilst over 80% said they were the main household decision-maker when it came to the majority of purchases. This is resulting in a shift in gender roles," she says.

There appear to be several factors responsible for this shift. The research indicates that these women are different in that their aspirations are higher than their mothers and grandmothers. Democracy and the accompanying legislation have given women the opportunity to be more ambitious and have paved the way for women to choose from a vast array of careers which were just not available to black South African, especially women, during apartheid.

Do we have poverty in RSA? Yes. About 51 percent of the population lived in poverty in 1994, when the first democratic elections were held. The rate, according to government data. Even those numbers mask the depth of the problem: 23 percent of the population are living on less than one dollar a day today in 2009. We will overcome, yhes we will.

Remember these demographics also include the poor whites. Yes, we do have many poor whites, who are really struggling.
Wether or not you were born in Nigeria or not, thats not my business, qujite frankly, i dont care.

GOD BLESS SOUTH AFRICA.

We do not categorize unemployment the way you are doing. Unemployment is unemployment period.

What Mpele did was to reiterate on what you and i already know, thats waves by SA businesses all over the world. That is being provided for in SA's Foreign Policy" better SA in a better Africa and Better world"

Mpele, tried to categoricallyoutline this as a trend that could make SA to look like an imperialist, of which i think it is going that route. On the other hand, you came very strongly, playing race cards. Damn, what does that has to do with anything imperialistic. The level of unemployment stats that you provided had no basis whatsoever, you cooked those stats from your lab. Either way, the level of unemployment do not determine wether a country can or cannot expand its business territories. Unemployment is purely a public policy issue, here we are on foreign policy issue. Please lets separate the two. I was in no way trying to stem on an issue of SA/Nig, however, since you have touched it, i would dwell a little on it. You Nigerians love competing, not in hundred years would we compete with you, because we are not on the same standing mark. We are far ahead, you guys can run, we will walk. You will run alone and win alone, cos we are not in this race. There are countgries that we are running to catch, thats not you. Stop this empty pride you always outplay in our shores. Stop barking, maybe we wikll listen. Do i hate Nigerians? No. I hate your behaviour, i do not know what make you behave the way you do. I have followed this blokg for too long, you do not ev en love yourself let alone your country, but you keep bickering like headless chikcken.

Mpele was tgrying to provoke a debate. The least you could have done was to reserve your impulsive reply and give logical argument. You keep agitgating people like that, this is what you get, CRAP.

My problem with Nigerians is that they like to defend the indefendable, always reactive, over and above being subjective. Facts are facts, the least you can do is to believe it or not. However, not believing facts as they are leaves to much to be desired on your menatal comphrehension. Moreover, i like Nigerians ambitions though, but you are just way too behind to top the list on development.

Whenever one tries to advocate RSA's pace of development nothing comes out your drops but racial demographics of this country. Like " The Whites made that country" That is crap right there. The Whites are part of us, they will die here. Is like the so called African Americans, they are proud of being Americans because they are attached to that country than any African country. For your information, white people came down South in 1652. That is like one decade behind after the slave trade. Would you say America was made what it is because of African Americans? Remember, when the ANC govwerment c ame into power, the apartheid govt was bankcrupt. We had to start from scrarch. With all the debts inherited. Damn SA is good. South African companies, both b lack and white owned are investing in and out of Africa than any African country has ever done.

SABMILLER: The world no1
MTN: All over Africa and Middle east
Standard Bank: branches in 16 countries: this bank boujght more shares on Bank boston of Argentina
Massmart: Europe and Africa
Shoprite: Africa, Middle east
Anglo American: Operating in Austarlia, and Canada, as well as the DRC
Broll: This is the constuction company that has built your own Mall in Lagos we even complemeted it with SA flavour like " Game, Sterkinekor" etc
Murray&Roberts: Constuction company, operating in Dubai, and all over Europe
Multichoice: You are being controlled down South, this is our own propaganda machine


If i continue with the list, you will get bored. What do you have? It is a pity that you argue without facts. We have everything that you do not have. We are building the first fvast underground train in Africa. We are hosting the FIFA World Cup for the first time in Africa. We have hosted both cricket and Rugby world cups. The Formula 1 Racing. This is a country that has world class Malls that exceeds 500. This a country that has providing internet sercices to you. This is the country that has placed the first Afric an man on space. This a country that once possesed nuclear weapons. This is the only African country that is ttrusted by the developed. With all the challenges we are facing, we remain here to fix them. This is the country whose people get shocked when they see how Nigerians act smart while they are learning to eat Hamburger in SA. This is a country where Hollywood celebrikties like Will Smith, Michel Joordan, Eddie Murphy, Nocolas Cage always visit for vacations. Damn, we good.

GPS Co-ordinates to the 2010 World Cup Stadiums
02 December 2009


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MAP IT: Here’s how to find your way to the host stadiums for the 2010 Football World Cup, which runs from 11 June to 11 July.





GREENPOINT STADIUM - CAPE TOWN 33º54’19.00"S 18º24’31.00"E






MOSES MABHIDA STADIUM - DURBAN 29º49’44.03"S 31º1’49.75"E





ELLIS PARK STADIUM JOHANNESBURG 26º11’51.07"S 28º3’38.76"E





SOCCER CITY STADIUM - JOHANNESBURG 26º14’5.27"S 27º58’56.47"E





ROYAL BAFOKENG STADIUM - RUSTENBURG 25º39’44.73"S 27º13’18.57"E






NELSON MANDELA BAY STADIUM - PE 33º56’17.13"S 25º35’57.03"E






FREE STATE STADIUM - BLOEMFONTEIN 29º7’2.29"S 26º12’31.89"E






LOFTUS STADIUM - PRETORIA 25º45’11.57"S 28º13’22.75"E






PETER MOKABA STADIUM - POLOKWANE 23º55’28.76"S 29º27’53.71"E






MBOMBELA STADIUM - NELSPRUIT 25º26’30.38"S 30º59’13.57"E



Source: www.arrivealive.co.za

Valid points points. I wish Nigerian companies could stand up and claim that position in SA. I am a South African, and i am of a believe that Nigeria and SA can uplift Africa. We are a promising two nations, however, what we need is more interdependence between ourselves. I am from the finance discepline, and the projection of SA companies that are operating in Europe, Asia and Africa shows that SA in 7years from now would create a huge gap in growth. It shows that, SA is coming to be the next China. This is based on its Foreign Policy draft paper change. If you check the priorities of SAFP, on top of the list is consolidation of African Agenda, that translate to better SA, in a better Africa and a better world.

Believe it or not.

Lets face it, South Africa is powerful. Economically, politically and otherwise. I have met many Nigerians crying foul about the recent expansion of SA companies at their backyards. Of late, one of Nigeria minister, emphasized on the need for trade equality between the two countries. Accordingly, the Minister failed to acknowledge that Nigerian companies has no much to offer to SA. Which sector of SA economy would Nigeria find it easier to exploit? Communication (Covered and well regulated), Science and Technology(One of the best in the world), Mining (Far much advanced home breed companies are in charge), Agriculture (the best), just to mention but the few.

There are so many companies from South Africa that are still going to exploit the opportunity of the huge population in Nigeria. The recipe, is identifying your strength. What are you good at? if you do indeed find that strength, you exploit on it. It would be suicidal for a Nigerian telecommunication company to consider investing in SA, cos they would loose money big time. South Africans are very much brand conscious people, even ppl in deep rural areas. Face it, not in hundred years would Nigerian companies make impact in SA. Operating informal businesses can only be the way.

This is not meant to offend anybody. It is a harsh reality,