BusinessLIVE - For Your Ear

Asian stocks stumble on Chinese data

Tokyo/Boston — Asian shares fell on Friday after lacklustre Chinese economic data and worries about a delay in US fiscal stimulus discouraged some investors from taking on risk. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.24%, though shares in Japan rose 0.07%. South Korean stocks fell 1.27% after…

14 Aug 2020 1AM 3 min

Gold on track for first weekly decline since early June

Gold fought for traction on Friday as a jump in US Treasury yields forced investors to reassess their positions again after a steep retreat from a record peak earlier this week, which put bullion on course for its first weekly fall since early June. Spot gold was down 0.1% at…

14 Aug 2020 1AM 2 min

LEBOGANG MOKOENA: Maybe maths is the problem

With all the revelations slowly trickling out — like the misuse of Covid relief funds, and the water department unable to account for R220m in drought relief funds — we should be asking just who in our executive is in charge of the numbers. Pride of place for the most…

13 Aug 2020 5PM 4 min

ROB ROSE: Heat rises, as Dlamini Zuma hits out at ‘unqualified’ Basson

Even though the government seems to be on the verge of scrapping its booze ban, the heat is rising between cooperative governance minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and former Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson ahead of a court clash next week. Next Tuesday, the High Court in Pretoria will hear an application…

13 Aug 2020 4PM 6 min

Trump opposes postal service funding to block vote by mail

Washington — President Donald Trump Thursday directly tied his opposition to a proposed $25bn financial lifeline for the Postal Service to his criticism of efforts to encourage mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic. In an interview with Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo, the president said Democrats “need that money to have…

13 Aug 2020 4PM 2 min

Lockdown day 140: Pictures of the day

A round-up of the best pictures from day 140 of the national lockdown

13 Aug 2020 4PM 1 min

Philippines says former Wirecard executive Christopher Bauer died weeks ago

Manila — Former Wirecard executive Christopher Bauer, one of several people being investigated over a multibillion-dollar fraud at the German payments firm, died in the Philippines in July, the justice ministry confirmed on Thursday. Bauer died of natural causes in a hospital in the capital Manila on July 27 and…

13 Aug 2020 3PM 1 min

Paying with Gupta money suited Malusi Gigaba, state capture inquiry hears

Former minister Malusi Gigaba paid for his tailored suits in cash, allegedly given to him by the Gupta family, the state capture commission heard on Thursday. This was according to Gigaba’s former bodyguard, who was testifying at the state capture commission with the alias “Witness 3”, out of fear for…

13 Aug 2020 2PM 1 min

France angers Turkey with plans to boost military presence in Mediterranean

Ankara — President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday that any attack on a Turkish ship exploring for gas in disputed Mediterranean waters would incur a “high price” after France said would increase its military presence in the region Tensions in the eastern Mediterranean have risen sharply this week after…

13 Aug 2020 2PM 2 min

How to ... help women-owned SMEs

A community’s health, education and child nutrition improve when women earn higher incomes, according to research done by UN Women, and entrepreneurship is a good way for women in poorer communities to earn more. However, around the world many female small and medium enterprise (SME) owners face particular challenges due…

13 Aug 2020 1PM 1 min

Israel and UAE reach historic deal, with Donald Trump’s help

Washington — Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reached a historic deal on Thursday that will lead to a full normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two Middle Eastern nations in an agreement that US President Donald Trump helped broker. Under the agreement, Israel has agreed to suspend applying…

13 Aug 2020 12PM 4 min

Gauteng to name companies that scored Covid-19 tenders

Gauteng premier David Makhura has promised to name every company that scored from Covid-19 tenders as it seeks to put a lid on corrupt activity that has bedevilled its fight against the pandemic. This is in addition to his announcement last week that the State Security Agency (SSA) would conduct…

13 Aug 2020 11AM 3 min

UK will ask US again to drop tariff on whisky and other goods

London — Britain said it would step up demands for the US to drop tariffs on goods such as single malt Scotch whisky after the industry warned a decision by Washington to retain the levy was putting its future at risk. The US government said on Wednesday it would maintain…

13 Aug 2020 11AM 1 min

LETTER: Doctors need an employment benefit model

It is ironic that in a time when healthcare is most needed and is demonstrating its immense value in the fight against Covid-19, many GPs are reportedly seeing a drop in patient numbers that threatens the livelihood of their practices. GPs have an important role in supporting the psychosocial well-being…

13 Aug 2020 11AM 1 min

LETTER: SAA and Pravin Gordhan will cost SA a fortune

Department of public enterprises spokesperson Sam Mkokeli, writing in his personal capacity, tied himself in a knot of propaganda in his response to my letter (Letter about Pravin Gordhan was incorrect (, August 10). Mkokeli’s response is classic revisionist “whataboutery”, but unfortunately he says nothing of substance. According to Mkokeli,…

13 Aug 2020 11AM 3 min

LETTER: SA’s young people are worried about destruction of the economy

With the number of businesses and jobs being lost daily due to the lockdown, one begins to wonder whether the government's policy will save lives from Covid-19 but lose them due to hunger, depression, poverty and overindebtedness. The measures that are currently in place as a result of the state…

13 Aug 2020 10AM 1 min

Mass arrests in Ethiopia raise fears of a return to the iron fist

Addis Ababa — Ethiopia has detained more than 9,000 people after deadly clashes last month, the state-run human rights commission told Reuters, raising fears that a government hailed for reforms is returning to the iron-fist tactics of past administrations. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who came to power in 2018 promising…

13 Aug 2020 10AM 3 min

LETTER: Anti-smoking advocate sponsored by tobacco giant

Interesting though Dr Derek Yach’s mini-bio is (People trust the state less than doctors, which is where smoking comes in (, August 12) I do think we should have been told that his Foundation for a Smoke-Free World is currently completely funded by Philip Morris International, the well-known cigarette manufacturer!…

13 Aug 2020 10AM 1 min

LAURA DU PREEZ: Imagine how much better we would be with money on equal pay

While Women’s Day — or women’s month as it has become — is supposed to be a celebration of women, the articles and speeches about women and their finances seldom celebrate anything. Instead they tell us the depressing things we already know — that we earn less and pay the…

13 Aug 2020 10AM 4 min

Beijing’s relations with Africa head for a reset after Covid

As the Chinese authorities scrambled to respond to Beijing’s first coronavirus outbreak in 50 days in mid-June, locking down residential compounds and sealing off a seafood market after at least 200 fell ill, an unruffled President Xi Jinping broadcast to African leaders to express solidarity in their own fight against…

13 Aug 2020 10AM 13 min