It seems like everyone right now wants to take up arms. First we had Zimbabwe President, Robert Mugabe saying that he would not accept defeat in the upcoming presidential election and that if he were to loose he would ‘take up arms’ and fight to remain in power. Now yesterday, ANC Youth League President, Julius Malema was in Thaba’Nchu in the Free State in his first Youth Day address and he said that the Youth League was ready to ‘take up arms’ and kill for Jacob Zuma if Zuma was found to be guilty of the charges he is facing. Read the rest of this entry »
“We are prepared to fight for our country and to go to war for it.” These were the words of Zimbabwe’s President, Robert Mugabe at a rally last week in the build up to the presidential run-off on June 27. These words have struck fear in the hearts of many as it is a clear sign of intent that Robert Mugabe will not accept defeat in the vote and if he somehow looses he will wage a war in Zimbabwe.
Is this just a political tactic by Mugabe or is he being actually serious that he would ‘take up arms’ again against his own people so that he can remain in power? Mugabe may just be saying this so that he can scare millions of people in Zimbabwe who surely do not want a war. So in Mugabe saying this, he is hoping that the majority of the country will instead vote for him than face the possibilities of a war. If he can scare the people of Zimbabwe then they will vote for him come June 27 and he will remain as president. But will Zimbabweans be scared? Read the rest of this entry »
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) have decided to increase interest rates by 50 basis points meaning that the prime lending rate is now 15.5%. Reserve Bank governor, Tito Mboweni, made the announcement this afternoon. Some analysts had predicted a 100 basis point interest rate hike with some even thinking the hike will be by 200 basis points. But alas, it was ‘just’ 50 points to the shock of many. Just yesterday, I was listening to a lot of people complaining how a 1% or 2% increase would ‘kill them’. I do not recall anyone thinking that it would only be a .5% increase. Although any form of an increase is painful, todays increase will not hurt too badly, but the fear is that we may get many more ’small’ increases in the future. Would you rather have these small increases or just one big increase?
Most weekend papers ran with stories about how the tough times were now upon consumers in South Africa and that we should brace for the possibility of paying R16 for a litre of petrol in the near future. With the ever rising world oil prices the future is not looking great.
On Friday, the price of oil hit a record of almost $139 a barrel. Some analysts predict that the price could reach $150 as soon as July this year. The oil price continues to rise due to concerns of supply not meeting the demand and the continual political tension in the Middle East. With that said, there has been speculation that the price of oil could even reach the $200 mark by the end of this year. If the price reaches $200 a barrel then we could easily be paying R16 a litre by then. Read the rest of this entry »
As Zimbabwe edges close to the runoff presidential vote on 27 June, one can not wonder if that day will arrive anytime soon for millions of Zimbabweans. It is interesting how news just switches all of a sudden. In the last few weeks, all eyes were on the xenophobia attacks in South Africa but now a bit of the spotlight has been taken off South Africa now that the xenophobia attacks have eased down and instead the focus is back on Zimbabwe. Read the rest of this entry »
The starting line-up for the Springbok team to face Wales on Saturday has been named by coach Peter De Villiers. There were a couple of surprises which may shock many but it is clear that coach De Villiers is ready to do things his way and not carry on from the team that Jake White led to winning the Word Cup last year. What many have highlighted when seeing the starting 15 for the game on Saturday is that, the team includes seven players of colour which apparently is a new record. Read the rest of this entry »
Just as I had predicted, the aftermath of the xenophobia attacks is not going to be pretty. Residents gathered near the place displaced foreigners are having a camp setup for them and these residents were very vocal and were making their feelings known that they do not want the displaced foreigners to be staying near them. Some of the residents went as far as saying that they will burn the camp down! Aren’t we going to see the xenophobia attacks all over again? Read the rest of this entry »
I was shocked watching the news last night when President Thabo Mbeki said he was not told about the possibilities of there being problems with xenophobia in South Africa. Two senior government officials, including a minister, last week said they had been warned about possible problems occurring due to xenophobia in South Africa. Now surely if your cabinet knows, you as the president should also know? This ‘confusion’ between our president and his government or advisors is really embarrassing! Read the rest of this entry »
The much awaited 24 hour news channel from South Africa, eNews, was finally launched on 1 June and it was not a bad showing at all. The set they are broadcasting from looks very elegant and in line with other world leading news sets. The launch was on a Sunday when there was not much news to report on; I think they ran with two main stories that night, one being about the xenophobia in South Africa which seems to be dominating all news stations in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
The price of fuel is set to go up at midnight tonight by 50 cents a litre for petrol this after a 55 cent increase in April. The price of unleaded petrol in Gauteng thereby increases to 996 cents a litre and to 972 cents at the coast. Diesel 0.05 percent sulphur goes up by 71 cents, 0.005 percent by 70 cents and wholesale paraffin by 71 cents. Illuminating paraffin shoots up by 94 cents. Diesel in Gauteng now costs 10.80 rand a litre and 10.66 at the coast. If this is not bad news then, I do not know what is! Read the rest of this entry »
