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BusinessLIVE - For Your Ear

Listen to the latest BusinessLIVE articles from the news desk of Business Day, Financial Mail and the Business Times.

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Daily English South Africa Business News · News
12,931 Episodes
220 – 240

JSE faces subdued Asian markets on Monday

The JSE faces subdued Asian markets on Monday morning, with investors considering US-China tensions and whether last week’s tech sell-off will continue. Reports have suggested the US is considering banning the sale of components to China’s largest chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). Though SMIC’s stock has fallen 15% in…
7 Sep 2020 1AM 1 min

Nato condemns Russia over ‘appalling’ attack on Navalny

Brussels — Nato has pointed the finger at Russia over the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, calling the attack “appalling” but stopping short of any immediate concrete response. Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg reiterated a call for an international reaction to the use of a military-grade nerve agent on the Russian opposition…
6 Sep 2020 5PM 1 min

THE WASHINGTON TIMES: The myth of ingrained racism

Above the din of protests surging across 2020 America echoes the conviction that systemic racism is everywhere, and peace won’t prevail until it is finally expunged. The notion that racism is ingrained in American culture has become the dogma of this era, not only among angry blacks, but also young…
6 Sep 2020 5PM 2 min

LETTER: SAA plays into Ethiopian Airlines’ hands

After reading that the department of public enterprises is in discussions with Ethiopian Airlines, among other companies, to offer support to our perpetually bankrupt flag carrier, I cannot help but be reminded of Martin Luther King Jnr, who once said that “nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere…
6 Sep 2020 4PM 2 min

Warnings about SA’s push towards the fiscal cliff went unheeded for years

The supplementary budget tabled in June indicated that SA’s existing dire fiscal position had taken a turn for the worse. The Fiscal Cliff Study Group (FCSG) has been warning since 2014 that SA’s public finances were developing in an unsustainable way. The growth in government revenue could not match the…
6 Sep 2020 4PM 4 min

Digitisation is the portal to growth for business and government

Though it is undeniably difficult to look back at February while still in the midst of a global pandemic, reflection can reveal the many positive developments and lessons the crisis has brought. From a digital transformation perspective February was significant in that it marked the month of the state of…
6 Sep 2020 4PM 4 min

LETTER: Zuma can shun Zondo

Former president Jacob Zuma’s lawyers are unfortunately correct in their assertion that their client need not attend the Zondo commission hearings again, notwithstanding any subpoena that may be issued and served on him (“Zuma’s lawyers hint he may defy state capture inquiry” (, September 3). The newly amended inquiry regulations…
6 Sep 2020 4PM 1 min

LETTER: How the NPA can get cracking on PPE theft

The auditor-general has said some corrupt suppliers of personal protective equipment (PPE) charged up to five times the market price for masks and other protective equipment (“Health and education paid up to five times more for PPE, says auditor-general” (, September 2). There have even been reports of eight times…
6 Sep 2020 4PM 1 min

LETTER: Lives of all oppressed matter

Allan Wolman wants US liberals to spread their focus beyond the US, particularly to Africa (“Black lives in Africa matter too” (, August 31). I suggest all lives everywhere that are under threat become the concern of not only US liberals, but of all human rights-loving people. Thus, dispossessed, discriminated,…
6 Sep 2020 4PM 1 min

How to tell an oasis from a mirage in the search for yield

Income is the dominant driver of most asset class returns over the long run. For some asset classes, such as high-yield corporate bonds, the income received can even exceed the total return due to a portion of capital being lost to defaults. Even for equities, reinvested dividends are typically responsible…
6 Sep 2020 4PM 4 min

LETTER: Old Mutual fails at its primary purpose

The only good thing about the Old Mutual’s half-year results is that they took only 62 days to prepare and publish (“Old Mutual swings into a loss amid Covid-19 hit” (, September 1). The worst aspect of the report is the codswallop written as a “strategic update”. The company has…
6 Sep 2020 4PM 1 min

LETTER: Cruise ship woes a blow to Zip Zap Circus

It is particularly sad to see the decimation of the luxury cruise part of the tourism industry, which is hundreds of years old (“Cruise industry’s billion-dollar question: what to do with the ships? (” September 2). Many of us have had the opportunity to go on cruises and enjoyed the…
6 Sep 2020 3PM 1 min

Why modern monetary theory is such a dangerous drug

Modern monetary theory is a new term for an old idea. Its proponents argue a state that issues fiat money does not have to resort to taxation and borrowing to pay its bills. It can fund itself simply by printing money. While there are numerous historical examples of unfunded fiscal…
6 Sep 2020 3PM 5 min

EDITORIAL: Post Office posts a nagging reminder

A day after President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters that the ANC’s top decision-making body, the national executive committee, had rallied behind his letter calling for tougher measures against the corruption cancer corroding every layer of the party, the SA Post Office reminded him about his long-standing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) headache…
6 Sep 2020 3PM 3 min

France vows to continue military operations in Mali

Paris — French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday France will continue with its military operations in Mali where two French soldiers were killed on Saturday. “There is no question of letting down the guard. We are making progress in Mali where we are fighting to insure our…
6 Sep 2020 3PM 3 min

Belarus protesters defy government warning against march in Minsk

Minsk — Tens of thousands of people marched through Minsk on Sunday calling on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to step down, in mass demonstrations that showed no sign of abating nearly a month after an election his opponents say was rigged. Columns of protesters defied a government warning to march…
6 Sep 2020 3PM 2 min

Scores of activists held in Hong Kong swoop as protests return

Hong Kong police arrested scores of people including key activists as protests again flared on the city’s streets on Sunday after weeks of relative calm since the implementation of a national security law. At least 90 people were arrested on charges including illegal assembly, disorderly conduct, obstructing and assaulting police,…
6 Sep 2020 3PM 3 min

Jacob Blake sends strong video message from hospital bed

New York — Jacob Blake, the black man whose shooting by police set off protests and prompted visits to Kenosha, Wisconsin, by both presidential candidates, released a video from his hospital bed on Saturday night. Paralysed from the waist down, he described his physical pain and urged people to “change…
6 Sep 2020 2PM 3 min
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