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Finance
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Mugabe Spends $20 Million On Travel In Six Months
29 Jul 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
A daily newspaper in Zimbabwe has revealed that Robert Mugabe has spent an excessive amount of money on foreign travel in the last six months, totalling $20 million. And we’re not talking Zimbabwean Dollars here, this is US currency. He has now reportedly surpassed his $15 million travel budget for the year, but that’s probably irrelevant to him.
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IMF Gets Tough On US And Europe, Over Debt Crisis
27 Jul 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
Speaking in New York yesterday, the former French finance minister and now new IMF head, Christine Lagarde, warned that despite the positive response in the financial markets to bailouts, fresh turmoil could easily boil over if debt crises aren’t properly managed now. She also really wants the Republicans and Democrats in Washington to stop squabbling so much.
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James Murdoch’s Busy Week Ahead
25 Jul 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
The younger Murdoch’s credibility was tested last week, after he told a parliamentary committee that he was not aware of evidence that eavesdropping at the News of the World went beyond a jailed rogue reporter. At least three former top executives, including a former editor, have pointed fingers back at James. What happens next is critical to his future.
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Malema Denies Building R16 Million House, But May Still Need To Answer On Funds
20 Jul 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Julius Malema has today denied that he is building a R16 million home in the upmarket Johannesburg suburb of Sandown. Rather, he chose to insist, “Instead of being rich, I remain poor but credit worthy.” He declined to give details of his financial interests, saying he was not a public figure, but this may yet backfire on him.
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Ben Kingsley Stars In Latest Santam Ad [VIDEO]
20 Jul 2011 by Seth Rotherham / 5 Comments
There has been a lot of talk about Santam‘s new branding and, in particular, their latest TV ad, starring Oscar-winner film star (Gandhi & Schindler’s List) Ben Kingsley. I think they made a good move here, differentiating themselves from the ‘quick-fix’ insurers out there – companies who are quick to help until something goes wrong. […]
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Italy Too Big To Bail Out As Crisis Enters ‘New Phase’
14 Jul 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
“Italy Too Big to Bail Out as Crisis Enters ‘New Phase’.” That was the headline I read over at Bloomberg earlier. Don’t get me wrong, I know Italy is facing serious problems, but when will they actually get rid of the bungling “bunga bunga” Berlusconi? Today the country has been auctioning an estimated €3 – €5 billion in fixed-rate bonds.
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Cell C CEO, Lars Reichelt, Resigns
13 Jul 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
The real Cell C CEO, Lars Reichelt, will be leaving the company with immediate effect according to the company’s board. Reichelt joined Cell C two-and-a-half years ago and has since commuted extensively between South Africa and Switzerland, where his family lives. According to a statement, his resignation is for personal reasons.
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Cape Town Motorists Fear Empty Tanks As Strike Action Continues
13 Jul 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Cape Town motorists have begun filling-up their petrol tanks fearing a petrol shortage later this week. This comes on the back of news that about 5 000 Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union (Ceppwawu) members in Cape Town have joined the nationwide industrial action. The main march takes place in Cape Town next week.
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Fake Money Causes Huge Traffic Jam Outside Moscow
06 Jul 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
Moscow’s mighty 10-lane Ring Road is famous for rather large volumes of traffic, and this morning was no different, except that this morning, fake money was responsible for the chaos. Russian radio station Echo Moskvy reported that scores of drivers hurriedly left their vehicles during peak hour traffic to gather what looked like 1000-ruble notes.
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Open Letter To BlackBerry Bosses: Senior RIM Exec Tells All, As Company Crumbles Around Him
04 Jul 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
A fair portion of the smartphone market in this country belongs to BlackBerry, because unlike the rest of the world, we still pay rather exorbitant data fees to the carrier firms that run the market. And free messaging is like, so cool. Not internationally though, where BlackBerry maker, RIM, is in a serious make-or-break space.
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RICA Your Number Under A False Name For R20
04 Jul 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
Come on, you all know what we’re referring to in that headline. It’s just a little bribe and you’re done. In there. RICA sorted. It’s actually hardly surprising, but it deflates the high we all experienced with the relatively hassle-free event that was reported in a lot of the mainstream media.
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Taxi Industry To Launch Low-Cost Airline, No Spice
29 Jun 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) is seriously considering expanding the taxi industry to cover further modes of transport, including buses, trains and aeroplanes. There is no word on what the airline, due to take to the skies in November, would be called, but there is the very obvious question of: “Where would the gatjie sit?”
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Meltdown On The Med – A Summation Of Greece’s Economic Pickle
22 Jun 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
The economic dilemma facing Greece and and the European Union is reaching a head as Greece threatens to default on its debt to the European Union. The outcome of the crisis, whether positive or negative, will have a substantial effect on the health of the global economy. So it’s an important issue. And yet, discussion […]
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Gautrain’s Hidden Millions, Another Shock For The Taxpayer
22 Jun 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
This week we have seen two interesting reasons why the information bill, in its current form, needed amending. We learned of South African sniper weapons in Libya, and we have now learned of the many millions Gauteng tax payers will likely fork out for the lack of passengers using the Gautrain.
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Greece Prepares To Sell Off Airports, Highways, Parts Of The Mediterranean
21 Jun 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
You may by now be aware that Greece is in some deep financial trouble at the moment. Pretty much everyone knows a Greek too, so we should spare a moment for all Greeks, as Greece prepares to sell off airports, highways, state-owned companies and prime sections of Mediterranean real estate.
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Australia Plans To Shoot Camels To Generate Carbon Credits
09 Jun 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
The Australian government appears to be seriously considering a culling-for-carbon-credits plan to reduce the methane emissions from the estimated 1.2 million wild camels roaming the outback. Earlier today we reported that domestic cats in parts of Sydney have a curfew. Now camels are in trouble for burping and farting too much.
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Insight: The Kruger National Park Hotel Development Saga
02 Jun 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
2oceansVibe staffer and avowed earthchild, Bearded Wiseman, sinks his teeth into the weighty issue of hotel development in the Kruger National Park, and nails his colours firmly to the mast of the godless neo-conservative capitalists who critics say want to turn the Kruger National Park into Disney Land. Notes from the thinking man’s greeny – here’s […]
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Hawks, SA Revenue Services Raid Controversial Durban Tycoon’s Home
01 Jun 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
It has been confirmed that the Hawks and the South African Revenue Services have raided the home of the controversial Durban tycoon Sbu Mpisane and his wife Shaun on Wednesday morning. You’ll know the guy that I’m speaking about. The dude who’s wife bought him a Maserati GranCabrio for his 40th recently.
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Gauteng Police Commissioner’s Rented Home To Cost R745 000
31 May 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
South African police commissioners have notably enjoyed the odd perk here and there when it comes to matters of their private lives. It has emerged that Gauteng police commissioner, Mzwandile Petros, is no exception to this common occurrence and has a new two year lease costing R30 000 a month.
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Australian Senator Demands FIFA “Refunds” Bid Money
30 May 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
In a statement titled “Red Card for FIFA”, independent senator Nick Xenophon has urged the federal government to ask for a refund from FIFA of the A$45.6 million spent on the failed bid to host the 2022 World Cup, saying the bid could not succeed because of corruption within football’s world governing body.
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Traffic Services Chief Inspector Warns Of Week-Long Roadblock In Cape Town
25 May 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 11 Comments
Cape Town traffic fine dodgers are in for a surprise, and not one of the good variety either. You may have heard about, or even gone through the rather large roadblock that spanned the Buitengracht exit from town before the N1 and N2 split on Sunday. Operation Reclaim intensifies: officers are planning a crackdown in the next few weeks.
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Apple Approves Sugar-Daddy App
17 May 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
Wow. Alright. Apple gave the the green light to a mobile app that promises to connect rich old dudes with young women. Sugar daddies with gold diggers. Seriously. They call themselves SugarSugar, “the world’s most effective and discreet place for finding Sugar Daddy and Sugar Baby relationships.”
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South African To Co-Head Goldman Sachs Investment Banking
17 May 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Goldman Sachs employees were told yesterday that Richard Gnodde is the new co-head of investment banking along with David Solomon and John Weinberg. Gnodde, who was born in Johannesburg, joined the firm back in 1987 and is said to have been critical to Goldman’s European acquisitions and mergers business.
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Largest Ever Insider Trading Case Involving Hedge Funds Reaches Guilty Verdict
12 May 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Billionaire co-founder of Galleon Group, Raj Rajaratnam, has been convicted in what prosecutors called the largest insider trading case ever involving hedge funds. He remains free on $100 million bail and was placed under house arrest at his Manhattan home to await sentencing on July 29.
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Capitec Introduces Sunday Banking
12 May 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
Some years ago I made my way over to mud island, London specifically, and one thing I always appreciated was not having to rush to the bank on a Saturday morning just because that was the way things were. This is surely good for banking in South Africa and a giant leap toward getting Saturday mornings back.
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EU To Pay Fishermen To Catch Plastic
05 May 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
You may or may not be aware of television programmes like Trawlermen or Deadliest Catch. Times can be more than just physically and emotionally tough aboard these fishing vessels, they can go ages without catching anything substantial too. Now the EU is planning to offer the fishermen an alternative income stream. And hopefully curb pollution obviously.
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Buy An Entire Italian Village For $800 000
20 Apr 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
The recession is serving up another good deal, friends. For about R5,4 million you can buy the historic village of Valle Piola in Italy. It’s surrounded by wild and mountainous terrain, and is set in the heart of one of the country’s biggest national parks, Gran Sasso.
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NASA Awards $269 Million For Private Projects
19 Apr 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
On Monday NASA announced it was distributing $269 million to four companies for them to develop spacecraft to take astronauts into orbit. The investment is an Obama administration gamble that will enable commercial companies to get people to and from orbit in quicker time and with less cost.
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Facebook Faces New Suit
18 Apr 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Just when it looked as if the commotion over Facebook’s early days might be about to disappear, the long-running legal shenanigans over the rightful ownership of the online social network has sprung another surprise. Paul Ceglia has submitted a complaint with e-mails that he claimed would support his case for a share in the company.
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Another P-Bomb Dropped In Court
05 Apr 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
It seems it’s all the rage to voice ones displeasure with how one finds things are going in court these days. Instead of it being an advocate this time, it’s a 71 year old “Brett Kebble-type character” from the Strand near Cape Town facing fraud charges. He had recently celebrated his 71st in Pollsmoor too.
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