Das neue Südafrika

Rokko, ich glaube wir hatten schon mal einige ""Dialoge"".

Tatsache, mein letzter Hund hier war ein Deutscher Schaeferhund der hiess Rokko.

Leider gibt es von hier nicht viel positves zu berichten ausser der schoenen Landschaft.

Ich bin lieber hier als mit Menschen wie du als Nachbarn in Deutschland.

Wie erwaehnt, wenn dich was aufregt, schau nicht hin.

Ratschlaege brauche ich keine von Dir, ich bin 14 Jahre aelter als du und lebe hier.

Auf deinen militaeren Einsatz zur Rettung der Weissen verzichte ich gerne, ich habe auch nicht danach gefragt.

Was auch immer ich hier schreibe seit 22 Jahren in RSA wissen nur wenige zu schaetzen, zuschauen und meckern kann jeder.

Ich hoffe es geht Dir jetzt besser nach deiner Kritik.

------------------------

@Edel

gogh

Lucky

Was den Wein angeht weiss ich nur das die Gegend um Caledon keine guten Weine hat weil es dort zu trocken ist. Wer der Typ ist weiss ich auch nicht, jedenfalls sind die Preise heftig.
--------------

'Write off anti-crime costs'

2007-2-8 07:20

Cape Town - Write off costs to fight crime - that's the advice SA taxpayers are giving Finance Minister Trevor Manuel ahead of the National Budget on February 21.

The SA crime debate heated up this week after FNB over the weekend reportedly succumbed to pressure and canned a R20m campaign against rampant crime.

Financial services group PSG, however, on Tuesday came out in support of the campaign, challenging the government to "show us you care".

Fin24 invited users to send in their suggestions for this year's Budget in support of the "Tips for Trevor" campaign.

This is what you had to say:

"Scrap VAT on all security fees we pay. Be it armed response for our homes, electric fencing, cctv systems, guards etc. This has become a necessity we cannot live without."

One reader suggested Manuel - "being a sensible man" and certainly not oblivious to the fact that "crime is ruling the citizens' lives" - to "please help President (Thabo) Mbeki open his eyes and ears to all (the crime) and do something about it".

His tips included spending 20% of the total budget this year to: Fire all the corrupt and fraudulent employees in government and the SA police Service and replace them with honest and hard working people out of all South Africans who are prepared to give their level best for their country.

"By doing this you will reduce crime and fraud by 80% in our country.

"Furthermore, whisper in the ANC's ear that people are sick and tired of being robbed, hi-jacked and murdered for nothing. Also that when private companies like FNB plan to take some form of action against crime, it being blocked by threats from some ministers against them (sic)."

Another reader said to tackle the crime issue "is simply in your (Manuel's) hands".

"We now need serious dedication and commitment from the government to tackle this issue. As always, it starts with the money available to tackle the problem, so please give this your most urgent attention ever."

Most people asked for a rebate for those paying:

Armed response
Short term insurance
Electric fences etc.
24 hour guards
"All of these measures could easily cost up to R2 000 a month. These expenses wouldn't be necessary if the police force was efficient," one reader said.

Fin24 will report more on what you want from Trevor Manuel in the run-up to the Budget.

Send your Tips to Trevor.

Finance24

---------------------------------

'It's our job to rob and kill'

2007-2-7 23:14

Johannesburg

"It's our job to rob and kill you," was the reply, Elaine Stoltz got when she asked her attackers why they were robbing her.

Stoltz, 52, her sons Bertus, 22, and Benna, 20, and their friend, Stefan du Toit, 22, were attacked by three men at her Florentia home in Alberton on the East Rand on Thursday night.

Just a few hours earlier, they had returned from the funeral of her husband, Fanie, 67.

Stoltz said she and Benna went to bed about 23:00, while Bertus and Stefan were still working on a car in the driveway outside.

Stoltz said: "A short while later, Stefan woke me and said, 'Tannie, wake up. Don't be afraid, but we're being robbed'."

Stoltz and the three young men were forced into a room and tied up by the three robbers.

One of the robbers - who even fetched a glass of water for her when she said she was thirsty - kept watch while the other two searched the house.

Stolts said: "This guy was friendly, but one of the others was aggressive and kept saying 'Shh! I'll shoot you!'."

That was the man who told her it was "our job to rob you of your cellphones and money and to kill you".

The robbers left with about R10 000 in cash, the family's video and DVD players, two computers and a laptop. They didn't injure anyone.

Beeld

Hanging 'would've stopped me'

2007-2-8 09:00

Parys - The man accused of raping Eugene Schaefer, 72, mother-in-law of entertainment artist Soli Philander, said in court he wouldn't have attacked her had the death penalty still been in force.

He stabbed her 38 times with a knife before she suffocated in her own blood.

Simon Matshwane, 20, pleaded guilty on charges of theft, housebreaking with the intent to rape and rape, murder and robbery with extenuating circumstances, but a plea of not guilty was noted. After pleading guilty, he said he had not intended murdering or raping her.

The court heard this week that Schaefer had 38 stab wounds to the neck and face. She was overpowered on the night of May 26 last year.

Matshwane was arrested four days later.

Matshwane testified that he used a condom to prevent leaving any evidence. He also testified that he used to work in the area and had watched Schaefer comings and goings. He knew that she was living alone.

At the time of the incident, Matshwane was still at school and living in a corrugated iron structure with his parents. He had been in custody since his arrest.

Shocked family members, friends and neighbours at the time of the incident said Schaefer was a vulnerable, harmless woman.

Elfrieda Tyrer, Schaefer's daughter, said they suspected something was amiss when a strange man answered her mother's cellphone.

"There was no answer when we phoned her home." Judge Arrie Hattingh might give a ruling on Thursday.

Beeld

South Africa Robbers strike 7 times

2007-2-8 10:44

Pretoria - A couple from Krugersdorp have been the victims of crime seven times - they had been robbed six times, and have just been attacked by robbers who took only R100.

Teresa van Zyl, 35, a personal assistant, and her husband, Jacques van Zyl, 37, a network engineer, were wounded in the latest incident. Their house in Fisk Street in Noordheuwel has been burgled six times.

They were in their garage shortly after 20:00 on Monday and had just paid a technician for repairs when a man armed with a gun ran towards them yelling and firing shots.

His accomplice waited at the entrance to the garage with a screwdriver in his hand, said Teresa.

She was wounded in her left calf when she tried to flee to warn her children, Amor, 11, and Jean-Jacques, eight, who were inside the house. At first she didn't realise she had been wounded.

While running towards the house, she screamed to warn the children and the neighbours. Her wounded husband arrived at the kitchen door while she was desperately trying to find the alarm button.

Only then did they realise they had been wounded. Jacques suffered a slight flesh wound. The bullet hit the inside of his forearm and got stuck in his side.

He underwent surgery on Tuesday and was discharged on Wednesday. She was still being treated in hospital.

The robbers fled with R100 they had found on Jacques.

"I'm afraid to return to my own home," said Teresa on Wednesday. "The government is wearing blinkers.

"We hear about everything that is being done about crime, but I don't see any of it," she said from her hospital bed.

Steven van Niekerk, chairperson of the Krugersdorp community policing forum, said crime was taking on critical proportions in the town.

Beeld

Zim meltdown not our fault - US

2007-2-8 12:30

Zimbabwe is using Western sanctions imposed on President Robert Mugabe and his coterie as a convenient excuse to explain its economic meltdown, the US ambassador to Harare said in remarks published on Thursday.

"Neither the US nor any other country has imposed general sanctions on the southern African nation," Christopher Dell wrote in the independent Financial Gazette.

"Instead, what the US and others did was to target financial and travel sanctions at the roughly 100 individuals most responsible for undermining Zimbabwe's prosperity and democracy."

Mugabe and his ministers routinely blame an economic meltdown on targeted sanctions imposed on them by Washington and the European Union following the 2002 presidential polls which the opposition says were rigged.

'Political will needed'

Zimbabwe's once-model economy is in tatters with four-digit inflation, spiralling unemployment and an acute shortage of food and essential goods.

Analysts say the slide was accelerated by controversial land reforms which saw the state seizing land from white farmers and doling them out to landless blacks often without skills, causing output to plummet and creating food scarcity.

Dell said that, contrary to Zimbabwean media reports, US firms "continue to do business in Zimbabwe," adding that "Zimbabwe enjoys a trade surplus with the US".

He wrote that the "key" to turning around the economy "is the political will needed to implement market reforms with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and others, including the US, which they have been recommending the past few years.

"If the Zimbabwean government is sincere in its desire to improve governance by embracing economic and political reforms, the US as well as other donors, will be supportive," Dell said.

"The future of your country is in your hands," he added.

AFP

South Africans frustrated with the crime situation in SA have rallied behind businesses who publicly voiced their dissatisfaction with the spiralling situation.

Financial services group PSG challenged the government in an advertisement in four publications this week to "show us you care" shortly after FNB was apparently "bullied" into canning a R20m public campaign against crime it had planned to launch in the press.

At the same time auditing services firm Grant Thornton SA published in business newspapers the resul ts of its annual International Business Report survey on business confidence.

The survey revealed that 84% of SA respondents reported that they or their staff or families have been affected by violent crime, including housebreaking and hijacking in the past year.

Many Fin24 users responding to the Tips for Trevor campaign either asked the minister to write off the costs they incur to prevent crime or spend more on a strong, reliable police service.

Despite all their concerns, many thought South Africa is a great place to stay in and could be better if crime was under control.

As chairperson Jannie Mouton put it: "SA is a grea t country but as a good corporate citizen, PSG is worried about crime."

Mbeki under pressure over crime

2007-2-9 10:22

Cape Town - President Thabo Mbeki is under pressure to respond to growing public unrest by acknowledging in his state of the union address on Friday that his government needs to do more to tackle crime.

While he is expected to use his annual address at parliament in Cape Town to proclaim South Africa is living through an "age of hope", he is unlikely to duck a growing perception that crime is at crisis point.

Around 50 people are murdered every day while more than half a million burglaries or robberies were reported last year.

Mbeki recently insisted most citizens do not feel crime is out of control but official sources said one could expect some "self-criticism" from the president who would "not ignore the reality of perceptions" about security.

Veteran political commentator Max du Preez said the government had been undermined by its reluctance to downplay the seriousness of the situation.

Denial

"The government's denial of the scale of the problem has seriously dented its credibility among the citizens - all the way into the heart of the ruling party structures," he wrote in The Star.

There are increasing signs as well that big business, previously keen to stay onside with Mbeki, are running out of patience over the crime situation.

A mass newspaper advertising campaign by one of the country's big four banks, which would have urged Mbeki to do more to tackle crime in his speech, was pulled at the last moment after pressure from the government and fellow heads of industry.

Mbeki is also expected to deliver a stout defence of his economic record, especially since his re-election for a second and final five-year term in 2004.

He will in particular point to an average growth rate of 4.5% in the last three years as well as big increases in private and public investment.

The government also proclaims that around half a million jobs have been created every year since his re-election but the jobless rate is still estimated to be as high as 40%.

The speech is also likely to see Mbeki flesh out some of his foreign policy goals in the coming two years after South Africa took up a non-permanent seat on the United Nations security council.

AFP

del

Govt failing on jobs, crime

2007-2-9 10:53

Cape Town - South Africans believe that the red lights are flashing concerning government's performance in creating jobs and reducing unemployment, stopping the brain drain, reducing the crime rate, making the right appointments and controlling the cost of living.
This emerges in a Markinor poll released on Friday - and carried out among 3 500 South Africans in November last year.

On reducing crime, the number of South Africans who felt government was doing "very" or "fairly" well was down 14% from May 2006 to 40%. Appointing the correct people to government departments and agencies was 50%, down 12% in this time.

Government performance on controlling the cost of living was at 50%, down 10% from May 2006, stopping the brain drain was down 3% to 44%, while reducing unemployment through the creation of jobs was down to 39%.

Six months earlier, in May 2006, South Africans identified only two red lights - job creation to reduce unemployment and stopping the brain drain.

Government in contrast was doing very or fairly well on distributing welfare payments - 85% - the same rating as at May 2006 and promoting gender equality - 79% - slightly lower than the 83% achieved in May 2006.

I-Net Bridge (Business)

Zitat

Original von LuckyFriday
Seit wann trägt der denn ein Leninbärtchen??

Gruss,
Lucky

Hi Lucky... und Eldo...

Mbeki trägt eigentlich schon immer dieses Bärtchen...was ich aber immer (auch nach 8-10 Jahren) noch bedenklich und bemerkenswert finde ist, dass Mbeki bevor er politisch ins Blickfeld rückte, eigentlich bestes Oxford-Englisch sprechen konnte / kann....heute erfordert die Politk scheinbar den afrikanischen Akzent Ich erinnere mich an Interviews mit ihm vor einigen Jahren wo er seine Ausbildungsherkunft (er war m.W. auch in Oxford) nicht geleugnet hat....

Mit dem Arschgesicht braucht er haarige Unterhose.

South Africa Mbeki ""'failed to show strong leadership""

2007-2-9 14:39

Cape Town - Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille has criticised President Thabo Mbeki for failing to show "strong and decisive leadership" in his State of the Nation address to Parliament on Friday.

"The Independent Democrats expected the President to acknowledge that the Age of Hope he has articulated to the nation is under serious threat.

"We expected him to show stronger and decisive leadership in dealing with two of the biggest threats facing our democracy - crime and corruption," she said after the address.

The ID had repeatedly called on Mbeki to announce a National Crime Summit where representatives from all sectors of society could come together to thrash out a strategy and implementation plan to bring the country's general and organised crime wave under control.

The ID would now push ahead and meet with business and other sectors to get this crime summit initiative off the ground as a matter of urgency.

"Clearly, the battle against crime cannot be left exclusively in the hands of government," she said.

Mbeki had also again failed to provide leadership on corruption, which she said had become entrenched in the civil service.

"The ANC's jobs for pals programme as well as gross mismanagement and the looting of state resources, has now reached critical levels."

He had further again missed out on an opportunity to give clear and decisive leadership on the arms deal corruption that had caused "so much damage to South Africa's credibility in the international community".

Mbeki needed to give a firm commitment that he would assist the British and German authorities in their probes into the arms deal.

On a positive note, De Lille congratulated the leadership Mbeki showed in terms of his job creation programme, skills development programme and the "Passenger Transport Strategy".

SAPA

@ Lucky, bitte trink mehr....

SA wine farmers throw in towel

2007-2-11 21:15

Cape Town

The huge oversupply of wine worldwide has turned into a nightmare and an "economic disaster" for South Africa's wine farmers.
Wine companies are now offering farmers up to R900/ton to not harvest contracted grapes next year. And many wine farms at the heart of SA's wine industry are on the market because farmers have given up hope amid poor production prices.

Wine experts and estate agents say Stellenbosch is the worst-hit. In this area alone, more than 50 wine- and wine grape farms are for sale.

Where farmers previously earned up to R7 500/ton for red grapes, they now get as little as R1 500/ton, which makes economic survival impossible.

The profit per hectare is also much lower. It costs farmers R40 000 a year to prepare one hectare of soil. The yield per hectare for quality grapes is between eight tons and 12 tons.

South Africans drink too little

The poor annual wine intake of only seven litres a person in South Africa is another contributing factor to the farmers' distress.

Johan van Rooyen, chief executive of the SA Wine Industry Council (Sawic), said the high volumes of wine now had to be sold dirt cheap to make place for the next harvest.

"Prices had to be cut drastically because of the grape oversupply," he said.

Emile Joubert, communications consultant for the wine industry, said international suppliers of winemaking equipment said that "in their 30 years of dealings in SA, they've never seen such a catastrophe".

They said they could not see how farmers could survive in such conditions.

Remax estate agent Willie Badenhorst said that, on their books alone, there were at least 50 farms in Stellenboch on the market and "not at give-away prices".

"Farmers leave, because they don't earn a decent return on their investments.

"On top of that, they have to contend with stringent labour laws. The benefits of workers must stay the same - another reason why farmers bail out."

John Munnik of De Oude Kaap estate agency says high-profile foreign buyers snap these farms up.

"They're buying them for lifestyle purposes and not to farm grapes."

Need a mind shift

Farms of between 14ha and 23ha cost about R20m, but in Banhoek one of 5.8ha is on sale for R38m.

But, according to Van Rooyen, there are farmers who don't struggle.

"That is because they've realised a long time ago that the salvation is in the quality, not in volume.

"South Africa must focus on quality wine. We just cannot compete abroad with the likes of Chile that sells a bottle (of wine) at R6 in Europe.

"Farmers need a mind shift - focus on the production of unique quality wines. There are farmers that cannot keep up with delivery because of the demand for quality wines."

Joubert said that one of the causes of the poor wine sales was tourism boards which did not market the wine industry as one of the cornerstones of the South African experience.

"Our wine industry does not get enough support from this side. The market is there, but they're not seizing the potential," he said.

Rapport

And now, let's look at South Africa and emerging markets.

Finding Value in South Africa

I realized about halfway through my recent trip that it had been some time since I was in an emerging-market country. I have been to over 50 countries over the past 20 years, but recently most of my travels have been to Europe and Canada, with the occasional vacation trip to Mexico.

As I observed South Africa, it was forcefully brought home to me that there is more to the emerging-market story than China, India, and Brazil. There are any number of countries that are seeing robust growth and contributing to the world economy. It was reported at Davos this year that for the first time the developing world has a larger share of world GDP than the developed world. Today, we focus on an emerging-market country that does not make as much news as it should.

As I mentioned above, the mood among those I talked with in South Africa in the early 1990s when I was traveling often to South Africa was quite pessimistic. The economy was not good, due to international economic sanctions stemming from worldwide protests over the policy of apartheid. Changes and elections were coming, and it was not clear what would happen.

I traveled for (mostly) business into 14 other sub-Saharan countries in Africa. With a few notable exceptions, most countries were not doing well and things had progressed from bad to worse over the previous 10-20 years. It was a tough time to try and do business, but it was a great education.

The contrast today is amazing. Before we get into some facts, let me give you a few impressions. First, there are construction cranes everywhere in the four cities I visited: Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, and Cape Town. Twelve years ago the thirty miles from Johannesburg to Pretoria was mostly agricultural land. Today it is one big city, with offices, malls, and homes lining the freeway. There was a significant number of rather nice new housing developments, many if not most being built on speculation all along the freeway.

Johannesburg is a world-class city, on a par with New York or London or any major city in terms of facilities, shops, infrastructure ... and traffic. There were new shopping malls all over, and the stores were busy. The restaurants were excellent. The hotels I stayed in and spoke at were excellent and modern. The Santon area is particularly pleasant.

Durban is a tropical jewel on the Indian Ocean. Again, there was construction everywhere - a green, verdant city of 1,000,000 people, with modern roads and great weather.

I have been to Sydney, Vancouver, and San Francisco. I love all of them. But for my money, Cape Town is the most beautiful city I have been to. Amazing mountains, blue water harbors, white sand beaches, with wineries nestled in among the mountains and valleys. The Waterfront area, where I stayed, is fun and vibrant. Again, an amazing amount of construction everywhere, especially in the waterfront area, as investors from Dubai are pouring huge sums of money into creating a massive residential/business/retail/restaurant development. There are several similar, quite large developments going up in different parts of Cape Town.

I ate dinner on Friday night at a restaurant called Baia at the Waterfront. I find I really love the better South African chardonnays. My friends know I am something of a chardonnay snob. I like the better California wineries. I was pleasantly surprised to find more than a few South African chards the equal of their US counterparts, but at a third to half the price for the same level of quality. (I should note that a decent chardonnay in London or Europe is twice the US price.)

The two of us had the best chardonnay in the restaurant and one of the better meals I have had in a long time, and the bill was less than $100. The next day my partner Prieur du Plessis informed me that Baia was one of the most expensive restaurants in town. By way of comparison, you can easily spend 2-3 times that at a comparable restaurant in Dallas, and 4-5 times that in New York. Forget London.

I began to ask about the bills for food, drinks, and such for the rest of the trip. The country was uniformly about half what I would pay in Texas for the same quality. I stayed in a very nice five-star hotel (The Commodore) for six nights for less than $1,000, including several meals, laundry, and my bar tab. Their walk-up price was much higher, but clearly you can get deals, and it is tourist season at that. The service was terrific and uniformly delivered with smiles.

The exceptionally nice private game reserve (Itaga) we stayed at when I first arrived, trying to get over jet lag, was only a few hundred a night, including meals, wine, and game runs. In short, after having been to London and Europe for my last few overseas trips, South Africa seemed like a bargain.

And it was not just the people I spoke to that were optimistic. Grant Thornton (a large international accounting firm) did a survey in the 30 countries in which they do business. The four countries with the most optimism and confidence were India, Ireland, South Africa, and Mainland China.

Why such confidence? I think there are several reasons. The economy has been growing at a reported almost 5% a year for the past several years, which is quite strong. They have had 32 consecutive quarters of positive growth. But the official figures may understate the reality by a significant amount. If you look at the VAT (value-added tax) receipts, as well as other tax figures, some economists estimate the economy may be growing by 7% or more. Why the difference?

There is a large "informal" economy in South Africa. While much of the income may not be reported, when something is bought and sold in the retail sectors, taxes are collected.

The stock market has grown by over 25%, 47%, and 41% for the last three years. Such a bull run is always a boost to confidence. But there are also some real fundamentals underlying the emerging-market bull markets. South Africa has a strong commodity sector, with numerous commodities and not just gold. JP Morgan thinks that earnings growth for South African companies, even adjusting for some anomalies, will be 20% this year, which should mean another good year for their local markets.

This link between commodities and stock market prices is reflected not just in their stock market, but in emerging markets worldwide. Look at the close correlation for the last ten years between the prices of commodities and the emerging-market equity index. I think this rather clearly shows the link between the recent rise in commodity prices and emerging markets. It is more than just a China story.

Football as an Economic Driver

The attention paid to football (or soccer in the United States) is rising to fever pitch in South Africa. And for good reason: they will host the World Cup in 2010. They expect some 3,000,000 fans to show up. The government is using the occasion to spend some 400 billion Rand (a little over US $50 billion) on all sorts of infrastructure projects. They are doubling the size of the major airports, which had already been significantly improved. Walking past the construction at the Johannesburg airport, you have to be impressed with the size of it. New roads and other forms of infrastructure are being added to prepare for the influx, but it will have the added effect of making the country more competitive, just as infrastructure in China has been a boost to that country, and a lack of infrastructure has limited India.

The World Cup will also be a boost to tourism, already one of the most important sectors of the economy. Cape Town is becoming an international destination for vacations and conferences. The growth in tourism has been strong, showing 20% growth last year from 2005. 2006 was a record year.

Interestingly, 75% of the traffic reported in the tourism growth is from Africa and the Middle East. While a lot of the people are vacationers, I think a goodly portion are businessmen and women from all over sub-Saharan Africa who look to South Africa as a deal-doing financial center. South Africa has a quite strong, very competent, and growing financial services sector that is a magnet for entrepreneurs from all over Africa seeking to find capital. South Africa also has a strong entrepreneurial class which is the base for much of the new business and development, not just in South Africa but in all of Africa. The rest of the world rightly sees South Africa as the place to launch into the rest of Africa.

Are there problems in South Africa? Of course, and some of them are quite serious. But that is the case in nearly all (I cannot think of an exception) emerging-market economies. While the overall crime rate is dropping :D, it is still far too high. Some rather high-profile crimes of late have resulted in a strong outcry for serious change.

Corruption is an issue, but that is the case in almost every emerging-market country. The high levels of poverty are evident. Although employment is growing and more and more of the poor are being brought into the economy, there is still a lot of room for progress.

The telecommunications infrastructure is hampered by a lack of serious competition. Access to the internet is limited in many areas, and it is really slow where it does exist. This will improve in the coming years, but it is a serious handicap to business. There are power shortages and the need for more power-generation plants to keep up with the growth.

But all these areas are (mostly) going to improve . I see a lot of opportunity in South Africa in particular and Africa in general. Let's look at one area where there may be more than a little potential in the future.

I think there is deep long-term value in African (not just South African) farmland. Right now, given the nature of US and European subsidies to agriculture, it is hard for developing-world farmers to compete. But that will change in the next decade.

As I have written before, "Old Europe" and the US are going to come under intense government budgetary pressure due to the high levels of pension and medical costs they have promised their retiring boomers. Europe is particularly vulnerable.

Quite simply, Europe cannot afford to keep the pension promises they have made and pay for any other normal government expenses without raising taxes. Except that they already have economy-stifling high taxes.

Budgets are going to have to be cut in other areas. At some point, sooner rather than later, agricultural subsidies are going to come under pressure, as politicians must decide where to find the money to pay for the promised pensions and health care. There are more voters who are older and on pensions than there are farmers. I can count votes, and it is not hard to predict the result. It will be with a lot of fighting, but in the medium run, the agricultural subsidies in Europe are going to have to go.

When the writing is clearly on the wall, Europe will start to negotiate on those subsidies, trying to get something for what they will have no choice but to give. Part of that will be to reduce US subsidies as well.

Africa will become a breadbasket for much of Asia.
With China pressed for water and much of its agricultural land being used for development, China will need to import more food. And as the rest of the world becomes more developed, there will be an increased demand for meat, which means an even bigger demand for feed grains for livestock. The growing use of ethanol is increasing demand for corn, absorbing more of the world's land use for energy corn rather than for food.

The simple fact is that as the world grows more prosperous we are going to need more grain and other foods. Where is the land we are going to need to feed the world? There is an abundance in Africa, along with the needed water and labor.

And as African countries upgrade their infrastructure, it will improve the ability of farmers to get their grains to market at profitable levels.

There is much to like about emerging markets. That is where a great deal of the real potential growth in the coming decades will be. And South Africa will be one of the better stories. If you are not doing business there already, you should ask yourself, why not?

Home Again, Tulsa

I want to give special thanks to my South African partners Prieur du Plessis and Paul Stewart and the rest of the team at Plexus Asset Management.

I have never been treated so well on a trip. They made all the hard work a pleasure, taking care of a thousand small details so I could focus on the tasks at hand. And they did arrange for some fun, relaxation, and great sightseeing. I am looking forward to going back soon.

I was particularly impressed with South African Air. Very comfortable business-class seats, impeccable service, and great wines. I have trouble sleeping on planes, but I could actually sleep in these seats. But it still took over 40 hours to get to Johannesburg, rather than under 20, so I was exhausted when I got there. Jet lag this trip was as bad as I have ever had. Coming back has been easy.

http://news.goldseek.com/Mille…veAdvisors/1171209600.php

Ja, aber John Mauldin ist nicht Clive Maund.

Opium statt Optionen
von Mark Schieritz (Johannesburg)

Johannesburgs ehemalige Finanzmeile wird von Drogenhändlern und Flüchtlingen beherrscht. Jetzt soll der Distrikt modernisiert werden.
http://www.ftd.de/lifestyle/outofoffice/161020.html

Ulfur... :D..klar der Ami hatte eine gute Zeit, er war ja Gast und dem erzaehlt man nicht viel schlechtes, a little bit of marketing RSA.
If you wine and dine and stay in a nice hotel, RSA is wonderful.

I won't comment on this crime

'2007-2-12 10:01

Johannesburg - Deputy national police commissioner Tim Williams has become one of the latest victims of armed attackers who have been terrorising families in Pretoria's eastern suburbs, the Pretoria News reported on Monday.

Williams, national commissioner Jackie Selebi's second in charge responsible for crime intelligence and detection, opened a case of attempted murder and attempted housebreaking at the Brooklyn police station.

The incident happened early on Thursday morning when suspects tried to gain access to Williams's home in Glenwood Road, Lynnwood Glen, the daily reported.

According to police sources, officers at the scene were warned of "serious consequences" if news of the incident leaked to the press.

Relaxing with family and friends at his home on Sunday, Williams did not want to comment on the matter.

"Who gave you this information?" he asked when questioned about the incident.

"I will comment on any other crime except this one," he said.

SAPA

Zitat aus Spiegel_online vom 12.02.07

Der Hartz-IV-Bürgermeister

Das Mittagessen liefert ihm der Sozialdienst, Zigaretten holt er sich in Polen: Ralf Theuer, Bürgermeister im brandenburgischen Brieskow-Finkenheerd, bezieht Hartz IV. "So lässt es sich leben" - findet er.

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Brieskow-Finkenheerd - Sein Mittagessen lässt sich Ralf Theuer von der Arbeiterwohlfahrt in Thermokübeln direkt vor die Haustür ankarren - für 3,50 Euro pro Portion. Ein Service, den auch seine arbeitslose Ehefrau Karola, 49, gern mit nutzt. Das Wahlessen ist billig und schmeckt: Gulasch, Kartoffeln und Sauerkraut gab es gestern. Selbst an den Zigaretten spart er: Dafür fährt der Bürgermeister eine Viertelstunde mit dem Auto nach Frankfurt an der Oder. Weitere acht Minuten Fußweg über die deutsch-polnische Grenze sind nötig, um seine bevorzugten Zigaretten der Marke "Ronson" zu kaufen. "So lässt es sich leben", sagt Theuer zufrieden.

Bürgermeister Theuer: "Der kümmert sich um uns Dörfler"
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Dass er jeden Euro zweimal umdrehen muss - daran hat sich der Bürgermeister längst gewöhnt. So, wie viele andere Menschen in Brieskow-Finkenherd auch. Die Leute dort mögen den hageren Mann, der wahlweise einen dunkelblauen Jogginganzug oder zu große, weite graue Hosen mit rotweißen Stoffturnschuhen trägt. Er ist einer von ihnen, immer auf dem "Dorfboden" geblieben. Von welchem Politiker kann man das schon behaupten?

Theuer jammert nicht. Auch seine Frau bezieht Hartz-IV, 345 Euro. Zwei Töchter leben von Stütze, die beiden wohnen aber nicht mehr im Elternhaus. Die dritte Tochter zog in den Westen und fand einen Job als Kellnerin in München. Derzeit erhält sie Elterngeld. "Wir sind eben eine ganz normale deutsche Familie", sagt Theuer, seit 1998 Bürgermeister. Streng genommen gibt ihm die Statistik Recht: Hartz IV ist im Kreis Oder-Spree schon fast normal, fast zehn Prozent der Menschen dort leben von dem Arbeitslosengeld II.............................gekürzt

Der naechste grosse Betrug nach Kebble, 680 million Rand missing.

Fidentia mastermind revealed

2007-2-12 14:59

A former Port Elizabeth instant lawn salesman is behind what could be the country's biggest corporate investment scandal, Herald Online reported on Monday.

J Arthur Brown, whose parents still live on the Garden Route, went from a humble plot in Greenbushes to a lifestyle complete with a R3m annual salary, country estates, flashy cars and failed spas in his wifes name.

Offshore Trusts in Cameroon and Dubai, Farms in the Eastern Cape, luxury Houses in Cape Town.

Brown, 36, masterminded the Fidentia group of companies, which controlled about R2bn, of which at least R680m is unaccounted for.

Fidentia is known to many ordinary South Africans because it is behind the Infinity loyalty programme. It was placed under curatorship last week.

The curators, have to sort out - and if possible save - the Fidentia businesses and track down and secure assets.

Nonentity to fabulous riches

The SABC reported that the Transport, Education and Training authority were to meet the curators in Cape Town on Monday to try and recover about R250m in invested in Fidentia Asset Management.

According to the companies' register, Brown was a director of several other virtually unknown enterprises in the Eastern Cape, including construction, transport and computer companies registered in Mthatha.

Brown rocketed from nonentity to fabulous riches, including millions splashed by his group of companies on corporate spending sprees.

Ten days ago, it was reported that Eastern Cape cricket was in jeopardy after the collapse of Fidentia, its major sponsor.

At risk is a R4.9m deal Fidentia signed with the Warriors last year.

Fidentia also sponsored the Boland rugby team, renamed the Fidentia Boland Cavaliers, to the tune of R15m.

Business associates under investigation

The roles played by Brown's business associates are also under investigation in a scandal that extends from impoverished orphans in the Lesotho highlands to one of the country's top businesswomen, Dr Danisa Baloyi, a Living Hands trustee.

Brown, who paid himself an annual salary of R3m and drove a Ferrari or a luxury 4x4, espoused a philosophy of "responsible capitalism".

However, financial investigators say he built a pyramid of companies by allegedly pilfering trust funds, including that of the Living Hands fund for widows and orphans of mineworkers.

According to associates, Brown was born in Namibia and was about six when his father died.

He and his two brothers grew up in South Africa with his mother and stepfather, who live in the Southern Cape in the Glentana area.

No university records

Brown's qualifications as financial whizzkid are unknown, but he told colleagues that he had studied at the University of Port Elizabeth and had once worked for a merchant bank.

His secretary this week also confirmed that he had lived in Port Elizabeth and had studied at the University of Port Elizabeth.

However, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (the result of a merger of the PE Technikon, the University of Port Elizabeth and the Port Elizabeth campus of Vista University) spokesperson Roslyn Baatjies said there were no records of him studying at the university.

He apparently moved to Cape Town about five years ago.

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