Stories of note
Bytes from the digital world
Ray Hartley argues that the real reason Jacob Zuma’s administration wants to stay clear of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is because Zuma knows that courts such as the ICC might one day be hearing South African cases. The chilling reason Zuma wants SA out of the ICC — to protect his growing security state from the world
Daily Maverick reports that at a special late-night tender committee meeting, Eskom executives agreed to hand a Gupta company R587m — money that was then used, two days later, to help pay the R2.15bn purchase price for Optimum Coal. amaBhungane: R587m in six hours – how Eskom paid for Gupta mine
Parliament has set the record straight, moving to stop abuse of its officials by not-very-diligent politicians. Parliament staff ordered not to do work for MPs
Mobile internet remains down in Ethiopia since the government announced a six-month, nationwide emergency earlier in October. The government has also banned the use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to communicate or to document the ongoing unrest in the country. Internet shutdown could cost Ethiopia’s booming economy millions of dollars
It’s no surprise that Donald Trump is shaping up to be a sore loser — he’s been one all his life. As Hillary Clinton pointed out during the debate, Trump even complained that TV’s Emmy Awards were rigged against The Apprentice, the reality show Trump hosted before moving on to the The Presidential Campaign, his latest absurdist television drama, writes Rosa Brooks in Foreign Policy. Donald Trump can’t undermine American democracy because it barely even exists
In My Opinion
Matters of debate
It will be fascinating to hear the Guptas explain the 70 or so transactions amounting to R6.8bn. More so, says Peter Bruce, if they are laundering money: is it theirs or are they proxies for even bigger money back home? If a South African bank reports a large withdrawal to the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), does it also report to whom the money goes? Does it know? How the Guptas ascended Jacob’s ladder
Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie is lending her face to a make-up brand. Adichie has famously said feminism does not have to be separated from femininity, and has distanced herself from public figures such as Beyonce, whose brand of feminism, according to the writer, seems to focus too much on men. Feminist writer Chimamanda Adichie is now the face of a drugstore makeup brand
No one can reasonably argue that universities are not underfunded. No one can reasonably argue that the effect of underfunding has been transferred to fee increases, and that in turn, black students bear the burden, writes the head of the University of the Witwatersrand’s school governance, David Everatt. What must fall: fees or the South African state?
Finding alpha
The long and the short of the markets
Financial Mail editor Rob Rose argues that the idea that the Brics nations need their own ratings agency is as self-defeating as the ANC seeking to start its own newspaper. Editorial: The madness of a Brics ‘ratings club’
Patrick Bond says the Brics formation is slowly being written off as a bloc that can administer coherent political action. With the Indian and Chinese economies growing at more than 6% while the other three resource-cursed economies are in crisis, such disparate economic trajectories have also raised doubts as to whether Brics is a workable project. What if you held a BRICS summit and nobody noticed?
Here’s to undercutting the commission due to property agents. Entrepreneur: Property Fox founders Crispin Inglis and Ashley James
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