| LETTERS |
|
Patient safety in even worse state than feared 2008-04-30 06:00:01 Pat Sidley's "Private sector may cook its own goose over regulation", (Business Report, April 24), is a good article, but not half the real danger. [Full Story...] Farmers not to blame for higher cost of living 2008-04-29 06:00:01 In 1983 I farmed with beef cattle in the southwestern Cape. I needed to buy a bakkie and to pay for it I had to sell 10 cows at the local auction, where these animals fetched between R1 100 and R1 500. [Full Story...] Use fair comparison when talking about the cost of electricity 2008-04-25 06:00:01 I think I have heard or read through the media some 26 statements in the last three weeks claiming that our electricity price is one of the lowest, or the lowest, in the world. [Full Story...] Soft drink criticism unpalatable, says Coca-Cola 2008-04-24 06:00:01 We would like to register our utter dismay with the article ''Soft drinks are 'inferior', Coke hears'' (April 22). [Full Story...] 0.96% is not a dive 2008-04-23 06:00:01 Small wonder the media are criticised for too often being misleading and for poor emphasis (Sappi share dives on S&P; downgrade, April 22). [Full Story...] Competition authorities can't lock people up 2008-04-23 06:00:01 The Business Watch item titled "Off with their … hmm" (April 22) says: "A person who is liable for price-fixing could also be fined R500 000, imprisoned 'for a period not exceeding 10 years' or endure both a fine and an imprisonment." [Full Story...] Racist venom is all Bullard could offer the media 2008-04-21 06:00:01 Your columnist Donwald Pressly should stick to reporting on parliamentary banter. His victim persona reigns supreme in his article "Media bosses sick of Bullard's rant? Let them eat cake" (April 14). [Full Story...] Draft public administration bill has no performance agreements 2008-04-18 06:00:01 Talking with Donwald Pressly on the draft Public Administration Management Bill, which forms part of the single public service project, I did not mention performance agreements as he contends ("Public services bill will decentralise power - minister", April 16). [Full Story...] Government should give tax incentives for people to save by paying off their home loans 2008-04-17 06:00:01 With the minister of finance and the Reserve Bank governor both preaching the need to save, especially now that foreign short-term "carry funds" have fled our local money market and stock exchange, it should be asked where all these funds are being utilised. [Full Story...] ANC not any better 2008-04-16 06:00:01 Quentin Wray is correct in suggesting that the none of the opposition parties, as named by Zapiro, is worthy of our vote ("No leader lasts forever, even if it appears that way in Harare", April 14). However, he might have added that the governing Almost No Current Party - or is it the Affirmative Nepotism and Corruption Party? - is doing no better. [Full Story...] It is futile to size up SA's health service with US 2008-04-14 06:00:01 Pat Sidley's interesting article about health costs, "Money has an inordinate influence on treatment", (April 10) made many good points, but it is fruitless to compare aspects of our health service with that of the US. [Full Story...] SA in position to guide Africa's social conscience 2008-04-11 06:00:01 Today, developing countries account for 80 percent of the world's population, yet these 5 billion consumers account for only 20 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP). [Full Story...] Report on ActionAid's Angloplat allegations left out vital facts 2008-04-09 06:00:01 Your report, "Relocation troubles bog down R5.8bn Angloplat project" (April 7), was less than fair to a company that justifiably leads the sector in its enlightened treatment of communities adjacent to, or affected by, its mining operations. Your report was a confusing jumble. [Full Story...] A free market, and no government interference, is only way to keep medical costs acceptable 2008-04-08 06:00:01 The article by Pat Sidley on medical insurance ("Appeal court allows Guardrisk to offer gap cover for medical costs", April 1) refers. [Full Story...] Rate hikes won't solve imported supply inflation 2008-04-07 06:00:01 With all the hype about interest rates being the only method to tame inflation, perhaps another approach should be suggested. [Full Story...] Letter: Misunderstandings over open-source software harm local IT industry 2008-04-06 06:00:01 I am writing to appeal to you to correct some serious errors in the manner in which the speech of minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi at the Idlelo conference, as well as subsequent response to it, were covered. I am particularly referring to the opinion piece that was carried in Business Report on March 30, Microsoft's mission to make money in a mouse click. [Full Story...] SA pays high price for divesting itself of skills through its political ideology 2008-04-03 06:00:01 Jim Freeman's message on skills development ("Time for SA to pull its head out of the brain drain sand", April 1), needs to be echoed in every boardroom and government department. [Full Story...] Erwin is audacious to back Eskom tariffs 2008-04-01 06:00:01 If it was April 1 I would have thought it was a joke, but it was March 31. [Full Story...] Don't ridicule the cancer images: they do the job 2008-03-31 06:00:01 Smoke Bomb (Business Watch, March 20) is rightly critical of the health department's ineffectiveness; that may be an understatement. [Full Story...] RAF and Setas: nothing more than good guys sponsoring bad guys 2008-03-25 06:00:01 I note that the Road Accident Fund (RAF) is technically bankrupt, as are some sector education and training authorities (Setas), and the suggestion being bandied about is yet more government intervention; this from an organisation that has proved it's rather short on organising capacity. [Full Story...] Productivity SA's costs were within budget 2008-03-20 06:00:01 In response to "Productivity revisited" (Business Watch, March 18), Productivity SA notes with concern the allegations reportedly made by the SA Parastatal and Tertiary Institutions Union. This union is in discussion with Productivity SA over worker remuneration, to which these issues may be linked. [Full Story...] eThekwini residential property valuations are way off the mark 2008-03-19 07:00:01 Judging from the correspondence printed in the local newspapers and conversations in pubs, clubs and at dinner parties, there is massive discontent among eThekwini ratepayers over the valuation of their residential properties by the municipal property valuers. [Full Story...] Cargo statistics show how valuable Durban is 2008-03-18 06:00:01 Your report yesterday on the cost of widening the Durban port makes interesting reading, but the port statistics included in the article do not reveal the complete picture, instead showing the folly of accepting statistics without analysis. [Full Story...] January's PPI numbers were not withdrawn 2008-03-12 06:00:01 I would like to clarify the situation regarding Statistics SA's producer price index (PPI) data, "Stats SA withdraws problematic PPI", March 11. [Full Story...] Graduates avoid talk 2008-03-11 06:00:01 Reared on text messages and e-mail, new UK graduates avoid talking to colleagues in the workplace and would rather use instant messaging or a webcam. [Full Story...] Blackouts more pressing than climate change 2008-03-10 06:00:01 Greenpeace this week urged South Africans to ignore the highly paid pro-nuclear preaching of Patrick Moore, who uses a false claim of being one of the organisation's founders to bolster his opinion for industrial hire. [Full Story...] Fragmenting ArcelorMittal SA is no way to develop a globally competitive steel champion 2008-03-06 06:00:01 Business Watch criticises ArcelorMittal South Africa’s steel price increases (March 5). It suggests breaking the company in four and dispensing with the Kumba iron ore agreement. This is hardly a prescription for developing champions able to compete internationally. [Full Story...] E-menu denial is odd 2008-03-04 06:00:01 With reference to the article "Touch-screen menus not welcome in SA eateries" (February 27), I am surprised at restaurants' negative perception vis-a-vis customers ordering meals electronically. [Full Story...] Bank's inflation targeting exacerbates hardship 2008-02-29 06:00:01 Now that we are faced with yet another threat of an interest rate hike from Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni, it is time for the government to come to our rescue. [Full Story...] Airline must address debt owed to passengers 2008-02-29 06:00:01 Your article, (''Nationwide to sell stake to black partner'', February 27) refers. [Full Story...] Electricity consumption argument fails test 2008-02-28 06:00:01 Kevin Lings' illuminating article ("Numbers show how inefficiently SA uses electricity", February 26) was marred by two factors. [Full Story...] Insurers prey on company pensions after transfers into life policies 2008-02-27 06:00:01 Roger Arnold ('State retirement policy falls woefully short of well-meant intentions', January 25) writes how the government encouraged its citizens many years ago to save for their retirement by do-good laws that provided enticement to contribute into a life company retirement policy, and the sad consequence thereof to the many people who took this carrot. [Full Story...] Concerns about probity, Gold Reef and Abe and Solly Krok are far wider than what SRP covered 2008-02-26 06:00:01 Your coverage of Friday, February 22 on Gold Reef and the Krok family clearly reflects journalism that is in touch with its readers. One criticism I have though is that the matter dealt with by the Securities Regulation Panel (SRP) covers only a small part of concerns around probity issues related to Gold Reef. [Full Story...] Cape Town's CBD is not in the same boat 2008-02-22 06:00:01 I enjoyed most of Ethel's article in Monday's Business Report titled "Property sales cycle is adjusting to key changes". [Full Story...] Heading for a disaster 2008-02-22 06:00:01 Motsepe Matlala's article ''Land reform'', (February 20) refers. The government's plan to acquire 5 million hectares (of farm land, I presume) to settle 10 000 black farmers by next year. That is 500ha per farmer. [Full Story...] Xingwana's reckless threats will upset farmers and trash economy 2008-02-20 06:00:01 In her usual reckless form, agriculture and land affairs minister Lulu Xingwana continues to upset and destabilise South Africa's vulnerable farming communities. [Full Story...] Market that devalues the rand at a time of soaring commodity prices should be investigated 2008-02-19 06:00:01 The article "Rand settles" (Business Report, February 18), read in conjunction with "SA makes the worst of the best time for commodities" (February 12), suggests that an urgent investigative spotlight should be turned on the mechanisms and operations of the foreign exchange market in the rand. [Full Story...] Green power is an extremely costly option 2008-02-13 06:00:01 I have gathered together these power costs from friends and family around the world using their normal suburban domestic bills. They show the difference between our own power costs and the types of power generation elsewhere in the world. [Full Story...] Business lacks backbone to oppose ANC policies 2008-02-13 06:00:01 In your article on the currency outlook ("SA makes the worst of the best time for commodities", February 12) you make reference to the fact that "there are some rather irritated chief executives" in the context of the Eskom debacle. [Full Story...] What watts? 2008-02-07 06:00:01 Just how much capacity does Eskom (theoretically) have? The Financial Mail said in 2004 that it had 42 000 megawatts. [Full Story...] Talk of financial ruin in the Australian wine industry is a total untruth 2008-02-06 06:00:01 I refer to Ronnie Morris's article on January 6, "Wine industry has natural brake on volume expansion". I was interested to read "unlike the Australian wine industry, which has grown at great expense but fallen into a state of financial ruin". A total untruth. [Full Story...] Shed critical light on Eskom's performance 2008-02-05 06:00:01 Journalists have gleefully found reasons for the political load shedding call. That satisfies some emotional needs only. [Full Story...] Reality, not flattery 2008-02-05 06:00:01 Terry Bell's column "Zuma's WEF statement raise alarms for the Left" (February 1) describes the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a means for big business to "bribe, bully, and flatter" governments into pursuing policies that favour business. [Full Story...] Nyembezi-Heita has achieved a lot to be where she is 2008-02-04 06:00:00 Your front page story ''Black boss to mend ArcelorMittal fences'', Business Report February 1, refers. How any professional in a large financial institution can reduce a capable person's calibre to one reference point - her blackness - is beyond me. [Full Story...] Hospital sector group questions a 'potentially damaging and incorrect' report on access to private healthcare in SA 2008-01-31 06:00:01 The article ''Access to private healthcare not our concern'' (January 29) refers. [Full Story...] Consumers should benefit from financing Eskom's new developments 2008-01-31 06:00:01 In reference to the report ("Eskom looks to state for power station funding," January 30), I still find it unconscionable that the consumers are regarded as no more than milch cows, not worthy of being given a share of the business in return for their contribution towards the capital financing of the utility's new developments. [Full Story...] Are others taking advantage of our technology while we all sit in the dark? 2008-01-30 06:00:01 Two years ago, professor Vivian Alberts of the University of Johannesburg's physics department made headlines in the Weekend Argus as having invented a "revolutionary" photovoltaic device for use in the home, storing solar power in batteries. [Full Story...] Suspend non-essential residential development 2008-01-29 06:00:01 Estimates as to how long it will take Eskom to meet electricity demand vary between five and eight years, maybe even longer. [Full Story...] State retirement policy falls woefully short of well-meant intentions 2008-01-25 06:00:01 "How do-good laws actually do the opposite" (January 23) is a gem of an article, the truth of which applies to many scenarios: for example, saving for retirement. [Full Story...] Limiting power to houses is counterproductive 2008-01-24 06:00:01 I reply to the letter of Ralph Shuman on January 18 ("How about another look at the power cuts plan, if there is one"). Many small firms Shuman refers to operate from home, so to withhold electricity from residential areas between 8am and 5pm would be just as counterproductive. [Full Story...] |
