Business Features

A Dream Outsourced to India

Written by Charles Ash
Monday, 03 October 2011 18:29

Charles Ash takes a long hard look at the recent failures of the national communications department.

Failure is not necessarily a bad thing. Almost in all cases, failure presents an opportunity to learn, grow, improve and to try again, being better and wiser. It’s really only the failure to learn from past failures that is the problem... and Houston, here in South Africa, we clearly have a problem.

When it comes to matters of technology, there is a disturbing trend in government and media circles. Since the information technology industry in South Africa is still so disproportionately dominated by white males, commentators and columnists, most of them also white, who agitate for change in this industry by calling into question government’s numerous blunders in steering the telecommunications sector, are often blatantly disregarded by government decision makers as being nothing more than white anti-government rabble-rousers. It’s almost as if government has developed a textual armoury of words to deflect all criticism aimed at it. Words such as anti-government, anti-ANC, anti-black, racist, unpatriotic, Afro-pessimistic and, my personal favourite, “bloody agent” are immediately aimed at anybody with the temerity to call government failures into question.

Date with your finances

Written by Medupi Lamola
Thursday, 07 July 2011 16:56

order="0" align="left" />How often do you make a date with your finances? Do you know exactly where you stand financially? If you do not know, it is about time you start engaging your finances to assess how best you can make your hard-earned cash work for you. With personal financial planning, you can manage your income and expenses and become aware of your current financial status. Personal finance is your roadmap to financial health and sustainable wealth creation, so do not ignore this critical part in your life.


In this column, we take a critical look at how women approach their personal money matters. For obvious reasons, women have financial needs that differ from those of their male counterparts. Women of today do not perceive themselves as their equivalents of the older generation. “Women are no longer brought up with an idea of their future, reliant on their male counterparts, while they simply focus on being mothers and wives. They are increasingly becoming breadwinners in many households,” says Hazel Glajchen, a Momentum Executive Financial Planner.

The Pros and Cons of investing in mineral resources

Written by Steven Bacher
Thursday, 07 July 2011 16:42

Africa is known worldwide for its rich endowment with natural resources. The continent is a major producer of commodities and precious metals such as gold, platinum, palladium and copper. South Africa alone has seen resources accounting for close on 40 percent of exports by 2009, compared to 16 percent in 1990. The massive growth in the economies of China and other emerging markets over the past two decades had resulted in the demand for natural resources increasing substantially.


The question of the investment case for commodities and precious metals is one that has been revisited many times in the past few years. With the resources sector of capital markets delivering returns way ahead of the rest of the market, investors often find themselves questioning the merits of investing in resources.

Financial planning 2011 outlook

Written by Tshepo Matseba and Kevin Campbell
Tuesday, 05 July 2011 15:21

Although South Africa has weathered the financial crisis during the past two years, most consumers are still feeling the impact of the recession on their finances. Disposable income continues to shrink and the uncertainty regarding the economic environment remains a reality. The need for sound financial advice becomes a greater necessity that people cannot afford to compromise on. Tshepo Matseba (TM) spoke to Kevin Campbell (KC), Senior Executive Financial Planner and Momentum’s Financial Planner of the Year 2010/11, on the outlook for 2011 in terms of financial planning.


What are some of the key issues or factors that people should note for financial planning this year?


Our economy has survived its worst knock in many years.
Unemployment has increased. Interest rates have bottomed out. Property sales are at an all-time low. Fuel prices are increasing. Despite the above, we are a resilient nation.
There is a lot more positivity in the market this January, than there was last year.
The All Share Index is around the 32 000 mark. I think what these last few years have taught us is that we should focus on reducing debt. Hold on to that vehicle a little longer; explore some of our own country rather than indulging in expensive overseas travel. Cut up that credit card; pay additional money into your mortgage bond.