How governance failures messed up South Africa’s rail agency

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa is going through serious turbulence that’s symptomatic of broad corporate governance failures within the country’s state owned enterprises. Its acting CEO was recently fired by the board, following allegations that he raised his remuneration by more than 350%. Shortly afterwards the minister of transport dissolved the board. The Conversation Africa’s Business and Economy Editor Sibonelo Radebe asked Owen Skae to explain the causes.
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In Full: SA Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s 2017 Budget Speech

Read the 2017 budget speech on BizNews.com:

South African National Budget Speech 2017 delivered by Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Finance, 22 February 2017

South Africa’s 2017 budget: tough economic times require tough decisions

South Africa’s 2017/18 budget will have to be bold to pull the country out of the prevailing economic crisis. Economic growth has stalled and the threat of a credit rating downgrade still looms large. The Conversation Africa’s business and economy editor Sibonelo Radebe asked Jannie Rossouw to tease out critical issues that must be addressed in the upcoming budget.

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Author:
Jannie Rossouw

Head of School of Economic & Business Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand 

The Conversation 6 February 2017

From the stage to the boardroom: South African women make slow transition

Authors:
Jen Snowball

Professor of Economics, Rhodes University 

Amy Shelver

Researcher for the South African Cultural Observatory, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

A close examination reveals that representation of women in corporate boardrooms in South Africa still leaves much to be desired.
This is particularly so in the creative and cultural industries. Here, women leaders are rare, and thus their experiences and perspectives –- and those of the women down the ladder –- are scarcely represented.
The structural challenges women face were evident in the first-ever National Mapping Study of the creative and cultural industries released in 2014. A sample of 2,500 firms were interviewed about their ownership and employee demographics, among other things.

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Class and race shape how young South Africans access the job market

Getting hired in South Africa can be a serious challenge given the country’s unemployment rate of 26.6% and a trend towards declining employment in the formal non-agricultural sector.
There are many possible routes job seekers can take as they seek to enter the workforce. Some are clearly marked out, facilitating a smooth transition. Others are not very clearly marked and are fraught with difficulty, leading to uncertainty and often significant personal hardship.

Read the full article here.

How small businesses can manage their impact on the environment

Authors: 
Miemie Struwig

Professor, Department of Business Management, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

 Riyaadh Lillah

Lecturer, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

Understanding how businesses engage in environmental management is important given growing global concerns about the depletion of natural resources and reductions in biodiversity. There has been a great deal of focus on large businesses, but small businesses have a role to play too. The fact that small business are neglecting this is of great concern.

Read the full article:
How small businesses can manage their impact on the environment

The Conversation June 9, 2016 3.15pm SAST

New publication alerts - Prof Gavin Fraser, Economics Dept

Biofuel policies in Tanzania by Mohamed, S., Fraser, G., Sawe, E.N


Bioenergy for sustainable development in Africa , 2014
9789400721814 pp. 183 - 190 .  



Economic evaluation of sweet sorghum in biofuel production as a multi-purpose crop: The case of Zambia  by

Chagwiza, C., Fraser, G.


Bioenergy for sustainable development in Africa , 2014
9789400721814 pp. 53 - 60 .