Days before Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene delivered the national budget, I spoke to Ayabonga Cawe of Rethink Africa and Dalberg; and Cosatu’s Zwelinzima Vavi on the state of fiscal policy. Some enduring insights about inequality, economic policy and the state of South Africa.
In this eNCA hang-out, I chat to Zama Ndlovu, Managing Director of Youth Lab and communicator for the National Planning Commission; Jackie Williams, COO of Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator; Maleba Mashigo, a candidate at Harambee and Dr Neil Rankin, a microeconomist at Stellenbosch University about the economic prospects of matriculants. The focus here is on those who are going directly into the labour market and business, without having spent time in tertiary education. We explore the value of the matric certificate today, the challenges that school leavers face but also how to beat the odds in a tough economy.
You can view the video at Youtube and on eNCA’s website http://www.enca.com/south-africa/hangout-life-after-matric
From SAVCA:
Dear Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association members and friends
Earlier this year SAVCA hosted a panel discussion, moderated by independent economist Trudi Makhaya, which examined South Africa’s policy, growth and deal-making context.
The guests were Nick Binedell (GIBS), Colin Coleman (Goldman Sachs), Garth Towell (formerly of Kimberly Clark SA), Grant Pattison (formerly of Massmart), Mzi Mjekevu (Barclays) and Ryan Wood-Collier (AfrAsia Bank).
Our guests’ frank views are captured in this video collage:
YouTube video here: http://youtu.be/eJSyfFshDHs
SAVCA website: http://www.savca.co.za/
Many of us pay attention on the Reserve Bank’s announcement of the repo rate. In this http://www.enca.com/ hang-out, I have a broader conversation with Dr Kenneth Creamer of Wits University, Yashodan Naidoo of J&J Group and Arnold Wentzel of University of Johannesburg about monetary policy in South Africa. We examine the bank’s mandate, the inflation targeting framework and its role in the economy,
This month the Competition Commission, Competition Tribunal and Competition Appeal Tribunal celebrate fifteen years of pursuing the ideal of fair and efficient markets in South Africa.
A look back on one of the most ground-breaking cases the Commission has taken on, known as the Hazel Tau case, which saw the price of antiretrovirals from global manufacturers brought down:
Today, over a decade since lodging that complaint, Tau works for a research programme in health economics at Wits University.
But at the time, the victory at the Commission was bitter-sweet. Many of Tau’s comrades and colleagues lost their lives before antiretrovirals became affordable and widely available.
Read more at enca.com
The authorities’ main anniversary featured Ebrahim Patel, Minister of Economic Development, as keynote speaker.
Patel will also consider the extent to which the law, as it stands, allows the competition authorities to break up giants that behave anti-competitively. The pricing practices of dominant firms will also be under scrutiny, to see if amendments are needed to deal with pricing practices considered harmful.
Read more at enca.com
The South African Venture Capital Association is holding a masterclass on merger control on 18 September, following one on abuse of dominance held on the 11th. For a brief Q&A with the convenor of the masterclass, go to www.savca.co.za
In tough economic times employment security and protecting consumers’ pockets take on a heightened importance. In mergers, potential job losses especially amongst unskilled and semi-skilled workers, who earn lower incomes, will be of concern. I also expect to see a greater focus on abuse of dominance, in other words single-firm behaviour as opposed to cartels. Recent successful abuse of dominance cases such as Telkom and Sasol set the framework for future investigations.
An opinion piece at Business Day with a focus on excessive pricing, with reference to the recent Tribunal ruling against Sasol:
In short, local plastics manufacturers pay an import parity price for polypropylene, the most significant input in production. This is in a market context where there is a greater supply of polypropylene than local manufacturers can absorb. Sasol Chemical Industries exports about half of its production to international markets, notably Asia, where it charges a lower price to manufacturers in those markets. It’s also worth noting that Sasol Chemical Industries is globally a low-cost producer of the input as it enjoys a special cost advantage due to the state’s historical investment in and support for the company.
The tribunal heard that the firm’s pricing practice has stunted plastics manufacturers, who are rendered unable to compete with their international counterparts.