South Africa’s water ways The government has neglected to maintain and improve infrastructure by Ivo Vegter South Africa is widely regarded as a “water-scarce” country on the verge of a crisis. Should its residents worry more about scarcity or decaying infrastructure? “If we continue using water as if it is an infinite resource, we may find ourselves in trouble,” said Edna Molewa, South Africa’s minister for water and environmental affairs during a breakfast briefing last May. There is a real possibility of “running out of clean water”, she added. A mere day later, the same minister told parliament: “You must…
Ivo Vegter
Southern Africa: world’s oldest customs union The Southern African Customs Union has been less about easing trade than keeping failed states off South Africa’s doorstep The rhetoric from Rob Davies, the South African minister for trade and industry, hit all the right notes, but could not hide his dissatisfaction. The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) was moving beyond a treaty based on revenue sharing and common external tariffs, and “more firmly towards a deeper development and integration project”, he told South Africa’s parliament last July. However, he found it hard to downplay South Africa’s displeasure with SACU’s key feature, a…
Labour unions and the free market Capitalists and labour unions are often seen as adversaries, but they have more in common than either side imagines By Ivo Vegter Most labour unions lean strongly towards the left. They consist overwhelmingly of working-class members, so ideas such as mandatory minimum wages, taxes on the rich and elaborate health and safety regulations suit their objectives. Unions oppose the capitalist captains of industry who are caricatured as soulless, greedy, and out to exploit ordinary workers. The central idea of socialism the labour theory of value is the creed of most labour unions. They believe,…
