Professor Mary Metcalfe's report on the Limpopo textbook debacle paints a grim picture of the state of that province's education department. However, the national education department has
welcomed her report, saying that it "adequately captures the complexities of the Section 100 (1)(b) intervention in that province and the difficulties experienced by national government in terms of the provision of textbooks to schools in Limpopo". The bottom line is that their department of education's handling of this disgrace has failed Limpopo's pupils badly.
Possibly manufacturing a little alarm of his own... According to
Times Live, trade and industry minister
Rob Davies has warned businesses: invest, or lose BEE points. He apparently wants investment in enterprise, supplier, and skills development.
Food, glorious food... possibly not...Phakamani Hadebe, Land Bank CEO, is reported to have said that
22nd century food-security is not guaranteed. He could be right, which is all the more reason why the issue of land redistribution needs to be handled very carefully, and properly.
In the property sector, indications are that there's real transformation in
SA's real estate market. Research indicates that almost half of all home loan applications are now being made by black buyers, compared with only about 12% a decade ago.
Finally, on the automotive front, extreme weather over the past few days saw the
N1 and N12 closed following heavy snowfalls and rain. And on the petrol-head front, motoring editor Henrie Geyser reckons
Hyundai is continuing to strengthen its grip on the local car market, with the i30, for instance.
Rod Baker, content director
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The Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority has committed R3,9m to help fund auditing training for municipalities, to be provided by the Institute of Internal Auditors SA (IIA SA). 
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), has appointed Zahra Cassim as the new head of South Africa. Cassim joined CIMA on 2 July 2012 with the responsibility of driving the long term country strategy and will report to Samantha Louis, regional director for Africa. 
The Treasury has proposed that "recognised controlling bodies" for tax practitioners be established, which would pave the way for these professionals to be regulated under the Tax Administration Act. 
In its Tax Amendment Bill published last week, National Treasury proposes South Africa's adoption of the internationally recognised Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) structure for financial regulation and tax purposes. This will bring the country in line with international publicly traded real estate investments and create greater investor certainty. 
Public Service and Administration Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and public service trade unions met in Richards Bay on Friday in a bid to resolve matters related to the current wage talks. 
