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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Adding to its growing list of international accolades, Cape Town's Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa has been voted the Top Hotel Spa in Africa and the Middle East in the Travel + Leisure 2012 World's Best Awards. The hotel was also ranked in the Top 100 Hotels overall, and awarded the third place on the list of Top City Hotels in Africa and the Middle East. 
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. 
Redefine Properties, a property loan stock company listed on the JSE and the second largest company in its industry, contracted Yellowwood to create a brand positioning and marketing strategy that would support their revised strategic direction as a company, in order to lead them into their new financial year and into the future. 
