Agri SA says that the
choices on labour unrest will be decisive for South Africa. It says in a statement that it is evident that the wage and related challenges are not exclusively, but mainly that of seasonal workers who have to earn their annual income over a period of a few months.
On the education front, something really needs to be done to jack up our education system after the latest results show that
maths and science skills remain poor, with grade nine pupils recording a dismal average score of 12.7% in mathematics and 35% in first additional language in the Department of Basic Education's second annual national assessments of pupils' mathematics and literacy abilities.
Such results will have a massive impact on school-leavers' ability to find employment.
On the tourism front, Chris Moerdyk asks:
Is SA being priced out of the tourist market? As comments on the article seem to have it, the answer could be a big "Yes!" and remember, once tourists have been ripped off - or feel they have been ripped off - they will never come back, and they will tell everyone they know.
Finally, Amelia Jones reckons that the
proposed BEE amendments are nonsensical, immoral and counter-productive and will hamper social development efforts in the Western Cape and elsewhere.
Rod Baker: Content Director
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South Africa's biggest listed mall owner, Hyprop Investments, is taking fellow retail-focused property fund Sycom to court in what could be a test case for the JSE on how it deals with corporate action by property unit trusts (PUTs). 
The next phase of development at Waterfall Business Estate will begin before year-end. Atterbury's latest development includes a landmark 23nbsp;000 sqm head office for Group Five and a 26nbsp;500 sqm warehouse for Tarsus. It is also developing 6000 sqm of offices for Golder Associates and another 5000 sqm speculative building at Maxwell Office Park. 
The prevailing low interest rate environment, which is at historically low levels following the reserve bank's July interest rate decision, has sparked renewed interest and activity in the commercial property market, especially through auctions. 
According to the Industrial Development Corporation's Integrated Annual Report for 2012, tourism makes up 8.6% of South Africa's GDP and employs an estimated 1.2 million people. For a country that relieves as heavily on tourism as South Africa this is very good news and, like the Soccer World Cup in 2010 and the Design Capital of the Year in 2014, will hopefully encourage more people to visit the country. 
Insurance policies on property usually include clauses which reduce the compensation for which they are responsible, if and when a force majeure takes place in the insured property's area. This is understandable because weather catastrophes like the recent Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast of the USA have the potential to bankrupt an insurance group, says Tony Clarke, managing director of the Rawson Property Group. 
