Well, Mangaung has come and gone - as has the end of the world, the festive season and New Year, and we've survived them all and now we're back on stream with our newsletters.
Taking centre stage has been the
violent protests by farmworkers in the Western Cape. These protests need to be brought to an end; they're damaging Brand SA and have the potential to seriously curb exports (and hence foreign earnings) as customers overseas turn to more reliable suppliers.
On the education front, the
Matric pass rate increased to 73.9% but critics are asking whether a requirement of 30% to pass is enough to equip school-leavers with an adequate standard of education. Many employers reckon not - they're prepared to train new staff in the roles the new recruits will have to take up in the company - but those recruits need to be literate and enumerate to a level that will enable them to acquire and apply their new knowledge properly.
If you're in business, you're in IT... perhaps not directly, but every time you use a computer, you're operating within the IT world. So what are the
23 business attitudes to IT security you should be looking at? Kaspersky Lab research has some answers for you.
Finally, for all you petrol heads out there, our scorchingly good-looking motoring editor Henrie Geyser takes you for a drive in the
Mercedes SL 500 and shows off his tough, rugged side with the
Land Cruiser 70 double cab.
Rod Baker: Content Director
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automotivenews@bizcommunity.com. Exclusive contributions may be sent to
contributors-automotive@bizcommunity.com.
A new editorial site has launched to offer consumers coverage of local and international motoring news as it happens. 
General Motors is consolidating its sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa operations into a new unit, GM Africa, effective immediately and is appointing Mario A Spangenberg, currently president and MD of GM North Africa, as president and MD of GM Africa. 
Manufacturing production increased in November suggesting that its contribution to fourth quarter economic growth might be better than expected. 
Employment in South Africa increased by an annualised rate of 0.8% in December‚ showing there were 12‚556 new jobs according to the latest Adcorp employment index that was published on Thursday (10 January). 
On Saturday, 5 January 2013, a number of international racing teams start their journeys in an attempt to cross the finish line first in the Dakar rally. 
LAS VEGAS, USA: It can talk to your car, your refrigerator, water your plants and help you stay fit and healthy: the smartphone is become the consumer's remote control for life. 
BERLIN, GERMANY: Luxury German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz said on Friday (4 January) it had achieved record sales in 2012, driven by accelerating growth in China and the United States. 
TOKYO, JAPAN: Japan's Toyota Motor has decided to halt construction of new factories for the next three years in a shift from its previous policy of building new plants almost every year, reports said Sunday (6 January). 
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: British billionaire Richard Branson will finally wear a red skirt and serve as a stewardess on Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia next May after losing a Grand Prix bet with the founder of the airline. 
Transport Minister Ben Martins has announced that 1,465 people lost their lives on the country's roads during the festive season. The main causes of the road fatalities during the period between 1 December 2012 and 8 January 2013 were drunken driving, excessive speeding, dangerous overtaking, not using seatbelts and unroadworthy vehicles. There were 1,221 fatal accidents recorded during the period. In the 2011/2012 festive season period, 1,475 people died on the country's roads. 
