WHAT YOU SHOULD PRESERVE
By Stephen Cranston
One of the great temptations for the hard-pressed consumer is to cancel his or her insurance policy and medical cover. But legislation protects people against this. They cannot cash in their retirement annuities (RAs) until 55, or exit their pension ...

SPEND IT WISELY
By Thebe Mabanga
The chilling reality of retrenchments is gripping various sectors of the economy. There are already casualties in the mining, media, car manufacturing and financial services industries. And trade union Solidarity estimates that clos...

SOME RELIEF, FOR NOW
By Thebe Mabanga
The recent economic downturn has had an upside for consumers. Petrol and food prices have come down over the past few months, and there was early Christmas cheer when interest rates were cut by half a percentage point. This suggests...

TRIUMPHS AND DISASTERS
By Rob Rose
Walking into high office to win lasting fame is, as someone said, like becoming an archbishop to meet girls: initially, you find yourself swimming in admirers - but then the wheel turns and often at the end of the day you find yours...

FRONT PAGE BLUES
By Rob Rose
In October, Johann Rupert said: "I'm always worried when Wall Street or the JSE hits the main news." Business has roared onto the front pages and, until someone figures out how long the squeeze will last, the status quo will remain in 2009 ...

WORLDWIDE WEB OF WOE
By Carol Paton
If Barack Obama strode triumphantly across the international stage, other politicians recovered former glories (Gordon Brown) or re-emphasised their gravitas (Ian Khama). But the year will be remembered more for the giant sinkhole that...

INTERESTING TIMES
By Carol Paton
No-one won bigger than Jacob Zuma, who is now heading to the West Wing of the Union Buildings. Having won the ANC presidency at Polokwane in 2007, Zuma cleared his path to the presidency through a combination of popular mobilisation ...

APPETITE FOR SELF-DESTRUCTION
By David Williams
An appetite for martyrdom or merely naive? Whatever the explanation for Luke Watson's bizarre remark to student players about wanting to vomit on the Springbok jersey, it seemed to have brought the curtain down on a rugby career that...

ADMINISTRATIVE LETDOWN
By Thebe Mabanga
In an era where SA soccer is awash with cash from sponsors and rich owners, it is refreshing to see a mixture of old-fashioned values and solid professionalism succeed at PSL champions SuperSport United. The team are a mixture of hot talent, such as ...