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ECONOMY

It has been reported that Zimbabwe is selling bills and bonds to pay wages. Would you lend a State money, not for capital purposes, but to pay its monthly wage bill? Yet it did raise $2m last month. Remarkable; TIA.

In the same rather sceptical vein is a report that SAA is asking for State guarantees in order that it may source further loans. Factually it has been making a loss for a decade and cannot survive without State support. Its accumulated losses is R16bn; and that in a tough market. If this were any other entity it would have long, long gone under. And then there is Eskom....

Egypt plans to build a new Suez canal alongside the existing hundred and 45-year-old waterway. The projected cost is $4bn. Given that the waterway earns Egypt $5bn annually, this is a no-brainer...if there is sufficient demand therefor.

Economics 101: the term

BUSINESS

Our Minister of education has announced that she intends making the compulsory school

PROPERTY

Loos, using the June SARS statistics, reports that the property market is strong but the pace of strengthening was coming to an end. This was the 4th consecutive month in which price growth had slowed. Considering that Transfer Duty is probably paid some two months after a sale, the trend is probably lower still than is reflected by the June statistics.

On the other hand, Aspasa suggests that the building industry in South Africa is on the mend and is showing no signs of recovering beyond expectations. This prediction is based on the total sum of building plans passed, which shows healthy growth compared with last year's figures. This applies more to residential building than commercial property plans.

TPN says that, surprisingly, our first interest rate hikes have had a marked effect on rental payments in the R25,000-plus monthly rental category. It reports a significant slide of tenants in good standing from 81% in the 1st quarter to 71%. One wonders whether this is not owing to retail market weakness?
TPN further says that our average gross national rental yield (i.e. capital growth plus income) stands at 8.87%. This is less attractive than a year and a half ago, but still better than our 2008 low. The difficulty is that this yield is still below the cost of finance, given a prime rate of 8.5%.
So, where to invest if one does buy

PRACTICE

The Helen Suzman Foundation is challenging the rationality of the decision by the JSC to not appoint advocate Gauntlet. To this end it has requested access to a tape which contains the deliberations of that body. If this is released to the public, it certainly would be a first.

Judge Yacoob has surprisingly commented upon a 2006 judgement in which Zuma was found not guilty of raping a family friend:

CASES & SUCH

Business rescue: reasonable possibility

I have an article, written by Joubert, on the onus of proof in business rescue. Ask me for a copy.

LIGHTEN UP