Sunday Tribune 2024-10-13

As we approach the end of 2024, we have a unique opportunity to reflect on how far we have come and be intentional about creating a fulfilling final quarter. This will set you up for 2025 before you get there. Here are some practical strategies to prioritise you and your goals: Prioritising health and wellbeing This year has been a struggle for me mentally and physically, which affected my exercise routine and mindfulness practices that I have been doing for years. I could feel how it affected me negatively. To start caring for my wellbeing, I have started doing short meditations again. Instead of scrolling on my phone first thing in the morning, I now go straight to my meditation app. Getting back to my breathing and meditation is…

South Africans are enduring the effects of a sustained period of rising costs and increased debt payments which in turn have put them under severe financial pressure, for many homeowners, this pressure has seen them being unable to keep up with their monthly home loan repayments. According to credit bureau TransUnion, as many as 7.2% of homeowners are three months or more in arrears on their home loan repayments, with this number having increased by 20% year on year during the first quarter of this year. Aside from rising costs such as fuel and food, the real squeeze has come from the 67% increase in interest rates, from 7% in October 2021 to the current 11.5%. While interest rates fell sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic to an artificially and historic…

The national state utility’s recent proposal for a 44% increase in electricity prices will not only put extra strain on consumers in the country but could also pose a challenge to South Africa’s energy market reform. The increases can impact renewable energy adoption and integration, according to Daniel Novitzkas, the chairman at Specno. “Open Access Energy, in collaboration with Specno, emphasised that while Eskom’s justification for the hike hinges on covering generation, transmission, and distribution costs, the move could potentially hamper the progress made in promoting a liberalised and diversified energy market. This market transformation, which gained momentum following President Ramaphosa’s 2021 announcement lifting the licensing threshold for private electricity generation to 100 MW, was a critical step in encouraging private investments and easing pressure on Eskom’s grid,”…

The recently gazetted White Paper on Tourism Development and Promotion comes at the right time and is spot-on and will bolsters South Africa’s image, says the North West University's Tourism Research in Economics, Environs and Society (TREES). It added the voice of tourism experts who have welcomed the move, such as the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa and Tourism Business Council of South Africa, amongst others. Professor Elmarie Slabbert, who is the research director at TREES, told Business Report that the industry underwent significant changes in the past few years and it was time to replace the 1996 version. “It is time to align with what is happening in the industry and improve its relevance. The critical issues that the industry is grappling with are addressed in the white…

NUCLEAR arms race is an inevitable eventuality in a world where mistrust and conflict supersede dialogue and the collective appreciation for convivial global co-existence. Two examples of current international conflict – Ukraine and the Middle East – provide a textbook example of how and when to ignite a nuclear arms race. At the height of the Cold War, the constant military threat between the former Soviet Union and the US and its allies kept the threat for nukes a mere click-of-a-mouse away. Sadly, after a long period of relative global peace and stability, geopolitical differences continue to push nations of the world apart rather than closer. The failure to prioritise a peace settlement in Ukraine, marked by heightened Western war-mongering, brings the international community closer to the brink with each…

AS an ANC member and someone deeply invested in the future of South Africa, it’s time we take a hard look at the politics of Helen Zille – politics that have consistently relied on bullying, fear, privilege, and hypocrisy, dating back to her rise in 2006 as mayor of Cape Town. Since then, Zille’s tactics have remained the same; using fear, divide, and rule to secure power, privileging a select few while ignoring the poorest, most vulnerable, and the broader needs of South Africans, and showing a vindictive approach to governance when challenged. We have even lost count of how many blacks suffer under her tyrannical rule in the DA. Zille’s promise of “payback” following the Tshwane mayoral vote is no surprise to anyone familiar with her brand of…