In July 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the much-required energy crisis plan, which aims to increase energy security and end load-shedding. Load-shedding is a euphemism describing rolling blackouts to alleviate pressure on the national transmission grid....
July 2022 marked the height of Eskom’s key dysfunctions, and once again brought South Africa's state-owned electricity utility to the centre of national governance debates. For the second time since 2019, South Africans experienced Stage 6 “load shedding”. “Load...
Last month, Glencore, a multinational mining and commodity company, pleaded guilty to long-standing charges of systematic bribery, corruption, and market manipulation to authorities of the United States (US), Brazil, and the United Kingdom (UK). Glencore was...
Shell judgement shows that environment matters
As 2021 drew to a close, environmental and human rights organisations including Border Deep Sea Association, Kei Mouth Ski Boat Club, Natural Justice and Greenpeace Africa, filed an urgent interim interdict in the Makhanda High Court of South Africa to prevent the...
The copper price is booming. Experts are divided over whether this boom is structural rather than cyclical. It is our considered view, in light of the current evidence, that copper prices will continue to climb due to medium to long-term supply deficits and the...
In mid-July, we witnessed extensive looting and violence in South Africa, concentrated in some parts of Gauteng and the eastern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provinces. The unrest claimed over 300 lives and thousands of businesses were looted and, in some cases, burned down....
Over the last five years, a growing global movement has made considerable efforts to address key issues related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in various industries. Historically, ESG considerations have been ignored because unethical firms...
On 10 March 2021, a set of ‘green finance’ rules designed by the EU to prevent greenwashing – the act of claiming that a fund is sustainable when in reality it is working against sustainability objectives – was applied to certain financial services sector firms in the...
As we gain better understanding of how the Resource Curse manifests in developing countries, we now pay close attention to the key mechanisms that drive the Resource Curse even deeper. Rent-seeking and patronage are among the key contributing factors to this wicked problem.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported, with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), that in 2020, 160 million children were subjected to child labour globally. Child labour remains a critical issue in the world today. The ILO defines child...
In July 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the much-required energy crisis plan, which aims to increase energy security and end load-shedding. Load-shedding is a euphemism describing rolling blackouts to alleviate pressure on the national transmission grid....
July 2022 marked the height of Eskom’s key dysfunctions, and once again brought South Africa's state-owned electricity utility to the centre of national governance debates. For the second time since 2019, South Africans experienced Stage 6 “load shedding”. “Load...
Last month, Glencore, a multinational mining and commodity company, pleaded guilty to long-standing charges of systematic bribery, corruption, and market manipulation to authorities of the United States (US), Brazil, and the United Kingdom (UK). Glencore was...
Shell judgement shows that environment matters
As 2021 drew to a close, environmental and human rights organisations including Border Deep Sea Association, Kei Mouth Ski Boat Club, Natural Justice and Greenpeace Africa, filed an urgent interim interdict in the Makhanda High Court of South Africa to prevent the...
The copper price is booming. Experts are divided over whether this boom is structural rather than cyclical. It is our considered view, in light of the current evidence, that copper prices will continue to climb due to medium to long-term supply deficits and the...
In mid-July, we witnessed extensive looting and violence in South Africa, concentrated in some parts of Gauteng and the eastern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provinces. The unrest claimed over 300 lives and thousands of businesses were looted and, in some cases, burned down....
Over the last five years, a growing global movement has made considerable efforts to address key issues related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in various industries. Historically, ESG considerations have been ignored because unethical firms...
On 10 March 2021, a set of ‘green finance’ rules designed by the EU to prevent greenwashing – the act of claiming that a fund is sustainable when in reality it is working against sustainability objectives – was applied to certain financial services sector firms in the...
