Publications
Partners
Here are the top five business events of 2017, chosen by City Press business writer Lesetja Malope.
Dloti resigns under a cloud
When Thabo Dloti was ousted at the chief executive of Liberty and then immediately replaced by an executive from its biggest shareholder Standard Bank, the entire thing, I think, was one of the biggest injustices of the year, not because Dloti seemed to be forced to resign but the lack of proper succession by the company and the way Standard Bank, as a company with a less than impressive transformation record, handled the entire issue left something to be desired.
READ: Dloti resignation 'was not a black-white issue'
Standard Bank’s co-chief executive at the time, Sim Tshabalala, admitted that Liberty’s succession planning could have been better, but I think Standard Bank could have handled it much better for one of the oldest corporate citizens of the country.
Dlomu becomes the new face of KPMG
After being outed as having facilitated some capturing of its own, KPMG thought it brilliant to appoint Nhlamulo Dlomu as its Ms Fixit and, naturally, because she is an excellent black professional, she accepted the worst job in corporate South Africa at the time and spent a significant amount of time relaying apologies for sins that were not hers.
READ: Can KPMG’s Miss Fixit really fix it?
During the parliamentary interviews the multinational Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) thought it would be proper and brilliant to let a team, including a lawyer, babysit the well and capable executive throughout the process, clearly demonstrating a lack of confidence in her capabilities. As an alleged corporate sinner, the Lomnim-Marikana of its sector, KPMG gave South Africa’s transformation agenda the middle finger throughout its handling of the saga. Making Dlomu the face of their sorry campaign was an epic disservice.
Judge Ngoepe lambasts legal firms
Retired judge Bernard Ngoepe is not usually the voice of controversy and has sailed through an impressive law career without being one but then he said law firms were ripping off the state. Government spend on legal services has allegedly reached just under R1 billion and Ngoepe was at pains to point out two major issues that seem to plague the profession.
READ: Legal firms ripping off state - Ngoepe
Because the courts were now 'running the country' due to the inefficient support of the other two branches of government, law firms – some of whom are now doing a lot of non-legal work – are coining it unfairly. The country's tax ombudsman also said that he was concerned at the quality of some of the opinions issued.
The tragedy of the Mighty Dube Birds
A tribute to the beautiful birds of the beautiful game: Moroka Swallows — the oldest football club in the country some say. The once mighty soccer club is no more but should be able to return because a brand like that doesn’t die so easily.
READ: An ode to the beautifu birds
The Mighty Dube Birds were once the best of the best and the remaining Soweto 'so-called' giants can attest to that. I truly believe Moroka Swallows is a national treasure and needed a bailout to rescue it. By folding their arms the powers that be were wrong and because history has no blank pages, it will judge them harshly because I already do.
SAA still making the aviation headlines
The aviation industry has only ever made serious headlines at the South African Airways board and bailout levels, but the Airlink-SAA agreement for me was a significant game-changer in that it lacked a time frame for access to the valuable intellectual property of SAA and that, in an industry that is already devoid of diversity, is tragic.
READ: Airlink scores in SAA deal
 |
| ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
