GPSA Weekly Views

Apologies - when I finally got round to write this weeks' story, we ended up being without electricity for more than 5 hours. My UPS ain't that strong!

Barclays have been dying to get back into the country after "dropping" it's customers so many years ago. Instead of picking up it's old brand (which was renamed to First National Bank), they decided to go for one of our biggest - Absa. Barclays is buying majority shares in Absa to the value of R33 billion, already approved by our pal Trevor. Absa showed a growth of 29% in 2004 in a fairly competitive market.

It is obvious why Barclays would want a share of the South African pie. And to be honest, I'm surprised there aren't any further offers like these from international banks. Look at banks in S.A. - various fees are attached to all transactions. You deposit money, you pay. You withdraw money, you pay. You transfer money, you pay. Internet banking comes at a premium, so does cellphone transactions. ATMs are another money spinner with even higher fees for dealing with a teller in branch.

Slowly but surely I've been moving my finances to 20Twenty, underwritten by Standard Charter, another international bank. Interest is lower on outstanding balances, everything can be done by the "road warriors" call center, everything is electronic with only cash withdrawals supported by Absa.

Now, I have a "thing" about these international companies that left us in a lurch so many moons ago. I will not support them. I'm probably part of a minor minority, but Kodak, IBM, Volvo, Alfa Romeo and a string more will not get my money. Alas, I'll have to add Absa to my list. After banking with them for the past 16 years, it's adios.

Motor vehicle driver license fraud has been with us for years. So it came as a bit of a surprise that government all of a sudden woke up to the fact that invalid licenses can account for up to 50%! According to Auto & General (short term insurer) this is a major issue with far reaching implications. Any clear thinking logical person would've been able to tell them that invalid licenses disqualifies any insurance in terms of an accident.

Can government be sued in case of injury and/or death? Certain people think so. It is after all governments' responsibility to ensure that all people enjoy the same privileges under one constitution. Failure to ensure that opens them up to prosecution.

Not so in the case of a woman who accepted a lift from three uniformed policemen one late night in 1999. She ended up being gang-raped by these "officials". This case went to court where all three were found guilty and given life sentences with an additional ten years for kidnapping (and here I always thought "life" meant "life"). Now this woman has been trying to sue the minister with the courts dismissing her claim. Now this is the part I do not understand - this woman claims that these were uniformed police sergeants whom each had a duty to protect her from being raped, full stop! A cop breaking the law should be severely punished and thrown out of the force. Yet the court refused to accept this argument.

Now it's off to the Constitutional Court. The state should accept responsibility for a civil servant not doing his or her job according to specification. If I work for GH and screw up whilst in my official capacity as a representative of GH, the directors will get the flack. Even after I've been fired. After all we're paying their salaries, the least we expect in return is for them to do their job.

Weekly View
	15 May 2005
Apologies - when I finally got round to write this weeks' story, we ended up being without electricity for more than 5 hours. My UPS ain't that strong! Barclays have been dying to get back into the country after "dropping" it's customers so many years ago. Instead of picking up it's old brand (which was renamed to First National Bank), they decided to go for one of our biggest - Absa. Barclays is buying majority shares in Absa to the value of R33 billion, already approved by our pal Trevor. Absa showed a growth of 29% in 2004 in a fairly competitive market. It is obvious why Barclays would want a share of the South African pie. And to be honest, I'm surprised there aren't any further offers like these from international banks. Look at banks in S.A. - various fees are attached to all transactions. You deposit money, you pay. You withdraw money, you pay. You transfer money, you pay. Internet banking comes at a premium, so does cellphone transactions. ATMs are another money spinner with even higher fees for dealing with a teller in branch. Slowly but surely I've been moving my finances to 20Twenty, underwritten by Standard Charter, another international bank. Interest is lower on outstanding balances, everything can be done by the "road warriors" call center, everything is electronic with only cash withdrawals supported by Absa. Now, I have a "thing" about these international companies that left us in a lurch so many moons ago. I will not support them. I'm probably part of a minor minority, but Kodak, IBM, Volvo, Alfa Romeo and a string more will not get my money. Alas, I'll have to add Absa to my list. After banking with them for the past 16 years, it's adios. Motor vehicle driver license fraud has been with us for years. So it came as a bit of a surprise that government all of a sudden woke up to the fact that invalid licenses can account for up to 50%! According to Auto & General (short term insurer) this is a major issue with far reaching implications. Any clear thinking logical person would've been able to tell them that invalid licenses disqualifies any insurance in terms of an accident. Can government be sued in case of injury and/or death? Certain people think so. It is after all governments' responsibility to ensure that all people enjoy the same privileges under one constitution. Failure to ensure that opens them up to prosecution. Not so in the case of a woman who accepted a lift from three uniformed policemen one late night in 1999. She ended up being gang-raped by these "officials". This case went to court where all three were found guilty and given life sentences with an additional ten years for kidnapping (and here I always thought "life" meant "life"). Now this woman has been trying to sue the minister with the courts dismissing her claim. Now this is the part I do not understand - this woman claims that these were uniformed police sergeants whom each had a duty to protect her from being raped, full stop! A cop breaking the law should be severely punished and thrown out of the force. Yet the court refused to accept this argument. Now it's off to the Constitutional Court. The state should accept responsibility for a civil servant not doing his or her job according to specification. If I work for GH and screw up whilst in my official capacity as a representative of GH, the directors will get the flack. Even after I've been fired. After all we're paying their salaries, the least we expect in return is for them to do their job.	Past Views Current Joke Past jokes Gallery Links Current Exchange Rate Daily News Headlines Articles
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