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Budget preview: Call to courage

After a dispirited Sona, all eyes are on the finance minister to avert a junk rating

Top stories

Reggie Sibiya. Picture: BUSINESS DAY

Caltex: Pay up or pack up

Numerous franchisees facing a nasty dilemma this year

David van Rooyen. Flanked by the connected pair. Picture: GCIS

National Treasury: Yes, minister

Treasury staff nearly quit over appointment of, Mahommed Bobat and Ian Whitley, advisers to blink-and-you-miss-it finance minister Van Rooyen

Peter Steenkamp. Picture: MARTIN RHODES

Gold Price: Action deferred

The spike in the rand gold price might delay the consolidation needed in the SA gold industry for the longer term

Nampak CE Andrew de Ruyter. Picture: FINANCIAL MAIL

Nampak: Look into the distance

Share price of packaging giant has folded over the past 12 months

Potlako Gasennelwe. From interior design to financial services. Picture: Russell Roberts

Entrepreneur: Potlako Gasennelwe

Gasennelwe is founder of PG Interiors, a company which has worked on commercial and residential projects in a number of African countries

Features

Abel Malinga. Picture: JEREMY GLYN

Steel industry: Speeding to the wall

Dramatic structural change in SA’s steel industry has delayed IDC’s plans for Hebei Iron & Steel Group to build $5bn steel plant in this country

Mosebenzi Zwane. Picture: BUSINESS DAY

Mining indaba: An expensive disappointment

Organisers will have to take complaints more seriously than they have to date, or face losing their relevance as leading mining African conference

Peter Leon. Picture: RUSSELL ROBERTS

Mineral & Petroleum Resources Act: Buried in the in-tray

Despite assurances from government that amendments to mining legislation would become a priority, clarity is still a long way off

Nigerian oil and gas terminal. Picture: GETTY IMAGES/AFP/PIUS UTOMI EKPEI

Tax Incentives: Breaks and fixes

Tax breaks distort investment decisions and are disproportionately costly to the country making them

Noluthando Gosa. What Paul achieved was close to miraculous. Picture: SUPPLIED

ArcelorMittal SA: Restoring the future

With a BEE deal in the works, ArcelorMittal SA’s social and political licence is close to being restored

Norman Mbazima. Cut loose. Picture: SUPPLIED

Anglo American: Kumba goes

First to go is likely to be niobium and phosphates through a sale. Kumba will be last, writes Sikonathi Mantshantsha

Opinion

Thabo Mosala. Picture: ROBERT TSHABALALA

On My Mind: Don’t stand in the doorway

The times continue to change rapidly and local telecom firms must understand that regulation does not stop innovation, it fuels it, writes Thabo Mosala

Picture: THINKSTOCK

In Good Faith: Bitter harvest

Unreasonable attempts to wring a lucrative result out of a disaster ended badly for the litigant, writes Carmel Rickard

Jacob Zuma. Picture: SUNDAY TIMES

Boardroom Tails: Hellish journey

If we are all to get to a better place safely, we need more helpful contributions from everyone in this vehicle, writes Ann Crotty

Money & Investing

Picture: ISTOCK

Save tax-free for your child’s education

The introduction of tax-free savings accounts offers an ideal savings tool to give their children a gift for the future

Picture: GALLO IMAGES/AFP/PIUS UTOMI EKPEI

Resilient: Africa bets are off

Plans to build 10 shopping centres in Nigeria have been placed on ice by Resilient Reit

Chris Schutte. Picture: ROBERT TSHABALALA

Sovereign Foods: Something must crack

Management and minority shareholders at odds over how best to unlock value

Media & Advertising

Clicks. Picture: KEARA EDWARDS

Brand loyalty programmes: Up but unfocused

Brands that get their strategies right (including Clicks and Spur) are reaping the benefits

Simba chips. Picture: KATHERINE MUICK-MERE

Advertising standards: Battle of the flavour kings

Simba chips has forced a smaller competitor to change its packaging in the light of glaring similarities between the two brands

Africa & International

Opposition candidate Kizza Besigye at an election rally in Kampala. Picture: GALLO IMAGES/AFP/ISAAC KASAMANI

Uganda: Grandfather’s clock ticks

After a 30-year rule, Yoweri Museveni still seems to think of himself as president-for-life

Digital

David Croyé. Picture: SUPPLIED

Video on demand: Just watch this space

If you don’t already watch movies using the Internet, pay close attention

Installing fibre optic cables. Picture: DAILY DISPATCH

Fibre to the home: Rapidly making Jozi faster

Suburbs in SA’s major cities have benefited from an influx of fibre optic cable projects, as competition between big operators intensifies

Picture: ISTOCK

Pattern Recognition: Quality counts too

Twitter is a vital communication tool, and it should not be undermined by critics’ obsession with user numbers, writes Toby Shapshak

FM Magazine Index February 18 2016

Companies and individuals in this issue are indexed to the page of the article in the magazine in which each is mentioned

Cover Story

Steinhoff in Europe: At the top table

It's been a remarkable journey to listing in Frankfurt, but can Steinhoff scale even greater heights in competitive Europe? Zeenat Moorad spoke to CEO Markus Jooste

Cover Story

Ikea: Cool’s gold standard

Ikea is gold standard of integrated furniture retailing and generates structurally higher margins than its competitors, says Coronation

Between the Chains: No more spending money

Finance minister Pravin Gordhan's 2016 budget speech will determine if SA stands a chance of avoiding a credit rating downgrade

Fine Print: Do as I say, not as I do

The FSB, as the watchdog body which regulates all investments in SA other than banks, should embrace transparency — not defy it, writes Rob Rose

Editor’s Note: Anglo’s London disaster

LSE listings for iconic SA company has not worked well — but was there an alternative? And could it have turned out differently, asks Tim Cohen

Bruce’s List: A daily guide to informed reads

Peter Bruce lists the crucial reads of the day

Diamonds & Dogs: Woolworths; ArcelorMittal SA

Woolworths is performing strongly under its new owners and ArcelorMittal SA’s numbers for 2015 suggest headline loss of R5 billion

Food for Thought: Memories are hard to beat

It's difficult to compare a family outing in Norwood to the youthful delights of Yeoville and Hillbrow — but the shawarmas measured up, writes Justice Malala

Investor’s Notebook: Next stage in PPS evolution

PPS Mutual Australia will adopt a structure in which all the equity belongs to members

Market Watch: Paper caper

There are no easy decisions for shareholders on whether to take paper or cash when companies start offering dividend choices, writes Marc Hasenfuss

Editorial: SOEs — pipe dreams and patronage

One part of the review of state-owned enterprises implicitly allows for partial or full privatisation — though the authors cannot bring themselves to actually use the P-word

Multimedia