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Cape Town - The tolling of Gauteng highways as part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) is undoubtedly 2013's biggest business event that has and is still gripping SA consumers.
Despite numerous court cases, protests and extensive media coverage, the e-tolls system kicked in on December 3.
The signing of the transport laws and related matters amendment bill into law has stoked fears that e-tolling will now be expanded in Gauteng and be implemented faster in the rest of the country.
Meanwhile more individual motorists have joined opposition parties, activist groups, labour unions and churches against the system they called inefficient and irrational.
Sanral was the only exception to the misery with which the arrival of e-tolling on Gauteng highways was greeted.
Strikes
Although labour unrest this year has been largely peaceful compared with last year, the impact on the economy remains a major concern for the government and the Reserve Bank.
It choked vehicle sales, hit exports, impact production and caused job losses.
The already battered mining sector is still suffering, with a strike at Northam Platinum's Zondereinde mine in Limpopo heading for its third month after mining union NUM vowed to strike through Christmas for a 16% increase in basic wages.
Both the company and striking workers have so far lost hundreds of millions in production and wages, with job cuts becoming more and more a reality.
In the gold mining sector, the inflation wage agreement is expected to cost companies an additional R1.5bn in extra costs.
BMW's announcement that it was placing a freeze on its expansion plans in South Africa amid the car sector strike has showed that companies clearly had enough of strikes.
It said the labour situation in South Africa remained "inherently unstable" after a car parts strike hit the industry just as it was recovering from three weeks of industrial action by more than 30 000 workers at major auto makers including BMW, Ford, Toyota and General Motors.
Guy Kilfoil, spokesperson for BMW SA, told Fin24 that productivity is the name of the game and SA has already lost out because of a lack of it to South America, Eastern Europe and the East, which are hugely competitive.
The auto industry accounts for 6% of South Africa's gross domestic product.
The man-days lost to strikes skyrocketed with some commentators linking a trend in strike numbers to the high levels of inequality in SA.
SIM swap fraud
Consumers have increased calls for class action against banks and cell phone companies following a spate of SIM swap fraud cases this year.
Even though MTN and Absa felt the brunt of consumers' anger, industry body Sabric said that SIM swaps have become one of the problematic areas in cybercrime space across the banking industry as a whole, irrespective of the bank the victim uses or the mobile phone service provider in question.
The problem was highlighted when Media24 CEO Esmaré Weideman was defrauded of R360 000 in April this year.
- Fin24
Despite numerous court cases, protests and extensive media coverage, the e-tolls system kicked in on December 3.
The signing of the transport laws and related matters amendment bill into law has stoked fears that e-tolling will now be expanded in Gauteng and be implemented faster in the rest of the country.
Meanwhile more individual motorists have joined opposition parties, activist groups, labour unions and churches against the system they called inefficient and irrational.
Sanral was the only exception to the misery with which the arrival of e-tolling on Gauteng highways was greeted.
Strikes
Although labour unrest this year has been largely peaceful compared with last year, the impact on the economy remains a major concern for the government and the Reserve Bank.
It choked vehicle sales, hit exports, impact production and caused job losses.
The already battered mining sector is still suffering, with a strike at Northam Platinum's Zondereinde mine in Limpopo heading for its third month after mining union NUM vowed to strike through Christmas for a 16% increase in basic wages.
Both the company and striking workers have so far lost hundreds of millions in production and wages, with job cuts becoming more and more a reality.
In the gold mining sector, the inflation wage agreement is expected to cost companies an additional R1.5bn in extra costs.
BMW's announcement that it was placing a freeze on its expansion plans in South Africa amid the car sector strike has showed that companies clearly had enough of strikes.
It said the labour situation in South Africa remained "inherently unstable" after a car parts strike hit the industry just as it was recovering from three weeks of industrial action by more than 30 000 workers at major auto makers including BMW, Ford, Toyota and General Motors.
Guy Kilfoil, spokesperson for BMW SA, told Fin24 that productivity is the name of the game and SA has already lost out because of a lack of it to South America, Eastern Europe and the East, which are hugely competitive.
The auto industry accounts for 6% of South Africa's gross domestic product.
The man-days lost to strikes skyrocketed with some commentators linking a trend in strike numbers to the high levels of inequality in SA.
SIM swap fraud
Consumers have increased calls for class action against banks and cell phone companies following a spate of SIM swap fraud cases this year.
Even though MTN and Absa felt the brunt of consumers' anger, industry body Sabric said that SIM swaps have become one of the problematic areas in cybercrime space across the banking industry as a whole, irrespective of the bank the victim uses or the mobile phone service provider in question.
The problem was highlighted when Media24 CEO Esmaré Weideman was defrauded of R360 000 in April this year.
- Fin24
