Economist.com Cities Guide: Johannesburg Briefing - May 2005

News this month

All clear

After months of negotiations and speculation, Britain's Barclays PLC has received the go ahead from South African authorities to buy a 60% stake in Absa, the country's largest retail bank. An increase in the offer price secured the deal, which at 33 billion rand ($5 billion) is the biggest single foreign investment in South African history. Barclays, which operated in South Africa in the days of the British Empire, left the country in 1986. There are no plans to re-brand Absa, which has been rated South Africa's fourth most valuable brand (after Standard Bank, MTN and Vodacom). Other foreign investors are expected to follow.

Let it fall?

The African National Council (ANC), South Africa's ruling party, has advanced controversial proposals to boost the country's economy. In preparation for its national general-council meeting at the end of June, the party published several papers on party strategy, economic development and unemployment. One proposed the introduction of a weaker, or “more competitive”, exchange rate by liberalising exchange controls, buying foreign currencies when the rand is strong and lowering interest rates. That paper sent the rand sliding against the dollar after publication.

The report also argued for more flexible labour laws to reduce unemployment, which it claimed stands at 40% (a figure hotly disputed by Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's president). The ANC is debating a dual market, which among other things would waive the minimum wage for younger workers. The proposals will be discussed at the meeting in Pretoria, which begins on June 29th and ends on July 3rd.

Out with a whimper

A hostile bid by Harmony, the world's fourth-largest gold-mining company, for Gold Fields, a competitor, has collapsed after a seven-month battle. Johannesburg's high court ruled in May that the $5.6 billion bid, which would have created the world's biggest gold producer, lapsed last December. The failed bid is reported to have cost Harmony 150m rand ($23m) and Gold Fields 170m rand, and has shrunk the combined stock of both companies by 30 billion rand. South African analysts are calling for a review of the country's take-over regulations in order to avoid similar costly and futile exercises in future.

Art-ache

A dispute over the sale of artworks by Nelson Mandela has reached a turning point. At the end of May, Johannesburg's high court ordered Ismael Ayob, the former president's ex-lawyer, and Ross Calder, a businessman, to stop selling paintings, prints and other works bearing Mr Mandela's name.

But the story is unlikely to end there. Tens of millions of rand earned from the sales—intended to benefit Mr Mandela's charities—have gone missing. Mr Mandela has called for a full audit of the business, and for the resignations of Mr Ayob and his wife from the former president's trusts. He is also trying to scrap a contract signed with Tinancier, a firm owned by My Ayob, that control's Mr Mandela's intellectual copyright.

Lots of bruises

A feud between South Africa's rugby authorities took a turn for the worse in May when Makhenkesi Stofile, the country's sports minister, called for the resignation of Brian van Rooyen, president of the South African Rugby Union. He called for an investigation into a dispute between the union's managers, which has troubled the sport for some time. The union rebuffed his calls.

Mr Stofile, who has previously bemoaned the country's dearth of black rugby players, was also angered by a union decision against awarding a new franchise to Port Elizabeth, which has a high number of black players. Despite the turmoil, South Africa's teams are faring well. Pretoria's Bulls reached the semi-finals of the Super 12, and the Springboks—the national team and holder of the Tri-Nation title—are preparing for the international season, from June 11th. The public airing of dirty laundry, however, may hurt South Africa’s bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Name game

A proposal to change the name of Pretoria, South Africa's capital, to “Tshwane”, the name of an ancient African chief, has sparked a heated debate. On May 21st some 3,000 protestors gathered in Pretoria's Church Square to protest against a change which they claimed would dismiss the city's Afrikaans heritage.

The capital is named after Andries Pretorius, who led the Voortrekkers (descendants of South Africa's Dutch settlers) in a battle against the Zulus. The name is associated with the country's old apartheid regime. Pretoria's council has approved the name change, which has been taken up by some of South Africa's media, including SABC, the public broadcaster. Pallo Jordan, South Africa’s arts and culture minister, will decide later this year whether to officially drop “Pretoria”. Critics of the proposal may be pleased to know that the capital's centre will still be called Pretoria, even if the city is renamed.

Catch if you can

June 2005

William Kentridge: Preparing the Flute

June 4th-July 16th 2005

William Kentridge is one of South Africa's most famous contemporary artists. Born in 1955 in Johannesburg (“all my work is rooted in this rather desperate provincial city”, he has said), he is known chiefly for his animated films. The short, scratchy productions, made from charcoal sketches, seem to bring the act of drawing to life. They often tell tortured stories about South Africa's post-apartheid landscape.

This show at the Goodman Gallery sees the artist in a more upbeat frame of mind. On display are charcoal and pastel studies for his production of Mozart’s “Magic Flute”, which recently opened in Brussels. Mr Kentridge is nothing if not versatile: as well as animation and theatre production, he has also worked with collage, sculpture and puppetry.

Goodman Gallery, 163 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood. Open: Tues-Fri 9.30am-5.30pm; Sat 9.30am-4pm. Tel: +27 (011) 788-1113. See the gallery's website.

More from the Johannesburg cultural calendar