Historian Johan Norberg recently explained in Johannesburg why the Swedish economic model will not work in SA. Sweden's wealth was not built on welfarism, but on a rigorous observance of free market principles.

Despite what you may have heard in the media over the last few months, race relations in SA are actually quite good, according to a recent survey by the Institute of Race Relations.

In the second part of this series on securitisation, Jack Darier delves deep into the lies and deception that have allowed the banks to repossess upwards of 10,000 homes a year in SA. In this instalment, he explains to get obtain information on securitisation.

In the first of this two-part article, Jack Darier delves into the murky world of securitisation, and how banks are able to side-step the law in grabbing the homes of upwards of 10,000 South Africans each year. It's all accomplished with legal trickery and the blessing of the courts.

Pravin Gordhan's budget was aimed not so much at trade unions or the party faithful, but at the ratings agencies, writes Tony Leon. History teaches us that a country which loses its credit rating is indeed headed for the junkyard.

The Free Market Foundation won a major victory in the Pretoria High Court this week when Judge John Murphy intervened, effectively declaring that bargaining council agreements must be subject to judicial review. This, says, the FMF, is a major victory for labour freedom and the unemployed. 

Higher taxes on the rich, a freeze on public sector hiring, a valiant if over-optimistic attempt to rein in public debt - it's all there in the Budget announced today by finance minister Pravin Gordhan. Here are the highlights.

Opposition parties were less than enamoured with much of what finance minister Pravin Gordhan announced in his latest budget today. Here we take a look at some of the reaction from Grant Thornton executives.

President Zuma's swagger is gone, replaced by a diminished man in trouble. This was evident during his State of the Nation address. As Allister Sparks points out, Zuma has effectively handed over control of the country to his finance minister, Pravin Gordhan.

A new study shows that the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) overpaid by R10bn or 321% when compared with other roads projects completed around the world. There is something grossly wrong with Sanral's road construction, for which Gauteng motorists are being repeatedly flogged. 

It's been called the Second American Revolution. Outliers Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are rattling the political establishment in ways that hav not been seen in nearly 50 years. It's a sign that the political establishment is in trouble.

President Zuma is not having an easy time of it. His State of the Nation address was an attempt to appease the left while pretending to promote investment. If there is one ray of sunshine in this mess, it is that Zuma will actually subject proposed new laws to economic impact assessments, to see whether or not they will do harm or good. 

The most pressing problem facing the country in the eyes of ordinary South Africans is unemployment. It is not racism, despite what many politicians would have you believe, according to Anthea Jeffery of the Institute of Race Relations.

President Zuma's state of the nation address was aimed at becalming a troubled country, but it may not be enough to avoid the inevitable ratings downgrade and electoral thumping the ruling party is likely to receive later this year. 

Morgan Stanley is the latest US bank to fess up to its role in the grand heist of 2008 when it fleeced investors and dumped subprime mortgages onto unsuspecting investors. It will cough up $3,2bn we learned this week. Bank of America agreed to pay $16,6bn in 2014.

An examination of matric results by the Institute of Race Relations shows whites scoring higher marks than other race groups. This suggests not nearly enough has been done to deliver quality education to black South Africans, according to the Institute. 

Julius Malema has fashioned himself on the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, seemingly oblivious of the fact that one in 10 Venezeulans plan to leave the country of their birth - such is the economic misery visited on them by the Chavez revolution. David Pilling of the Financial Times took Malema to lunch and ended up paying for seven of his comrades.

ANC veteran Denis Goldberg, friend of Nelson Mandela and a Rivonia trialist who spent 22 years behind bars for his political beliefs, says the ruling party is in for a nasty shock in the upcoming local elections. He also wonders how millionaire Julius Malema can speak for the poor.

The government is intent on micro-managing the financial serices sector with layer upon layer of regulation. Now it is the turn of insurers. New regulation will be dumped on the sector despite evidence that customers are on the whole rather satisfied, writes independent consultant Gerrit Sandrock.

Employees should ralise that they can be dismissed for offensive or racist social media remarks. Nothing posted in this digital age is considered private or irrelevant, according to Werksmans Attorneys. 

The judiciary has genuflected to Parliament's ongoing assault on property rights. As LLB student Martin van Staden points out, no society prospers where property rights are under attack. The result is inevitable: South Africans will continue securing their property rights in more hospitable climates abroad.

The witless Penny Sparrow has ignited a racial furore over her offensive remarks about blacks on SA's breaches, and rightly so. But most whites do not think like her. Yet SA does have a race problem, and its source is a government intent on using racial engineering to benefit a few.

As Acts Online has previosuly reported, SA is in the Stone Age when it comes to home repossessions. The good news is that the courts are considering changing its rules to prevent houses being sold at auction without reserve prices.   

Oxfam recently put out a report about the supposedly alarming growth of poverty and inequality. Oxfam is an anti-poverty, socialist carry-over from a by-gone era. It thrives on poverty and finds it everywhere, even when the actual evidence suggests otherwise.

The ANC is trying to put lipstick on the e-tolls pig, even going to the extent of insulting the estimated 90% of Gauteng motorists who have decided not to pay their e-tolls. This is a mistake the government may come to regret, particularly as local government elections are around the corner.