@Shaokhan, the same way every other individual and business provides proof of a bank account, a confirmation letter from the bank..... If she does not trust the confirmation letter, there are external 3rd party services that provide FICA verification, including bank accounts - DocFox, ThisIsMe - in fact its easy to automate. As the writer said: "Blissfully ignorant, seemingly innocent, eyes wide shut...."

The auditors of SA municipalities are up against the gangster ANC and the gangster state.

What happens next month? And the months after that? A bail out every month to pay salaries?

Absolutely correct. All our highly qualified children left many years ago. Quality export products as their susequent careers prove. Leave ASAP if young. Soon the socialist Gordhan etc will run out of other peoples money

So true,and remember old Mr King? he danced around SARS for many years.

Another “good ANC story” resulting from their kakistocracy.

Or, on the flip side : the new scheme is indeed an attempt to catch up with the reality that investors are not going to continue with the old model. Yet, If they published the back test and it shows how much they have been overpaid it might ruffle some feathers among the gruntled (slow cooking frogs) that still remain. It is time these “professionals” are paid and measured like other professionals. I do not pay my dentist based on my NAV. There is zero skill difference between managing R1b funds under management and R100b, BUT there is a 100 times difference in fees! The Account administration is nothing : it has to cost less than R5 per month which is what a transactional bank account costs. Anyway, not my problem - just amazed and amused

President Ramaphosa and the ANC knows exactly what the priorities are and how to fix them to get South Africa going forward again with required sustainability. Problem is they are to scared of labour unions and mass action to do anything. President Ramaphosa must watch out because under his watch this country will be another Zimbabwe within his period of presidency and then everybody will refer the further decline to the Ramaphsa regime like they do now referring all previous decline for the to the Jacob Zuma regime!!

Government should be attaching assets here and foreign as suspected proceeds of crime through preservation order. Then wait for the owners to object and face questions, not least from SARS about ownership and source of wealth versus tax returns. Al Capone was eventually taken down by IRS not Police

10? You must be joking. 3. Max

Can't quite say but I would imagine that iron-age management techniques don't really work in the quantum age ...

His mistress ain't :)

Let me burst everyone's bubble with one word - Tigon. 12 years later, as guilty as sin and still rattling around the courts. This tonsil, la Grange and all the other kleptomaniacs from Steinhoff will never see the inside of a jail cell and will die very, very wealthy. Only Louis du Preez and Werksmans / Linklaters are going to win here

This will be a test for the efficiency of tax-havens. Jooste may not have any assets in his name. Most of his assets may be housed in offshore trust structures. Many of these structures advertise their services as being impenetrable by tax authorities and prosecution authorities. It seems as if this was part of his long term plan. He knew all along that "day zero" will eventually arrive, so he hid the stash in the BVI. This will be a test for the OECD and anti-money-laundering regulations. Maybe Jooste will not only be blamed for the demise of Steinhoff, but also for the relentless attack on offshore structures.

The ANC has known for 25 years that the waste of public money is not a good idea. What have they done about it? Nothing Now you see them wringing their hands over it. Not a clue why, it's what they've tolerated and promoted. To the rest of South Africa, please pay your taxes to sustain our wonderful democracy. Thank you and goodnight.

There is no clear and coherent message in the SONA, but if you read between the lines, the subtle message becomes clear. The SONA is a smokescreen, a facade of false competence to hide the real, underlying reality. This SONA, when interpreted by free-market economists will read like this: "The real plan is the National Democratic Revolution that is built on top of the Freedom Charter. Everything we say here today is meant to fool the rating agencies and foreign investors. Our entire plan rests on our ability to borrow internationally to fund the BEE looting locally. As you all know, I am a BEE entrepreneur with personal interests in coal contracts with Eskom. Therefore, we will save Eskom with your money. The course of our economy is set for hyperinflation of the currency. That is our de-facto 10-year plan. Our economic policies are similar to that of Zimbabwe and Venezuela, and our cabinet members are of hugely inferior capability. So, the outcome is a no-brainer. Thank you. Thuma Mina, and watch this space."

Was listening to the Eusebius McKaiser show yesterday on 702. He had an economist and two other women from NGOs critiquing the economic aspects of the Sona. Not only did they pretty much shred it; they offered up a whole range of completely sensible alternatives. I find it incredibly scary when 3 people who've not even met before can totally out think the entire ANC in half an hour. Similarly, SABC TV ran an interview with Vuyani Jarana's former advisor at SAA who, in 10 minutes, articulated a 10 times more coherent view of how the government should manage it's SOE's than you have ever heard out of the mouth of government. So the poverty and inequality problem we have in this country starts with the quality of thinking in the ANC. Same goes for the EFF and COSATU, and goodness knows how much better the DA is: I find it hard to tell what they really think. Our sports teams are fair proxies for our government. In all league tables of performance our government is doing worse than the Proteas. That they seem incapable of seeing this just confirms the assertion. We are not in good hands at all. Small wonder we are shedding jobs.

These okes do not know how to fix a lawnmower never mind the country!!!

What climate model are you quoting and how well does it stack up against reality ? There are about 80 different climate models out there that have a range of climate sensitivity ranging from 0 to 7°C for CO2 doubling. An aggregate of these would be meaningless mumbo jumbo.

“We can’t talk out way out of our difficulties,” he says - To true - The ANC have been talking and promising now for 25 years and all that happened is the country has been looted!!!!

South Africa contributes LESS THAN 2% of the emissions world wide! As I keep telling "intelligent" people, there is not 1 speck of empirical evidence to show "global warming" I mean "Climate change" I mean "Climate resilience (new term coming.) It is a cabal of UN-ELECTED people who will fine the country (drain the fiscus) and use the money for WHAT EVER THE HELL THEY WANT. Quit watching CNN.You get better answers if you would research rather then get your news in 20 second bytes

Here's a medical aid issue for Patrick Cairns to REALLY investigate:- What is going to happen to all those medical aid members contributions and benefits in this country once the ANC, via minister Mhkize gets the National Health Insurance scheme activated here in South Africa? See what you can come up with Patrick as this matter is deserving of a big, big article. How about some input from Discovery or Momentum as well, what do they know? What have they picked up?

This SONA is a nice socialist wishlist without any practical plans. A fairytale story to impress myopic, naive and ignorant social justice advocates. A public display of the victim, and blameshifting mentality without any workable strategies to support the economy. Watching my president speak gave me a warm feeling, but I can generate a similar feeling by wetting my pants.

Ramaphosa's first and most important test is a dismal failure. The tiny part of the nation that contributes to the economy waited for action against Eskom. We gave him the opportunity and time to break up Eskom, shrink the workforce, get private investors to sort out the mess and fast-track green energy projects. To our shock and dismay, The Sona proved to be the biggest non-event of the year. Come to think of it, the Sona actually was an accurate and precise display of the State of the Nation. A lot of incompetence parading as competent. Many criminals parading as saints. Self-interest parading as benevolence and goodwill. A lot of pretences but zero substance. The president uttered thousands of words without saying anything. This is the actual State of the Nation all right. It seems as if socialist political systems implode as a result of a failure in the energy sector. Venezuela imploded after the crash in the oil price. The USSR imploded after the explosion at Chernobyl, and the ANC will implode after the implosion of Eskom. It is clear that BEE is the umbilical cord that connects Luthuli House to Eskom. Luthuli House is a premature baby, unable to survive without the patronage from Eskom. Chernobyl was a manmade disaster of epic proportions. It exposed to incompetence, inefficiencies and lies of the typical socialist system. Eskom is fast becoming our manmade disaster of epic proportions.

The Mining Charter, in combination with BEE laws, is a powerful catalytic converter that changes mineworkers into zamma zammas. Luthuli House is the mad chemist who uses these trusted socialist recipes to turn the economy upside down, destroy employment opportunities, implode the tax base and dumps the nation in poverty and ruin. Eskom will be the first of these socialist experiments to go catastrophically wrong. Few people realise that Eskom's financial implosion will eclipse the manmade disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Facility. The nuclear fallout at Chernobyl killed less than one-hundred-thousand people. The financial fallout after an Eskom implosion will cause the premature deaths of 25 million South Africans. How do we get to that figure? Look at what happens in countries that suffer under hyperinflation. No access to TB medication, antiretrovirals and insulin, mean that patients who need antibiotics, who suffer from tuberculosis, AIDS and diabetes will die within 12 months. In South Africa that adds up to about half the population. If the world believes that Chernobyl was the worst manmade disaster in history, they haven't seen the financial damage that radiates from the manmade Eskom disaster.

Interesting that the protesters never complain about the population growth. Typical left wing bunch.

If you can’t fix Home Affairs how on earth are going fix the the rest of it . I’m afraid it’s a case of ‘ You don’t know that you don’t know ‘ . Privatization is the only thing that can save this country and they all know it . That’s why our politicians use private hospitals and send their children to private schools !

When he opened with the 106 year anniversary and apartheid race card and how 25 years ago the ANC took over an economical disaster my estimation of this guy dropped. This was Zuma all over again with a different accent but no stumbling over 5 digit numbers. If Zuma/Radebe and co had signed all the IPP contracts 5 years ago these projects would have absorbed the redundant Eskom workers and Eskom would have almost been fixed. but once again we are trying to fill a leaking bucket by adding more water. Cyril your gifted riches are showing, if you were a self-made billionaire you would know how to fix this mess but seeing that all you have was given to you and is enough to generate enough to fix your business problems it is no wonder you don't know what you are doing. I really hoped you would crack the whip, to hell with popularity and a second term, be unpopular, wield the big sharp knife, cut the fat, the nation will thank you in 5 years time and will vote you in again. Carry on like a wimp and you may not have a country in 5 years time.

No mention of why Eskom is in the position it is. No mention of remedial action as to prevent this (again) happening in the future. No mention of bringing those responsible for this mess to justice. Throwing taxpayers money at the problem will solve nothing Cyril.

Are we expecting long retired "freedom fighters", communists, unionists and crooks to resolve issues and grow the economy to create jobs? The ability is not there and never will be. Where would it come from?