While farmland has long been considered a safe-haven investment, the Covid-19 pandemic and a general trend towards environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing are pushing more institutional investors, particularly pension funds, to look more closely at this alternative asset class.

Applications to apply for government’s presidential stimulus package worth R1 billion, opens on Thursday 10 December.

So now we know. One of the reasons for retaining South African exchange controls is to ensure that enough money is available for investment in ‘a green economy and the move from coal to renewables and gas’.

(As introduced in the National Assembly (proposed section 76); explanatory summary of Bill and prior notice of its introduction published in Government Gazette No. 43798 of 9 October 2020)) (The English text is the offıcial text of the Bill).

South African cannabis policy is currently at a crossroads. In 2018, the Constitutional Court effectively decriminalised private cannabis use. Since then, the government has continued to grapple with how to regulate this plant and its products, locally called ‘dagga’.

The Covid-19 pandemic is teaching us all some very important lessons. In particular, it is reminding us that our health, our economy and our way of life are built on a fragile foundation that is far too often taken for granted.