1 December 2021 - Among the notable and memorable events of the past year was the passing of former President FW De Klerk. It was one of those archetypal ‘opportunities’ to reflect on the state of the country. And there was no shortage of that!
What is the purpose of business?
By Siyabulela Tsengiwe on 1 May 2021
What Raymond Ackerman, the founder of Pick n Pay said on his 90th birthday regarding the role of business got me thinking. He said it is to do good; care for society and people. In searching for answers to this question, one can draw from two competing theories in business ethics, the stockholder and stakeholder.
Milton Friedman, a leading figure in neoclassical economics, takes a rigid position in his 1970 article, The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits: the responsibility of the executive is to maximise profits for the shareholders within the legal framework and ethical code. Friedman states: “In a free-enterprise, private property system, a corporate executive is an employee of the owners of the business. He has direct responsibility to his employers. That responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as po
Some leaders in the Eastern Cape say the temporary suspension of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine rollout “has come as a blessing in disguise for the province”.
With the much anticipated first batch of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine delivered to South Africa last week, provinces have been gearing up to start vaccinating people as soon as next week. But on Sunday evening Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize announced that the rollout of this vaccine to the country’s health workers is temporarily suspended after preliminary data showed the vaccine has low efficacy against the variant now dominant in South Africa.
Some leaders in the Eastern Cape say the temporary suspension of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine roll-out “has come as a blessing in disguise for the province”.
With the much anticipated first batch of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine delivered to South Africa last week, provinces have been gearing up to start vaccinating people as soon as next week. But on Sunday evening Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize announced that the roll-out of this vaccine to the country’s healthcare workers is temporarily suspended after preliminary data showed the vaccine has low efficacy against the variant now dominant in South Africa.