A heart-warming Good Samaritan Story?​

Good Samaritans on the N2 Motorway-Durban

A true story by Bashi Singh

 Firstly I am a Durbanite at heart although I now live 6000 kilometers away in Sydney Australia I value my roots and travel back to my hometown every year. This year was no different, when I come home I hear about all the crime and so many stories of doom and gloom.

I hope that this story encourages all Durbanites to be more optimistic about the future.

On Sunday 22nd January 2017 I was driving to Verulam after a lovely lunch with family in Kingsborugh. I was on the N2 around 3pm in the afternoon heading towards the North Coast. I was driving along reflecting on my holiday.

I went onto the overtaking 3rd lane when quite suddenly my car slowed and then just stopped. In the rear view mirror I watched terrified as huge trucks and other vehicles hurtled towards me in the fast lane, braked suddenly when they realized I was stationary, almost skidding towards me, very very scary… I didn’t know what to do at that point, I couldn’t get out of the car, I tried calling my family and then just sat there saying help, help, to myself as mega trucks skidded to avoid me and then accelerated past me.

Suddenly this bluish car stopped behind me
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Are our hamburgers good value?​

THE ‘BIG MAC’ INDEX – HOW DOES SA DO?

By Steuart Pennington

The Big Mac Index is published by The Economist as an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two currencies and provides a test of the extent to which market exchange rates result in goods costing the same in different countries.

The Big Mac Index compares the prices of hamburgers and what that says about the value of the local currency, and therefore what it’s implied value is for the SA Rand based on purchasing power parity (PPP). According to this well-known index the Rand is grossly undervalued and this has been the case for as long as data has been available for the Big Mac Index.

So what is the price of a Big Mac in US Dollars in South Africa vs the price of the same Big Mac in US Dollars in the USA?

If the price of a Big Mac in South Africa is R30, that’s US$2.50. Back in the US a Big Mac costs US$ 5.28 or R63.36

Therefore, based on purchasing power parity (PPP), the South African rand is undervalued by some 56%

If you are a South African travelling abroad you’ll eat your Big Mac slowly @ approximately R10 a bite.
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Traffic Congestion in SA – how do we rank globally?​

TRAFFIC CONGESTION SURVEY – HOW DOES SA RANK?

By Steuart Pennington

I have often said that if you want to find out the facts of South Africa’s global standing, “Google it”. There are surveys on just about everything.

But don’t be fooled, there are hardly any surveys which include every country in the world, that being 235.

So, when you hear that we are “the worst in the world”, it is seldom the truth.

INRIX, I have just produced a traffic congestion survey of 1360 cities in which they measure the following:
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THIS WEEK'S FAST FACT

Game changers

Tax-e: According to the SA National Taxi Council, there are more than 200,000 minibus taxis in South Africa≠ generating over R90 billion each year. The taxi industry in SA has started to adopt an e-ticket fare collection system that will enable commuters to load their FairPay cards via point of sale devices and kiosks at taxi ranks. Apart from being able to process card payments, the equipment installed in taxis also contains a GPS device, and can act as a WiFi hotspot, providing commuters with internet connectivity while they travel. 
(Source: www.Eighty20.co.za)