Some time ago I referred to the South African government as a “pyramid scheme” dressed up as a government. Nothing that has happened in the past few weeks has altered my view that, bar a few notable exceptions, this administration has let go of the state rudder.

The two-year battle over consulting fees between Namemco Energy and Vodacom, which nearly resulted in the auction of Vodacom’s stake in Vodacom Congo, has been settled, according to the telecommunications firm.

In recent columns I have mentioned the frightening statistic from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that, on a global level, more than 120 million men and women are now without work – and will probably never work again.

Adcorp’s employment index has reached the office of the Presidency. Speaking at the Wits Business School, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe reportedly claimed that labour productivity in South Africa had “declined by 41.2 percent since 1993” (polity.org.za, May 14).

Readers will be pleased to know that it was not the ANC government, any of its ministers, any of the directors-general or anyone near the top – let alone the president – who had anything whatsoever to do with the Gupta plane landing at the Waterkloof military airbase.

“One of the root causes for low labour productivity is sustained underinvestment in our manufacturing base.”

When Michael Jordaan steps down as chief executive of FNB at the end of this year.

Full marks to the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) for taking its role as a responsible investor seriously and telling the emperors on all those remuneration committees that they are wearing no clothes.

This afternoon, the debate on the Gupta family is to be held in the National Assembly.

Last week, thousands of mourners gathered at the remains of the Rana Plaza factory complex in Bangladesh to pray for the 1 127 people who died when it collapsed on April 24.