Captain Fastbastard Mayhem

Sorry, what?! Have you not read what I've said? I've said that I recognise the other side of the coin, have considered it and have determined that the benefits of what they're doing in an attempt to alleviate wealth disparity overcome the negatives. Therefore I support the initiative, but I recognise that some people may not. And I'm fine with that. As for the telling clients they would be foolish to cancel just because Disco Bank will be earmarking 10% of its share allocation towards social upliftment of a historically disadvantaged subset of the population, whose unemployment and average earning figures are FAR worse than those complaining about this whole thing, damn right I would. If a product works, it works. A share incentive scheme that you (the client) disagrees with doesn't change that. I work on determining the ideal policy structure, efficiency, product and price for a particular client, based on their circumstances. This changes none of that, and I'd be failing in my job as a Financial Advisor if I did otherwise. As for the italicized bit - are you sure, cos this only came to light on Wednesday. A lot of people are trying to reduce their outgoings, and generally life assurance and med aid are the first items on the chopping block. I'm also certain that that is a hyperbole. I have no doubt that this was deeply considered, and this blowback (as small as it probably is) was considered as well. "As small as it is" taken to mean that those who are making a noise on social media are, in my opinion, a very small set of society, and probably not even Discovery clients. EDIT: Improperly placed apostrophe. My pet hate. Grrrr. Also removed something that didn't need to be there. EDIT EDIT: Whose to say that there won't be a socio-economic / earnings scale for this share incentive scheme? Those with higher earnings receive fewer shares, those with lower, more... I don't know the intricacies of the scheme, nor do I expect I ever will, unless AG does an interview explaining the whole thing (which he might) but it is a possibility that they may have considered.

there, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Not JUST education, but also training colleges (technikon) teachers training, public works programs etc etc etc.

that's a nice little addition, and one I'd support as well.

Again - why not both? You can delineate on racial lines, in this instance, and see what the differences in economic involvement are quite clearly. The data is there, you just have to glance at it to see. As for the building schools thing - I'm kinda torn. From a corporate social responsibility perspective it'd be fantastic, but then it would also kinda taking over somewhat from the government's prerogative, which is to further re-energise education. PROPERLY. The cynic in me says that if a company / companies start building schools, and opening them up to those who need it most, gov't may not concentrate as much as they should on things like that. Over-stepping their boundaries, so to speak. But I'd like to see it, still.

Bold: possibly, but here, in South Africa, you can pretty much do that across racial lines. That fact is inescapable, and as much as I'd like to agree with you on the socio-economic factor side of things, there is a vast difference in earnings and socio-economic status between your average caucasian SAn and your average black SAn. Italic: Yes, but that is not a good enough reason to not do it at all, when the numbers so clearly show that the "target" market of this scheme is far worse off on average. Think of your domestics, your gardeners, your guys doing odd jobs for R 150 per time a couple times a week, who never would have had access to a bank account before. This is powerful, for them, and they also need upliftment. Look - I see both sides, but in my opinion there's a good reason why this has been done the way it has, and I've tried to explain that a bit. The data is there. 8% unemployment amongst white SAns. Over 40% in the black SAn population. In my opinion, it's like a share incentive scheme for non-employees (which also generally heavily favours black SAns in their make-up)

Why not both? I agree that this system may not get as many of those people who they are trying to target, but the simple fact is that, on a basis of ethnicity & economic involvement, black SAns are far worse off on average than white SAns. This may go some way towards addressing that imbalance, and who knows - maybe Discovery Schools are next on the list?

???? And yeah, would have been an interesting comparison. But I'll do as best as I can to compare properly between old and new, including the effect taking 1kg off the front end has on her!

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if someone can offer up an extremely good reason as to why this was a bad move, or why it should be opened to anyone, instead of helping those which need it most, I'll be happy to change my mind.

short-sighted people, in my opinion. Look, I don't know how many shares have been / will be issued, but 10% of the total share package ringfenced for this sort of thing goes a long way to at least partly addressing the issue of wealth disparity that is in this country (and no, it's not just apartheid's fault, just in case you think that - you know my stance on how this govt has by in large failed the majority of its citizens since '94) And on a platform which is entirely app-based, with great benefits, means that those who need it and cannot necessarily travel to a branch to open up a bank account (still difficult, for some people - I'll let you guess who those people are) can get an account easily, and also get a leg up at the same time.

Hey Carpet, none of our clients at all. And if they try, we'll tell them they're being dof - they don't have to sign up for the bank, but to cancel alles due to a share incentive scheme (which, by the way, a LOT of companies have in place) for previously disadvantaged individuals / that sector of the population which needs it most, is foolish. Especially when the product in question has boggerall to do with the life / med aid side of things, and how good those products are in and of themselves. Yes, it's a large percentage of the shares that have been listed, but the simple fact is that the proportion of black individuals who NEED this sort of thing is far higher than the percentage of white folk who need this sort of leg up. We can still purchase shares in the company (Disco Bank) but we have to pay for it. As a social responsibility venture, I get it. I also get the outrage, but I don't agree with it.

New Goodies courtesy of SRAM and Cape Cycle Systems. Just need to wait for the boost adapter kit to arrive, and then it's play time!!! Lyrik RC2 Debonair 170mm. So much of drool. And yes, this is replacing the Marzo. I'm still keeping the Marzo, but its going up on my wall as a feature. Cos it rocks! I just got an opportunity that was too good to miss, and I jumped.

Yeah, 10% of the share allocation will be ringfenced for black economic empowerment.

Serious? Sterkte, boet

You won't find em in any bike shop locally, or even abroad. Direct sales. All info available online. First seen on Pinkbike, then vital MTB etc etc etc.

Seems like your phone doesn't know what the landscape mode is...

WHOOOOOOSH....

RMB is a division of fnb, which (currently) backs the cards. So he was correct.

Took me back to my mini and the weber 40DCOE I had on my passenger seat for all of 4 hours... Joh. Want that back so bad.

Indeed, the mostly goodly thing. Also couldn't have any disclaimers about "intended use"

I'm in love....

That was very high on his list of requirements. LOL.

Maybe speak to your girlfriend / wife nicely and you'll get one without having to resort to dodgy 50% off specials...

G Spot. & Eden. Jonkershoek Fire Hut trail (if he can handle the climb / walk to the top) & Never-ending Story. Tokai (snake trails) but that has an evil climb for a 7yo. Then for jumps / skills, G Land. Better for that than the skills park at HK, imo. Green Belts through Constantia. Mellow, flowy, undulating. Some chilled techy bits near Rhodes Drive (upper section) but nothing he shouldn't be able to do.

Me neither, despite the fact that my office is in century city. Home is in Plumstead, and I get far more enjoyment out of riding on Table Mountain than on TB, personally. Also, a far greater supply of the trails I want to ride.