JAMIE CARR: Knocking the stuffing out of the local property market

Netting a neat deal As the nation’s choice between the high road and the low road becomes ever more starkly binary, strange portents are gripping the suburbs. Even the tectonic plates are giving us a good old shake to raise us from our lethargy, with political activism replacing going to the gym and moaning about the rugby as the number one activity of choice. Amid all the fervour and placard waving, it’s worth taking a moment to think about poor old Net1 UEPS. The company has taken a mighty kick in its reputation since it became embroiled in the controversy over the payment of social grants, and has been pilloried as some sort of evil vulture picking over the bones of the poor. The day before its contract with the quite astonishingly incompetent SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) was due to run out, it signed a 12-month extension to the contract for the simple reason that it was the only operation that could do the job and ensure that social grants reached their intended recipients....