We look at the importance of the Sumbandila satellite for South Africa; We speak to the head of Evraz's international operations about the company's plans to firmly align Highveld Steel & Vanadium to the infrastructure market; And, Information and Communications Technology company GijimaAST starts to reduce the carbon footprint at its head office.

This week: the EASSy cable lands at Mtunzini beach in KwaZulu-Natal; we ask: when should South Africa order its next nuclear power station? And, the iron-ore mining industry is proving recession-proof, especially for South Africa's Kumba Iron Ore.

This week we look at nuclear power as an option for South Africa; the platinum price collapsed along with the automotive market early last year, but a much-changed outlook is now lifting sentiment; and, we look at South Africa's new aviation exhibition.

Flying unmanned aircraft in civil air space; the head of South Africa's largest steel producer on the group's power generation plans; and gold producer Great Basin Gold eyes the mid-tier horizon.

Top stories this week: diamond giant De Beers opens the Diamond Route in South Africa; the first black jeweller from the South African jewellery development projects opens his own retail shop; nd, how to enhance maths and science teaching skills through an e-learning computer-aided design course.

Creamer Media's Christy van der Merwe discusses climate change and carbon taxes in the South African context, with Marie Parramon and Andrew Gilder of Imbewu Legal Sustainability Specialists.

The world currently had installed electricity capacity of about 4 000 GW and given the expected strong growth in demand for electricity, this should be doubled by 2030, power utility Électricité de France (EDF) senior executive vice-president for international operations Gerard Wolf told a conference on Tuesday. He noted during the first day of the Power and Electricity World Africa conference, in Johannesburg, that despite many countries investing in additional capacity, this still left about 1,6-billion people without electricity.

South African metals and engineering companies shed some 70 000 jobs, the equivalent of 20% of all scheduled jobs in the sector, during the 2009 recession. However, the sector still showed signs of relative resilience, when compared with previous recent downturns, Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC) CEO Alistair Smith argued on Monday. Speaking at a MEIBC business breakfast in Johannesburg, Smith noted that during the late 1990s and early 2000s, the industry shed about 40% of its work force as it sought to adapt to a more liberalised environment, precipitated by the end of apartheid.

Public Enterprises Deputy Minister Enoch Godongwana on Monday reaffirmed the South African government's commitment to "put an end to the chapter" of independent power producers (IPPs) struggling to conclude power purchase agreements (PPAs). "We cannot leave that issue to Eskom any longer," he said at a clean technology conference in Sandton.

The revamp of South Africa's preferential procurement policy will include "stronger" localisation targets for State-owned enterprises and government departments that will be pursuing ongoing purchases of capital equipment and infrastructure services, Trade and Industry deputy DG responsible of industrial policy Nimrod Zalk said on Monday. But the framework would not support uncompetitive local industry. Instead, the policy would seek facilitate local production through the identification of up to ten areas of ongoing repeat procurement "fleets", from locomotives to power station components.

Cosatu joins the African National Congress in backing Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan; and the South African government reaffirms its commitment to put an end to independent power producers struggling to conclude power purchase agreements.

The US government will abstain from the Eskom World Bank loan vote in early April; and power from the first Medupi unit is still scheduled to come onstream in the first half of 2012.

SAA concludes a $1-billion deal with French aircraft manufacturer Airbus; and VWSA re-enters the affordable passenger vehicle segment with the introduction of the new Polo Vivo.

Phase one of the Gautrain rapid-rail link will be ready for the 2010 FIFA World Cup; and the Department of Mineral Resources confirms that the Sishen right has reverted to the State.

Transnet confirms a R2,75-billion rise in pipeline cost as well as a year delay; and devaluing the rand would be a "very short-sighted" move for South Africa to make.

The French government this week took firm steps in helping South Africa to enter the nuclear energy fold; electricity uncertainty is causing South Africa to lose an important growth opportunity in ferrochrome; the US is placing more orders for armoured cars that are designed and manufactured in South Africa.

South Africa could be getting 10% of its drinking water from the sea in the future; big business is promoting a growth vision that involves a doubling of the South African economy; Another mining summit will take place in South Africa this month, against the background of strident calls for mine nationalisation.

The Department of Science and Technology looking in to bringing back South Africa's space rocket launching capability; air traffic tracking system and South Africa one of the first countries in the world to introduce this new state-of-the-art tracking system at its airport; South African Army embarking on a programme of bridge building in the poor areas of the Eastern Cape.

The South African government is to invest in the local satellite manufacturing business; the Russians are keen to cooperate with South Africa in the field of unmanned aircraft technology; Engineering is poised to emerge as the profession of the next decade, if not the next century.

Continuous 7-day-week round-the-clock mining has been introduced at South Africa's newest gold mine; South Africans are building what is destined to be the DRC's biggest gold mine; South Africa's newest coal mine has come in hundreds of millions of rands below budget.