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Thursday, March 12, 2009.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon O'Donnell.

Making headlines today:

State-owned freight logistics group Transnet will seek to conclude tender processes for the procurement of 100 diesel locomotives by March 17th. This follows a legal judgement that cleared the way for the tender to proceed.

It remains uncertain as to when the actual contract will be awarded.

Also uncertain is whether Transnet will be able to insist on the same levels of local content, given the urgency now involved. It is understood that the tender gives no leeway in this regard. But, it is likely to be a subject that will be raised in the commercial interactions that will follow the closure of the tender process.

The group had initially set March 10 as the closing date for bids, but the extension appeared to relate mainly to uncertainties surrounding the recent court action, which coincided with a request from some of the bidders for more time.

Business confidence in South Africa declined to a ten-year low in the first quarter of 2009, with the Rand Merchant Bank/Bureau for Economic Research Business Confidence Index having declined to a low of 27 points.

This was a six-point drop from the 33 index points registered in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The RMB and BER economists noted that only about one-quarter of respondents had felt that business conditions were satisfactory in the quarter.

Also making headlines:

Bureau for Economic Research senior economist Dr Charles Martin says South Africa's building sector faces a tough 2009.
Mobile firm MTN's profit is up 44% as subscriber numbers reach 90-million.
South Africa will see a ‘new breed' of telecoms operators in 2009.
And, South Africa's Housing department vows to get rid of fraud and corruption.

That's a round up of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories please visit engineeringnews.co.za.