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Eskom warns of summer load-shedding as it confirms 91 days of cuts for year to date

By: Terence Creamer 31st August 2022 Electricity utility Eskom told lawmakers on Wednesday that the risk of load-shedding remained high for the upcoming summer season, while confirming that there had already been 91 days of load-shedding during 2022. Eskom’s summer ‘base case’ is premised on there being 13 000 MW of onging unplanned... →

Transnet, CRRC E-Loco say ‘in-principle agreement’ reached to resolve legal disputes

By: Terence Creamer 31st August 2022 South Africa’s Transnet and China’s CRRC E-Loco announced on Wednesday that an in-principle agreement had been reach “towards the resolution of all current legal disputes between the two companies, to enable support to enhance Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR’s) ability to serve customer demand on an... →

Motus targets aftermarket growth; sees vehicle supply stabilising by mid-2023

By: Irma Venter 31st August 2022 Motus has “a big focus” on growing its aftermarket business over the next two years, says CEO Osman Arbee. Speaking at the company’s annual results presentation in Johannesburg on Wednesday, he noted that the internal combustion engine (ICE) aftermarket still had “a lot of road to run”, despite... →

M&R reports strong rise in earnings but holds back on dividend

By: Terence Creamer 31st August 2022 Engineering and contracting group Murray & Roberts (M&R) reported a strong rise in revenue and earnings during its financial year to the end of June, but held back on declaring a dividend, owing to what it described as a significant order book, its expected growth trajectory and future working... →

Aspen, India's Serum Institute sign vaccines deal for Africa

By: Reuters 31st August 2022 Aspen Pharmacare has signed a deal with the Serum Institute of India to manufacture and sell four Aspen-branded vaccines for Africa, as it seeks to utilise its near-idle Covid-19 vaccine production lines in eastern South Africa. Aspen has a contract with Johnson & Johnson to package its Covid-19... →

DTIC issues draft regulations exempting SMMEs from some practices set out in the Competition Act

By: Darren Parker 31st August 2022 Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel has announced the publishing of a draft notice in the Government Gazette on August 31 which sets out proposed terms for a new block exemption for small-, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) to be exempted from certain categories of... →

Photo by Creamer Media
Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel

South African, Egyptian competition authorities sign MoU

By: Darren Parker 31st August 2022 The Competition Commission South Africa has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) to establish a general framework for bilateral communication and cooperation in the fields of competition law and policy, as well as enforcement. The MoU, which was... →

Outgoing Competition commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele

Newly amended Employment Equity Act to come into effect in Sept 2023

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 31st August 2022 The amended Employment Equity (EE) Act, which empowers the Employment and Labour Minister to regulate sector-specific EE targets and to regulate compliance criteria to issue EE Compliance Certificates in terms of Section 53 of the Act is expected to come into force on September 1, 2023.... →

South African food inflation hit its highest level in six years in July

By: Rebecca Campbell 31st August 2022 South African food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation hit 9.7%, in year-on-year terms, in July, the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) has reported. This is the highest level since the severe drought in the country during 2016 and 2017. However, the South African figure is still... →

MTN Group appoints Digital Platforms CEO

By: Creamer Media Reporter 31st August 2022 Telecommunications giant MTN Group has appointed Christian Bombrun as CEO: Digital Platforms, effective September 1, assuming the role from Minnie Harris, who has been acting in the role since April 2022. Harris, who has been “double-hatting” over the past four months, will now focus solely on... →

Two South African space conferences jointly under way in Pretoria

By: Rebecca Campbell 31st August 2022 Two major South African space conferences were opened on Wednesday, at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s International Convention Centre in Pretoria. They are the fourth South African Group on Earth Observations (SA-GEO) symposium and the third Space for National Development... →

Impower to supply Capitec with battery backup system

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 31st August 2022 Financial services provider Capitec has commissioned solar installation company Impower to design, install and maintain an electricity solution that integrates both solar and a battery backup system, at its headquarters in Stellenbosch. The banking giant says it has turned to solar as a... →

OneLogix United Bulk achieves ISO 39001 certification

By: Donna Slater 31st August 2022 Tanker operator OneLogix United Bulk has been awarded International Standards Organisation (ISO) 39001 certification – an achievement the company says makes it the first dangerous goods transporter in South Africa to achieve the certification. The ISO 39001 recognition – awarded to the company by... →

African industrialisation, changing perceptions a priority for China – ambassador’s office

By: Donna Slater 31st August 2022 The most important form of foreign assistance that can be provided to Africa currently centres around industrialisation efforts and boosting the continent’s ability to improve and expand its industrial capability, Chinese Embassy in South Africa charge d'affairs Li Zhigang said this week.... →

One of world’s most polluted spots gets worse as $1bn cleanup drags on

By: Bloomberg 31st August 2022 In the more than a quarter century since Shell left Ogoniland in southern Nigeria, oil has continued to ooze from dormant wellheads and active pipelines, leaving the 386-square mile kingdom’s wetlands shimmering with a greasy rainbow sheen, its once-lush mangroves coated in crude, well-water... →

A photo of the damage done to Nigeria's environment as a result of oil spills

DFFE asks for new sites to be included on World Heritage List

By: Marleny Arnoldi 31st August 2022 The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) has published a revised South African Tentative List for consideration and inscription on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (Unesco’s) World Heritage List. South Africa’s Tentative List... →

DRDGold's livelihoods initiative attracts 8 000-plus direct participants

By: Martin Creamer 31st August 2022 The livelihoods initiative introduced by surface gold mining company DRDGold has to date attracted more than 8 000 direct participants at a time when boosting jobs and livelihoods in South Africa has never been more important The broad-based livelihoods (BBL) programme of the Johannesburg- and... →

DRDGold CEO Niël Pretorius interviewed by Mining Weekly's Martin Creamer. Video: Shadwyn Dickinson.

A plan for a new State power company takes shape in South Africa

By: Bloomberg 31st August 2022 South Africa is forging ahead with a plan to create a new State-owned power company by converting three coal-fired plants into gas-burning generators to ease the nation’s energy crisis. State power utility Eskom generates most of South Africa’s electricity, and has subjected the country to... →

Minerals Resource and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe

Day Zero: Combined 11% left in Nelson Mandela Bay storage dams, but water consumption remains high

By: News24Wire 31st August 2022 All dams supplying the drought-stricken Nelson Mandela Bay metro are at a combined capacity of 11%. The water levels at the dams supplying mainly the towns of Gqeberha, Kariega, Despatch, and Colchester continue plummeting. →

SMME export development and promotion support part of industrialisation, competitiveness - DTIC

By: Schalk Burger 30th August 2022 The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) provides support to small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) in terms of export readiness, export development and export promotion as part of efforts to drive industrialisation, development and competitiveness. The DTIC hosted a... →

De Lille inspects Jeppestown social housing development

By: Donna Slater 30th August 2022 Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille, in her role as Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission secretariat, conducted an oversight visit to Unity House – a social housing project in Jeppestown, in the Johannesburg central business district, on August 30. The... →

An image of the Jeppestown social housing

Photo by Creamer Media
One of the larger two-bedroom units is seen here. It features an open-plan kitchen and lounge and has a single bathroom.

South Africans look abroad as supply chain challenges increase

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 30th August 2022 Local container shipments for export declined by 17.5% year-on-year during the second quarter of the year as port activity was impacted by international supply chain disruptions, load-shedding and flooding in KwaZulu-Natal, PwC South Africa’s ‘South Africa Economic Outlook’ report for 2022... →

Transpaco records 12.5% increase in full-year revenue

By: Donna Slater 30th August 2022 JSE-listed paper, plastic and packaging group Transpaco increased its revenue by 12.5% year-on-year to R2.34-billion for the financial year ended June 30, on the back of material cost inflation and volume growth across the group. Operating profit grew by 35.1% to R222.8-million in the period,... →

Feasibility studies this year for Mponeng gold mine deepening – Harmony

By: Martin Creamer 30th August 2022 Time will be spent this year on doing feasibility studies relating to the deepening of the Mponeng gold mine on the West Rand, Harmony Gold CEO Peter Steenkamp said on Tuesday. In response to Afrifocus Securities analyst Des Moines on how important Mponeng woud be in the years to come, Steenkamp... →

Harmony Gold presentation covered by Mining Weekly’s Martin Creamer. Video: Darlene Creamer.

Govt paid out R2.4bn so far to businesses affected by July unrest

By: News24Wire 30th August 2022 The July 2021 unrest and the floods in KwaZulu-Natal in April this year have seen the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and its entities make available R3.5-billion in support. The dtic on Tuesday briefed the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition on the support... →

Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Fikile Majola

TIASA takes SATMC, Itac to court as tyre battle intensifies

By: Irma Venter 30th August 2022 The Tyre Importers Association of South Africa (TIASA) has applied to court to compel the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) and the South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference (SATMC) to disclose what it says is “critical information that is being withheld”... →

KZN floods took significant toll on new-vehicle production, exports – Naamsa

By: Irma Venter 30th August 2022 The KwaZulu-Natal floods, along with the associated disruption in the movement of automotive components and vehicles via the Durban port, as well as the ongoing global semiconductor shortage, have all taken a significant toll on South Africa’s second-quarter new-vehicle export and production... →

Image of the Toyota plant in Durban shortly after the April 2022 floods

The Toyota plant in Durban shortly after the April floods

Harmony working hard to boost productivity

By: Martin Creamer 30th August 2022 Gold mining company Harmony Gold on Tuesday announced a programme to improve the human dimension of safety and productivity by combining cultural transformation with technological advancements. The target of the Safety 300 or S300 programme is to safely lift the output per mining crew from the... →

Harmony Gold CEO Peter Steenkamp interviewed by Mining Weekly’s Martin Creamer. Video: Darlene Creamer.

Twitter data can be used to pinpoint hijacking hotspots

By: Creamer Media Reporter 30th August 2022 As South African drivers face the increasing risks of hijackings, data from social network Twitter can be leveraged to develop a map that pinpoints hijacking hot spots. Speaking at the Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (Satnac), hosted by Telkom, University of... →

South African officials hamstrung by graft rules, Momoniat says

By: News24Wire 30th August 2022 South Africa needs to review the way it is tackling corruption to ensure it doesn’t impede officials from delivering services and doing their jobs, according to the acting head of the National Treasury. The current approach is geared toward implementing overly restrictive rules, rather than... →

Action National Treasury Head Ismail Momoniat

Mchunu supports calls for private sector investment in water infrastructure

By: Natasha Odendaal 30th August 2022 South Africa’s government is in support of private sector collaborations as a means to ensure water security and the treatment of wastewater across Africa. Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu, expressing support of investment in water infrastructure, particularly in wastewater, by the... →

IATA welcomes Nigerian release of some blocked airline funds, calls for others to do likewise

By: Rebecca Campbell 30th August 2022 The global representative body of the airline industry, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has welcomed the decision by the Government of Nigeria to release just over 50% of the international airlines’ funds that it had been blocking from repatriation. Nigeria has now released... →

DPE welcomes arrest of former Transnet execs for alleged corruption, fraud

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 30th August 2022 The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has welcomed the arrest and court appearance of former Transnet executives on charges related to alleged corruption, State capture and fraud. The arrest of former Transnet Group CEO Brian Molefe and former Transnet CFO Anoj Singh, is an indication that... →

Super Group reports a strong performance in a turbulent market

By: Darren Parker 30th August 2022 Logistics company Super Group has reported strong results for the financial year ended June 30, despite “extreme market volatility”. The group’s revenue increased by 17% year-on-year to R46.2-billion and its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation increased by 70% to... →

Japan, AfDB joint initiative ups funding for African private sector

By: Rebecca Campbell 30th August 2022 The fifth phase of the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa initiative (EPSA 5), which will commence next year and run until 2025, will be able to provide support of up to $5-billion to the continent’s private sector. EPSA is a partnership between the Government of Japan and the African... →

Digital future of banking inevitable, imminent, report posits

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 30th August 2022 Two-thirds of South Africans expect the country’s banks to make a full transition to digital banking within five years, a new report titled ‘The Future of Retail Banking in South Africa’ states. The report was introduced at an event held in Sandton by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in partnership... →

Development banks under pressure to compensate harmed communities

By: Reuters 30th August 2022 Mamadou Lamarana was hoping the World Bank's financial involvement in a western Guinean bauxite mine expansion would lead to compensation for the loss of land and pollution he says his community suffered in the run up to their resettlement in 2020. The 38-year-old electrician and representatives... →

Altvest Capital to list on A2X Markets

By: Donna Slater 30th August 2022 Alternative investment platform Altvest Capital, which listed on the Cape Town Stock Exchange (CTSE) in May, will also list its shares on A2X Markets on September 6. Having started trading in October 2017, A2X is a licensed stock exchange that provides a secondary listing venue for companies. →

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Carl Haycock, CEO of sustainable industrial water solutions company Talbot, reveals why a parched world should look south for solutions

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