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Eskom to resume power cuts in South Africa on Monday

By: Reuters Updated 5 minutes ago South Africa's state power utility Eskom said on Sunday that a nationwide phased power cut due to end on Sunday would resume from Monday morning because some generating units were not yet operational. "As the return to service of some generation units has been delayed ... Stage 2 loadshedding... →

Land Bank reworking debt plan after State guarantee declined

By: Reuters 15th January 2021 South African State-owned Land Bank said on Thursday it was working on a new debt restructuring plan after the National Treasury declined to provide a partial government guarantee. The country's largest agriculture-focused lender defaulted on its debt in April and has been in talks with creditors... →

Eskom says Stage 2 load-shedding to continue until Sunday

By: Marleny Arnoldi 14th January 2021 State-owned power utility Eskom has advised that Stage 2 load-shedding will be implemented from midday on January 14 through to the end of January 17. Eskom says the load-shedding is necessary owing two tripped generation units at the Kusile power station, as a result of failure of the main coal... →

Desperate SAA pilots who left locked out union to get money still haven't been paid

By: News24Wire 11th January 2021 The SAA Pilots' Association wants to know why – unlike other employees at the state-owned airline – their thirteenth cheques for 2019 have not yet been paid from the R1.5-billion in funding the Department of Public Enterprises made available to the rescue practitioners in December. Saapa is... →

First application made for power-tariff relief under new DMRE frameworks

By: Terence Creamer 11th January 2021 The first application for tariff relief provided for under the Negotiated Pricing Agreement (NPA) frameworks published late last year by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has been submitted to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for authorisation. Nersa tells... →

Eskom suspends rolling blackouts as demand ebbs

By: African News Agency 8th January 2021 South African electricity company Eskom said on Friday it was suspending rolling power cuts implemented this week as demand had dropped ahead of the weekend. Eskom, which supplies about 95 percent of the country’s electricity mainly through coal, however urged consumers to continue using the... →

Has SAA's rescue plan become unimplementable?

By: News24Wire 6th January 2021 The rescue practitioners of South African Airways could still end up having to say that the state-owned airline's rescue plan is not financially viable anymore and unimplementable. Then they would be forced to liquidate the airline because the business rescue process could not serve its purpose... →

SAA pilot lockout 'indefinite', while backpay dispute raises legal issues, says labour lawyer

By: News24Wire 5th January 2021 The rescue practitioners of South African Airways can continue with the lockout of pilots as long as it suits them or until the SAA Pilots’ Association agrees to their proposals, says Hugo Pienaar, a labour law expert at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr. Members of SAAPA have been locked out by the rescue... →

Unplanned shut of Koeberg Unit 1 affects installation of new steam generators, raises load-shedding spectre

By: Terence Creamer 4th January 2021 Electricity utility Eskom reported on Monday that Koeberg Unit 1 would be taken offline for repairs one month ahead of scheduled maintenance after an increasing leak rate was detected from one of the unit’s three steam generators. Eskom said in a statement that the leak rate was “well within the... →

SAA pilots union: Key issue is not cuts to salaries, perks - it's who will be rehired and why

By: News24Wire 18th December 2020 The South African Airways Pilots Association (SAAPA) has hit back at claims by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) that a regulating agreement dating back to 1988 - which covers the cost structure for the airline's pilots - is too expensive to allow the restructured flag carrier to get off... →

DPE says pilot deal is too expensive and makes new SAA unattractive for investors

By: News24Wire 17th December 2020 In order for a restructured South African Airways (SAA) to get off the ground, it is critical to reduce what it regards as the too high current cost structure relating to pilots in terms of a regulating agreement dating from 1988, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) said in a statement on... →

Eskom’s bailout emerging as equity swap by biggest bondholder

By: Bloomberg 17th December 2020 South Africa’s biggest pot of available cash – R1.91-trillion of civil-servant pensions and unemployment funds managed by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) – is emerging as the key to rescuing the debt-stricken national power monopoly. The money manager has approached its parent agency, the... →

Zuma files challenge against Zondo

By: Reuters 16th December 2020 Former President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday filed a legal challenge against the judge who refused to recuse himself from an inquiry into State corruption, his lawyer confirmed. "The review challenge was filed today," Eric Mabuza, Zuma's attorney, said in an emailed reply to Reuters. The country's... →

Jacob Zuma chats with a member of his legal team ahead of the commission of inquiry probing State capture, in Johannesburg, in November.

Eskom outlines streamlined restructuring model to deliver independent grid company by end-2021

By: Terence Creamer 14th December 2020 Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter outlined a streamlined approach on Monday to the vertical separation of the State-owned utility into three businesses of generation, distribution and transmission, which he said could accelerate the process of establishing an Eskom-owned independent transmission system... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter

Hunt on for ‘tens of billions’ more, as ABB agrees to repay R1.56bn to settle corrupt Kusile contract

By: Terence Creamer 11th December 2020 Eskom and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) announced on Friday that an agreement had been reached with ABB South Africa in terms of which the multinational technology group would repay R1.56-billion to the State-owned utility to settle an overpayment dispute relating to a corrupt Kusile... →

Numsa blasts DPE, SAA, over 'misleading' workers, warns against 'unlawful' actions

By: Rebecca Campbell 11th December 2020 The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has attacked the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) concerning its behaviour regarding maintenance and repair organisation South African Airways Technical (SAAT), a subsidiary of the State-owned national airline South African Airways... →

South Africa’s renewables plan presents ‘remarkable’ industrialisation opportunity

By: Terence Creamer 11th December 2020 The roll-out of renewable energy at the scale envisaged in South Africa’s official electricity plan to 2030 presents a “remarkable” industrialisation opportunity, the leader of the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM) project team, Francis Jackson, argues. Jackson, who is also a... →

Completed tower sections manufactured by DCD Wind Towers, which subsequently closed down as a result of a protracted Eskom-induced procurement hiatus

REIPPPP requires more traction to address challenges

By: Mamaili Mamaila 11th December 2020 The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) continues to take years to move through the various phases – from initiating tenders to delivering energy to the end-user – which, considering the challenges that South Africa is facing, is a luxury the country cannot... →

PROCUREMENT ROAD MAP The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy will seek to procure 6 800 MW of solar photovoltaic and wind renewable energy from 2022 to 2024

Wind association lauds S Africa govt’s policy progress

11th December 2020 The South African Wind Energy Association (Sawea) has applauded the South African government for the progress made in policy over the last 12 months, beginning with the gazetting of the Integrated Resource Plan 2019 (IRP 2019) and all the hard work done, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, to ensure... →

KANGAS WIND FARM The first bid window four wind farm, in the Northern Cape, to come on stream as part of government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme

South Africa’s biggest power shift in over a generation holds big promise, and some risk

By: Terence Creamer 11th December 2020 Next year, 2021, is poised to be a pivotal one for South Africa’s renewable-energy sector – for real this time! The industry will have an opportunity, finally, to participate in the fifth bid window of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), the bid... →

Transnet says McKinsey owes it R1.2bn

By: Marleny Arnoldi 10th December 2020 State-owned freight utility Transnet has confirmed that no final settlement has been reached with US-based consultancy McKinsey, but says the consultancy owes it more than R1.2-billion. Transnet and McKinsey had discussions up until December 9, with the main point of dispute being the repayment... →

DPE appoints six nonexecutive directors to SAA interim board

By: Simone Liedtke 9th December 2020 The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has appointed six nonexecutive directors to the interim board of South African Airways (SAA). Geoff Qhena will be the board’s interim chairperson, and will be joined by Peter Tshisevhe, June Crawford, Bembe Zwane, Professor Edna van Harte and Nick Fadugba. →

SA needs structural reforms to bolster business confidence

By: News24Wire 9th December 2020 Business confidence continued its upward trend in November, but poor economic performance remains a concern. The business climate is still plagued by poor economic performance, recessionary conditions and high unemployment and fiscal unsustainability, says the South African Chamber of Commerce... →

Sars freezes R2.8bn from Chinese rail company that paid Gupta kickbacks

By: News24Wire 9th December 2020 Days before R1.26-billion in frozen funds was due to be released to Gupta-linked Chinese rail group CRRC, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday handed down an order that the monies remain frozen until the company provides a bank guarantee for the same amount to the South African Revenue... →

Pay for electricity to help Eskom succeed, Mabuza urges

By: News24Wire 8th December 2020 Communities must pay for electricity if Eskom is to succeed, Deputy President David Mabuza has said. "Doing so is in the best interest of our country," he said on Tuesday morning at a Nedlac summit, which will see business, trade union and government leaders sign a social compact to support the... →

Deputy President David Mabuza

Social partners ink compact on reducing Eskom’s debt and facilitating ‘just transition’ to renewables

By: Terence Creamer 8th December 2020 Organised business, labour, community and government have officially signed a social compact in support of debt-laden Eskom that also endorses the need for a “just transition” for coal workers and communities as the electricity system begins to transition to higher levels of renewable energy and... →

South Africa offers bankrupt airline’s staff less than legally required

By: Bloomberg 8th December 2020 The Department of Public Enterprises has asked workers at the bankrupt national airline to accept three months’ pay rather than the eight months they are entitled to by labour law and the terms of a business rescue plan, according to a labour union leader. The offer was made at the weekend and... →

Seifsa calls for moratorium on power hikes as Eskom makes case for cost-reflectivity

By: Terence Creamer 7th December 2020 Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) used the platform created by ongoing National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) hearings to call for a moratorium on additional electricity tariff hikes, arguing that further increases would undermine the country’s... →

Government urges SAA employees to be patient while it resolves unpaid salaries

By: African News Agency 4th December 2020 South Africa’s department of public enterprises said on Friday it was sympathetic to the plight of South African Airways employees who have not received salaries for several months and urged them to be patient while it worked to find a solution. The financially struggling state-owned national... →

Sasol's rights issue and 2.0 transformation programme

4th December 2020 Sasol is still mulling over whether or not to proceed with a rights issue to help it deal with its debt burden. Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses this and the ‘Sasol 2.0’ transformation programme. →

Sasol's right issue and 2.0 transformation programme

Govt gives SAA R1.5bn, but administrators say they can't use it

By: Reuters 3rd December 2020 Administrators for South African Airways, which has been under a form of bankruptcy protection for a year, said on Thursday that they had received R1.5-billion from the government but that they could not use it yet. The administrators said in a statement that conditions on how the R1.5-billion... →

Land Bank creditor urges South Africa to speed up rescue efforts

By: Bloomberg 3rd December 2020 South Africa’s National Treasury and the state-owned Land and Agricultural Development Bank are being accused of dragging their heels in negotiating a rescue package for the stricken lender, leaving creditors in the dark as debt repayments loom. Asset managers and other lenders are yet to receive... →

SA Supreme Court dismisses Airlink’s claim against national carrier SAA

By: African News Agency 1st December 2020 Privately owned airline Airlink said on Tuesday it was disappointed, but respected the Supreme Court of Appeal’s decision to dismiss its claim against South African Airways. Airlink, which services the southern Africa region, applied to the Johannesburg High Court in January for a declaratory... →

Eskom to be charged with misleading regulator over pollution

By: Bloomberg 30th November 2020 Eskom Holdings, South Africa’s State power utility, said it will be charged with supplying misleading information to the national air quality officer as well exceeding emissions limits at the Kendal coal-fired power plant and breaching its Atmospheric Emission License. “Eskom can confirm it has... →

Agri SA calls for govt aid as Land Bank is too important to fail

By: Marleny Arnoldi 27th November 2020 Industry organisation Agri SA has warned that the action by Moody’s Investor Service to lower the Lank Bank and Eskom’s respective ratings pose a risk to food security and overall economic recovery in South Africa. It says Moody’s downgraded the State-owned Land Bank as a result of ongoing... →

SA's prospects for future coal projects

27th November 2020 The role of new coal in South Africa’s electricity mix is coming under increasing scrutiny, with Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter the latest to question whether it can indeed be built. Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the prospects for future coal projects. →

SA's prospects for future coal projects

SA govt funding for SAA business rescue will not hurt other services, Mabuza says

By: African News Agency 27th November 2020 South Africa’s government will do all it can to minimise any adverse impact that the re-prioritisation of budget allocations to free up R10.5-billion towards national carrier South African Airways’s business rescue might have on other services, Deputy President David Mabuza has said. The... →

Deputy President David Mabuza

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