Engineering News | Economy | State Companies

https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Advertise on this page? Click Here to Learn More

State Companies News

Eskom graft probe widens into contracts with global partners

By: Bloomberg 16th March 2020 Eskom Holdings contracts with five international companies will be scrutinized by South African state investigators as part of a widening probe into graft at the debt-laden State-owned utility. The probe will review agreements with North American engineering services firms WSP Global and Black &... →

Economy will be severely impacted by coronavirus - Ramaphosa

By: News24Wire 16th March 2020 With South Africa's economy already feeling the pinch of the Covid-19 pandemic, President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that government is on the verge of finalising a comprehensive package of interventions to mitigate the expected impact. The president announced this in an address to the nation... →

No immediate power tariff impact, but first court ruling portends material future hikes

By: Terence Creamer 13th March 2020 The Eskom tariff increase for 2020/21 tabled before lawmakers this week provides no scope for any further hikes this year beyond those already sanctioned for April 1 by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) in previous price determinations and regulatory clearing account (RCA)... →

SA Express reassures public about its safety and regulatory compliance

By: Rebecca Campbell 13th March 2020 State-owned regional airline SA Express, which is currently under business rescue, has assured that its aircraft meet all safety requirements. It did so in a press release issued on Thursday. That press release also revealed that the airline’s business rescue practitioners (BRPs) had submitted a... →

Photo by SA Express
A Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jet airliner of SA Express

National nonrevenue water programme in development

By: Darren Parker 13th March 2020 The State-owned Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is spearheading a programme targeting the creation of a centralised national office to tackle non-revenue water projects for municipalities while seeking innovative funding solutions. DBSA product development specialist Johann Lübbe and... →

IN THE PIPELINE The national non-revenue water central office and programme should be fully operational by the end of 2021

SAA gets unlikely help from coronavirus hit

By: Bloomberg 12th March 2020 While international airlines have been blindsided by the impact of the coronavirus on global travel, the outbreak may bring unexpected benefits for South African Airways as it battles to lower costs. A sharp reduction in international flights has deflated the price of leasing jets and made it... →

SAA says adhering to safety protocols on Covid-19

By: African News Agency 12th March 2020 National carrier South African Airways said on Thursday its operational health and safety procedures were in line with the World Health Organisation’s protocols to protect its passengers and crew from contracting Covid-19. On Wednesday WHO declared the coronavirus disease a pandemic as it... →

Eskom to implement 'stage 4' rolling power cuts until Friday

By: African News Agency 12th March 2020 South Africa's electricity utility Eskom said on Thursday it would continue implementing "stage 4" rotational powercuts until Friday following a breakdown at its Koeberg station and the associated loss of generating capacity. "The faulty pump at Koeberg has now been repaired and is running again.... →

FlySafair interested in buying SAA’s low-cost arm Mango

By: Bloomberg 11th March 2020 South African carrier FlySafair is interested in buying the low-cost arm of state-owned South African Airways (SAA) – if it’s put up for sale by the embattled national carrier. FlySafair management has approached SAA’s administrators about a possible acquisition of Mango Airlines, CEO Elmar... →

Eskom announces stage 4 loadshedding from 2pm

By: African News Agency 10th March 2020 South African power utility, Eskom, on Tuesday announced stage 4 loadshedding from 2pm after Koeberg Power Station's unit 1 tripped. "The unit has been disconnected from the grid due to a fault on the turbine side, however, the nuclear reactor remains safe. The teams are investigating the root... →

Legal threats set to stymie South African unions’ Eskom plan

By: Bloomberg 10th March 2020 A plan proposed by South Africa’s biggest labor group to get pension funds and state lenders to refinance part of the state power utility’s gargantuan debt faces hurdles that may be impossible to overcome. Under the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ so-called social compact, Eskom Holdings... →

Cape Town cuts water to PRASA, electricity to follow

By: African News Agency 10th March 2020 The Cape Town municipality has cut water supply to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) and will do the same with electricity supply to the troubled entity on Tuesday, deputy mayor Ian Neilson said on Monday. The disconnection comes after PRASA missed a deadline of Friday imposed by... →

SAA begins retrenchment process

By: African News Agency 10th March 2020 South African Airways (SAA) has issued notice to all 4 700 of its employees that it intends to begin consultations on retrenchments, the business rescue practitioners (BRPs) for the troubled national carrier said on Monday. "The joint BRPs today announced that SAA has issued a notice advising its... →

Sars doing its bit to protect taxpayers, staff from Covid-19 infection

By: Marleny Arnoldi 9th March 2020 The South African Revenue Service (Sars) says it has taken several precautionary measures to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infecting its staff at points of entry in the country, as well as employees at Sars branches countrywide. Sars Commissioner Edward Kieswetter explains that its tax, customers... →

Parliamentarians pleased with anti-Covid-19 measures at Acsa airports

By: Rebecca Campbell 9th March 2020 The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health has commended the procedures that have been adopted by Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) at OR Tambo International Airport (east of Johannesburg) to respond to Covid-19, the novel coronavirus disease which has rapidly spread around the world, and... →

Photo by Duane Daws/Creamer Media
An airline takes off from OR Tambo International Airport

Eskom to implement stage 1 load shedding from 9am on Monday

By: African News Agency 9th March 2020 Eskom will implement stage 1 load shedding from 9am on Monday morning to 11pm on Monday night, the state-owned power utility said. "It is envisaged that load shedding may continue to be implemented until Thursday," Eskom said in a statement on Sunday night. This was due to a number of units still... →

Public Enterprises unhappy with business rescue process for SA Express airline

By: Rebecca Campbell 6th March 2020 The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) issued a statement on Friday expressing its concern about the direction that the business rescue process for State-owned regional airline SA Express was taking. “[T]he Business Rescue Practitioners [BRPs] are planning to ‘ground’ the airline without... →

Photo by SA Express
A Bombardier CRJ-700 of SA Express

No load-shedding expected on Friday, says Eskom

By: News24Wire 6th March 2020 No load-shedding was expected on Friday and over the weekend, Eskom said. "Even though the generation system remains constrained, Eskom does not expect to implement load-shedding this weekend although unplanned breakdowns remain above the 10 500 MW mark," the State-owned power utility said via a... →

South African rail manufacturing sector needs to reinvent itself

By: Mc'Kyla Nortje 6th March 2020 Despite South Africa’s having a strong presence on the railway scene – claiming almost 30% of the continent’s kilometres and more than 60% of its rail freight – the country’s rail manufacturing sector has not leveraged this position to lead in the manufacturing of rolling stock on the continent,... →

Photo by Creamer Media
CONTINENTAL BENEFITS Through the AfCFTA, the benefits for South Africa and its African peers will be easier distribution, new export markets and new business opportunities

Localisation to boost industries

By: Cameron Mackay 6th March 2020 Government’s intention to increase demand for locally manufactured content to at least 60% across industries will have a positive impact on the local casting, forging and machining sector, says nonprofit entity the Casting, Forging and Machining Cluster (CFMC) of South Africa project leader Steve... →

CLUSTER COLLABORATION The CFMC is a development purposed vehicle which will enable companies to work together to achieve what could not be achieved individually

4IR, rail projects can grow local foundries industry

By: Cameron Mackay 6th March 2020 The local foundries, forges and casting industry can benefit from following the global trend of metal casting companies implementing Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies. An abundance of infrastructure projects, such as rail projects from State-owned rail utility Transnet, has the... →

GLEN DIKGALE There are opportunities for the local foundry industry. Government is increasingly talking about sourcing equipment locally, so we need to comply with requirements

Nersa’s concurrence on Ministerial determinations

5th March 2020 Creamer Media’s Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer about the process Nersa is likely to follow before giving its concurrence to two Ministerial determinations recently drafted by Minister Gwede Mantashe and how this is likely to impact on the timelines for securing... →

Nersa’s concurrence on Ministerial determinations (Camera & editing: Nicholas Boyd)

Massive R1.4bn boost to get Cape Town central line back on track

By: News24Wire 5th March 2020 The Department of Transport budgeted a massive amount of money to get the problematic Cape Town Central train line back on track. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula on Thursday said there would be a phased re-introduction of the train service for the central line which served commuters in... →

BBC has role to play in tackling South Africa’s economic crisis

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 4th March 2020 While the country is in an economic crisis, having just entered a technical recession and grappling with no economic growth, this presents an opportunity for the Black Business Council (BBC) and its members to find ways to help overcome the challenges, president Sandile Zungu said on Wednesday.... →

Photo by Creamer Media
BBC president Sandile Zungu

Cosatu urges private pension use to help to save Eskom

By: Bloomberg 3rd March 2020 South Africa’s biggest labour federation said private pensions must be used alongside those of government workers as part of a plan to rescue the state power company from crippling debt and spur economic growth. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) advocated the use of so-called... →

PIC terminates employment of listed equities head

3rd March 2020 The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has terminated the employment contract of its executive head of listed investments, Fidelis Madavo. Madavo was suspended by the PIC board in January 2019 on the basis of a preliminary report into the PIC’s investment in listed technology company Ayo... →

South Africa's rand retreats on fear of economy slipping into recession

By: Reuters 3rd March 2020 South Africa's rand weakened early on Tuesday, giving back most of its gains from the previous session, ahead of the release of domestic data that is expected to show the economy had slipped into a recession. At 0630 GMT the rand was 0.75% weaker at 15.500 per dollar, retreating from a... →

Medupi's killer fumes: The story of a power station's missing air scrubbers

By: News24Wire 3rd March 2020 Eskom's megapower station Medupi is suffocating South Africa in more ways than one: It is not just a financial black hole; it is also a health and environmental catastrophe. And the installation of crucial technology to make it less poisonous has once again been delayed. For years, Eskom has... →

No loadshedding expected on Tuesday, but possibility has increased

By: African News Agency 3rd March 2020 Loadshedding was not expected on Tuesday, but the possibility of rotational blackouts had increased due to a high number unplanned outages, Eskom said on Monday night. "We are utilising emergency generation reserves to supplement supply. The generation system remains constrained, vulnerable and... →

TPT invests R2bn to replace ageing equipment

2nd March 2020 In response to industry calls for equipment that will improve performance across its operations, Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) has invested R2-billion to replace aging equipment this calendar year. This includes two mobile harbour cranes for the Port Elizabeth Container Terminal, which will... →

Likelihood of load-shedding grows as more generation units trip

By: News24Wire 2nd March 2020 Eskom says that while it still does not expect to implement rotational load-shedding on Monday, the likelihood of power cuts has increased. "Overnight some generation units tripped unexpectedly, further reducing available capacity. We are utilising more emergency generation reserves than... →

Not all is lost for the construction industry, says AfriSam

By: Simone Liedtke 28th February 2020 The 2020 Budget, as outlined by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni earlier this week, “didn’t give much hope to the construction industry”, construction materials company AfriSam sales and marketing executive Richard Tomes told Engineering News on Friday. Growth in this sector was expected to remain... →

AfriSam sales and marketing executive Richard Tomes speaks to Engineering News about the 2020 Budget and how it could influence the future of the country's infrastructure and construction sectors, and the businesses - like AfriSam - that operate within this space. Video: Creamer Media's Kutlwano Matlala. Editing: Creamer Media's Nicholas Boyd.

Publication of SAA business rescue plan extended until end March

By: News24Wire 28th February 2020 The business rescue practitioners of South African Airways have been granted a one-month extension to publish their plan to save the embattled flag carrier from liquidation. The airline was placed under business rescue in December and earlier in the month announced the cancellation of all its... →

SAA rescuers get extra month to make plan

By: Bloomberg 28th February 2020 Administrators for South Africa’s loss-making State airline South African Airways (SAA) have been given an extra month to complete a turnaround plan. The so-called business rescue practitioners can now file their report on SAA by the end of March, they said in a statement on Friday. A majority of... →

No load-shedding expected on Friday, says Eskom

By: Reuters 28th February 2020 Load-shedding was not expected on Friday, Eskom has said. The power utility said it was using emergency reserves to supplement generation capacity during peak demand. "We remind customers that as the generation system remains constrained, vulnerable and unpredictable, load-shedding could be... →

Does nuclear have a future in South Africa?

By: Rebecca Campbell 28th February 2020 Will South Africa ever build a new nuclear power plant (NPP)? Well, and I hope the revelation doesn’t ruin the dramatic flow of my narrative, I haven’t a clue. I don’t think anyone does. There is a lot of opposition to any such idea. Or, rather, there is a lot of opposition to the idea among... →

Market feels project pinch

By: Mamaili Mamaila 28th February 2020 The lack of significant public infrastructure spend to boost steel consumption and construction activity are some of the challenges that the local steel tube market has to deal with, says steel industry association the Association of Steel Pipe Manufacturers (ASTPM). →

KEITUMETSE MOUMAKOE The influx of cheap small-bore steel tube imports has not aided the industry

About

Engineering News is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa
Polity

Newsletters

Sign up for our FREE daily email newsletter

Receive daily sector news alerts

More

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Engineering News is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options

Subscribe