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State Companies News

Ramaphosa urges new council to work quickly on rescuing struggling SA state firms

By: African News Agency 6th November 2020 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa wants a council he appointed in June to work quickly towards repositioning struggling state-owned enterprises as effective instruments of economic transformation and development, his office said late on Thursday. The Presidential State-owned Enterprises... →

South Africa eases defence firm Denel's bailout terms

By: Reuters 6th November 2020 South Africa's government has eased the terms of a R576-million bailout given to state defence company Denel for the financial year that ends in March 2021, officials told Reuters. Denel, which makes military equipment for South Africa's armed forces and export, has faced a liquidity crisis and... →

Eskom says it needs R23bn more from tariffs in 2021 to remain a going concern

By: Terence Creamer 5th November 2020 State-owned electricity utility Eskom argued on Thursday that it required additional revenue of R23-billion for the upcoming financial year to remain a going concern and told the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) that further tariff increases, beyond the 5.22% already approved for... →

Gordhan: 'No winners' if SAA should be liquidated

By: News24Wire 5th November 2020 Avoiding the liquidation of South African Airways will ensure the aviation market remains competitive and it means consumers won't be forced to be price takers, said Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. SAA was placed in business rescue in early December 2019; the process has been ongoing... →

Embattled SA post office searching for an expert to turn things around, says Ndabeni-Abrahams

By: News24Wire 3rd November 2020 Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams says the government is looking for an expert to fix the SA Post Office. SAPO's turnaround plan will be similar to the recovery plan which is being implemented at the SABC. On Tuesday, Ndabeni-Abrahams told Parliament's Portfolio Committee on... →

Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams

Numsa, Sacca, welcome bailout for SAA and attacks its critics

By: Rebecca Campbell 3rd November 2020 Two trade unions, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) have jointly welcomed the announcement that the government is to provide funding of R10-5-billion to financially-embattled State-owned national flag carrier South... →

Eskom introduces 400 kV transmission line construction project to municipalities

By: Simone Liedtke 2nd November 2020 State-owned power utility Eskom has introduced its project for the construction of the 282 km of 400 kV transmission line, with associated feeder and transformer bays, which will be construction between the Gromis substation, in the Northern Cape, and the Juno substation, in the Western Cape. The... →

Fresh moves under way to address debt albatross at lossmaking Eskom

By: Terence Creamer 30th October 2020 Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Friday that a “second round” of work is being initiated in an effort to find a solution to Eskom’s unsustainable debt burden in line with the recent social compact between government, community, labour and business to “mobilise funding to address... →

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

Private-sector investment key amid challenges

By: Mamaili Mamaila 30th October 2020 From an economic perspective, the Covid-19 pandemic has not affected countries in Africa, apart from South Africa, as much as countries on other continents. →

GET IT TOGETHER While there is so much potential in Africa, political certainty is required in conjunction with more streamlined procurement processes

Public Enterprises Ministry welcomes further government funding for SAA

By: Rebecca Campbell 29th October 2020 The Minister of Public Enterprises has welcomed the decision by the government to back the business rescue plan for, and the restructuring of, State-owned national flag carrier South African Airways. The government has committed itself to provide R10.5-billion to fulfil these objectives. “The... →

Medium-term budget highlights

29th October 2020 Creamer Media's Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Creamer Media Editor Terence Creamer about the new fiscal framework presented by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni during his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, on Wednesday; what this could mean for public sector wages and South Africa's credit rating;... →

Medium-term budget highlights

Mboweni agrees to SAA's R10.5bn bailout; no funds for SABC, Post Office and Denel

By: News24Wire 28th October 2020 South African Airways will get the R10.5-billion it has requested from government to fund its business rescue process. The monies will be made available from reductions from national departments and their entities as well as reductions from local and provincial conditional grants, according to... →

PRASA appoints acting CEO

By: Creamer Media Reporter 27th October 2020 The newly appointed board of control of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) held its first meeting on October 27 and appointed group executive for human capital management Thandeka Mabija acting CEO with immediate effect. She is expected to hold the acting CEO position for a maximum... →

ACSA reports solid 2019/20 results but warns of Covid-19 impacts going forward

By: Rebecca Campbell 27th October 2020 The State-owned Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) published its results for the 2019/2020 financial year on Tuesday. ACSA owns and operates nine South African airports, including Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International, Cape Town International, and Durban’s King Shaka International. It is also a... →

World Bank talks with South Africa stall over State company bailouts

By: Bloomberg 27th October 2020 The World Bank has told South Africa’s government it has to cut its wage bill to qualify for a loan of as much as $2-billion and agree the money won’t be used to bail out insolvent State companies, a person familiar with the situation said. Those conditions have stalled negotiations on the loan... →

SAA chairperson resigns ahead of possible bailout announcement from Mboweni

By: News24Wire 27th October 2020 Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is expected to announce some funding to get SAA off the ground again. The chair of the board of South African Airways, Thandeka Mgoduso, has resigned after having been in the position for about a year. Her resignation comes ahead of Mboweni's medium-term budget... →

IDC aims to ‘catalyse’ recovery plan, but won’t go it alone as impairments bite

By: Terence Creamer 26th October 2020 The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) – which reported a R3.8-billion loss for the 2019/20 financial year, driven by a surge in impairments from R4.8-billion to R9.6-billion – has revised its investment strategy with the aim of “catalysing” government’s Reconstruction and Recovery Plan... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
IDC CEO TP Nchocho

Eskom's State of the System briefing

23rd October 2020 Eskom delivered its State of the System briefing this week. Engineering News editor Terence Creamer attended the session and unpacks the prognosis for electricity supply for the summer months. →

Eskom's State of the System briefing

Winde appeals to Ramaphosa, Mboweni over SAA R10bn bailout

By: News24Wire 23rd October 2020 Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has appealed to the national government to "think carefully" about a possible bailout for South African Airways (SAA). He said all the provinces desperately need everything they can get, to recover from the Covid-19 lockdown and job losses. →

Eskom moves to appoint advisers to structure 'green' transaction

By: Terence Creamer 22nd October 2020 South Africa’s coal-heavy power utility is moving to appoint financial advisers to assist it in structuring a potential transaction that could unlock discounted ‘green’ funding for the debt-laden State-owned entity in return for it meeting agreed decarbonisation targets. Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter... →

Cabinet confirms PRASA board appointments

By: Creamer Media Reporter 22nd October 2020 Cabinet on October 22 confirmed the names of the new board of control of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA). Leonard Ramatlakane is chairperson of the PRASA board. →

Procurement of 11.8 GW only the ‘first step’ in full elimination of load-shedding threat – De Ruyter

By: Terence Creamer 22nd October 2020 State-owned power utility Eskom, which is ramping up the maintenance of its unreliable and unpredictable coal power stations, anticipates that there will be a ‘step change’ in the performance of the fleet from April 2021, but has also warned that the risk of load-shedding will persist until at... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
CEO Andre de Ruyter and COO Jan Oberholzer

SA parliament concerned about governance and finance challenges at Denel

By: African News Agency 22nd October 2020 South Africa’s parliament said on Thursday it was concerned about the governance and financial challenges at state arms manufacturer Denel. In a statement, the portfolio committee on public enterprises said it had heard from Denel officials during a briefing that the struggling firm suffered an... →

South African coal industry to reach tipping point in 2025

By: Simone Liedtke 21st October 2020 The South African coal industry will likely reach a tipping point by 2025, when renewable energy should be cheaper, both in terms of capital and operational expenditure, than existing coal-fired electricity capacity. This means that, by 2030, the South African coal landscape will look "completely... →

Koeberg Unit 2 returns to service

By: Chanel de Bruyn 21st October 2020 Unit 2 of the Koeberg nuclear power station on October 21 successfully completed its twenty-fourth outage since it first started to generate electricity. The unit is synchronised onto the electricity grid and will load up to full capacity by next week, power utility Eskom reports. →

Law to overhaul corruption-prone public procurement still some way off

By: Terence Creamer 21st October 2020 The National Treasury is preparing sweeping legislative changes to the way procurement, which has become highly prone to corruption, is undertaken by public entities, including State-owned companies. It has indicated, however, that the new legal framework is likely to be passed by Parliament only... →

Massive grid investment needed to unlock IRP’s 30GW-by-2030 vision

By: Terence Creamer 20th October 2020 State-owned electricity utility Eskom is warning that a significant and accelerated expansion of South Africa’s grid infrastructure, beyond that catered for by its current R118-billion investment plan to 2030, is required to integrate the 30 GW of mainly wind and solar generators that will have... →

Eskom moves to secure R23bn granted by High Court for 2021, despite Nersa appeal

By: Terence Creamer 19th October 2020 Eskom has launched a fresh legal bid to ensure that the automatic reintroduction of a R23-billion equity injection to its allowable revenue in 2021/22, as granted by the High Court in July, is not negated by the fact that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has been granted... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
Eskom CFO Calib Cassim presenting the utility's case at MYPD4 hearings in 2019

Eskom to resume construction of 400 kV line in SA's KwaZulu-Natal province

By: African News Agency 19th October 2020 Eskom said on Monday work was set to resume on the final leg of an approximately 123 km transmission power line running through the uMgungundlovu and uThukela district municipalities of KwaZulu-Natal province. In a statement, the state power utility said final construction of the 47 km leg of... →

Ramaphosa announces a renewables-led recovery plan

16th October 2020 Creamer Media's Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Creamer Media Editor Terence Creamer about the unveiling of the Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, the role of electricity and renewable energy in that plan and whether South Africa will be able to solve its power crisis within the next two years. →

Ramaphosa announces a renewables-led recovery plan

Independent grid and market operator ‘required’ to attract much-needed generation investment – De Ruyter

By: Terence Creamer 15th October 2020 Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter has drawn a direct link between securing the investment required to address South Africa’s growth-sapping electricity supply gaps – including some R100-billion to further develop the grid in ways to unlock what will be mostly private generation investment – and the... →

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

Ramaphosa promises rapid power roll-out, but two-year timeframe for solving crisis ambitious

By: Terence Creamer 15th October 2020 President Cyril Ramaphosa listed the rapid expansion of South Africa’s electricity generation, primarily through the building of additional renewable-energy capacity, as a key priority in government’s long-waited ‘Reconstruction and Recovery Plan’, which he unveiled in Parliament on Thursday. The... →

President Cyril Ramaphosa

Ramaphosa unveils infrastructure, jobs plan after Covid-19 hit

By: Reuters 15th October 2020 South Africa will roll out a big infrastructure spending programme and large-scale employment stimulus to revive an economy that was ailing even before the coronavirus crisis, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday. Unveiling a Covid-19 economic recovery plan in parliament, Ramaphosa said the... →

President Cyril Ramaphosa

78 MW Bokamoso solar park begins commercial operations

By: Terence Creamer 14th October 2020 Another large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) project procured under the fourth bid window of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) has entered into commercial operation. The fourth bid window eventually closed in 2018, following a four-year... →

The 78 MW Bokamoso Solar Park

Eskom yet to decide next steps after Nersa publishes reasons for 2019 RCA decision

By: Terence Creamer 12th October 2020 State-owned electricity utility Eskom says it is reviewing the detailed reasons for decision published by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), in which it outlines why the utility was granted a R13-billion regulatory clearing account (RCA) balance for the 2019 financial year... →

All eyes on MTBPS as South Africa on verge of ‘catastrophic collapse’ of finances

By: Simone Liedtke 12th October 2020 The upcoming Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) must show that public spending can be “restrained within [South Africa’s] means” so as to avoid a “catastrophic collapse of public finances”, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso warns. In her weekly newsletter, published... →

SAA rescue practitioners assessing options of winding down versus liquidation

By: News24Wire 9th October 2020 No meaningful progress can be made at South African Airways until the Department of Public Enterprises has signed a firm joint venture agreement with an experienced and strategic equity partner, according to a recent presentation to the African National Congress. SAA's creditors will be updated... →

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