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Local procurement lags in public, private sectors

By: Mamaili Mamaila 15th May 2020 A prevailing issue facing the valves sector is the “poor attitude” to local procurement in the public and private sectors, says valves manufacturer RGR Technologies commercial director Ross Hunter. →

Valves maintenance still a challenge

By: Mamaili Mamaila 15th May 2020 Although demand for valves has increased over the past five years, maintenance costs, efficiency and valve service life are some of the challenges that companies face yearly, says coating technology specialist Thermaspray’s laser cladding manager Jordaan Lourens. →

IRREPLACEABLE SOLUTIONS The initial coating of new valves as well as their efficient repair results in fewer valve replacements

Unions Numsa and Sacca strongly denounce SAA BRPs

By: Rebecca Campbell 14th May 2020 Two of the trade unions which represent employees at the financially embattled State-owned airline South African Airways (SAA), the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) have condemned “in the strongest terms” the decision by... →

Cape Town in landmark suit to open South Africa’s power system

By: Bloomberg 13th May 2020 The city of Cape Town is awaiting a court ruling on whether it can buy its own electricity from suppliers other than national power utility Eskom Holdings without getting approval from the energy minister. Judge Leonie Windell of South Africa’s High Court on Tuesday reserved judgment in the case... →

CEF denies nine ‘requests’ for support amount to a bailout

By: Terence Creamer 12th May 2020 South Africa’s State-owned Central Energy Fund (CEF) has outlined an extensive list of support measures – including access to a portion of the fuel levy and carbon-tax proceeds – which it argued on Tuesday would help extricate the group from a “precarious financial position”, precipitated by... →

Photo by Creamer Media
The PetroSA refinery in Mossel Bay

SAA failing to pay tax deducted from staff salaries to Sars

By: African News Agency 12th May 2020 South African Airways has not paid over the income tax the company deducted from its employees to the South African Revenue Service and is therefore in breach of the bailout conditions imposed on it by the National Treasury, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday. The stricken airline's failure... →

SAA rescue team to appeal court ruling on layoffs

By: Reuters 11th May 2020 Administrators trying save South African Airways will appeal a court ruling that ordered them to halt a layoff process, one of the administrators Siviwe Dongwana told Reuters. The Labour Court's decision to side with two trade unions in its judgment on Friday was a major blow to the... →

SAA to continue operating repatriation and cargo flights

By: Rebecca Campbell 8th May 2020 State-owned national flag carrier South African Airways (SAA) has assured that it had no plans to stop operating on May 8. It would continue to honour all its current commitments to provide air transport services to its customers, as well as any other requests that it might receive. It continued... →

PRASA turnaround under way despite delays

By: Simone Liedtke 7th May 2020 The turnaround of State-owned Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) is on track, albeit with delays, in part owing to the situation brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, administrator Bongisizwe Mpondo has revealed. In a webinar on May 7, he lamented that the passenger rail agency had... →

PRASA operations to resume under lockdown Level 3

By: Simone Liedtke 7th May 2020 The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (PRASA’s) operations are set to resume under Lockdown Alert Level 3, administrator Bongisizwe Mpondo confirmed in a webinar on May 7. The passenger rail agency terminated all services during the initial lockdown period (Level 5), and has continued to do... →

Full legal separation of Eskom divisions still years off, lawmakers hear

By: Terence Creamer 7th May 2020 Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter told lawmakers on May 6 that “good progress” had been made on the “divisionalisation”, under Eskom Holdings, of the utility’s generation, transmission and distribution businesses, with separate boards and MDs having been appointed for each unit. He also indicated,... →

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

Gordhan voices criticism of SAA business rescue effort

By: African News Agency 7th May 2020 Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday has told MPs every effort is being made to resolve the desperate situation surrounding South African Airways (SAA) and has suggested the carrier's business rescue practitioners have fallen short of government's expectations. Gordhan, in a... →

Photo by Reuters
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan

Eskom reports lost income of R2.5bn in April

By: African News Agency 7th May 2020 Eskom's income has shrunk by about R2.5 billion in April as energy demand plummeted due to the country's national lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the power utility's CEO Andre de Ruyter said on Wednesday. "We have seen a reduction in cash-generation for April of some R2.5 billion.... →

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter

Mantashe seeks comment on draft regulations enabling municipalities to buy own power

By: Terence Creamer 6th May 2020 Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has released, for public comment, draft amendments to the Electricity Regulations on New Generation Capacity that would enable municipalities “in good financial standing” to develop or procure their own power generation. In a statement,... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe

Report provides insight, makes recommendations for African Covid-19 response

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 5th May 2020 Lack of information, access to food and water, and money running out were some of the issues identified in an Ipsos survey on potential Covid-19 stay-at-home measures, released on May 5. The 'Responding to Covid-19 in Africa: Using Data to Find a Balance' report includes first-of-its-kind data... →

SAA says government exploring funding options

By: Bloomberg 4th May 2020 South African Airways’ (SAA's) administrators extended a deadline for workers to agree to severance packages after Minister for Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan said he needs time to explore funding options for the bankrupt state-owned carrier. The business-rescue team led by Les Matuson and... →

Incentives needed to aid local energy tech

By: Mamaili Mamaila 1st May 2020 While there is an increased focus on local content across several South African industries, government could do more in terms of incentivising local manufacturing, says energy solutions company i-G3n co-founder and director Sydney Phakathi. →

NO FUSS WHATSOEVER i-G3n offers standard solutions that it can also tailor to suit the specific needs of every client

Eskom shuts power plant after warning ash dam may collapse

By: Bloomberg 30th April 2020 Eskom Holdings, South Africa’s State-owned electricity utility, said it has temporarily closed its Camden power plant because the dam where it stores the ash from burning coal could burst and endanger local residents. The 1,600-megawatt power plant will be closed for up to three months after a... →

SA unions vow to work with government to save SAA, SA Express

By: African News Agency 29th April 2020 The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the South African Cabin Crew Association said they had had constructive discussions with the government on ensuring the continued existence of troubled national carrier South African Airways and fellow state-owned airline SA Express. The... →

SA Express provisionally liquidated

By: News24Wire 28th April 2020 State-owned regional airline SA Express has been placed in provisional liquidation after its business rescue practitioners filed an urgent court application, a reliable source confirmed to Fin24 on Tuesday. This comes after practitioners lodged the application in the Pretoria High Court on March... →

SOEs cooperate to ship essential radioisotopes overseas

By: Rebecca Campbell 28th April 2020 South Africa’s globally-important State-owned company NTP Radioisotopes, a subsidiary of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, has cooperated with State-owned flag-carrier South African Airways to deliver essential medical radioisotopes to international customers. The deliveries were made... →

Eskom says all repurposing options on table for Komati, Hendrina and Grootvlei

By: Terence Creamer 28th April 2020 State-owned power utility Eskom insists that all options are on the table as it considers proposals for the repurposing of three coal-fired power stations – Komati, Hendrina and Grootvlei – that are scheduled to cease producing electricity between 2022 and 2026. The utility issued an expression... →

Komati

SAA business rescue practitioners say SAA must be wound down or liquidated

By: Rebecca Campbell 24th April 2020 The joint business rescue practitioners for financially-embattled State-owned national flag carrier South African Airways (SAA), Leslie Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana, have released a “Notice to all Affected Persons”, dated April 23, regarding the situation of the airline. This followed the decision... →

SAA left with choice between wind-down or liquidation, say business rescue practitioners

By: African News Agency 24th April 2020 The business rescue practitioners (BRPs) appointed to implement a rescue plan for national carrier South African Airways (SAA) have announced on Thursday that without further government funding they will not be able to comply with their mandate and that their only options would be to either wind... →

Government, unions, reach some consensus on future of SAA

By: Rebecca Campbell 22nd April 2020 In a statement dated April 21, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) reported that significant alignment had been achieved between the government and the relevant trade unions (and representatives of non-unionised workers) about the approach to be taken regarding financially beleaguered... →

East London port continues to facilitate movement of critical cargo

By: Simone Liedtke 20th April 2020 The Port of East London continues to facilitate the movement of critical cargo, related to the supply and distribution of essential goods (such as food, fuel and chemicals), during the Covid-19 pandemic and consequent lockdown in South Africa. Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) East London... →

HSL Parity in foreground with wheat vessel Jorita

Business Leadership South Africa CEO blasts government over SAA

By: Rebecca Campbell 20th April 2020 In her weekly newsletter, released on April 20, business group Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso criticised the South African government for its handling of the financial crisis at State-owned national flag carrier, South African Airways (SAA). The airline was currently... →

SA unions reject mass retrenchment proposals at national carrier SAA

By: African News Agency 20th April 2020 The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) said they had rejected a retrenchment proposal from the business rescue practitioners at financially-strapped national carrier South African Airways (SAA). The government placed SAA... →

Govt to finalise post-Covid-19 economic recovery plan, SAA resolution by April 20

By: Marleny Arnoldi 16th April 2020 The South African government plans to finalise, by April 20, its post-Covid-19 economic recovery plan, as well as a resolution on South African Airways (SAA). The Cabinet on April 15 hosted a virtual special Cabinet meeting to discuss the socioeconomic recovery plan once the Covid-19 lockdown... →

Parliamentary Committee welcomes decision by Minister to refuse another bailout for SAA

By: Rebecca Campbell 15th April 2020 Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) welcomed, in a statement released to the media on April 15, the decision of the Minister of Public Enterprises to deny an extra funding request from the Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs) overseeing State-owned national flag carrier... →

Eskom probe clears Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer

By: News24Wire 15th April 2020 An investigation into Eskom's COO Jan Oberholzer has found no evidence of wrongdoing, the power utility announced on Wednesday. The probe commenced on March 20 this year, following what Eskom's board described as a series of allegations of "corruption, dishonesty, conflict of interest and abuse... →

Photo by Donna Slater
Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer

Research company claims SAA doomed to liquidation in near future

By: Rebecca Campbell 15th April 2020 Capital markets and financial services research company Intellidex reported on April 14 that State-owned national flag-carrier South African Airways (SAA) was now set for liquidation. Intellidex head of Capital Markets Research Peter Attard Montalto affirmed that liquidation had been “inevitable”... →

South Africa should consider additional funding sources to combat Covid-19, says BER

By: Simone Liedtke 14th April 2020 South Africa will require significant resources to fund the coronavirus battle and, because funding is lacking, the country should be open – or at least not be surprised by – (temporary) funding options that would have been unthinkable a mere two months ago, the Bureau for Economic Research (BER)... →

Covid-19 hits China-Africa trade and investment, but impact should fade

By: Rebecca Campbell 10th April 2020 The Covid-19 pandemic has hit African trade with China and is likely to reduce Chinese investment on the continent, the Economist Corporate Network, Baker McKenzie and Silk Road Associates pointed out in their report ‘BRI Beyond 2020’. The BRI is the Belt and Road Initiative, which is China’s... →

Association aims to address storage hybrid projects

10th April 2020 The South African Wind Energy Association (Sawea) has announced that it will be creating a discussion platform to support members and the broader renewable energy sector, by addressing questions that are emerging in relation to wind and storage hybrid projects. →

NTOMBIFUTHI NTULI There is a global wave of hybrid projects that use, among other things, wind and battery storage

Storage should aim to address cost reduction

10th April 2020 Ensuring that renewable energy is a useful asset to the grid and that the companies that own and operate it are profitable, while also producing less expensive energy, is a complex job. →

Eskom’s Bernard Magoro appointed as new head of IPP Office

By: Terence Creamer 8th April 2020 The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) announced on Wednesday, April 8, that former Eskom executive Tshifhiwa Bernard Magoro had been appointed as the new head of the Independent Power Producers Office (IPPO). The appointment would be effective from May 1. →

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
Tshifhiwa Bernard Magoro

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