From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is the Real Economy Report. Recently, Russian aviation company U.T.Air and South African business aviation company ExecuJet donated an Antonov An-2 utility aircraft to support charity operations in Southern Africa. Keith Campbell reports.Keith Campbell:
The An-2 is the biggest single-engine biplane ever built. This particular example was flown from Russia’s Arctic coast to Cape Town on special flight to mark the 65th anniversary of Antonov commercial aircraft. The aircraft was crewed by three Russian men and one Englishwoman. At ExecuJet’s Lanseria base, near Pretoria, second co-pilot Tracey Curtis-Taylor tells us about the flight.
ExecuJet second co-pilot Tracey Curtis-Taylor
Shannon de Ryhove:
Other news making headlines this week: An 'SA Inc.' approach is required to deal with the ‘unsustainable’ labour situation; and ‘non-delivery’ underpins Standard & Poor’s negative South African outlook.
South African construction and engineering group Aveng has warned that ongoing labour unrest – which lopped R123-million, or 23%, off its profits during the interim period to December 31, 2012 – not only represented an earnings risk for the coming six months, but also undermined South Africa’s investment competitiveness.
Aveng CEO Roger Jardine
Standard & Poor’s March 2013 decision to sustain a negative outlook on South Africa’s ratings was based substantially on “non-delivery” across a broad range of social and economic challenges.
Standard & Poor’s MD Konrad Reuss
That’s Creamer Media’s Real Economy Report. Join us again next week for more news and insight into South Africa’s real economy.