Business
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has raised alarm bells over South Africa’s record high unemployment rate which is steadily creeping towards the 50% mark. Data published by Statistics South Africa on Tuesday (29 March) shows that the country’s official unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage…
Business Reporter. Oil slumped as Russia said it was taking steps to "de-escalate" the conflict in Ukraine, while floating the possibility of a meeting between Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy. West Texas Intermediate erased earlier gains to trade down as much as 7.1%, below $100 in New…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. @ABSA. Financial services firm Absa has appointed Arrie Rautenbach as chief executive officer (CEO) and executive director of Absa Group and Absa Bank, effective immediately. Rautenbach is currently Absa’s chief executive: Retail and Business Banking (RBB). He joined Absa in 1997 and has held several senior roles…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa has awarded a private electricity trading licence for the first time in over 12 years, as the country looks to move away from Eskom’s power monopoly. The license enables Enpower Trading to source competitively-priced, predominantly renewable power from multiple independent…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Discovery Health Medical Scheme, the country’s largest private medical aid scheme, has announced that it will defer its 2022 price increases until even later this year. In a notice sent to clients this week, the group said it will now increase prices from October 2022, after originally…
Business Reporter. Tiger Brands' Venture Capital Fund has made its first investment in Herbivore Earthfoods, a Cape Town-based business specialising in manufacturing and selling plant-based and vegan products. "The African plant protein market, of which South Africa represents 57%, is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate [CAGR]…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Finance minister Enoch Godongwana says the government is in talks to cushion the impact of record petrol price hikes over the coming months. Responding to oral questions in parliament on Wednesday (23 March), Godongwana said that this intervention would likely be temporary, with the National Treasury and…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The SAB head office in Johannesburg. SAB, now controlled by Belgian-based global brewing giant AB InBev, is eyeing job cuts in SA. Image: Supplied. The South African Breweries (SAB) has reaffirmed its commitment to the South African economy through a R920 million investment into Prospecton and Ibhayi…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to raise the repo rate to 4.25% per annum. Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago said in a statement on Thursday afternoon (24 March), that the rate hike comes against a backdrop of higher global and local…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Netflix has pledged over R900 million at the 4th Annual South African Investment Conference as a contribution to the South African creative industry. The commitment will cover four productions – one international and three local – which will be filmed in South Africa over 2022 and 2023,…
Business Reporter. One of the only ways that South Africa can reliably lower the cost of fuel is by localising its energy production over the long term, says Mineral Resources and Energy minister Gwede Mantashe. Mantashe was responding in a recent parliamentary Q&A in which he was asked about his…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Any large permanent increases in spending, such as a new basic income grant, cannot be accommodated without matching permanent increases in revenue, says the National Treasury. Presenting to parliament on Tuesday (22 March), Treasury’s Ismail Momoniat explained that this type of recurring spending cannot be funded by…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Comair has announced that, as a pre-emptive precaution, it has transferred the line maintenance of its fleet to South African Airways Technical (SAAT) from the South African operation of Lufthansa Technik. This was because the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) had made a number of findings…
Business Reporter. Photo: Supplied by African Bank. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) says it is considering taking its African Bank shares public after failing to find a suitable buyer. On 1 June 2021, the SARB announced it had begun the process to dispose of its 50% shareholding in African…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The South African Reserve Bank is likely to hike interest rates by a further 25 basis points this week to 4.25% in an attempt to slow inflation, say economists. A Reuters poll of economists said prices could rise faster than they had expected before Russia’s invasion of…
By Saket Sundria. Oil rose for a third straight day as the war in Ukraine neared the end of its first month with no end in sight, and Iranian-backed rebels attacked energy facilities in key exporter Saudi Arabia. West Texas Intermediate climbed above $108 a barrel, and the US benchmark…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. President Cyril Ramaphosa says government plans to establish a centralised shareholding company to help control its existing state-owned enterprises. Responding to questions in parliament on Thursday (17 March), Ramaphosa said he views state-owned enterprises are critical drivers of inclusive economic growth and social development in the country.…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Investment management firm Prudential Financial, in partnership with LeapFrog Investments, intends to acquire a strategic minority interest in Alexander Forbes Group. The firms will acquire 200 800 000 Alexander Forbes shares, representing 14.8% of the issued share capital or 15.1% net of current treasury shares held by…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South African Revenue Service (SARS) Commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, has committed the organisation to promoting the use of historically marginalised official languages in the tax and customs environment. The Commissioner made the commitment while addressing the launch of the SARS multilingual tax terminology publication. The document contains 450…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Embattled power utility expects running costs for its diesel-fed turbines, which are used to keep the lights on when coal-powered plants break down, to surge as it struggles to keep up with maintenance. Eskom Holdings sees about a third of its coal-fired capacity being unavailable at any…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Comair CEO Glenn Orsmond listens to demands made by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) outside the Comair offices in Kempton Park, 15 March 2022. The Civil Aviation Authority recently suspended Comair's operating licence indefinitely. Picture: Michel Bega. The South African Civil Aviation Authority…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Rand Merchant Investment Holdings (RMI) says it will list its OUTsurance business in the next six to 12 months. RMI, which owns 89% of the short-term insurer, said it conducted a detailed country and company analysis to identify potential target investments. "Currently there are no actionable investment…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. @OldMutual. Old Mutual says high infection rates from the second and third wave of Covid-19 continued to impact its business and employees. In publishing its annual results for the year ended December 2021, Old Mutual said its mortality experience "has been worse than anticipated, with R6.8 billion…
Business Reporter. Discovery is starting to sell private health cover at about a third of the price of its prior entry-level product, a move to attract new customers and tap into pandemic-heightened concerns about health. The administrator of the country’s largest medical-insurance provider, which has more than 40% market share,…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Absa Group said Monday that headline earnings of R18.6 billion for the period ended December 2021 was more than double the earnings generated a year ago. The group, which operates in 15 countries, and boasts 35,267 employees, said that diluted headline earnings per share (DHEPS) grew 193%…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has grounded all Comair flights in South Africa. In a statement on Saturday (12 March), Comair said its Kulula and British Airways flights have been suspended, with the grounding expected to last for 24 hours. "Comair regrets that our flights…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Standard Bank has published its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2021, with the group reporting a 57% increase in profits to R25 billion as the economy recovered from Covid-19. Headline earnings per share increased to 1,573 cents, compared with 1,002.6 cents a year earlier,…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. @Reuters. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd chief executive officer Andre de Ruyter traveled to the World Bank’s headquarters earlier this week to hold discussions with the bank as it explores options for transitioning from coal-fired stations to cleaner sources of energy. The utility supplies more than 90% of…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Nedbank Group says it delivered a strong financial performance for the year ended December 2021 with headline earnings up by 115% to R11.7 billion from the prior period, but still 7% below 2019 levels. Headline earnings growth was driven by significantly lower impairments, a higher net interest…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 4.9% in 2021, rising significantly from a low base following the Covid pandemic and associated lockdowns restrictions which saw the economy contract by 6.4% in 2020. Mining, agriculture and manufacturing recorded the highest growth rates in 2021, with finance,…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on the global economy will have a knock-on effect on Eskom and electricity supply in South Africa, the power utility’s executives said in a media briefing on Tuesday (8 March). Chief financial officer Calib Cassim said the invasion had led…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Retailer Massmart, the owner of Makro and Game, says it aims to grow its store footprint over the next five years to generate additional sales. It follows its latest financial performance showing extended losses over the past year. On Monday (7 March), the group reported a 65%…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Eskom has announced the deferral of a project to replace three steam generators at Koeberg Unit 2 to August 2023 following a review, conducted together with Framatome, which indicated that the replacements were unlikely to be completed within the six-month timeframe. COO Jan Oberholzer said that certain…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. MultiChoice Group Ltd, Africa’s biggest pay-TV provider, stopped showing the Russia Today news channel after European Union sanctions against the country stopped the global distributor from providing the broadcast. Russia Today, owned by the Russian government, won't be shown until further notice, MultiChoice said in a statement.…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Professional services firm PwC says both businesses and individuals should carefully consider whether to fix their interest rates ahead of an expected round of hikes in the coming years. South African Reserve Bank (SARB) governor Lesetja Kganyago announced on 27 January that the central bank’s Monetary Policy…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has announced its results for the full year ended December 2021, showing a 3% growth in operating revenue to R2.52 billion. The record low interest rate environment did impact net profit, however, with headline earnings per share (HEPS) slipping 6% to 878.9…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Nedbank chief executive Mike Brown says a lack of leadership, including political leadership, remains a key concern for South Africa. Writing in a new report published by the Institute of Risk Management South Africa (IRMSA), Brown said it was now particularly important for the government and private…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to turmoil in the global markets but is unlikely to have a major impact on the broader growth impact on South Africa, say economists at the Bureau for Economic Research (BER). In a research note on Monday (28 February), the group…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has shown that he recognises the stress ordinary households are under by subduing tax rises and repositioning other personal taxes. Sheila-Ann Robey, a Liberty Financial Adviser, believes that the Minister is very aware that many families are struggling to cover their living costs…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Old Mutual Insure (OM Insure) has acquired a 51% stake in ONE Financial Services, a South African short-term insurance service provider, for R500 million. "This transaction supports our strategic ambitions of growing our business, strengthening our distribution capabilities and non-insurance revenue streams," said Garth Napier, MD of…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. @Discovery. Discovery has published its interim financial results for the period 31 December 2021, with the financial services group seeing continued growth in its health business, while banking losses were lower than expected. Group operating profit increased 8% to R4.6 billion over the period, while headline earnings…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The sale and purchase process of a majority stake in South African Airways (SAA) has now been concluded and signed by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) and its strategic equity partner for the airline, the Takatso Consortium. In a statement following an ordinary meeting held on…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter says the power utility has decreased its debt by at least 15% over the past financial year and predicts that it will half its net loss from R18 billion last year to some R9.1 billion this year. The power utility has incurred…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has warned that South Africa is not doing enough to contain its rising debt, despite better than expected revenue windfalls. In a research note published after the national budget on Wednesday (23 February), Fitch said that South Africa continues to breach its…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. When Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana tables his maiden Budget Speech today, all the focus will be on his proposals to bolster the health of the public purse, and what that will mean to the taxpayer’s pocket. This after Godongwana said during the Medium-Term Budget in November that…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. DStv will limit streaming from March 2022 in a bid to clamp down on account sharing. In a notice published on its website, the media group said that password sharing and piracy are challenges for streaming providers globally. "As part of our ongoing efforts to counteract password…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. This week's budget speech is expected to yield few surprises in terms of tax relief and assistance to under pressure consumers say, economists. As the country recovers more slowly than expected from the COVID-19 pandemic, rising prices are hitting ordinary families hard. According to Liberty Financial Adviser,…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Finance minister Enoch Godongwana is expected to provide clarity on Gauteng’s e-toll scheme in his inaugural budget address on Wednesday (23 February). In a November 2021 media briefing, Transport minister Fikile Mbalula said that a decision on the controversial tolling scheme has been delayed due to an…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Former chief executive officer of the South African Post Office, Mark Barnes says that a private sector partnership with the government can revive the country’s postal service. "There is a groundswell of private sector eagerness, waiting to partner with government," Barnes said in an interview with ENCA …
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Distell’s shareholders overwhelmingly approved Heineken's R40.1bn purchase of SA’s biggest alcoholic drinks maker, taking the Dutch brewer one step closer to creating an African alcohol powerhouse. The merger is now subject to approval by competition authorities in South Africa and abroad. The approval follows Distell’s extraordinary general…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Automobile Association (AA) of South Africa has warned the government against any planned fuel tax increases in its 23 February budget, which it says will be particularly damaging following record-high increases. The AA has also called on finance minister Enoch Godongwana to initiate a review of…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Sibanye Stillwater biggest mining unions voted to strike at the company’s gold operations until their wage demands are met, one of the groups said after a meeting. The members rejected the latest offer by Sibanye to increase monthly wages R700 annually for three years and are demanding…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Government is considering taking over part or all of Eskom’s R392 billion debt as it seeks to restructure the cash-strapped power utility’s loan obligations, according to the International Monetary Fund. Eskom’s financial position is of particular concern and requires a decision on how to address its "unsustainable"…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says South Africa faces lacklustre growth in the medium-term, despite a faster-than-anticipated recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. In a statement issued at the end of discussions with South Africa on Friday (11 February), the group forecast that growth rebounded to 4.6% in…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed former South African Reserve Bank (SARB) deputy governor Daniel Mminele to head a newly established Presidential Climate Finance Task Team, which will lead South Africa’s efforts to mobilise concessional climate finance for its just energy transition. The appointment follows an $8.5-billion (R132…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Johannesburg’s City Power has warned that Eskom’s planned tariff increase of 20.5% will be passed on directly to municipal payers and residents. Speaking to talk radio station 702, City Power’s manager for pricing and tariffs Frank Hinda said that Eskom had applied to the National Energy Regulator…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has outlined its expectations for president Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address on Thursday (10 February), including the introduction of a new basic income grant. The trade federation, which represents 1.8 million workers in South Africa, said the…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Eskom has announced that Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 21h00 on Monday (7 February) until 05h00 on Tuesday (8 February). The reintroduction of power cuts is to replenish necessary energy reserves, the power utility said. It warned that further breakdowns could lead to load…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Eskom says that its system is in better shape thanks to work done to get units back to operation, while a review of the country’s load shedding status is underway. In a media briefing on Friday morning (4 February), Eskom chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer said that…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Nestlé South Africa is recalling some of its Kit Kat chocolate bars due to the possibility that they may contain glass pieces. In a statement on Thursday, the company said that it is initiating a voluntary recall of a limited number of KitKat milk chocolate products, as…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Statistics South Africa has updated its Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket of goods and services, providing insight into how consumer spending patterns have shifted over the five years. CPI basket is typically reviewed every four to five years to ensure that it adequately reflects trends in household…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. @ParagonGroup. The Gauteng Local Division of the High Court has ruled in favour of Old Mutual in dismissing the damages case brought by former CEO Peter Moyo. Moyo, fired in June 2019, was suing the company for R250 million. Despite a full bench court ruling in 2020…
By Loni Prinsloo. The South African government is in talks with the World Bank to secure additional funding, according to people familiar with the discussions. The state is seeking at least $800 million as it considers ways to fund the likely extension of a Covid-19 relief grant that’s scheduled to…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Several countries and airlines have announced eased travel restrictions for South Africa as governments look to shift towards the endemic phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will lift its entry and transit ban on South Africa and other African countries from Saturday (29…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to raise the repo rate to 4% per annum. Four members of the Committee preferred an increase and one member preferred an unchanged stance, Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago said in a statement on Thursday afternoon…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Central Energy Fund (CEF) says an Auditor General report has cleared it of any wrongdoing in the appointment of its chief executive, chief operations officer and legal services executive. This after media reports emerged last year that the board of the CEF allegedly appointed the three…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Eskom has warned that the road to operational recovery and sustainability will be long and hard. Major projects and outages undertaken this year will continue to exert pressure on the supply side, raising the risk of load-shedding in the short term. These outages, however, are necessary interventions…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. With an LLB Law Degree, being a Master’s (LLM) Candidate who is certified in The Fundamentals of Digital Marketing and a sought-after Brand Ambassador, Cartier Lebatie’s range of expertise and experience has armed her with a unique skill set that puts her in a league of her…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its 2022 growth forecasts for South Africa on the back of a softer-than-expected second half in 2021 and a weaker outlook for investment, as business sentiment remains subdued. In its global outlook report published on Tuesday (26 January), the global…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Total tax revenue collections for 2020/21 declined by 7.8% to R1 249.7 billion from the R1 355.8 billion collected in the previous year, tax statistics have revealed. The figures are contained in the 14th annual edition of the Tax Statistics published by the National Treasury and the…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Western Cape High Court Monday approved a $1.6 billion (R25 billion) payout by embattled retail giant Steinhoff to settle fraud claims that emerged in 2017. Tens of thousands of claimants have sought more than $8 billion in compensation after an accounting scandal sent share prices plunging…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will table the national budget on 23 February, 2022. The ministry of finance on Thursday issued an advisory - highlighting that this would be the minister's "inaugural" speech. "As usual, the budget allocation always aims to strike a balance between competing national spending…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South African Airways (SAA) will fly between Johannesburg and Durban again from 4 March this year. "We have been constantly evaluating our route performance and waiting for the data to guide us on the timing or the Durban relaunch. We are delighted that the time is now…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Eskom has reiterated its calls for a 20.5% tariff increase for the 2023 financial year, warning that the hike is necessary for the continuation of its operations. In a presentation to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) on Monday (17 January), the power utility said…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. After reprieve at the petrol pumps in January, South African motorists could see another hefty hike in February on the back of increasing international oil prices, according to economists from the Bureau for Economic Research (BER). Following a tumultuous first trading week of 2022, global equity and…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Data from Forbes' real-time ranking of billionaires shows that some of South Africa’s richest people continued to grow their wealth in 2021, led by Johann Rupert, whose luxury goods group Richemont surged on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, particularly in the second half of the year. Richemont was…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has published its global risks report, detailing some of the key risks facing South Africa over the coming years. The forum said that Covid-19 and its economic and societal consequences continue to pose a critical threat to the world at the start…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Capitec has announced that one of its co-founders and chief financial officer, André du Plessis, will retire from the group at the end of June 2022. Du Plessis has been part of Capitec for 22 years, having joined in 2000 as a co-founding member of the bank,…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Covid-19 flare-ups, diminished policy support, and lingering supply-chain bottlenecks will see the global economic recovery cool more than previously estimated in 2022, after last year’s expansion clocked the fastest post-recession pace in eight decades, the World Bank said. Global gross domestic product will probably increase 4.1% this…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South Africa faces a hefty electricity price hike in April despite ongoing load shedding and energy production concerns surrounding Eskom. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has invited stakeholders to comment until Friday (14 January) on Eskom’s proposed tariff increases for the country. Eskom chief…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. MTN has filed papers to oppose Telkom’s urgent application to block South Africa’s spectrum auction from going ahead on 8 March 2022. Radio frequency spectrum is the raw network capacity that cellular network operators use to communicate between mobile devices and their towers. Telkom approached the Pretoria…
Business Reporter. Motorists will heave a sigh of relief, as the fuel price is set to take a cut on Wednesday morning. The Central Energy Fund (CEF) announced on Monday that the retail price of petrol (93) will be cut by 71 cents a litre, while 95 will decrease by…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. @WhiteHouse. President Joe Biden's administration announced on Saturday that it had excluded Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from a US-Africa trade agreement, saying the actions of the three governments violated its principles. "The United States today terminated Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from the AGOA trade preference program due…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Adapt IT, a software and digitally-led business solutions provider, is set to delist from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) next week, 4 January 2022. The delisting comes after it agreed to an offer from Canadian company Volaris to acquire up to 100% of the issued ordinary shares…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Eskom has announced that Unit 4 at the Kusile power station has been synchronised to the national grid for the first time, which should help to alleviate pressure on the system into 2022. The unit was connected to the grid for the first time two days before…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Around five million South Africans have unclaimed pension benefits, with the total pension pot now worth an estimated R44.9 billion, says the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). In an interview with Cape Talk, Olano Makhubela of the FSCA said that much of the money belongs to former…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Fitch Rating Agency on Wednesday upgraded the outlook on South Africa’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to "stable" from "negative", citing a faster-than-expected economic recovery. "A recovery is underway and GDP now seems on track to return to pre-pandemic levels during 2022" Fitch said. The rating agency…
Business Reporter. Telecommunications group MTN has announced that its chief executive for South Africa, Godfrey Motsa will be stepping down from the role effective 1 January 2022. Charles Molapisi – currently Group Chief Technology & Information Officer – will take over the position. Mazen Mroue, currently Chief Operating Officer of…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Eskom on Wednesday (15 December) published interim results for the six months ended September 2021, showing a net profit after tax of R9.2 billion – up from R216 million, despite supply constraints and ongoing national lockdown, also suggesting turnaround efforts are starting to bear fruit. Earnings before…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South Africa’s annual consumer inflation accelerated to its highest reading in more than four years in November 2021, driven mostly by rising transport costs. The annual change in the consumer price index (CPI) was 5.5%, up from 5% in October and September. This is the biggest annual…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Finance minister Enoch Godongwana has called for changes to how the fuel price is calculated in South Africa as the country’s motorists pay record-high prices. Answering in an oral Q&A session in parliament on Friday (10 December), Godongwana said that he was concerned about these increases to…
Business Reporter. Standard Bank and property firm Lightstone have confirmed that they have been hit by a data breach, through property valuation platform LookSee, and that the personal information of property owners has been exposed. LookSee is one of Standard Bank’s Home Services platforms which provides property valuations and trends.…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Eskom chief financial officer Calib Cassim has confirmed that the state-owned power utility has applied for an electricity price increase of 20.5% for its 2023 financial year, set to take effect from 1 April 2022. The company confirmed the information following a press statement from the National…
Business Reporter. The battle for control of Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) between Northam Platinum (Northam) and Impala Platinum (Implats) is continuing with both groups increasing their respective shareholdings through off-market purchases. While this off-market struggle is going on behind the scenes the trading patterns on the JSE indicate that investors…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Statistics South Africa says the twin pressures of tighter Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and a spate of civil disorder in July led to the economy contracting in the third quarter of 2021. After recording four consecutive quarters of positive growth, real gross domestic product (GDP) slumped by 1.5%,…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The North Gauteng High Court sitting in Pretoria has ordered that a decision be made on Eskom’s latest tariff application by February next year and to do so in line with a 2016 methodology. The judgment, handed down by Judge Jody Kollapen on Friday, granted Eskom the…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Standard Bank South Africa says it has introduced a Covid-19 vaccination policy, which requires all employees of the group who work from the premises to be vaccinated against Covid-19. The policy will be implemented in South Africa in the first instance and will come into effect on…
Business Reporter. The Ford Motor Company announced an investment of R600 million in the Struandale Engine Plant in Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth. This investment will support the launch of a new 3.0L V6 turbodiesel engine Ford Ranger, as well as upgrades to the existing assembly line for the 2.0L Single…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has published the Technical Specification Paper (TSP) report on public comments received on the draft statement of methodology and policies governing the SARB-administered interest rate benchmarks. In a statement, the SARB said the report, titled 'Feedback on the draft statement of…
Business Reporter. JSE-listed technology company Altron has appointed Andrew Whittaker as managing director of Altron Security, with effect from today. In a statement, Altron says Whittaker, who has over 26 years of technical, management and industry experience, will spearhead Altron Security’s long-term growth strategy. Altron acquired digital signatures services company…