Cape Times 2022-07-07

THE NATIONAL Planning Commission (NPC) yesterday finally added its voice of concern about load shedding, and suggested that a state of emergency be declared to remove the red tape on building new power generation capacity. “The most immediate priority is to ensure that new generation capacity is rapidly and urgently brought onto the grid, together with significant new storage capacity,” the NPC said. A state of emergency was, according to recent reports, also among measures proposed by ANC national executive committee members at a meeting held over the weekend to deal with the Eskom crisis, although the Department of Public Enterprises later denied that this was discussed. The latest round of power outages has wreaked havoc with the economy, small businesses and poor families, and was mainly the result of…

THE FIRST salvo of South Africa protests against the increase in fuel prices saw taxi operators and trucks block the N4 in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, yesterday – a potential disruption to the economy if it spreads. Yesterday the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) also called for a national shutdown amid worsening living standards, including the high fuel price. On Tuesday afternoon #NationalShutdown was trending on Twitter as frustrated South Africans flooded social media with talk of a national shutdown amid the record-high fuel prices, with petrol now at more than R26 a litre, and continuous load shedding. Media reports yesterday emerged that public transport operators were incensed after the price of 93-octane petrol increased by R2.37 a litre, while diesel jumped by at least R2.30 a litre as…

THE RAND slumped again to its weakest in 22 months yesterday as it was galloping towards R17 to the US dollar pressured by severe power cuts in South Africa and concerns over the growing risk of global recession. State-owned power utility Eskom continued implementing Stage 5 rotational load shedding yesterday due to multiple plant breakdowns even after the end of the workers’ strike over wages. Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said load shedding would continue to be implemented at varying stages during the next few weeks as the generation capacity shortages persisted. “Eskom cautions the public that it will still take a few weeks for the power generation system to fully recover to pre-strike levels,” he said. The rand weakened to R16.80 to the US dollar by 5pm yesterday, its…

SIRIUS Real Estate, owner and operator of branded business and industrial parks in Germany and the UK, has begun trading in its new financial as planned, chairperson Daniel Kitchen said yesterday. He said at the annual meeting that this was in spite of the economic uncertainty and inflationary environment in both markets. The share price traded 1.3 percent lower at R17.21 yesterday morning, having fallen some 45.28 percent from a peak early this year, despite the company expanding its focus into the UK last year and good recent financial results. Sirius’ portfolio comprises 140 assets let to 9 452 tenants with a total book value of more than €2 billion (R34bn). In its year to March 31 Sirius had generated a total 20 percent accounting…

SOUTH African farmers have warned that the disruptive load shedding is posing long-term risks to the agricultural sector and the economy as a whole as it could worsen rising food prices. Agri SA said yesterday that the impact of the ongoing power outages on the agricultural sector and the wider economy held serious implications for food security and social stability. Agri SA executive director Christo van der Rheede cautioned that the extended period of level 6 load shedding was threatening the viability of the sector. Van der Rheede said load shedding contributed to inflation and might result in farmers planting less due to rising costs and disruption in planting schedules. “Load shedding increases the cost of production for farmers at a time when South Africans are facing further food price…

SUPPORTERS say it’s the world’s most ambitious green investment rulebook and could direct huge sums of money into fighting climate change. Critics say it’s a “greenwashing” exercise that puts the EU’s climate change targets at risk. So what is the EU’s sustainable finance taxonomy? What does it do? The EU taxonomy is a complex system to classify which parts of the economy may be marketed as sustainable investments. It includes economic activities, as well as detailed environmental criteria that each economic activity must meet to earn a green label. Rules for most sectors came into effect this year, covering investments including steel plants, electric cars and building renovations. The rules for gas and nuclear energy, however, have been long delayed amid intense lobbying from governments who disagree on whether the…