Cape Times 2021-05-03

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za STEINHOFF International shareholders once again shot down some of the important resolutions during the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday afternoon by voting against three of the five resolutions. The shareholders voted against a proposal to amend the remuneration policy applicable to managing directors with 92.69 percent against while 7.31 percent voted in favour, while 83.77 percent voted against the proposal to adopt the annual accounts for the financial year to end September 2020 and 92.53 percent voted against the proposal to cast an advisory vote in respect of the remuneration report for the year to end September 2020. Peter Wakkie was re-appointed as a member of the supervisory board, with 90.56 percent of the votes backing him, while a proposal…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za PRIVATE sector companies on Friday pledged to inject more money into the creation of worker representation structures as the government pushes for a change to legislation. Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) Ebrahim Patel said the government wanted more representation of shop floor workers at the highest structures of industry. Over the recent past, the government has begun to prioritise empowerment schemes that provide workers with equity in the companies that they work for. Patel said the government, business and labour were working on a set of amendments to the Companies Act to open up the opportunity for greater levels of worker representation on the boards of large companies. “Broad-based transformation is about bringing key wealth-creators in, not only as wage earners, but also as owners…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za ESKOM has warned that electricity supply could be affected if wage talks reached a deadlock as workers’ unions demand up to 15 percent in salary increase, a threat that would knock the struggling economy and dent investor confidence. The power utility on Friday urged all parties to put the country’s best interests first as wage talks with recognised labour unions were set to commence yesterday and end on June 3. Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha appealed to all the parties to do everything possible to avoid any unnecessary disturbances. “If disruptions were to occur, these may have a negative impact on our infrastructure and operations, which may compromise our ability to supply electricity.” Eskom will engage with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the National Union of…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za AYO TECHNOLOGY Solutions has reached agreements with professional third parties, financial services institutions and trusts that will enable it to do business over the next few months, its board said on Friday. These arrangements form part of a seven-point plan to ensure the sustainability of the business over the next few months after the Gauteng High Court last week denied urgent relief against First National Bank’s plan to suspend banking services to AYO from today. It emerged from court proceedings that AYO had not yet fully exhausted its options with other banks, notwithstanding AYO’s testimony that it awaited feedback from some banking institutions, and that not all banks in the country offered the suite of services that AYO required. Court evidence also suggested AYO could use third…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za IMPALA Platinum (Implats) reported higher 6E platinum group metals (PGM) sales volumes during the three months ended March 2021 compared to a year ago despite grappling with Eskom load shedding and community unrest. Implats said on Friday that 6E PGM sales volumes were up 14 percent to 862 000 ounces in the three months ended March 2021, broadly in line with contractual requirements with some additional destocking of iridium and ruthenium as demand and pricing improved for these metals. 6E PGM is platinum, palladium, rhodium, iri- dium, ruthenium and gold. Implats’s destocking of iridium and ruthenium came as the strong metal price environment resulted in South Africa’s PGM sales overtaking coal for the first time in the last decade to become the single biggest contributor…

I WAS PART of a webinar recently entitled, EveryONE EmployONE, which spoke about the importance within the business community of everyone supporting each other, including the communities in which we do business by each creating at least one additional new job. It is a concept we have spoken about before in this column and which in essence boils down to the collective impact of individual responses to the current economic crisis. The EveryONE EmployONE is a project launched by ActionCOACH Business Coaching and aims to tackle the scourge of unemployment head-on as individuals where our impact can collectively contribute to the solution to the problem. We can have the same impact and create a virtuous circle by buying locally grown, produced and manufactured goods and services. Buying local creates…