Cape Times 2021-12-20

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za AS THE CURTAIN draws to a close on the year 2021, a series of tsunamis has continued to pummel economic activity in South Africa, threatening to derail a very optimistic recovery from the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic. Economic indicators have strikingly pointed out that the government’s pace of implementing structural reforms aimed at attracting new investment and create jobs was not equal to the challenge at hand. The structural reforms punted by former finance minister Tito Mboweni in his 2019 “Towards an Economic Strategy for South Africa” paper remain mired in bureaucracy. The government, business and labour hold divergent approaches in implementing a cohesive economic and industrialisation policy to help the country rebound to pre-Covid levels. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently said that, “structural rigidities”…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za The founder of Tekkie Town Braam van Huyssteen and former owners and management said on Friday that the dropping of litigation against Steinhoff International would enable them to significantly ramp up the footwear retail business. Steinhoff’s share price rose 9.8 percent to R3.46 on the JSE on Friday morning following its announcement that it had reached agreement with two major detractors of Steinhoff’s R25 billion litigation settlement proposal, the former owners of Tekkie Town and Trevo Capital, following the collapse of the international retail group due to accounting fraud in 2017. The Tekkie Town settlement with the Steinhoff Group involves the claimants being paid R500 million and receiving 29.5 million Pepkor Holdings shares. Pepkor has 3.7 million shares in issue. Former Tekkie Town chief…

Tawanda Karombo Harare From DISCOUNTED prices for US dollar purchases to promotionals, giving more for less … Zimbabwean companies are having to dabble in cut-throat initiatives to prop up their hard-currency sales in light of the impending festive holidays. Consumers such as public servants who have just been paid their 2021 annual bonuses in foreign currency have some additional bucks to spend. December is also one of the traditional high-volume months for remittances, and in spite of the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic, some diaspora Zimbabweans are still planning to travel back home for the festive season, bringing with them some more liquidity. Remittance receipts have leapt to more than $1 billion (R15.88bn) in 2021, and some retail outlets now allow remittance receipts through their outlets. And now Zimbabwean…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za RETAILERS may have grappled with tighter Covid-19 restrictions, and the spate of civil unrest in July but their e-commerce sales went through the roof as shopping patterns evolved. The upswing in online retail sales was a tailwind for retailers in 2021 with Statista market and consumer data projecting 31.6 million South Africans could be converted to online shopping by 2024. The upswing comes as the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way South Africans work, school and play with a growing number of consumers avoiding shopping malls and opting to make use of on-demand grocery apps on their smartphones. Big retailers have taken advantage of the growth in online shopping, including Pick n Pay, which rebranded its on-demand delivery app Bottles to Pick n Pay asap! in…

WHILE it’s too early for consolidated statistics on merger activity for all of 2021, available data on the first half suggests an exceptional year globally, for Africa and particularly for South Africa. A round-up of deals announced in the second half suggests even greater activity. This all points to a rising trend which augurs well for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in 2022. For instance, Refinitiv data shows Africa’s M&A activity rose sharply in the first six months of 2021, with deals recorded worth more than $57.7 billion (R916.36bn), up an astounding 576 percent from $8.5bn year-on-year. And more than half of this activity was recorded in South Africa, where 169 deals worth $52bn were concluded. There were actually slightly fewer transactions, but deal value skyrocketed. Deals which…

Lutho Pasiya lutho.pasiya@inl.co.za The holidays are all about spending time with your favourite people, sharing laughs, and, of course, enjoying all the food, from gourmet snacks and prosecco to that succulent, show-stopper of a turkey. Food waste is one of the biggest negative side-effects of holiday consumption. The good news is that most food waste can be avoided with a few simple actions. Below we have tips from BiobiN South Africa and chef, nutritionist, and founder of the Eating Made Easy blog, Amelia Winslow. BiobiN South Africa tips: Responsible consumption Now is the time to cook efficiently, limiting food scraps and wastage. Weekly meal planning and co-ordinated shopping can lead to a reduced food waste household output. Time to implement your plan. Start composting Food scraps do not need…