Cape Times 2025-02-03

South African miners reaped significant rewards on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) as the price of gold surged past the psychological barrier of $2 800 (R52 250) per ounce, registering a 1.8% increase on Friday. This impressive rally, which has seen the yellow metal’s prices climb over 35% in the past year, underscores a growing trend of investors seeking safe-haven assets amidst turbulent economic conditions. While gold led the surge, it was the platinum group metals (PGM) and diversified miners that dominated trading on Friday. Impala Platinum and Northam Platinum each posted gains exceeding 5%, while Sibanye-Stillwater rose by 4.7%. Notably, Anglo American Gold and Harmony Gold also saw appreciable increases of 3.7% and 2.9%, respectively. This uptick in miner performance highlights how closely linked market dynamics are to fluctuations…

South Africa’s 90-day visa waiver and the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme is encouraging Chinese visitors back into the country and breathing fresh life into the tourism industry, after 1 200 guests descended on Sun City over the weekend to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Under the Government of National Unity (GNU), South Africa has waived the requirement for visa applications to be made in person in India and China, allowing these to be done via tour operators. This, Sun City general manager, Brett Hoppe, told Business Report will help bring Chinese tourists into South Africa, which will create jobs. “The more tourists we can put on the ground, the more people we can employ,” he said. This is the third year in a row that Sun City held Chinese New…

SA infrastructure projects worth over R4.2 billion are proceeding along the Maputo Corridor Trans Africa Concessions N4 (TRAC), the South African company that manages the highway from Pretoria to the Port of Maputo, has confirmed that it is on schedule this week to begin the R1.2 billion major expansion of the 66km stretch from Ressano Garcia to the Tchumene Interchange. The deal is based on a concession agreement signed with the South African and Mozambican road agencies TRAC has contracted WBHO for the project, despite targeted spillover protests from disputed elections, as the pace of infrastructure projects accelerates. TRAC N4 spokesperson Solange Soares said the company was only able to resume toll fee collections over a week ago due to the protests, which last week led to an attack on…

RMH Holdings doubled CEO Brian Roberts and chief financial officer Ellen Marais salaries and rewards in 2024 as the company seeks to retain senior executives although there was no adjustment to the executive directors’ fixed pay. RMH also did not pay any short-term incentives, while executive directors did not receive any new annual long-term incentive. However, due to the special dividend paid in January 2024, new replacement awards were made to compensate for the value that participants lost on their historically awarded awards. As CEO, Roberts’s salary went up from R2 million in 2023 to R4m in 2024 while incentives and share schemes brought up his total awards for the year to R18.7m compared to R13.8m a year earlier. The total awards for Marais also went up from R6.9m in…

Equity markets can be complex to navigate, influenced by macroeconomic factors, regulatory changes, corporate actions, and earnings releases. While earnings remain the key driver of sustainable share price growth, market overreactions or underreactions to these developments often lead to price fluctuations, which present opportunities to investors. Barloworld’s takeover offer On December 11 , Barloworld received a firm offer from Newco. The offer was to acquire its issued shares entirely. The offered price of R120.00 per share represented a significant premium over the previous day's close. The announcement was met with optimism, driving Barloworld’s share price up by 15.5%. However, the proposed deal has encountered resistance from a Barloworld shareholder (with an ownership of 17.8%) who has expressed their unwillingness to tender its Barloworld shares unless the consortium offers at least…

South Africa’s national elections last year were a defining moment for our democracy, filled with a number of ambitious promises directed towards voters in our country. As the dust settled on the campaign trails and the posters were taken down, citizens were awarded with a new Government of National Unity, but left with the weighty question: what happens next? Because democracy does not end with an election; it remains an ongoing commitment that the governed, and those elected to govern, engage in daily. As President Cyril Ramaphosa prepares to deliver the annual State of the Nation Address (SONA), South Africans shouldn’t merely tune in with passive interest. Instead, they must engage with a critical ear, weighing the administration’s words against pledges made on the campaign trail. A government is only…