Cape Times 2021-09-16

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE SOUTH African Special Risk Insurance Association (Sasria) could receive a R3.9 billion cash injection to strengthen its balance sheet as it starts to pay business insurance claims emerging from the civil unrest in July. This was revealed by the National Treasury yesterday as it asked Parliament to consider approving a second special appropriation bill. Sasria had made submissions to Parliament last week on why it required the R3.9bn. This is one bill that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana would wish to be passed with speed as he prepares to table his maiden Medium-Term Budget at the end of October. Sasria has so far authorised insurers to pay claims up to R1 million, while at the same time making interim payments for large claims. This week, Insurance Claims…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za AS THE HAGGLING between Eskom, its insurers and the Department of Labour goes on in the background over damages to Medupi’s unit 4 generator, the power utility is considering transplanting the unit 6 generator from Kusile to Medupi and then ordering a new one from France to replace the Kusile one. The Medupi generator was damaged by an explosion in August, which led it to suspend several of its employees. Kusile is not due to be commissioned until 2023. Sources, who did not want to be named, said yesterday the move by Eskom was feasible, but would come at a heavy cost as unit 6 had already been installed and the transplant would be a difficult one. This as Eskom claimed the cost of repairs to…

Footwear retailer’s founder and others embroiled in liquidation battle say they were duped Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za TEKKIE Town’ former owners have taken legal action to halt a court hearing aimed at sanctioning Steinhoff’s global settlement. Tekkie Town’s former owners yesterday filed a notice of opposition to Steinhoff’s Section 155 Creditor confirmation application set down for sanction for the end of the month in the Western Cape High Court. Former Tekkie Town chief executive Bernard Mostert said yesterday that erstwhile footwear retail owners had significant reasons to oppose Steinhoff’s attempts to have the S155 process sanctioned. “Firstly, the Section 155 proposal treats the creditors of Steinhoff International Holdings (SIHPL) unfairly. Steinhoff NV, the parent company of SIHPL, is actually insolvent. It should be wound up and its assets preserved,” Mostert…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za FIRSTRAND has become the latest bank to stop funding new coal mines by following in the footsteps of Nedbank as pressure mounts for lenders to limit fossil fuel funding. In its climate change policy and updated energy fuel policy published yesterday, FirstRand said it believed climate change was one of the defining issues of this century. “It is a global crisis that has the potential to alter geopolitics and interstate relations, disrupt business models and markets across all sectors, and to impact the livelihoods and well-being of individuals across the world. “FirstRand acknowledges that the group must be part of the solution by supporting climate resilience and a just transition to a low carbon world,” said FirstRand. In the policy, FirstRand stated its long-term ambition was to…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za HYPROP Investments, the real estate investment trust (Reit) that owns a R43.3 billion portfolio of retail real estate in South Africa and Eastern Europe, is shifting out of the traditional shopping mall structure and into omni-channel to cater for consumer behaviour that has changed through the Covid-19 pandemic. The owner of up-market malls such as Canal Walk in Cape Town, and Hyde Park Corner and Rosebank Mall in Gauteng, is, like other retail centre owners around the world, acing a Covid-19-induced speeding up of data driven shopping trends, but while e-commerce has grown rapidly, shoppers have also returned to centres as pandemic lockdowns have eased. Hyprop chief executive Morné Wilken said at the release of results for the year to June 31 that the group was…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za PAN AFRICAN Resources yesterday proposed its highest-ever dividend as the group posted record profits and the second-highest annual gold production during the year ended June 2021. The JSE- and London Stock Exchange-listed group also announced plans to launch a share buy-back programme. Chief executive Cobus Loots said the group believed its share price was undervalued. A week ago the share price fell to R3. “We are saying this must be an opportunity for us to add value. We want the flexibility when we see the share price inexplicably depressed, to buy some shares. It is, in this case, potentially one of the best investments we can make,” Loots said. He said the company expected to make further announcements on the programme in due course. Pan African proposed…