Cape Times 2022-07-21

CONSUMERS should brace themselves for further price hikes as the cost of living in South Africa is expected to remain elevated for the remainder of the year and only ease somewhat in the last three months. This as the headline consumer inflation surged to a 13-year high in June driven by rising fuel and food prices. Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) yesterday said the annual inflation rate in South Africa quickened to 7.4 percent in June from 6.5 percent in May, rising above market expectations of 7.2 percent. This was the highest rate since May 2009 when the rate was 8 percent and the economy was facing the headwind of currency depreciation during the global financial crisis. StatsSA said prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has come out in full support of the black economic empowerment (BEE) laws in South Africa as one of the means to achieve inclusive economic growth. Ramaphosa yesterday said that black businesses should have a seat at the table and enjoy meaningful and equitable participation in the economy without any barriers. Next year South Africa will mark 20 years since the adoption of the BEE Act. Ramaphosa said an economy that only benefited a few, and did not reflect the country’s demography, would never be sustainable or dynamic. “There can be no growth without economic inclusion and without a business sector that reflects the diversity of our people and our society,” Ramaphosa said. “There can be no inclusive recovery and reconstruction unless broad-based black economic empowerment is…

THE MAJORITY union at power utility Eskom, the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa), yesterday said that it was perplexed by the Department of Public Enterprises’ SOS call to Solidarity to help fill a skills shortage linked to “aggressive transformation”. Trade union Solidarity earlier this year offered to help Department of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to recruit at least scarce skills for the power utility, saying it had a list of more than 1 000 skilled people who were willing to assist and would set up a panel to select the top 100 people. Reports emerged yesterday that the minister had formally requested Solidarity to help with the recruitment of power station engineers – including mechanical, nuclear, electrical, system and maintenance skills – as well…

KENHARDT, the sleepy but arid town in the Northern Cape that bloomed from under a camel-thorn tree, is being put on the map for the most spectacular renewable energy project after the Norwegian group, Scatec, was first out of the blocks as it builds a R16 billion renewable energy facility. The company announced yesterday that it had reached financial close with the financing in place for its Kenhardt projects – Scatec projects Kenhardt 1, 2 and 3 – under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme after signing all the project agreements on June 2. The project will deliver 150MW of PV Solar Energy, with 1.1GW of battery storage, which will be sold to power utility Eskom amid a power shortage in South Africa. The project –…

NEDBANK Group said basic earnings per share (Eps) and headline earnings per share (Heps) were expected to increase by more than 20 percent in the six months to June 30, 2022, when compared with those in the six months to June 30, 2021. Basic Eps was expected to increase by 28 to 33 percent, resulting in a range of between 1 384 to 1 438 cents per share compared with the prior period figure of 1 081c per share. Heps was expected to increase by 23 to 28 percent resulting in a range of between 1 333 to 1 388c per share when compared with the prior period of 1 084c per share. The interim results are expected to be released…

THE COUNTRY achieved a record six months without a mining fatality caused by a fall-of-ground (FOG) in gold and platinum mines, the Minerals Council South Africa said yesterday. This built on the record performance in the first three months of 2022 when a single person was killed in a FOG incident in the coal sector. “The leadership initiatives and the implementation of strategies, leading practices, and the Minerals Council-led FOG Action Plan to mitigate incidents have resulted in no fatalities in the gold and platinum mines for the first six months of the year,” it said. The entire industry was FOG fatality-free in the second quarter of the year. The council said its data showed that 23 employees had died in the year to date (July 18) compared to 29…