Cape Argus 2022-01-26

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za THE HOTEL sector is clawing its way back out of the 2020 lockdown “hole”, but trading in the sector is still far weaker than pre-Covid-19 days, according to John Loos, property sector strategist at FNB Commercial Property Finance. Writing in an FNB Property Insights note, Loos said Statistics SA’s November 2021 preliminary monthly tourism statistics showed the hotel sector to be slowly clawing its way out of the “deep hole” created by Covid-19- related lockdowns and the accompanying recessionary impact back in 2020. On a year-on-year basis, hotel sector income grew a strong 95.4 percent in November 2021, which was not surprising as this income was coming off a very low base compared with 2020 “lockdown year” levels, said Loos. “The extreme year-on-year growth rate is…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za IF PIGS COULD fly, they would probably have to grow extra ribs and extra bellies to help South Africa’s pork industry meet its local quota to cut out imports of more than 2 000 tons a month from Brazil, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK. The industry, which is trying to carve a niche in the market as it comes third after poultry and beef, currently has a per capita consumption of 15kg a person compared to 40kg for beef and 21kg for poultry. Eskort CEO Arnold Prinsloo told Business Report imports were necessary, because so many cuts of ribs and bellies could be harvested from a single baconer, while cuts such as loins, trotters, liver and meaty bones were a hard sell to the local…

Amore Carstens On December 24, 2019, the first iteration of the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Bill (UPRDB) was published for public comment. The UPRDB introduces a separation of the upstream petroleum exploration and production sector from the mining sector, which is currently regulated under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, No 28 of 2002 (MPRDA). Written comments on the UPRDB from industry stakeholders were required to be submitted by February 21, 2020, and government consultations with industry stakeholders were conducted by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and the Petroleum Agency (the Task Team) between April and May 2020. National Treasury issued a tax policy discussion paper on December 17, 2021, to be read alongside the UPRDB, which sets out certain key proposals on the taxation of…

Oluthando Keteyi oluthando Keteyi@inl.co.za THE new season of Idols SA is undergoing some major changes, especially when it comes to its judges. After being on the judging panel for 17 seasons, Randall Abrahams will not be returning to the long-running singing competition. Mzansi Magic confirmed Abrahams and Unathi Nkayi would not be returning for the upcoming season of Idols SA. “We are taking a fresh approach to the judging panel to retain audiences and stay competitive in the Sunday night timeslot,” said Shirley Adonisi, channel director: local entertainment channels at M-Net. Nkayi has been with the show for 10 seasons. She took to Instagram to pen a thank you note to her supporters. She posted an image of herself on the Idols SA judging panel and spoke about her…

Jamal Grootboom jamald.grootboom@inl.co.za R&B songstress Ari Lennox seems to have overcome the initial shock following her controversial interview on Podcast and Chill with MacG. Last week, the Pressure singer had a virtual interview with the podcaster where they spoke about her personal life and music career. However, in the first two minutes, things got awkward when MacG asked the star a very personal question. MacG asked Ari what inspired one of her earlier singles, Pop – where she sings about having her vagina “popped”, in a reference to sex. “It was such a silly song but it was so on time, like if I pop it for you, are you going to play with me or are we going to get married?” she said. MacG then asked,: “And where are…

Bang Showbiz Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda doesn’t have any ambition to host the Oscars. The 42-year-old actor has already rejected the opportunity to host the glitzy awards show, and can’t ever picture himself on hosting duties. He shared: “I have said no in the past. I really don’t think that that’s my skillset. It’s not something I’m comfortable doing, hosting, mainly because I’ve been lucky enough to work with incredible hosts.” Miranda has previously worked with the likes of Neil Patrick Harris and Hugh Jackman and doesn’t see himself following in their footsteps. He said: “I’ve written for Neil Patrick Harris, I’ve written his opening numbers and closing numbers for the Tonys. That is a whole other thing. He is genius at that, he and Hugh Jackman.” The theatre star…