Pretoria News 2022-05-25

TRIBUTES poured in yesterday for Mike Schüssler, a well-known economist and founder of economists.co.za, saying that South Africa had lost an “economic giant”, a “great mind” who had left “an indelible mark as an economist”. Schüssler, 60, who died yesterday after a “short, brave fight against cancer”, leaves his wife, Greta, and son, Rudi. Of note, Schüssler founded economists.co.za in 2005. He won the South African Economist of The Year competition twice, in 2005 and 2007, one of only three economists to have achieved this. His research also resulted in the development of unique indicators for the South African economy, which was one of his great legacies for the South African economic sector, said economists.co.za. In earlier years, he developed provincial economic barometers, and more recently, the BankservAfrica Economic Transaction…

WITH A MASSIVE R3.50 to R4 per litre fuel price increase imminent next week, which has been labelled a “looming humanitarian catastrophe” by some, the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources still has nothing to show for its purported review of the pricing methodology for petrol. Yesterday, the Motor Industry Staff Association (Misa) said it wants Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, to put action to his words in urgently reviewing the pricing methodology. Mantashe and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana had promised South Africans this would be reviewed “urgently”, even before Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine. In the meantime, fuel prices have rocketed, not only making transport increasingly unaffordable for many, but driving up other goods prices – 80 percent of all goods are transported on the road.…

THE NATIONAL Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) said yesterday that it had given iron and steel mills firm ArcelorMittal SA (Amsa) until today to respond to its wage demands after the union handed over a memorandum of demands to the company. The march took place as South Africa is grappling with strike season. Unions are mostly fighting for wage increases, saying that the rising inflation rate is hitting their members’ pockets hard, while employers are citing that the economy is struggling. Numsa members marched to Amsa’s offices in Vanderbijlpark yesterday. However, the steel firm refused to accept the memorandum from the union. Numsa then called the police to deliver the memorandum on its behalf. This as Amsa had launched an urgent interdict preventing Numsa from what it termed “acts of violence…

SOUTH Africa’s cannabis industry, dubbed the “green rush” is on course for new highs as a combination of ability to produce a quality product for global pharmaceutical producers and also making important strides in the regulatory frameworks to catch up with countries already leading the market. At the delivery of research by the European Union Delegation to SA (through its EU-SA Partners for Growth project) to understand the state of play for SA cannabis growers and wannabe cannabis growers, and identify opportunities for trade and investment in medical cannabis and CBD products, it emerged that while the market was still new, exporters had nevertheless already distinguished themselves from cheap suppliers of raw material in the market dominated by Colombia, Uruguay and Jamaica. Stephen Murphy of Prohibition Partners, the leading…

“THE ROAD IS long, with many a winding turn…” This is the opening line of one of most famous Hollies songs, He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother. The song may have been released in 1969, but the lyrics sum up the recovery efforts in post-Covid pandemic South Africa. It is a long road, with too many turns to mention. There are potholes, tolls, roadworks and accident scenes along the way. Two words are complicated by countless real-life challenges – economic recovery. This is the focus of our annual lecture series at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) on Friday. Our discussions will cover food insecurity, unemployment and rocketing living costs – just some of the roadblocks hampering our recovery mission. Everything is going up – petrol, food, electricity blackouts,…

CORONATION Fund Managers’ fund management earnings a share fell 12 percent to 214.8 cents as the normally cyclical business began to normalise after a period of strong performance. The interim dividend fell by 12.3 percent to 214c from 244c in the prior corresponding period. “After a period of earning elevated levels of fund management fees, due to exceptional portfolio performance resulting from opportunities presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, earnings have started to normalise,” chief executive Anton Pillay said. “This is in line with our expectations and we anticipate ongoing market volatility given the impact of unfolding and unpredictable macro events. “We remind shareholders that, as a cyclical business, our earnings are linked to our active management, valuation-based portfolio positioning and market performance,” he said in a statement…