Pretoria News 2022-10-18

THE BATTLE for Comair’s survival is on as the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and liquidators of the operationally defunct airline oppose the withdrawal of air licences and frequencies by both the International air Services Licensing Council (IASLC) and its domestic subsidiary the Air Licensing Council of South Africa. The parties argue that the decision devalues the company as a going concern and risks the tenacious hold on the jobs of 1 500 employees. Provisional Liquidator Cloete Murray said: “The two councils have unlawfully suspended licences for Comair and we are going through the court process to have the suspensions lifted. “There is the Kulula brand and then there is the corporate identity of Comair, which a whole range of people we are talking to are interested…

EMPOWERDEX said yesterday that the Dis-Chem Pharmacies group was not paying lip service to the equity aspirations, but was doing its best to fix the demographics within its operations, with research having shown there is only a 55% attainment of targets by South African companies. This after a leaked letter on the weekend from the drug maker’s chief executive Ivan Saltzman – outlining measures for the group to meet its employment equity targets – faced a public backlash. “We are growing at a fast rate and a few appointments other than white don’t cut it. It’s the ratio between white and black that counts. So, when no suitable black candidate is found and a white is appointed, we need several blacks just to maintain the status quo, never mind moving…

TRANSNET’S strike will continue to cripple the economy severely as thousands of employees have vowed to remain on the picket lines for the second week in a row, in spite of the company signing a three-year wage agreement with the majority workers’ union. The State-owned freight and logistics firm signed a deal yesterday with the majority union, the United National Transport Union (Untu), to increase their wages by up to 6% for the period April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2025. This is a remarkable feat for the union after gruelling negotiations in which the employer initially tabled 1.5% wage increases, leading to the strike. The wage negotiations were mediated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). According to the wage agreement with Untu, workers will receive…

CALGRO M3 lifted its gross profit margin by 22.1% in the six months to August 31, as the developer of integrated residential developments and memorial parks enters a period of controlled growth and focus. Revenue increased to R607 million from R576m the year before. Headline earnings per share (Heps) increased to 57 cents from 42.79c. Chief executive Wikus Lategan said in a telephone interview yesterday that they were pleased with the “solid performance” and they expected a financial performance uplift in the second half. He said even though it was a tough environment, where it was easier “to save R1 than to earn an extra 10c”, they continued to focus on driving efficiencies, containing costs and delivering quality affordable homes and memorial parks. This, with investment in building…

MURRAY & Roberts’s (M&R’s) share price plunged 40% yesterday after it said its financial results to December 31 were expected to fall at least 100% as its international engineering projects are being affected by global supply chain issues and slow payments. The price was trading 39.58% lower at R4 by around midday, after it had steadily declined from R13.54 a year ago. Among comments elicited by the falling share price on Twitter was Carles Boles (@CharlesBoles), who said at M&R’s September 1, 2022, results presentation: “The chief executive said the recent slide in share price was inexplicable. Today (October 17) trading update said 1H2023 (first half of the year) earnings will be down at least 100% and there are working capital funding issues. Not so inexplicable it seems?” Simon Brown…

MAINTAINING interest rates at 200% – the highest in the world – will stifle economic growth for Zimbabwe, as it battles monetary instability despite retailers and manufacturers starting to record a surge in US Dollar sales amid a local currency crunch. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said over the weekend that Zimbabwe would maintain interest rates at 200% for the next three months as a way of stabilising inflation. The government was inclined to maintain the current tight monetary, interest rate and fiscal policy regime. “That’s what it takes to bring stability and bring things under control,” he said. The Zimbabwe dollar local unit of exchange, which has been highly volatile, has notched up some stability on the parallel exchange rate market. It has been trading at around $1:ZWL700 in the…