Cape Times 2022-04-12

THE GOVERNMENT has given the strongest indication yet that it will not be swayed by the Just Transition dictates of European countries as South Africa navigates its own path amid escalating fuel prices, maintaining jobs in the coal sector, stabilising risk-prone Eskom, a tentative vehicle manufacturing industry and a dwindling food basket. This despite South Africa signing a deal last year with Germany, the US, the UK and France worth more than R130 billion aimed at speeding up the country’s shift away from coal and to reduce domestic carbon emissions to within a target range of between 420 CO2-eq and 350 CO2-eq by 2030 – in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Speaking at the collective bargaining conference of the National Union of Metal of…

Harare CALLS for the removal of Zimbabwean immigrants from some areas of South Africa – described by President Cyril Ramaphosa as “disturbing” yesterday – have intensified pressure on President Emerson Mnangagwa to quickly turn around the economy to offer better economic conditions for locals. The mob killing of a Zimbabwean man, Elvis Nyathi, in Diepsloot last week has sparked a wave of anti-foreigner, or xenophobic, sentiment across some South African communities. The xenophobic sentiments, fuelled by anger over violent crimes such as rape, robberies and murder, are being directed at Zimbabweans settled in South Africa. Ramaphosa said immigrants were being “stopped on the street by private citizens and being forced to produce identification to verify their immigration status”, while some political leaders are “making unscientific statements about immigrants to exploit…

SOUTH African wine producers have jumped into the digital hype of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) to boost sales and investment in vintage wines after the devastation of Covid-19 lockdowns that severely hampered trade in the sector. Auction house Strauss & Co yesterday said it partnered with five of the most respected fine wine producers to offer Africa’s first fine wine NFT on auction next week. NFTs are a highly efficient way to package a collection of wines for trading and investment, the auction house said. These unique digital contracts encompass vertical collections of Klein Constantia Vin de Constance, Kanonkop Paul Sauer, Meerlust Rubicon, Mullineux Olerasay and Vilafonté Series C, capturing past, present and future vintages. Strauss & Co said each NFT holds between 20 and 50 vintages, with collections from 66…

BALWIN Properties’ shares sank 5 percent in intraday trade yesterday as its controversial purchase of a new head office in upmarket Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, took a new twist on social media as Piet Viljoen, a portfolio manager at Counterpoint Asset Management, declared it a bad move. Balwin’s share trade was down 5.33 percent at R3.02 at 2pm. It closed at R3.01 on the JSE yesterday. At 2pm the FTSE/JSE Real Estate index was up 0.26 percent at 1 050.44 points. “I would estimate the return on investment for the type of property Balwin management just bought with shareholders’ funds will be less than 5 percent annually,” Viljoen said on twitter. Viljoen’s twitter comment yesterday came after Business Report attempts to get comment from him…

IN HIS STATE-of-the-Nation address at the opening of Parliament in Cape Town on February 10, President Cyril Ramaphosa said it was businesses and not government that created jobs. Backing up this statement, he said roughly 80 percent of those employed in South Africa worked in the private sector. “We all know that the government does not create jobs – business creates jobs.” South Africa is a capitalist country. A capitalist country has an economic and political system in which trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competi- tive markets, price systems, private property, property rights recognition, voluntary exchange and wage labour. In a capitalist market economy, decision-making and investments are determined by owners…

THE LOGISTIC and freight group Grind- rod Limited says an overwhelming majority of shareholders gave the company’s board the thumbs up on its remuneration policy at its annual general meeting. It says 75 percent voted in favour of the remuneration implementation, while 25 percent were against the non-binding advisory vote. This information is contained in the company’s audited Annual Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2021, distributed yesterday. The Nasdaq and JSE-listed company said this was the first time it secured more than a three-quarter majority vote. “This was a reflection of the commitment of the executive to engage with stakeholders and re-evaluate the policy in line with concerns raised,” Grindrod said. According to the company, it has agreed to certain conditions to address the concerns…