Indice dei contenuti per 2023-06-07 in Cape Times

Economy slightly avoided two consecutive quarters of negative growth ECONOMIC growth in South Africa could detract sharply in the second quarter on the back of intensified power cuts after averting a technical recession in the first three months of 2023. Data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday showed that the economy slightly avoided two consecutive quarters of negative growth, buoyed by manufacturing, finance, real estate and business services. StatsSA said gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.4% in the three months to March following an upwardly revised 1.1% decline in the previous three months to December 2022. Despite the 0.4% rise in the first quarter of 2023, GDP remains below the all-time high of R1.161 trillion reached in the third quarter of 2022. Economists have thus warned that growth…

SHARES in SAB Zenzele Kabili closed 11.11% higher after it indicated yesterday that it would be paying a cash dividend of 45 cents per share to all shareholders by June 26. The share closed 11.11% up at R40 yesterday. However, in general the counter has not seen a strong performance with the share price having fallen 31.97% in a year. SAB Zenzele Kabili being a shareholder of global brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), received a total amount of R77 million, based on the 5 105 685 shares it holds in AB InBev. “Taking into account the applicable debt repayments and with tight operating cost management, SAB Zenzele Kabili was able to declare a dividend of R0.45 per share from the dividend income it received from AB InBev,” the company…

CAPITAL Appreciation was experiencing strong demand as corporate digitalisation continues and it invested heavily in the past financial year to build a long-term growth runway, its executives said yesterday. The annual dividend was raised 10% to 8.25 cents per share for the year to March 31. This was even though headline earnings per share fell 44.5% to 7.44c from 13.40c. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 6.3% to R235.7 million. Revenue increased 19.7% to R995.1m, benefiting from good growth in annuity-based payments revenue and growth in cloud-based and digital consulting services, security hardware sales and third-party software licence fees. International revenue was up 177% to R150.9m year-on-year. The International division was launched in 2022 with offices in the Netherlands and had landed two “significant” contracts. New…

BID CORPORATION said yesterday it continued to achieve record trading levels in the four months to April 2023 against the backdrop of the northern hemisphere winter and a few natural disasters which temporarily impacted some operations in various parts of the world. “Our business is performing very well, delivering a record result to date. However we are starting to cycle through an extremely strong comparative base, hence the rate of growth achieved to date will normalise,“ CEO Bernard Berson said in a trading update yesterday. “Despite the many challenges that face us, our teams around the world are positive and enthusiastic about the pipeline of future opportunities in each of our markets,” he said. The food services group said its trading results in Australasia had continued a strong positive trajectory…

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis stuck to her tried-and-tested players after naming a familiar 36-member preliminary squad for the upcoming Women’s World Cup. Banyana will make their second successive appearance at the tournament in Australia and New Zealand, having made their debut in France in 2019. And while they crashed out in the group stage in France, their campaign was taken as a learning phase, with the future promising bigger and better things to come. Indeed, that proved to be the case, with Banyana qualifying for this year’s global showpiece not as mere Women’s Africa Cup of Nations runners-up, but as the reigning African champions. This is a feat that they will have to embrace heading to the tournament, where they are pitted in Group G alongside tournament favourites Sweden,…

There is so much at stake that Cape Town Spurs coach Shaun Bartlett has told his team to treat this afternoon’s match against Casric Stars as a “Cup final”. The clash against Casric Stars will be Spurs’ penultimate match in the three-team PSL promotion/relegation playoffs (3pm kickoff). Bartlett said since the start of the playoffs, he regarded every match as a “Cup final”. However, in yesterday’s pre-match talk, he outlined the importance of the match. “If we win on Wednesday, we’ll have one foot in the Premiership,” Bartlett said. “That is how big this match is. “Following our sound start to the playoffs with an away win against Stars and following that up with a home win over Maritzburg United, this team has given a good account of itself. “Not…

Czech Karolina Muchova declared the sky was the limit after she stormed into the French Open semi-finals yesterday a year after leaving Roland Garros in a wheelchair with an ankle injury. Muchova’s tearful exit in last year’s third round followed a lengthy spell out with an abdominal problem after the 2021 US Open, and she had slipped to No 235 in the world last August. But the unseeded 26-year-old has steadily battled back, and a 7-5 6-2 win over 2021 Paris runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in this year’s quarter-finals is expected to propel her back into the top 20 from No 43. “I don’t really think about these things, like where I see myself. I’m really glad for this run, and that I got my ranking a little bit better than…

The Free Cheetahs may be renowned for playing running rugby, but it is their kicking game that has received the most attention from the Blue Bulls ahead of Saturday’s massive Currie Cup encounter at Loftus (3pm kickoff). The Pretoria side just need to win to advance to the semi-finals. With the log-leaders the Sharks and second-placed Cheetahs already guaranteed of spots in the semis, it’s a fight between the Pumas (third on 36), Bulls (fourth on 36), Griquas (fifth on 35) and outsiders Western Province (sixth on 32) for the remaining last-four spots. But with Griquas and the Pumas facing off in Kimberley on Friday, one of them are likely to miss out, and the advantage that the Bulls have is that they will know exactly what they need to…

Griquas have their tails in the air after a run of good victories, and defending Currie Cup champions Pumas are gearing up for a dogfight in Friday’s clash in Kimberley to secure a place in the semi-finals. It’s been tough going for the team from Mbombela, and a dip in form during the second half of the campaign sees them now fighting to retain their title. The winner of Friday’s match (3pm kickoff) will book a spot in the semi-finals to face the Sharks or Free State Cheetahs, and coach Jimmy Stonehouse warned his team that they will have to fight until the end against the Peacock Blues. The good thing, he said, is that they still have their destiny in their hands, and are not at the mercy of…

THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged the South African government to start implementing reforms that foster private investment, a balanced energy transition, and good governance. This was just one of the recommendations the IMF Executive Board made after concluding their bilateral discussions under the 2023 Article IV Consultation with South Africa. In a detailed report yesterday, the IMF also recommended further measures to reform State-owned enterprises, open key network industries to private sector participation, reduce the regu- latory burden, and enhance labour market flexibility and the quality of education. The IMF said it recognised that resolving the ongoing energy crisis remained the top priority, providing an opportunity to accelerate the roll-out of renewables. The lender of last resort also backed the steadfast implementation of the government’s energy transition plan…

THE RAND remained virtually unchanged at R19.25 to the US dollar yesterday due to some positive domestic news, moving further away from a record low of R19.85/$1 touched late last month. This was a slight improvement after the rand closed 1.2% firmer at R19.27 on Monday and 3.25% stronger since hitting a record low of R19.91 on Thursday last week. However, the currency remains stubbornly weak and refuses to fall below the psychological R19-mark to the greenback. Nevertheless, investors welcomed the latest data which showed South Africa’s economy averted a technical recession in the first quarter, despite record levels of load shedding. Statistics South Africa yesterday reported that the economy grew by 0.4% in the first three months of 2023, narrowly surviving a technical recession following an upwardly revised 1.1%…

PREMIER Group, with brands including Blue Ribbon, Snowflake flour and Iwisa Mageu under its belt, lifted normalised headline earnings per share 22.7% to 552 cents in the year to March 31 and it plans to declare a maiden dividend following at the end of its 2024 financial year. The food manufacturer started trading on the JSE only six days prior to the financial year-end, after 18 years off the bourse, which is why no divi- dends were declared for the 2023 financial year. The share price closed 1.82% higher at R56 on the JSE yesterday. Directors said the performance was “robust” considering the dynamic market conditions, characterised by “substantial pressure on our consumers. Exceptionally high commodity prices, unprecedented levels of load shedding and social instability defined the…

Arnold Schwarzenegger felt like his “heart stopped” when his then-wife Maria Shriver confronted him about his love child. The Terminator star’s 25-year marriage fell apart in 2011 after it was revealed he had fathered a son, Joseph, with their housekeeper Mildred Baena – and in a new Netflix documentary about his life, the actor/politician has revealed Maria asked him about the rumours during one of their joint therapy sessions. Speaking in new series Arnold, he described the moment he finally told the truth, saying: “One day, the counsellor said: ‘Today Maria wants to be very specific about something. She wants to know if you’re the father of Joseph. I thought my heart stopped. And then I told the truth. “‘Yes, Maria. Joseph is my son’. She was obviously crushed by…

BRITAIN’s Princess Eugenie, 33, has revealed she and her husband Jack Brooksbank welcomed Ernest George Ronnie – a sibling for Ronnie, 2 – on May 30, weighing 3.2kg. The princess shared a close-up photo of the newborn and another of the baby being affectionately stroked by his big brother. She captioned her post: “Jack and I wanted to share the news that we had our little boy, Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank on 30th May, 2023, at 8.49 weighing 7.1lbs.” Eugenie, daughter of Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, explained the origins of his name: “He is named after his great-great-great grandfather George, his grandpa George and my grandpa Ronald.” | Bang Showbiz…

The Patriotic Alliance (PA) has welcomed the resignation of the party’s provincial leader in the Western Cape, Truman Prince. Prince, who tendered his resignation on Monday, said his decision to resign followed PA president Gayton McKenzie establishing himself as a “dictator”. “He stole the votes of Movement of the People. Before the 2021 local government elections, Movement of the People was followed by many people in the Central Karoo. “Almost a month before the elections Gayton requested a meeting with us. He wanted us to join the PA. We agreed but immediately after the elections I realised there was a change in his attitude,” he said. Truman also accused McKenzie of bringing people from Johannesburg to occupy positions which “belonged to the people of the Central Karoo”. “We will…

The first real winter depressions passed late last week, their associated strong westerly winds blowing across the vast South Atlantic generating heavy seas – eight to 10 metres – from Cape Columbine to Cape Recife. Another similar depression is forecast for later this week, and a stronger one next week. Turning back the Cape’s meteorological records 250 years to May 31 and June 1, 1773, you will find a similar series of depressions – folks did not use that term back then – was passing, whipping up enormous seas that, with the gale, seriously endangered five Dutch East Indiamen anchored in Table Bay. Among these was De Jonge Thomas, inward from the east, and that had anchored to take on fresh victuals and water for the homeward voyage to Holland.…

INFORMAL traders are calling for urgent intervention from the City after they were stranded outside the storage facilities at Grand Central in the CBD with trollies full of goods. Informal Economy Development Forum (IEDF) chairperson, Rosheda Muller, said as “valuable players in the local economy”, they had been “begging” for assistance with storage for years – but to no avail. But the City’s mayco member for economic growth, James Vos, said while the City valued the informal sector and its contribution to the Cape Town economy, storage was not their responsibility. “The City is not responsible for storing goods for businesses. We fully understand the difficulties traders are currently experiencing when it comes to storing their goods overnight. The City only provides trading and storage space where feasible.” Traders arrived…

Lyle Foster formed part of Burnley’s small group that started their pre-season drills on Monday, which provides some insight into his absence at Bafana Bafana. Two weeks back, Bafana coach Hugo Broos announced his 34-player preliminary squad that will face Morocco in their final 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at FNB Stadium next Saturday. And while the match will serve as a dead-rubber – with the two nations having already qualified for Afcon next year in Ivory Coast – he named a relatively strong squad. This includes a host of locally-based players such as Themba Zwane, Miguel Timm and Monnapule Saleng, who had impressive seasons, and overseas-based personnel, like Al Ahly’s Percy Tau. With the locally-based players and some overseas-based players having assembled for a pre-camp which started on…

At the start of the season, he never thought he would get the opportunities in the Stormers and Western Province jersey that he’s been on the receiving end of. In fact, for utility forward Ben-Jason Dixon, the prospect was to grab every opportunity that came his way, even if it meant playing off the bench. But after a couple of excellent performances, the 25-year-old became a regular in the Stormers squad, helping the team to a second successive final in the United Rugby Championship (URC). He wants to end his breakthrough season with another big performance for Province in their Currie Cup clash against the Sharks at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday (5.05pm kick-off). “I am delighted at how this season has gone,” Dixon said. “At the start of the…

Tottenham Hotspur have been stuck in a never-ending loop of rebuilds and disappointments in recent years, but if new manager Ange Postecoglou can replicate his achievements at Celtic, the club’s fans could finally enjoy some long overdue success. There is, however, significant work to be done. The Australian boasts a remarkable record, having won successive A-League titles with Brisbane Roar in 2011 and 2012. He guided Yokohama F Marinos to their first Japanese top-flight league title in 15 years in 2019 and had a four-year stint with Australia, during which he led them to the 2014 World Cup and secured their first major title at the Asian Cup. He leaves Celtic having bolstered an already impressive CV, with five domestic trophies in two seasons at the Scottish champions. Now, as…

THE MINISTRY of Transport has announced that Leonard Ramatlakane has been relieved of his duties as a board member and chairperson of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa). According to the statement, this move followed an investigation by the agency on the misuse of one of its properties in Cape Town by Ramatlakane. It should be noted that despite these issues, Transport Minister Lydia Sindisiwe Chikunga expressed her appreciation to the chairperson for “his leadership and sterling work that led to the recovery of 13 rail lines by the entity”. “This exceeded the target of 10 rail lines that were initially earmarked by Prasa for recovery. It is under his watch that Prasa was able to restore a sizeable number of Prasa Rail services in various metros in…

AYO TECHNOLOGY Solutions’s telecommunications, network solutions and workplace connectivity investments were resilient and well-positioned for growth, its directors said yesterday at the release of results for the six months to March 31. “Following the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) settlement, AYO is optimistic about future prospects and is looking forward to creating shareholder value,” they said. This was in spite of a banking crisis facing the group. In the six-month period significant management time and focus went on managing the banking litigation, which had also a negative impact on the group’s ability to optimise cash on hand and return on its investments, the directors said. Revenue increased 28% to R1 billion. The loss per share increased by 130% to 79.06 cents. “As an ICT investment holding group, AYO’s focus…

PEPCO, the discount retailer under Steinhoff, is continuing on its expansion programme across Europe despite the current challenging trading environment as it seeks to attract new customers to its stores while keeping an eye on costs. In its stable is the group that owns Dealz, Pepco and Poundland brands. The global economic framework has continued to toughen, worsened by easing disposable incomes as a result of high interest rates geared at taming rampaging inflation. Pepco reported yesterday that it was expecting “the macro backdrop to continue to be challenging” as “signs of lower consumer confidence” in its key European markets persist. “This uncertain trading backdrop has continued through April into May, with weaker consumer sentiment around discretionary spend in response to high inflation, particularly in Central Europe. “Evidence of this…

Men who stated their dietary preferences as vegan in their job application were considered less “masculine” and thus are not likely to be hired, according to a study. This was seen particularly in the case of jobs stereotypically perceived as “masculine”’, such as a financial analyst, the Daily Mail reported. However, diet preferences of women “did not influence” their job prospects, according to researchers from the University of Warsaw. Interest in a plant-based diet has gained prominence in recent years, with some studies suggesting its benefits to lower the risk of heart attacks or Type 2 diabetes. But the researchers said employers seem to erroneously associate veganism in men with incompetence. Meat consumption is traditionally associated with masculinity, and masculinity, in turn, is often viewed as a measure of competence,…

Dumpling ingredients: 250g flour 2 ml baking powder 2 ml salt 60g margarine 50 ml cold water Stew ingredients: 1kg stewing steak, cubed 25 ml sunflower oil 2 large onions, chopped 4 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced 1 packet Royco® Beef & Vegetable Soup 600 ml water Vegetarian Replace the beef in this recipe with cubes of aubergine and the suggested soup with Royco® Minestrone Soup. Serve your veggie stew with the soft dumplings. Dumpling cooking instructions: Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Rub in the margarine, add the water and mix into a soft dough. Stew cooking instructions: Heat oil, brown onions, then add the stewing steak and brown. Add the soup powder mixed with 600 ml water. Cover and simmer gently for 1 hour. Uncover…

South Africa A may have lost to Sri Lanka A by seven wickets in the second unofficial ODI yesterday, but they could’ve unearthed a raw diamond in Gerald Coetzee. The Proteas Test-capped fast bowler showed that he possesses the potential to develop into a fully-fledged all-rounder with a classy 77 off 89 balls (6x4, 2x6) at the Pallekele International Stadium. Coetzee has previously wielded the willow with freedom in two Tests against the West Indies last summer, and also for the Joburg Super Kings in the SA20, but Tuesday’s innings was completely different. Firstly, it came up under real pressure with SA A’s top order withering away in the Sri Lankan heat and humidity once again, leaving the tourists perilously placed at 42/7 when Coetzee arrived at the crease. It…

NOVAK Djokovic overcame a first-set blip to beat Russian Karen Khachanov 4-6 7-6(0) 6-2 6-4 and reach the French Open semi-finals yesterday, staying on course for a record-breaking 23rd men’s singles Grand Slam title. The twice Roland Garros champion could not find a weakness in the 11th-seeded Khachanov’s serve at first, but once he took the second set tiebreak, there was no looking back for the Serbian. He would have been closely watching last night’s match between world number one Carlos Alcaraz and fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, whose winner will be the last man standing between him and a seventh French Open final. On a Court Philippe Chatrier gradually being covered by the shade, the 36-year-old did not have a single break opportunity and looked a tad slow in the…

Kevin de Bruyne’s legacy will not be defined by the outcome of Saturday’s Champions League final, the midfielder said ahead of Manchester City’s showdown against Serie A side Inter Milan in Istanbul. De Bruyne has won five Premier League titles, two FA Cups and five League Cups at City. But European success has eluded the Belgian, who came closest to lifting the elusive trophy in 2021, when City lost 1-0 against Chelsea in the final. “It depends who you ask (whether City’s status rests on winning the Champions League). Most of the guys have been incredible anyway,” De Bruyne told British media. “Will it help? Yes. But one 90 minutes doesn’t define a career. “I am on around 700 games. One 90 minutes out of 700 doesn’t define my career.…

Australia captain Pat Cummins confirmed fellow fast bowler Scott Boland will play the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India beginning at The Oval in London today. Australia had added Michael Neser to their 15-man squad, after Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the one-off contest with a side strain and an Achilles issue. The Australia skipper said picking Boland ahead of Neser as the third paceman, behind Cummins and Mitchell Starc, was “no surprise” considering the variety the Victorian offered. “We’re big on everyone bowling slightly differently,” Cummins told reporters on the eve of the match. “Scotty is a seam bowler on a good length, but he just offers something slightly different to Joshy Hazlewood, and Starcy being a left-hander is bit different. “I don’t think there’s ever a…

The PGA Tour and DP World Tour announced yesterday that they have merged their commercial operations with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf and ended all litigation, bringing to a close the sport’s two-year rift. The US-based PGA Tour said they had “signed an agreement that combines PIF’s (Saudi Public Investment Fund’s) golf-related commercial businesses and rights (including LIV Golf) with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity”. LIV Golf was launched in October 2021 and lured top PGA Tour talent with record $25 million purses and money guarantees. The competition is currently in its second season. The PGA Tour responded to the emergence of a rival tour by banning LIV players, while the DP World Tour has handed…