Cape Times 2022-10-03

MCKINSEY SA has vowed to defend itself after the management consulting firm was charged with crimes related to the multi-million rand corruption case against former executives of state-owned freight and logistics firm, Transnet. This comes as government is turning the screws on so-called state capture crimes after the National Treasury banned Bain & Co from tendering for government contracts due to its “corrupt and fraudulent practices” at the SA Revenue Service. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Friday charged the South African unit of McKinsey & Company with fraud, corruption and theft relating to a R394.8 million contract to advise Transnet on buying new locomotives. McKinsey was implicated in the state capture commission hearings, along with Trillian Asset Management and Regiments Capital, for having benefited from irregular contracts at state-owned…

WOOLWORTHS Holdings (Woolies) has hiked its hourly rate for its South African employees above the retail sector and the country’s minimum wage. In its remuneration report found in the Woolies’ 2022 integrated annual report released on Friday, the company said from April 1 its hourly rate was R36.55, 21% above the retail sector minimum wage and 57.6% above the South Africa minimum wage. “A further adjustment as per our normal salary review cycle is effective in October 2022,” the fashion and grocery retailer said. Last year Woolies committed to invest an additional R120 million over three years, to adjust its SA hourly base pay from R33.40 to R41.25 in 2023, which amounts to a 23.5% increase. “We commenced with the concept of a ‘just wage’ in 2019, a wage which…

SOUTH Africa is looking to further deepen economic ties and attract foreign direct investment (FDI) from Saudi Arabia, which is the largest Opec oil producer. Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel will today host the 9th session of the South Africa-Saudi Arabia Joint Economic Commission (JEC) and the South Africa- Saudi Arabia Trade and Investment Forum. The forum aims to provide companies from both countries with a strategic platform to engage on bilateral trade and investment opportunities in both markets, while simultaneously affording them access to senior decision-makers and stakeholders. Patel and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef, will deliver keynote addresses at the event, being held in Pretoria, and then launch the South Africa-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council. Acting deputy director-general of…

A USUAL trip to my local gas stockist a week ago left me frustrated and disappointed. I had been used to experiencing localised gas stockouts over winter for the past few years, but my local gas stockist informed me that his supplier has told him that this would be resolved, as there will be multiple sources of supply of gas as a result of new import facilities coming online to resolve the supply issues. This year in particular, we relied heavily on gas for our cooking and heating needs, especially over winter. But this year my experience is that it has been exceptionally difficult to get gas, as a result of the continued supply issues that I was informed about from my local stockist. I even tried alternative stockists, but…

Renergen’s Phase 1 plant is on schedule to bump up production of liquified natural gas, South Africa’s only onshore gas exploration and production company said in an update for the quarter to end-August. In what proved a busy three months for the company to end-August, the Central Energy Fund also successfully completed due diligence on a proposed acquisition of 10% of Renergen subsidiary Tetra4 Proprietary. Two additional wells: Han, which was drilled during the quarter and Don Vito, were being completed as gas producers. Aeromagnetic and gravity surveys had been completed and were being interpreted. Seismic data was being re-processed to improve the imaging of potential gas-bearing structures. “To date, significantly more targets than anticipated have been identified,” the company said. CEO Stefano Marani said: “Further work is required before…

THE 175 000 surgical backlogs across South Africa’s healthcare facilities has meant that cancer patients requiring mastectomies and related operations could wait up to two years for their life-saving surgeries. As the Western Cape Department of Health is leading with a 77 139 surgical backlog, it has procured two surgical robots at a cost of R80 million in efforts to reduce the recovery time and allow patients to be discharged earlier. Provincial health spokesperson Mark van der Heever said their department recognised the need to reduce the elective surgery backlog and have allocated an additional R20 million from internal prioritisation of funds to deal with the backlogs. Van der Heever said they had also increased day surgery activities as far as possible. “In June 2022, the Western Cape reported a…