Tabla de contenidos para 2024-05-28 en Cape Times

SOUTH Africa’s largest short-term insurer, Santam, has wholly acquired Kandua, a leading online marketplace company for home services. Kandua will merge with Santam’s home service offering, Home+, forming a wholly owned, independent subsidiary of the insurer. The Kandua.com website offers an online marketplace for home services that enable consumers to connect with, compare and hire professionals across hundreds of service types, such as plumbers, electricians, carpenters and more. Service providers can use the “Kandua for Pros” app to find new customers and easily manage their core business processes. Gloria Tapon-Njamo, the CEO of Santam Partnership Solutions, said Kandua’s talent, technology and customer base were valuable assets for their business as it opened new avenues for client growth and digital innovation. “The business has an established technology and extensive network of…

PICK N PAY has embarked on a new strategy to restore it’s core Pick n Pay supermarket business to profit after its R3.2 billion taxed loss for the year to February 25, and plans for a R4bn rights issue and the listing of Boxer in November are in full swing, CEO Sean Summers said yesterday. Summers, interviewed at the release of results yesterday, said it was still early days for their new six-point multiyear strategy. Although the results were a “disappointment”, he said it was made clear upon his re-appointment in December that the group was “under duress” after years of steady decline in the core business. He said early indications were “encouraging”. Regarding the rights issue, he said the Ackerman family indicated they would…

STARTING with an end in mind, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) requires a “backbone” for Africa to co-exist with its international counterparts, but its biggest challenge is that the 2063 Agenda is still in the proverbial implementation stage without its own engineering intellectual property (IP) for railway infrastructure. It’s coherently unfortunate that the 2063 agenda for Africa is being implemented under the undeniable and dominating shadow of the silent investment war between the Eastern “Belt and Road” and the Western Investment initiatives, where they have incorporated some of the key geo-strategic countries in Africa, like Kenya and Ethiopia, amongst others, for their own African agenda. Technological corporations hold unprecedented power and influence where their solutions to political, environmental, and economic challenges are rampant. In the Global South,…

ACUTTING-edge facility featuring artificial intelligence (AI) Easyjet’s new control centre is tasked with handling about 2 000 mostly-European flights per day as the British airline eyes high summer demand. The Integrated Control Centre (ICC), close to Luton airport north of London, is central to Easyjet opera- tions, from urgent flight changes to monitoring a passenger aircraft’s health mid-air. As well as analysing engines in real time, technicians can also see if a toilet needs fixing. As the aviation sector recovers following the Covid lockdowns that grounded planes and caused huge job losses, Easyjet has been on a big recruitment drive. The number of staff overseeing control centre operations has more than doubled in two years to 266 people working around the clock, their eyes glued to large curved screens.…

PICK N PAY has embarked on a restructuring plan to save its market position and claw out of huge debts, with chairperson Gareth Ackerman set to relinquish control of the South African grocer that yesterday reported a reversal of fortunes into a R1.5 billion loss. As bigger rival operator Shoprite and other competitors such as Woolworths appear to be riding out South Africa’s turbulent economy, Pick n Pay is apparently feeling the pinch of a severe financial strain worsened by its breach of debt covenants. At a time Pick n Pay is seeking to close as many as 100 stores, Shoprite is growing its market share in South Africa, disclosing recently that it added nearly 200 new stores in the half-year period to…

IF YOU were a hip-hop fan in the early 2000s, you would know how much Eminem loved his daughter Hailie Jade. Born on Christmas Day in 1995, Hailie has always been the centre of Eminem’s life. He wrote several songs for her, including Mockingbird and Hailie’s Song, where he expressed that he loved his daughter more than life itself. The 51-year-old rapper fulfilled his fatherly duties when he walked his daughter down the aisle as she married the love of her life, Evan McClintock. The 28-year-old new bride took to Instagram to share her excitement about tying the knot. “Waking up a wife this week. We couldn’t have asked for a better, more beautiful weekend celebration. So many happy tears were shed, laughs & smiles were had, and so much…

There is not much in the world quite as delightful as your first bite of a rich, juicy burger. On May 28, International Burger Day, it's time to celebrate this amazing dish. Below are easy-to-follow recipes that you can whip up at home to celebrate the yummiest of yummy “any-time meals”. While this food was initially invented in Germany, its popularity has spread like wildfire throughout the world. Here are some of the top burger recipes to try in the comfort of your home. Lentil and mushroom burger with mushroom bun Serves: 4 Ingredients For the patty 400g white button mushrooms Olive oil 2 x 400g tin brown lentils, rinsed and drained ½ red onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, grated 1 tbsp smoked paprika ¼ cup flour ¼ cup breadcrumbs…

The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) is calling on voters to participate in the countrywide Election Satisfaction Survey (ESS). The survey will take place tomorrow as South Africans vote in the national and provincial elections, marking 30 years since the historic first democratic elections in 1994. Throughout the day, HSRC interviewers (data-collectors) based at select voting stations will conduct the survey on behalf of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). HSRC’s Dr Lucky Ditaunyane said the ESS assesses the opinions and perceptions of a representative sample of voters on election day to determine whether the poll is considered free and fair. Ditaunyane said the survey series also aims to assess the operational efficiency of the IEC. The survey results are usually available 48 hours after the elections as…

PETROCONNECT, a fuel retail industry professional services provider, said yesterday that the sale of Sapref to the Central Energy Fund (CEF) marked a significant step towards reinforcing South Africa’s energy security, which has been under scrutiny in recent months. Mark Harper, director and co-founder of PetroConnect, said they recognise the crucial role Sapref had played in the local energy landscape since its establishment in 1963. “The refinery’s contribution to economic development and energy supply has been invaluable, and we commend the dedicated management team and staff for their enduring commitment, especially during challenging periods such as the KwaZulu-Natal flooding in April 2022,” he said. Harper added that the move not only safeguarded jobs, but also facilitated the ongoing development and investment in local refining capacity. The news broke over the…

SIMBA and Nala, the two lion cubs impounded by the Kloof & Highway SPCA from a property in Durban, last week, have found a home at an NSPCA accredited wildlife facility. Responding to a complaint, the Kloof of Highway SPCA conducted an inspection at a Westville property on Tuesday last week, with the residents denying owning any animals. The SPCA staff then noticed two lion cubs in the driveway of an adjacent property. “Considering that the residents of the property and the neighbours, where the cubs were found, denied ownership of the cubs, the cubs were impounded as stray animals,” the NSPCA said, adding the cubs, a male and a female, were approximately four months old. In terms of the Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act…

SOUTH Africa’s corporate and investment bank, RMB, yesterday said the Indo-Africa trade corridor had surged to a staggering $95 billion (R1.76 trillion) in size, showcasing a dynamic and growing economic partnership between the regions. Ritesh Sharma, head of foreign investment and trade for RMB’s India team, said this marked a significant increase from only $5bn in 2002, highlighting the corridor's impressive trajectory. Sharma noted that while the initial trade focus was on energy products, the corridor had witnessed remarkable diversification in recent years. He said: “By our estimation, we expect the value of trade in the corridor to hit $100bn next year “India’s exports to Africa now encompass a wider range of products, including agri-products like rice, wheat and meat ($8bn), pharmaceuticals ($4.5bn) and automobiles ($4.2b). “Projects, machines,…

THE RAND STABILISED by 0.4% to R18.34 against the US dollar yesterday as the market sentiment improved following last week’s volatility spiked by the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) concern over the stickiness of inflation. However, market analysts yesterday warned that there was volatility ahead for the rand, depending on the outcome of the general elections. More than 27 million eligible voters will tomorrow cast their votes in South Africa’s fiercely contested 2024 national and provincial elections, which the markets expect will result in the first-ever national coalition government as the ruling ANC’s support wanes. This comes as the rand lost ground in the second half of last week after the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes showing the lack of significant progress on inflation returning to…

THE AGRICULTURAL Business Chamber (Agbiz) yesterday pointed to higher volumes and price of exported products as South Africa’s agricultural exports increased by 6% year-on-year, reaching $3.1 billion (R57.33bn) in the first quarter of this year. “The products leading the export list were grapes, apples and pears, maize, wine, apricots, sugar, wool, fruit juices, and peaches, amongst other products,” said Wandile Sihlobo, Agbiz chief economist. From a regional perspective, Sihlobo said the African continent maintained the lion’s share of South Africa’s agricultural exports, accounting for 42%. The products leading the exports list on the African continent were maize, cereal meals and pellets, sugar, prepared foods, apples and pears, fruit juices, wheat, ciders and other fermented beverages, and soybean oil, among other products. The European Union (EU) regained its position as…

EIGHT years ago, a Kenyan blockchain technology payments platform called BitPesa was emerging as one of East Africa’s fintech poster children. Bitcoin meets M-Pesa Strategically named to leverage the biggest hype narratives of the time-Bitcoin and M-Pesa – BitPesa claimed to be the first to trade digital currencies using mobile money and the first to create a direct market between digital currencies and African currencies. The year 2017 was significant for both Bitcoin and BitPesa. Bitcoin’s price started relatively low at just under $1 000 (R18 732) in January, but climbed dramatically to nearly $20 000 by mid-December. That year also saw the Chicago Mercantile Exchange launch Bitcoin futures contracts, validating blockchain technology and legitimising Bitcoin as an asset class. In February 2017, following the successful close…

BARLOWORLD lifted its interim dividend 5% to 210 cents a share, notwithstanding an 8% decline in headline earnings per share to 532.2c due to lower mining activity and port issues. “Our results bear testament to the resilience of our businesses and the benefit of geographic diversification of the overall portfolio,” Barloworld Group CEO Dominic Sewela said in regard to the results for the six months to March 31. The share price fell 1.83% to close at R88.42 on the JSE yesterday, but the price is still 36% higher over 12 months. The dividend was in line with 2.5 to 3 times normalised headline earnings. Sewela said they had faced myriad challenges in South Africa, but the Mongolian business benefited from favourable tailwinds in its economy. A slowdown in…

DESPITE a few network challenges and difficulties finding venues, voting stations in the northern townships of Tshwane kicked off the special voting session without a hitch. Many of the special voters who made their way to various voting stations ahead of the main election taking place tomorrow, said they were happy that the stations had opened on time with all the checks and balances in place. Winterveldt resident, Moeketsi Tsotetsi, said he had tried to go to the Mashaba voting station in Winterveldt but found no one there, nor was there any visible sign of a voting station. Tsotetsi said he then decided to go to the Ngaka Maseko High School voting station to find out if he could cast his vote there. “I tried to Google the address with…

Cian Oldknow is about to live a dream she has been nursing since she was 10 years old. Set to turn 28 later in the year, the Hollywood Athletics Club starlet is one of three women who will represent South Africa in the marathon event at the Paris 2024 Olympics. It is a magnificent achievement for an athlete to be going to the ultimate sporting spectacle. But such are the rewards for “dreamers” who work hard at making those dreams a reality. Oldknow still has vivid memories of the day her mind got set on Olympic participation. “I was 10 years old, and I accompanied my mom when she went to fetch her attire for a world championships event she was going to,” Oldknow recalls during our interview at the…

Rafa Nadal crashed to his earliest exit at the French Open yesterday after a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 first-round defeat by fourth seed Alexander Zverev, with fans wondering if the 14-times champion will return to the Grand Slam he has ruled for two decades. The 22-time Major champion, who won the Musketeers’ Cup for the first time in 2005 and last raised the trophy in 2022 before a serious hip injury derailed his career, had previously said this year could be his final one on the tour. Having returned to the tournament that he skipped last year and refusing to confirm any farewells ahead of his opener, Nadal showed flashes of top form again on Court Philippe Chatrier but the 37-year-old ultimately went down fighting. “I’m not 100% sure if…

Former EFC double champion Amanda Lino will use all her MMA experience and knowledge to best serve South Africa’s upcoming stars at the 2024 IMMAF Africa Championships. Fighter-turned-coach Lino has formed part of Team SA for this year’s continental championship, taking place in Windhoek, Namibia. Athletes from 10 African nations have descended upon Namibia’s capital to compete against the Mother Land’s best amateur stars for honours under the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) umbrella. And Lino, a former Extreme Fighting Championship fly and bantamweight champion, knows what it takes to get these athletes to reach their full potential today when the youth leg of the event starts. “This is my first year being a South African coach, and I am excited about it,” said Lino, who also competed and…

THE BUSINESS sector in South Africa has expressed hope that the seventh government administration will forge ahead with the structural reforms post the general elections. This as South Africans go to the polls tomorrow to elect the government of their choosing after 30 years of democracy. Business Leadership SA (BLSA) said yesterday that the sixth administration had made solid progress in stabilising institutions and driving reforms necessary to get the economy out of the low growth, low employment trap we were stuck in for more than a decade. BLSA CEO Busi Mavuso said business acknowledged that important economic reforms had been made during the sixth government administration, including Operation Vulindlela to address systemic crises such as in the energy and logistics sectors. Mavuso said the challenge for any democratic government…

DISCOVERY Bank has launched its new Home Loan product in a key milestone as the bank expands its growing footprint. The bank, which was launched in March 2019 by Discovery Limited, is the world’s first behavioural bank. The digital bank yesterday said it would offer clients competitive, personalised rates based on their individual risk profiles, and use its established shared-value banking model to enable clients to further reduce their interest rate by up to 1% at a time when the current prime lending rate is at a 14-year-high of 11.75%. This would be done by managing their money well with Vitality Money and protecting their home loan and their home with the relevant insurance products Discovery offered. Discovery Bank will face stiff competition against established players. According to Statista, Standard…

NEARLY everything now is governed by an operating system. Initially it was our mobile phones, the cars joined and later followed by homes. Your mobile phone is either running on Apple or Android operating system. This is also true of some latest cars. The systems have given us and other objects super powers. Considering the struggle faced by governments in delivering on promises is it not about time they consider country operating systems? Human leaders have tried to address health, transport and economic challenges, however, they often fail even though some of their intentions may be good. What has not been tried are operating systems designed specifically to run governments and countries. What do I mean by an Operating System for a country and government? In simple terms it’s a…

TIGER Brands, which is struggling to lift sales volumes in the tough consumer environment, has a new leadership team in place and is working on a turnaround plan, CEO Tjaart Kruger said yesterday. The group results for the six months to March 31 show revenue for the fast-moving consumer goods manufacturer had regressed by 1%, driven by price inflation of 8% and a 9% decline in volumes. An interim dividend increased 9% to 350 cents a share. Headline earnings a share increased 11% to 808c. Group operating profit fell 3% to R1.3 billion. Income from associates increased 44% to R396 million. Kruger said in an interview the turnaround strategy was necessary, because there had been successive years where the group had not produced a reasonable rate of return,…

DATATEC is banking on ongoing rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) to drive demand for new networking and personal computing systems after it raised headline earnings per share (Heps) for the year to the end of February to US14.2 cents against a continuing headline loss per share of US10.8c in 2023. In line with its Heps uplift for the year to end February 2024, Datatec yesterday declared a final cash dividend with a scrip distribution alternative for the year under review of R1.30. This amounts to a total of R298.4 million in shareholder payouts. Datatec, which has technology distribution and managed services operations across many countries, said the “adoption of artificial intelligence should lead to a new cycle of PC and networking” refresh. It was, however, keeping…

May 28 is World Hunger Day, an opportunity for all of us across the world to play our part in ending world hunger, for good. World Hunger Day exists because millions of people are unable to meet their nutritional needs due to physical or financial constraints. This leads to malnutrition, wasting, stunted growth and death. It is estimated that up to 811 million people go hungry every day. If it continues at this rate, the figure will rise to more than 840 million by 2030. According to The Hunger Project, hunger kills more people than Aids, malaria and TB combined, and it is primarily prevalent in Africa and South America. If you are looking to honour the day and take action against hunger by donating food, here are some of…

Human remains found at the deadly George collapsed-building site will form part of the ongoing police investigation. The grim discovery was made by a security guard on Friday, confirmed police spokesperson Christopher Spies. The search-and-recovery operation was concluded on May 17, and the site was then handed over to police. “Kindly be advised that no further bodies were found at the site in George. However, available reports suggest that on Friday at about 11am police were dispatched to the site, where debris of the collapsed building is still kept. “On arrival they found a hand which was discovered by security personnel deployed at the site. “The human remains were recovered and sent to the SAPS laboratory for forensic analysis in an effort to determine the origin and whether they could…

FIVE years ago, researchers from the African Worlds Institute spent six months talking to young South Africans, later reporting that the youth seemed convinced “that voting is simply a waste of time”. Factors influencing this view included high unemployment, poverty, poor or non-existent service delivery and a corrupt and self-interested political elite. “Problems of poor governance have resulted in low levels of confidence in the ability of the political system to curb vices such as corruption,” the researchers said. Still, they agreed with earlier findings by the Democracy in Africa Research Unit at UCT that “cognitive engagement – that is, the degree to which people are interested in politics and discuss it with family and friends – remains relatively high, especially among youth”. But their analysis concluded with a warning:…

It will be difficult for the Stormers to replace the genius of Damian Willemse over the next couple of matches. But in utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and centre Wandisile Simelane, they don’t lack excellent replacements for the rest of the United Rugby Championship (URC). Simelane’s new midfield partnership with Dan du Plessis has been coming along favourably and the two feed off each other so well on the attack and in defence. The return of Feinberg-Mngomezulu as an option at inside centre, and his form since he started playing again, will make the selection choice tougher. Whoever the Cape side goes with, they shouldn't be out of their depth over the next few games. A win against the Lions at DHL Stadium (kick-off 1.45 pm) will secure fifth spot and…