Tabla de contenidos para 2024-09-25 en Cape Times

Businesses in South Africa are feeling a bit more confident about the country’s policy direction as a result of structural reforms embarked on since the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU), and the continuing suspension of load shedding. This is revealed in the North-West University (NWU) Business School Policy Uncertainty Index (PUI) for the third quarter of 2024 published on Monday, which has substantially eased to 53.5 points from 68.3 points in the second quarter, but remains above the baseline of 50 points. NWU Business School economist Professor Raymond Parsons said the considerable easing was the outcome of various positive factors that, on balance, outweighed the negative ones over the past three months. Parsons said that to a large extent, that reflected the blend of reduced…

South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Governor, Lesetja Kganyago yesterday said that “central banking is a punching bag” and that everybody had an opinion on how it should be conducting itself in terms of monetary policy. Kganyago was addressing an audience during a memorial service hosted by the South African Revenue Service (Sars) for Pravin Gordhan, an anti-apartheid activist who held various government posts including as Commissioner of Sars and Minister of Finance. Speaking just days after the SARB’s Monetary Policy Committee voted to drop the interest rate for the first time in four years, Kganyago said: “If you want to destroy a democracy, go for his (Gordhan’s) institutions. Undermine those institutions. Attack those institutions.” He added: “And I am speaking be- cause central banking is a punching bag. In South…

SMALL and medium retailers stand to benefit from a growing trend among South African consumers to support local brands and stores. This trend is unfolding at two layers – a preference for goods and products that are locally manufactured and proudly South African and growing enthusiasm to support stores owned and run within the community. A range of factors have converged over the past five years to drive a surge in “localism” which, in turn, creates opportunities for innovative retailers to differentiate themselves. The Covid-19 pandemic was an inflection point for the localism trend. It highlighted the fragility of global supply chains, in turn encouraging major retail chains to increase their support for local manufacturers. This has helped to revive sectors such as textiles and clothing manufacturing. At the same…

In today’s fast-paced world where efficiency and customer satisfaction are paramount, the role of technology in airports is evolving at an unprecedented rate. Airports are no longer just transit points; but are fast becoming hubs of innovation and efficiency, driven by the increasing demand for seamless, efficient and secure operations. The aviation sector has long relied on legacy systems that, while functional, are becoming increasingly dated and inadequate in addressing the complexities of modern air travel. Ground delays, baggage mishandling and security bottlenecks are just a few of the challenges that underscore the need for a technological overhaul. Modern travellers expect a hassle-free experience from check-in to boarding, which has led to a significant shift in how airports operate, focusing on minimising delays, enhancing security, and providing real-time information. The…

Operations at Jubilee’s Roan copper project in Zambia have now been handed over to its operational team after it attained design capacity, following the connection of stable power supply under a power purchase agreement with Lunsemfwa Hydro Power Company (LHPC). Zambia is facing rolling power cuts of up to 20 hours a day due to the depletion of hydroelectricity production water levels at Kariba. Jubilee has had to sign up for a power purchase agreement with Lunsemfwa for guaranteed power supply to its operations in the regional country. “The company is pleased to an- nounce that its recently signed power purchase agreement with Lunsemfwa Hydro Power Company (LHPC) which has been implemented, with uninterrupted power being delivered to Jubilee’s operations as of last week covering all of its processing plants’…

While services resumed on the Wellington-Cape Town railway line, a board of inquiry has been convened into the multi-coach derailment at Dal Josafat station near Paarl. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) confirmed that repair work had been done by Transnet which allowed services to resume on Monday. Twenty-four passengers were injured in the derailment. Three were critically injured. A Prasa statement read: “The Wellington to Cape Town train service is operational again from (September 23). “This follows the repair work that was done by our sister company (Transnet) after the train derailment last Tuesday (September 17). “Our commuters’ safety remains our top priority, thus Prasa/Metrorail Western Cape and Transnet Freight Rail have established a board of inquiry (BOI) to get to the root cause of the incident…

Just energy transition shrouded in myths The discourse surrounding the energy transition has taken on a narrative that is both compelling and, at times, misleading. As we delve deeper into the complexities of this transition, it becomes increasingly clear that the optimism prevalent in many industry circles may gloss over critical challenges, as underscored by the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute (TNI) analysis last year. Just energy transition is shrouded in myths, primitive accumulation and deceit. Bloomberg New Energy Finance reported that global investments in low-carbon technologies surged to about $1.1 trillion (R19trn) in 2022. The view is that this figure underscores the significant role that private investors and liberalised markets are expected to play in steering us towards a sustainable energy future. Advocates of this market-driven approach boast that these investments…

The Springboks realise the magnitude of Saturday’s Rugby Championship decider against Argentina in Mbombela, and will do everything to be on the right side of the result after the full-time whistle. After suffering a one-point loss, something they are used to dishing out to other teams, in Santiago del Estero at the weekend, the world champions will now have the opportunity to clinch the Championship title on home soil in what will also be a record-breaking 128th Test for veteran Eben Etzebeth. It could be the first time since 2019 – a truncated version due to it being a World Cup year – that the Boks win the southern hemisphere tournament, and the first time since 2009 that they claim a full one, although then it was the Tri Nations…

The Springbok Women will call on the experience of prop Babalwa Latsha for Friday’s WXV 2 opener against Japan at the Cape Town Stadium (5pm start). Latsha, a former captain, returns to the starting line-up named by coach Swys de Bruin yesterday after playing off the bench in last week’s 36-19 victory over Spain at the same venue. Tighthead prop Latsha has 30 Test caps, the fifth-most in the match 23 behind captain and lock Nolusindiso Booi (46), scrumhalf Tayla Kinsey (36), hooker Lindelwa Gwala (33) and flank Sinazo Mcatshulwa, and will take over the No 3 jersey from Azisa Mkiva, who will be among the replacements. Latsha will be going all out to use the skills she has picked up at her club Harlequins in England to give the…

Sentiment in the retail industry in South Africa has ticked up, though it remains in contractionary territory as consumers have begun feeling confident that the cost of living is slightly easing. The Bureau for Economic Research (BER) said on Monday that business confidence among retailers increased by six percentage points to 45% in the third quarter after aligning with the long-term average in the second quarter. The BER said that consumers’ real disposable income was boosted by inflation at a three-year low while the absence of load shedding, the market-friendly election outcome, and expectations of an interest rate-cutting cycle likely also contributed to the rise in confidence among retailers. The BER’s retail survey echoed the de- celeration in price growth indicated by headline consumer price inflation, which slowed for a…

RECENTLY, I had the privilege to represent the Citrus Growers’ Association Grower Development Company (GDC) at Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong. The conference is the biggest gathering of global fruit exporters to Asia, and countries such as China, Vietnam, South Korea and India represent huge growth opportunities for South African fruit exports. The delegation of GDC officials was there to represent the growing interests of black citrus growers in South Africa, and as a testament to how the grouping has been able to commercialise their enterprises and take part in South Africa’s citrus success story. President Cyril Ramaphosa recently mentioned the success when he spoke in Parliament about the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan, a government tool designed to address ownership, production and market access for designated groups. Ramaphosa…

Whether South Africa's agriculture does have any future in global markets in the face of deepening geopolitical frictions among major economies, it all depends on what the country's leaders do to prepare for an uncertain future. This was the opinion of Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of SA (Agbiz), on Monday. Sihlobo said success was not guaranteed. “It is a product of the combination of a clear reading of today's trends and how these will shape the future of global markets, how they envision South Africa's place in this fast-changing global economic order, the choice of policy actions, and daring speed. “What made us successful yesterday may not be adequate for the challenges ahead,” Sihlobo said. Agbiz said South Africa stood at a crossroads where a…

Pennsylvania’s dormant Three Mile Island nuclear plant in the US would be brought back to life to feed the voracious energy needs of Microsoft under an unprecedented deal announced on Friday in which the tech giant would buy 100% of its power for 20 years. The restart of Three Mile Island, the site of the worst nuclear accident in US history, would mark a bold advance in the tech industry’s quest to find enough electric power to support its boom in artificial intelligence (AI). The plant, which Pennsylvanians thought had closed for good in 2019 amid financial strain, would come back online by 2028 under the agreement, says plant owner Constellation Energy. If approved by regulators, Three Mile Island would provide Microsoft with the energy equivalent it takes to power…

GRAND Parade Investments (GPI), posting a 649% profit leap in its annual results, said it plans to exploring future participation in the historical horse racing (HRR) segment of the gaming market. HHR, originally known as Instant Racing, is an electronic gambling product that allows players to bet on replays of horse races. “This segment is growing dramatically in certain jurisdictions of the US, and the group believes that similar opportunities exist in South Africa,” it said. GPI performed well over for the year ended June 30, with headline profit for the year improving by R71.4 million from earnings of R11m in the prior corresponding period. “The strategy of the group, which is now focused exclusively on the gaming sector, has yielded positive results, with the group delivering solid results…

Levels of world tension skyrocketed when, responding to constant missile attacks, Israeli spooks executed a complex plan to disrupt Hezbollah’s activities by planting explosives in their communication devices. While this column will not debate the merits or otherwise of the Israeli action, the spin-off could be tumultuous. Most commentators opine that Iran, apart from arming its surrogates, will not become involved directly when Hezbollah counterpunches, but what is certain in such a volatile area? In support of their like-minded terror groups, the vicious Houthi rebels will undoubtedly launch more attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. With their arsenal replenished and upgraded, a new onslaught could dwarf previous attacks, such as that last week on a fully-laden tanker that caught fire. Fortunately, the damaged vessel – still partly on fire…

Should the Springboks come out on top against Argentina on Saturday, it will only be the fourth time in history that they win the Rugby Championship. The world champions can claim the title for the first time since 2019, although that was a truncated version. But more importantly, they will be crowned winners of the full version for the first time since 2009, when it was the Tri Nations without Argentina. South Africa have only won the southern hemisphere competition in 1998, 2004, 2009 and 2019, so this will be the fifth time in the history of the tournament in both of its guises that they claim the top spot should they win. What makes this year’s title charge all the more special is that it’s coinciding with the record-breaking…

The Premier Soccer League’s favourite ‘second’ club, Stellenbosch FC, return to domestic action with a mouth-watering provincial rivalry on the line. Stellies will welcome Cape Town City to the Athlone Stadium tonight (7.30pm kick-off) with local bragging rights and a four-year dominance on the line. The Cape Winelands-based outfit’s upward trajectory had coincided with them getting the upper hand over their local rivals. The Citizens, previously the dominant power in the Western Cape, have not beaten Stellies since 2020. Two first-half strikes by Thabo Nodada and Craig Martin were enough to see City over the line on that day, but Stellies went on to win six of the next seven match-ups between the two teams. Stellenbosch’s rise to a higher position in the local league, as well as their qualification…

Mining company lands a funding grant from the US government SOUTH32’s plans to advance its Arizona- based Hermosa project towards manganese production has received a boost after the company landed a $166 million (R2.9bn) funding grant from the US government. With existing manganese operations in South Africa and Australia, South32 invested $372m at Hermosa – which is also earmarked to produce zinc and copper – during its 2024 full year. This investment was sunk into installation of critical path infrastructure as well as progressing studies and permitting, including for the Clark manganese segment of Hermosa. The US Department of Energy has now granted South32 up to $166m in funding to develop battery-grade manganese. The commodity is a key component in the renewable energy industry as it is a stabilising component…

The INTERNATIONAL Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) said on Monday that renewables remained competitive, despite fossil fuel prices returning closer to historical cost levels. According to the Irena’s Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2023 report released on Monday at the Global Renewables Summit during the UN General Assembly, utility-scale renewable projects had lower costs than their fossil fuel-fired alternatives, with renewable power capacity additions setting a record of 473GW in 2023, 81% or 382GW of newly commissioned. Irena’s director-general, Francesco La Camera, said renewable power remained cost-competitive vis-à-vis fossil fuels. “The virtuous cycle of long-term support policies has accelerated renewables. In return, growth has led to technology improvements and cost reductions,” La Camera said. “Prices for renewables are no excuse any more, on the contrary. The record growth of renewables in…

About three years ago, I was introduced to Abderrahmane Chaoui by our mutual friend, Ammin Youssouf. At the time, I was the head of community at the Pan-African venture capital (VC) firm 54 Collective, and our first conversation felt like one of those long-overdue exchanges that help make sense of the complex and often fragmented nature of African entrepreneurship. Chaoui, who was two-thirds of the way through a one-and-a-half year, 13-country research tour across the continent at the time, shared his observations about the stark gaps between north and sub-Saharan Africa – culturally, linguistically and economically. We bonded over wanting to bridge these divides, particularly the insight and commercial opportunity gaps between Anglophone and Francophone Africa. His journey was fascinating. After growing up in Algeria and earning a degree from…

KUMBA Iron Ore is having to focus more on its production cost base as the price of iron ore continues to fall, and with it the company’s share price. Its shares closed 1.09% weaker at R337.32 ion the JSE on Monday, extending the company’s 5.39% and 44.52% weakening in the past 30 days and year-to-date period respectively. This comes as prices of iron ore have continued to weaken. On Monday, iron ore prices sank further to about $91.93 per metric ton. Seleho Tsatsi, investment analyst at Anchor Capital, said that the softer prices were due to weak demand for the commodity. “The big driver of demand is Chinese property and infrastructure spending and, as we know, Chinese growth has been lacklustre,” Tsatsi said. “Historically, fixed asset investment (real estate…

WHILE residential vacancy rates increased across all provinces and rental value bands, the Western Cape had the lowest hike in vacancies, according to the Residential Vacancy Survey Report by the credit bureau TPN. Waldo Marcus, industry principal at MRI Software and head of marketing at TPN, said the higher vacancy rate reflected fluctuating supply and demand, economic pressures and evolving consumer behaviour. “Rental vacancies have been gradu- ally increasing since 2018, driven by a growing supply of rental properties, which continued to grow until 2020. Although persistently high interest rates have bolstered the rental market, rental market supply has started to de- cline as a result of decreasing consumer and business confidence,” he said. The TPN Market Strength Index, which measures perceived supply and demand in the rental market, increased…

Brad Pitt thinks George Clooney is the “sexiest man still alive”. The Wolfs actor was named People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 1995 and 2000 and his co-star is also a double winner, taking the honour in 1997 and 2006, and both hunks think they are still looking good in their sixties. Asked if they have any advice for future holders of the title, Pitt, 60, gestured to his pal and quipped: “This is the Sexiest Man Still Alive”. Clooney, 63, added: “Yes, exactly. That’s going to be starting now. I know. I tried to get AARP to do that for [Pitt,] Sexiest Man Still Alive. I have the T-shirt, by the way. Somebody else got it. Yeah, all I got was a T-shirt.” The pair have previously worked together…

Ingredients Onion marmalade: ½ cup butter, 1 packet (1kg) onions, sliced. 2 cloves garlic, chopped. ¼ cup white wine vinegar, ¼ cup balsamic vinegar, ¼ cup sugar salt and milled pepper, 1kg shop-bought bread dough, oil, for deep-frying & extra for frying. About 1.5kg Grabouw boerewors, 1 wedge (125g) brie cheese, cut into slices. 1 tin (410g) tomato braai relish, 2 tsp sugar, 1 packet rocket salad, 1 mini cucumber, sliced into ribbons, 1 packet streaky bacon, cooked For serving: Skinny fries Method To make onion marmalade, heat butter in pan over medium heat. Tip in onions and sauté for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they’re just starting to caramelise. Add remaining ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally, until glossy, about 20 to 25 minutes. Season and set aside to…

If Cilliers Brink were an ANC mayor, he would be regarded by the same people who defend him now as average by any objective measurement of the current state of the City of Tshwane. Do you doubt this? Then challenge yourself to read on. To demonstrate my point, I am going to outline the factual situation in the City of Tshwane which manifests today after eight years of many DA mayors. Perhaps then, you may understand why ActionSA’s continued involvement in this Tshwane government can no longer continue and begin to question why so many are shrilly defending the indefensible state of Tshwane. ActionSA does not do so with amnesia in the sense that we have been part of this government. It is precisely because we have been part of…

AFTER the T20 World Cup this winter, the think tank at the Proteas has continued its mission of giving youngsters opportunities in the white-ball teams. However, this is yet to pay off from a results point of view, as South Africa lost a One-Day International series to Afghanistan last week. The South Africans were also whitewashed in a three-match T20 series last month in the Caribbean, where a lot of new faces took to the field. In both series, a few experienced players were mixed in with the youngsters, and T20 captain Aiden Markram has been one of them. Asked whether they have felt any added pressure to perform as senior players in teams filled with inexperienced players, he said there has been no such feeling in the Proteas group.…

THEY said he was messing up the Mamelodi Sundowns way. They said he was fixing what was not broken. Damn, they even said he was not good enough to lead the country’s most dominant team of the past decade. Well, at the risk of falling into the same trap that they did by making too early a pronouncement, here goes: there is every reason to believe Manqoba Mngqithi is going to dish out large helpings of humble pie to his detractors. He led Sundowns to their second Premiership victory of the season, courtesy of the quick attacking play that has been ridiculed by many as being ‘anti-Sundowns’, when they beat Marumo Gallants 4-1 at Loftus Versfeld yesterday evening. Tashreeq Matthews, Iqraam Rayners and Lucas Ribeiro Costa had Daniel Akpeyi picking…