Inhoudsopgave van 2025-11-03 - Cape Times

South Africa’s ambitious reform drive under Operation Vulindlela gained significant traction in the second quarter of 2025/26, with notable progress in the energy, logistics, and digital transformation sectors, according to the latest progress report released on Friday. The government’s structural reform initiative — jointly coordinated by the Presidency and the National Treasury — aims to remove key obstacles to economic growth by modernising critical sectors such as electricity, transport, water, and local government. Operation Vulindlela Phase II covers 30 structural reforms, spanning energy, logistics, water, local government, spatial integration, visas, and digital transformation. According to the second quarter dashboard, 44% of reforms are on track, while 40% are delayed but progressing. The Presidency said the reform drive “continues to unlock private investment, build state capability, and place South Africa on…

South Africa’s automotive manufacturing industry is facing renewed strain amid stalled wage negotiations between employers and unions, with industry leaders warning that 2025 production levels could fall short of last year’s already subdued output. The National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (NAACAM) on Friday said vehicle production is unlikely to meet earlier projections, as the sector battles a downturn in exports and ongoing labour tensions. According to NAACAM, component exports fell by 5% in 2024 compared with 2023, while vehicle assembly volumes missed 2024 targets by 11.5%. The association said the sector’s recovery in 2025 “will struggle to surpass” last year’s performance, given weak demand, domestic bottlenecks, and the risk of industrial action. NAACAM CEO Renai Moothilal said ongoing wage talks between the Automobile Manufacturers Employers Association (AMEO)…

In 2015, the African Union (AU) assigned South Africa the continental mandate to lead the manufacturing of rolling stock for Africa. The decision recognised South Africa’s industrial base, engineering expertise and infrastructure as the continent’s most advanced. It was an opportunity to anchor regional industrialisation, create skilled employment and supply trains, coaches and components to a growing African market. As Professor Pali Lehohla observed, “The 2015 AU Summit granted South Africa rights to rolling stock, but ten years later nothing happened, except that we ripped our rail apart, disgustingly throwing confidence in our ability to supply rolling stock to the continent completely out of the window, along with any hope for steel manufacturing.” Ten years later, that assessment stands uncomfortably close to the truth. South Africa has neither built a…

In the energy sector, we know one truth too well: you cannot industrialise in the dark. For too long, South Africa’s economic aspirations have flickered under the weight of an unstable power system. Factories stall, investors hesitate and young entrepreneurs fight to keep their doors open through blackouts. As the world prepares for COP30, which will take place from 10 – 21 November 2025 in Belém, Brazil, South Africa has a rare opportunity to reset the conversation – to prove that climate responsibility and industrial growth can coexist. That conviction guided my message on behalf of the Black Business Council (BBC) at the National Ministerial Stakeholder Consultation hosted on 20 Octo ber 2025 by Minister Dion George of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE). Our call…

Impala Platinum Holdings’ share price fell 4.89% on Friday after the mining group reported that 6E production volumes had decreased by 5% through the group’s first quarter to September 30. Group platinum metals production came to 882 000 ounces, with a 5% decline in managed volumes to 693 000 ounces, a 5% decline from joint ventures to 138 000 ounces, and a 3% increase in third-party receipts to 52 000 ounces, the mining group said Friday in a report. The share traded at R186.12 on the JSE in the afternoon, a price that was below the R198.64 that it traded at a year ago. Gross 6E refined and saleable production volumes increased by 3% to 830 000 ounces, and 6E sales volumes were 7% higher at 847 000 ounces. "Implats…

When I left the Eastern Cape for Cape Town all those years ago, I thought I was just coming here to study. I didn’t know I was also walking straight into the arms of a woman who would one day become my daughter’s chosen family, her “Aunty Zim", among many more aunts. Back then, I was shy (still am), standing in a queue full of students, trying my best to blend into the background. But she turned around, looked me dead in the eye, and said, “You’re going to be my friend.” Almost a decade later, here we are, two women navigating city life, raising a child between us, and proving that family isn’t always defined by blood. Now, when I watch my daughter share her firsts with my sister…

ATTEMPTED murder-accused Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala had allegedly been planning to file an affidavit incriminating police minister Senzo Mchunu, who has since been placed on enforced leave. Matlala had also apparently referred to suspended deputy national police commissioner for Crime Detection, Lieutenant General Sibiya, as ‘a criminal himself’. This is according to the testimony presented by Witness C before the Madlanga Commission. Witness C, a member of the Gauteng counterintelligence operations unit (GCI ops) was deployed from the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT). The GCI ops is made up of detectives from the Gauteng Organised Crime unit, members of the PKTT and combat units. Witness C said that Matlala told the detectives that he spilled the beans because he feared for his life, saying that he knew that the…

Stellenbosch FC’s miserable run in the Betway Premiership continued on Sunday when they lost 2-0 to TS Galaxy at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit. Galaxy scored a goal in each half and, in the process, snapped a sequence of back-to-back defeats. The outcome also marked Galaxy’s first league win over Stellenbosch since they joined the elite league three seasons ago. At the start, Stellenbosch showcased their dominance in possession but struggled in front of goal, leading to a somewhat frustrating first half. Despite enjoying a 60% possession advantage, Stellenbosch failed to break down an organised Galaxy defence, highlighting an issue that has plagued them in recent outings. In the first half, Stellenbosch had five shots on target; however, each scoring effort was denied by a resolute Galaxy defence. Ivorian goalkeeper…

South Africa’s young T20 side learnt some harsh lessons in Lahore on Saturday night as Pakistan completed a 2-1 comeback series win with a four-wicket victory in the decider — exposing the Proteas’ inexperience but also, coach Shukri Conrad believes, helping to paint a clearer picture for next year’s T20 World Cup. A largely experimental South African side had won the series opener in Rawalpindi convincingly before coming undone in back-to-back matches in Lahore on Friday and Saturday night. “It was rather disappointing, especially going 1-0 up and then coming to Lahore and not getting out the blocks,” Conrad admitted during Saturday’s post-match media conference. “We found ourselves in trouble every PowerPlay with the bat, and when you’re posting 110 or 140, you’re not going to win many games. The…

The Bank of America (BofA) has flagged a potential credit rating upgrade for South Africa later this month, saying that S&P Global Ratings could lift the country’s sovereign rating to ‘BB’ if the government delivers stronger economic growth and successfully reduces its debt-to-GDP ratio. In its latest note released on Friday, BofA said the upgrade could come after the tabling of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), expected later this month, even as the country continues to face fiscal headwinds and structural constraints. S&P, which downgraded South Africa to sub-investment grade in April 2020 due to the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, currently rates the country’s foreign currency debt at ‘BB-’ and local currency debt at ‘BB’, both with a positive outlook. The agency in May said the positive…

The Department of Agriculture has moved to defend itself following concern over the Auditor-General’s report indicating a qualified audit opinion and a surge in fruitless and wasteful expenditure during the 2024/25 financial year. The latest audit findings covering the 2024/25 financial year ending on 31 March 2025 were tabled by the Auditor-General in Parliament on 7 October, showing that the department received a qualified audit opinion despite spending 94% of its budget while achieving only 83% of its target. The department's spokesperson, Moses Rannditsheni, last week said the audit pertains to a period before the establishment of the new stand-alone department. "The Auditor-General’s findings relate to the former Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) before the institutional split took effect," Rannditsheni said. "Simply extracting data from those…

One of the challenges of being a noisy democracy is that in our hunt for scandals, we often miss important victories, especially those that improve the lives of the working class. The South African Revenue Service (Sars) is one such success. It is being achieved through the relentless efforts of its staff. Their remarkable achievements in rebuilding a government entity that was at the heart of the state capture project, is an affirmation that the state can be fixed and capacitated to fulfill its constitutional and transformational mandate. Sars by its nature must alienate society’s corrupt and criminal elements. This is exactly what occurred during the state capture chapter where it irritated powerful politicians by insisting they pay their taxes. This led to an intervention at Sars, purging…

MTN Nigeria Communications delivered a resounding financial comeback, reporting a robust performance for the nine months to September 30, 2025 - a N750.2 billion taxed profit marked a dramatic turnaround from a N514.9bn loss in the same period last year. This resurgence paved the way for a return to dividend payments, with an interim dividend of N5.00 per share approved by the board. CEO Karl Toriola hailed the results as a “significant milestone,” attributing the turnaround to strategic execution, improved macroeconomic conditions, and prudent financial management. “We are pleased to report that MTN Nigeria has restored its positive retained earnings and shareholders’ equity positions,” he said. MTN Nigeria’s subscriber base surged by 11% to 85.4 million, while active data users climbed 12.8% to 51.1 million. Service revenue soared 57.5% year-on-year…

POLICE have not ruled out arresting more suspects, having caught 10, in what they have described as ongoing efforts to dismantle extortion syndicates threatening the economy of the Central Karoo region. Western Cape Organised Crime investigators combined efforts with Central Karoo Flying Squad members and Public Order Policing before descending on a number of premises in Graaff-Reinet where the suspects were arrested on Friday. The arrests stem from an investigation after a group attended a meeting at a premises at Pastorie Street, Murraysburg, hosted by a wind energy facility construction company on 23 September. “The group made specific demands and threatened the representative from the construction company with violence. They also threatened to set trucks alight which are transporting wind turbine components to the construction site,” said police spokesperson Christopher…

THERE is a particular theatre to South African political life: we know how to gather, how to convene, how to fill auditoriums when history arrives clothed in urgency. We clap where we should clap. We nod with seriousness. We ask familiar questions with grave voices. And then we go home feeling as though participation is enough. On Sunday, as Francesca Albanese spoke, something in the room felt familiar – a choreography of solidarity, ritualistic and almost liturgical. People repeated what we already know: BDS matters; sanctions work; we must “raise awareness”; what can we do? There is earnestness there, yes, and a beating heart. But there is also a performance economy – an economy of optics that governs public conscience like a currency traded at a premium. South Africans have…

ICC World Cup Final India: 298/7 Shafali Varma 87, Deepti Sharma 58, Ayabonga Khaka 3/58 South Africa: 246 all out Wolvaardt 101, Dercksen 35, Deepti Sharma 5/39 w India won by 52 runs Laura Wolvaardt carried her team on her shoulders, dragged them to the finish line, but ultimately could not single-handedly lead the Proteas Women to the promised land of a first-ever ICC Women’s World Cup title in Navi Mumbai on Sunday evening. Instead, that honour belongs to India, who on their third attempt after previous disappointments in 2005 and 2017, fulfilled the dreams and desires of a nation when captain Harmanpreet Kaur claimed the catch that clinched their maiden ICC Women’s World Cup trophy. It was a final the competition deserved, with the DY Patil Stadium decked in…

Abdeslam Ouaddou is a fearless players’ coach. As long as a player is good enough to fit into his philosophy and team organisation, he will throw him in the deep end. Ouaddou showed that he has nerves of steel during the 1-1 draw with Mamelodi Sundowns in the Betway Premiership on Saturday afternoon in Tshwane. He started teenager Camren Dansin in midfield – an approach that initially appeared risky, as the youngster struggled against Sundowns’ experienced kingpins, including Bathusi Aubaas and Nuno Santos. Tension reached fever pitch when some Pirates players, particularly Tshepang Moremi, began shouting at the 19-year-old, prompting the Ghost to call for his substitution in only his second start for the club this season. So, when Peter Shalulile gave Sundowns the lead, it seemed that Dansin’s struggles…

Parliament confirms probe into threat to R3.5 trillion in public servants’ pensions portfolio Parliament has confirmed that it is following up on allegations of financial mismanagement and governance failures at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) that could threaten the stability of the R3.5 trillion public servants’ pension portfolio. The move follows explosive claims by United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader, Bantu Holomisa, who wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa and Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) alleging “continued looting, mismanagement, and administrative bungling from top to bottom” at the PIC and its Isibaya Fund. In his letter dated 29 October 2025, Holomisa warned that the alleged irregularities represented “a situation of enormous proportions that rivals the State Capture scandal itself,” arguing that decisive, immediate intervention — not another commission of inquiry…

South Africa’s road infrastructure is the backbone of our economy and vital for the safety and mobility of our people. Yet there’s a persistent gap between the engineering expertise we have and the reality of managing and developing our roads effectively. To build safer, more reliable transport systems, we must leverage engineering knowledge, enforce adherence to proper standards and boost institutional capacity across the public sector and change the narrow view that road infrastructure is just what you see in front of you when you drive. Fundamentally, road safety depends on the quality of the roads themselves, but in the broader picture it should be viewed as a system that includes all the aspects of the infrastructure – fence to fence. Structural integrity, surface strength, proper geometric design, vegetation, signage,…

The US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has cut interest rates for the second time this year. The FOMC officials agreed to another 25 basis points (0.25%) cut, that lowers its benchmark lending rate to a range between 3.75% and 4%. This is the lowest Bank rate in three years. This cut brings more uncertainty to markets as was expected with the US dollar appreciation against most other currencies and precious metals like gold and platinum lost steam. Adding to the rate move, the FOMC announced that it would be ending the reduction of its asset purchases – a process known as quantitative tightening - on December 1, 2025. The statement revealed some serious concerns about the US economy over the short run. The first one is…

MC Mining’s share price shot up over 15% on Friday afternoon after it reported that the development of its Makhado Project is progressing strongly, with coal plant commissioning activities expected to start in December 2025. The company stated in its first quarter activities report for the period ending September 30 that project expenditure remains within budgeted estimates, despite delays encountered due to inclement weather, sourcing suitable construction materials, and obtaining clearances to construct a 14km long power transmission line. The share price of the coal mining and mine development company was trading 15.79% higher at R2.20 on the JSE on Friday afternoon, a price also well up from R1.65 a year ago. The colliery will be South Africa's largest hard coking coal (HCC) producer, designed to produce 800 000 tons…

THE critical state of local government and next year's elections apparently topped the agenda of the two-day Government of National Unity (GNU) retreat at the Cradle of Humankind at the weekend. The gathering, which concluded on Saturday, was convened amidst speculation about the GNU's future and about Ramaphosa's own leadership, with several ANC insiders expressing a growing lack of confidence in his ability to steer the nation. Sources close to the discussions from within government, the ANC and opposition parties, revealed that a significant portion of the closed-door discussions revolved around the critical state of local government and next year's elections. While no official agenda was shared, and leaders were ordered to maintain secrecy, the urgency of municipal collapse appears to have dominated much of the conversation. "The President was…

CHILD rights groups, activists and communities are expected to voice their views on statutory rape of young girls when making submissions to review existing legislation with an aim of amending the law where necessary. The Parliamentary-drives inquiry is part of a broader effort stemming from a National Assembly resolution passed in July, designed to revive discussions that began in the previous term when the EFF first introduced the motion last year. In public hearings and stakeholder engagements held on Friday and Saturday in Gauteng, representatives from various sectors came together to confront the grim realities faced by young girls coerced into premature adulthood. Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth, and Persons With Disabilities, Liezl van der Merwe, expressed urgent concerns, saying many young victims of statutory rape remain…

THE National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) suffered a major legal setback when the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria ruled that for the implementation of municipal electricity tariff hikes, without the use of proper cost studies and public participation processes, was unconstitutional. Judge Etienne Labuschagne slammed Nersa on its argument that customers do not have the right to know what it costs municipalities to supply them with electricity. He remarked that “how the regulator could unilaterally declare a cost of supply study as confidential is beyond concerning”. The judgment followed an urgent application by AfriForum in which it disputed the process Nersa followed to determine all municipal tariffs for this financial year, ending June next year. Judge Labuschagne declared the electricity tariff approval process invalid for breaching constitutional and statutory…

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is delighted with his team’s 61-7 defeat of Japan at the weekend, but says the match was always a warm-up for this week’s monumental encounter with France in Paris. The Boks scored eight tries and were awarded a penalty try in shutting out Eddie Jones’ side. While the game had the potential to be tricky, South Africa closed the Japanese down from the first whistle to the last. “We have to give credit to the whole team,” said Erasmus. “Some of the players had not played for us in a while, such as Gerhard (Steenekamp), Franco (Mostert), Johan (Grobbelaar), Andre (Esterhuizen) at No 7, and Zachary (Porthen), who made his debut. “And then if you look at a player like Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) – who scored two…

Hugo Broos is set to put his head on the block later this week, and announce the final 23-member squad that will face Zambia in an international friendly next Saturday. Although there are a couple of new faces in the 43-member preliminary squad, Broos is expected to stick with tried and tested players for the friendly as he begins planning for the AFCON finals in Morocco next month. Not widening the selection pool by choosing mostly familiar players for the clash against Chipolopolo could backfire, especially if his regulars are ruled out of the continental showpiece due to form or injuries in the coming weeks. However, such is the depth of the squad Broos has assembled in the last few months that it would be a rare occurrence for him…