Cape Times 2022-03-22

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE SOUTH African Reserve Bank (SARB) could tighten monetary policy this week as inflation continues to head towards the top end of its 3 to 6 percent target range. Global producer price and food price inflation continues to rise higher on fears of supply chain disruption, with the Russian war in Ukraine pushing oil prices to a 14-year high. Global agriculture and other commodity prices have also risen strongly. Electricity and other administered prices also continue to present short- and medium-term price risks, as Eskom will get a 9.6 percent tariff increase from April 1. It is in these contexts that SARB’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will meet from today until Thursday. The MPC meeting occurs in a highly fluid global environment, characterised by heightened…

Dieketseng Maleke dieketseng.maleke@inl.co.za ANGLO American has reached an agreement with Electricité de France (EDF) Re- newables, a global leader in renewable energy, to develop a regional renewable energy ecosystem (RREE) in South Africa. The ecosystem is expected to meet its operational electricity requirements in South Africa through the supply of 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030, “thereby also supporting the resilience of the local electricity supply systems and the wider decarbonisation of energy in the country”, Anglo American said in a statement on Friday. Anglo American said the partnership is expected to bring a host of benefits to South Africa and the region, which in- clude the implementation of 3 to 5 gigawatt of renewable electricity (solar and wind) and storage over the next decade. This could increase…

Bongani Hans bongani.hans@inl.co.za LAWYERS for Russian-born multinational mining magnate, Lyudmyla Roytblat, have expressed shock at the level of bullying she has received from First National Bank (FNB), in deterring her from taking legal action against the bank. Roytblat’s planned action against FNB stemmed from an abrupt notice to terminate her bank accounts without being given reasons why. Her lawyer, Udell Hammond-Smith, is taking instruction from Roytblat for the best option to deal with the termination of her accounts and those of her company, where she also holds the position of chief executive, Transasia Minerals and its subsidiary Transasia Minerals SA. The termination was set to be effected on May 9, 2022. Roytblat is an Australian citizen with a business visa in South Africa for mining contracts. Since opening the account…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za THE INVESTEC Group would review its provision overlays nearer the release of its annual results in May as there were still market risks from the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK and South Africa and an as yet unknown impact of higher inflation associated with the invasion by Russia of Ukraine. This was according to Investec chief executive Fanie Titi, who spoke on Friday in an online event at the release of a pre-close trading update for the year to March 31. He said that there had so far been clear improvement in the group, but the possible impact of, for example, higher energy costs in South Africa and the UK from the high oil prices on the group’s generally high net worth clients and corporate clients,…

Dieketseng Maleke dieketseng.maleke@inl.co.za COAL PRODUCER Exxaro has been getting inquiries from potential European buyers who are facing coal supply shortages due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the company’s executive head of stakeholder affairs, Mzila Mthenjane. Mthenjane said while the company is pleasantly surprised by the calls, it might not be able to take advantage of the demand, due to maintenance and cable theft problems on Transnet’s coal line. Transnet, which operates the country’s major ports and a huge railway network, has been plagued by problems over the past year, forcing producers to cut production. Mthenjane was speaking last Thursday during a question-and-answer session at Exxaro’s flagship Grootgeluk mine in Lephalale, Limpopo, where it unveiled how it had spent the R20 billion it pledged in 2018. Mthenjane said…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za ESKOM has dispelled speculation that an incident at the scheduled maintenance of Koeberg Nuclear Reactor Unit 2 could have been a far worse disaster than what occurred. “Those reports are based on an internal Eskom newsletter to staff at Koeberg. “We always have the newsletter to communicate on as part of discussion of safety issues. “It is true the technicians picked up on the wrong cables, but that was rectified before it could be a problem, before there was any damage. “That particular unit (Unit 1) has been online for 141 days since its last outage and is doing well. “This was simply an internal update to staff to remind them of safety concerns,” Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Matshantsha said yesterday. Reports last week said that…