Cape Times 2023-06-26

In top management, whites account for 62.9%, followed by Africans at 16.9% EMPLOYMENT and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi on Friday said he was disappointed with the pace of transformation in the country and it was nothing to boast about. His comments came after the Commission for Employment Equity – which provides the status of employment equity in the labour market as reported by designated employers in the 2022 circle – handed its report to Nxesi. The Employment Equity 23rd CEE annual report was launched and given to Nxesi on Friday in Kempton Park. The report found that the white population held the most managerial positions in the country and that women continued to be the lowest-ranked group. The report said from top management, whites accounted for 62.9%, followed by Africans…

STEINHOFF International’s share price sank 33.3% to only 4 cents on Friday after it said in interim results to March 31 that the sum-of-the-value of its key investments currently did not cover its debt. This month, a Dutch court approved management’s restructuring plans that had been opposed by shareholders at two previous shareholder meetings. The share price on Friday had already fallen precipitously from a closing price of 29C on June 20, 2023, the day before the Dutch court approved the restructuring plan. At the start of the year, the group, which had needed to restructure as it was unable to repay €10.3 billion (R210bn) in debt by June 30, 2023, outlined a plan that would extend the maturity date of debt to June 2026, but shareholders would…

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s (DFFE’s) National Air Quality Officer has given Eskom permission to operate Kusile power station without the technology required to reduce harmful sulphur dioxide emissions, thereby potentially reducing load shedding by up to two stages. The DFFE had granted the utility a postponement in terms of the Minimum Emission Standards (MES) pertaining to the sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission levels at Kusile. Eskom said in a statement on Saturday it also welcomed an updated Atmospheric Emission Licence to Kusile Power Station to reflect this postponement decision by the Nkangala District Municipality. Kusile is Eskom’s newest coal fired power station. It received environmental approval in 2008 and the first unit began operating in 2017, with the final unit planned for 2024. Its six…

At least R210 billion is needed to upgrade electricity transmission grid infrastructure to incorporate future renewable projects onto the grid, and “creative ways” would be sought to fund this from the private sector, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said at a briefing yesterday. He said the government was preparing a document on this matter that would be made available at a later stage. He said they were also making good progress in working with local governments and municipalities on the expansion of embedded energy and renewable energy projects at municipal level. These would eventually go a long way to increase electricity generation in the country, he said. Ramokgopa said that with the resumption of Units 1, 2 and 3 at Kusile Power station, the energy availability factor (EAF) at Eskom would…

AS INFLATION tamed down in the past month, it has paved the way for the South African Reserve Bank to pause its interest rate hiking cycle. This is a welcome reprieve for consumers battling the cost of living crisis in the country. June saw the release of the consumer price index (CPI) data for May, which showed that it had slowed to 6.3% from 6.8% in April. At the start of the month, motorists also cheered the fuel price decreases that were announced, and looking ahead to July, there may be further good news to come. Early data suggests that there could be a small cut in petrol prices for next month, while diesel prices could see an increase. The Central Energy Fund said that current data indicates a 6…

IT IS SHORTLY after sunrise, and Peter Mudenda looks for elephant tracks on a dirt road surrounded by mopane trees. Once a farmer, the 49-year-old gave up the plough several years ago when a massive forest protection project was launched in Binga, a remote semi-arid district in northern Zimbabwe. He now makes a living digging fire-guards, taking care of trees and keeping tabs on wildlife. “I was getting a good yield, but I was quick to appreciate that we could benefit more as a community from a conservancy,’’ Mudenda said. The conservancy is part of a wider project that makes money selling carbon credits, a financial tool aimed at tackling climate change. But in Zimbabwe, the model has been upended by a shock announcement that the government intends to claim…