Cape Times 2022-04-06

BUSINESS yesterday welcomed the immediate end of the National State of Disaster after 750 days, which also averted a possible court battle against the government. However, concerns have remained over the proposed amendments to National Health Act regulations and some aspects that could hinder tourism in the country. President Cyril Ramaphosa late on Monday announced the end of the National State of Disaster, with some regulations only lapsing after 30 days to assist in limiting the spread of Covid-19. These include the compulsory wearing of masks indoors, restrictions on the number of people at gatherings, and provisions relating to international travellers. Business Unity South Africa (Busa) chief executive Cas Coovadia said yesterday that the lifting of the State of Disaster and the passing of the 30-day transition period would give…

THE ATOMIC Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday announced a clean bill of health for Eskom’s Koeberg Nuclear Plant for the next 20 years, subject to unpublicised recommendations, which had the anti-nuclear movement screaming for the “devil in the detail”. The Koeberg nuclear plant comes to the end of its design life in July 2024, but Eskom wants to keep operating it for an extra 20 years. The positive report comes just two weeks after Eskom was forced to dispel speculation that an incident at the scheduled maintenance of Koeberg Nuclear Reactor Unit 2 could have led to a major disaster. The IAEA peer review mission, with experts from eight countries, which undertook an assessment of the Koeberg plant in late March, said yesterday that it had observed that despite many challenges…

DETERIORATING road infrastructure was creating operational challenges for South African farmers and a threat to food security, agricultural organisation Agri SA said yesterday, as it called on the government to address the issue. Agri SA, announcing the findings of a survey from participants in the agricultural sector determining the impact of deteriorating road infrastructure on the sector, found that there were dire consequences to South Africa’s poor road maintenance for the proper functioning and growth of the sector. Kulani Siweya, an economist at Agri SA, said the deteriorating road infrastructure constrained the local sector’s potential to contribute more to South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employment. While the sector had already contributed R128 billion to GDP, this could be even higher, he said. “This potential is illustrated…

THE OUTLOOK for private sector activity for the year ahead in South Africa has worsened markedly over inflation and supply risks in the wake of increased global uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine. Despite this, private sector activity rose to a four-month high in March, marking the third consecutive month of expansion amid renewed increase in employment. The S&P Global IHS Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) accelerated to 51.4 points in March, from 50.9 points in February and above the 50 point no-change threshold. S&P Global said yesterday that new order volumes rose in March, albeit the rate of growth was down fractionally from February and marginal. In addition, while export orders fell over the month, the rate of decline was the softest seen since September last…

ZIMBABWE is to experiment with a liberalised foreign currency exchange rate after allowing corporates and individuals holding US dollars in their accounts to sell the hard currency to banks on a willing-seller, willing-buyer basis. Exchange rate distortions have blighted Zimbabwe’s economy, which continues to struggle to attract foreign direct investment. Exchange rate disparities have also driven up year-on-year inflation to 72 percent for the month of March, according to data from Zimstats. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, under pressure from industry and international finance institutions to fix the exchange rate regime, has now set a US$1 000 (R14 610) limit for the amount that companies and individuals can trade on a willing-seller, willing- buyer basis with banks. At a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) this…

THE AFRICAN Rail Industry Association (Aria) yesterday questioned the feasibility of Transnet’s recent announcement to sell time slots on its rail network to third parties and whether is was worth it for the private sector. Investment of up to R54 billion is required by the mining, forestry and agriculture industry to take advantage of the slot sales, announced by the state-owned logistics firm on Friday as it liberalises the rail sector. Aria chief executive Mesela Nhlapo said yesterday: “It has been widely reported that slots will be sold for a two-year period. “While Aria recognises this is a pilot project, this is perhaps the biggest challenge to effective third-party access. Every 50-wagon trainset costs up to R200 million, and Aria estimates each operator will need three trainsets…