Table of contents for 2025-06-12 in Cape Times

The vaping industry has called for smarter nicotine policies as South Africa grapples with alarming increases in combustable tobacco smoking rates. This comes as Parliament continues to hold public consultations on the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, which seeks to impose stricter product and related product processing, regulate tobacco product and advertising, and standardise the ‘packaging and appearance’ of tobacco and electronic delivery system products. The Tobacco Bill prohibits leaves no room for any form of display of tobacco and electronic delivery systems, including both nicotine and non-nicotine products. Delivering oral submissions to the Portfolio Committee on Health on Wednesday, Kurt Yeo from Vaping Saved My Life made a plea not only for regulated alternatives but for a complete paradigm shift in how South Africa views…

During a session marred by discontent, the committee objected to the classification of information by the BRPs Parliament's Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade has rejected an attempt by the South African Post Office's (Sapo) Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs), Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons, to provide a partial update containing classified information deemed commercially sensitive. The committee, chaired by Sonja Boshoff, on Wednesday cited the significant public interest in Sapo's ongoing struggles and the use of public funds in the rescue process as the rationale for their decision. During a virtual session marred by increasing discontent, the committee expressed strong objections to the classification of information by the BRPs, arguing that their role in managing a public entity should not shield them from stringent accountability expectations. Boshoff resolved to…

Sentiment in the business sector in South Africa has remained volatile despite a minor rebound following fears over US trade policy, including former President Trump’s threat to impose 30% tariffs. The latest release of the Business Confidence Index (BCI) by the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) has revealed a complicated landscape for businesses, as the index experienced a notable fluctuation in recent months. The BCI dropped by 8.6 index points in April to a measure of 114.9, before recovering slightly by 0.9 index points in May, culminating in a score of 115.8. Waldo Krugell, economics professor at North-West University, said that this decline was in line with other high-frequency data indicators. “Basically, it’s businesses that are now more pessimistic about the prospects for doing business during the…

Though the buzzwords “job creation” and “economic growth” often dominate boardroom discussions, it is the humble Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that truly bring these concepts to life. SMEs are the ones taking risks, hiring locally and revitalising our markets. Yet, they are the ones struggling, particularly in accessing the skills they desperately need. The growth potential is clear - SMEs do not simply fill gaps in the market, they create new ones. They innovate and they adapt with a nimbleness that bigger entities lack but this potential is often choked by a lack of resources, especially in upskilling their workforce. It is unrealistic to expect SMEs to compete on a global scale, if they’re perpetually battling to stay afloat due to a skills deficit. Corporate self-interest - strengthening the…

Assura, a leading UK healthcare real estate investment trust, on Tuesday accepted a sweetened, best and final cash offer from private equity-backed Sana Bidco, valuing the company at approximately £1.7 billion (R41bn). Assura is listed on the London Stock Exchange with a secondry listing on the JSE. The deal comes after a brief bidding war with Primary Health Properties (PHP), which has now been effectively sidelined. Sana Bidco - a consortium formed by US private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and infrastructure investor Stonepeak - increased its cash offer to 50.42 pence per share, up from its original bid announced on April 9. Including declared dividends of 1.68 pence, the offer values Assura shares at 52.1 pence, representing a 39.2% premium over the pre-offer closing price on February 13.…

President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to meet with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Canada this weekend. The meeting will focus on key issues, including the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and US-SA tariffs. Ramaphosa's meeting with Trump comes after South Africa submitted a revised framework proposal to the US, aiming to expand trade and investment relations between the two countries. The US imposed tariffs on South African imports in April, with a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs of 30% against South African exports. The tariffs were part of a broader set of “liberation day” tariffs imposed by Trump on all US trading partners. However, they were later reduced to a base rate of 10%, with the expectation that countries…

The harrowing abduction and rape of a 14-year-old girl in Langa has ignited urgent calls for parental supervision as the community grapples with the shocking reality of gender-based violence (GBV). On Tuesday, the girl was discovered near her school, visibly traumatised. Anele Gqasana, the GBV programme coordinator for Projects Manager Langa, sadi: “This disturbing incident has instilled fear in the community, and we encourage parents to be more vigilant,” Gqasana stated. We want parents to accompany their children to and from school, as safety should be our number one priority.” According to a police spokesperson, a case of abduction and rape has been transferred to the Bishop Lavis Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit for further investigation. “The victim left home to go to school and stopped at…

Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina painted a sad state of affairs in the local government sphere regarding the provision of water yesterday, saying many municipalities were unable to collect revenue. Majodina noted with concern that when municipalities collected the revenue, they used it for something else. “They don't ring fence water sales to be able to maintain the water infrastructure, because that is where the water infrastructure has totally collapsed, but also the technical capacity and skills of municipalities,” she said. Majodina made the comment when her department appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa). She said that when there was no water in a village or township, people blamed her department, which was responsible for building water resources such as dams, canals, or water treatment plants.…

In some ways, David Kriel has been a Swiss Army knife for the Bulls over the last few years. Having started out as a fullback for the Pretoria franchise, Kriel was then shifted to wing, and eventually inside centre. This season, he has operated mainly at outside centre, and even been called upon to take over the goal-kicking at times. His best effort off the tee was undoubtedly the two match-winning kicks against Benetton and Leinster. Last October, Kriel banged over a touchline conversion after the hooter to secure the victory over Benetton in Treviso, and in March this year, he landed a penalty in the fifth minute of injury time – about 40 metres on the angle as well – to clinch a 21-20 triumph over Leinster at Loftus…

There is a hush around the famous old ground. Everyone is waiting in eager anticipation. The coin goes up in the air. Heads is the call. It feels like an eternity before it hits the Lord’s turf. Match referee Javagal Srinath picks it up and walks over to Temba Bavuma. The Proteas captain has called correctly. A big cheer goes out from particularly the Mount Stand, which has been transformed into Castle Corner here at St John’s Wood. Bavuma alludes to it when the skipper says "we can hear the South African accents in the stands" after opting to unleash his quicks Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen first. The ICC have hauled out the greats from both teams' legendary eras of the past. Hashim Amla and Matthew Hayden, sporting a…

ENTERTAINMENT company MultiChoice, releasing its results for the year ended March 31, 2025, disclosed a loss of 2.8 million active linear subscribers in the past two financial years. In the reporting period linear subscribers were down 1.2m, or 8%, to 14.5m active subscribers, with the loss evenly split between South African (0.6m) and Rest of Africa (0.6m). The group said although reflecting an improvement on 2024 trends, "this indicates ongoing broad-based pressure across the group’s entire customer base". "The past two financial years have been a period of significant financial disruption for economies, corporates and consumers across sub-Saharan Africa due to challenging macro-economic factors. Combined with the impact of structural industry changes in video entertainment such as the rise of piracy, streaming services and social media, this has materially affected…

After months of stagnation and uncertainty, South Africa's economic landscape has witnessed a notable shift in the BankservAfrica Economic Transactions Index (BETI). The index, which measures the value of electronic transactions processed through BankservAfrica on a monthly basis at seasonally adjusted real prices, rebounded to an index level of 138.3 in May, a rise from 136.2 recorded in April. This marked a welcome break from an eight-month trend of inactivity, sparking hope for sustained economic recovery. According to Shergeran Naidoo, BankservAfrica’s head of stakeholder engagements, this improvement could signify a turning point. “The BETI improved to an index level of 138.3 in May, up from the 136.2 recorded in April, breaking an eight-month trend of sideways movement,” Naidoo said. However, experts urged caution, emphasising that while this uptick was encouraging,…

Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has expressed serious concerns regarding more than R86 million paid to the South African Post Office (Sapo) business rescue practitioners (BRPs), Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons, since their appointment in 2023. Members of Parliament on Wednesday questioned the revelation of zero consequence management at Sapo as wasteful and fruitless expenditure was sitting above R200 million since 2021. This comes as R152m remains unaccounted for in the current year, with further reports of R136m being written off by the BRPs. "I would like to understand that it is two people, that is already R86m spent on them, please Auditor-General, take us nicely. Did you have sight of what the R86m was paying for? What are the other consultants? What is the period of…

The Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) returned to the US for the first time in 15 years, where it was first hosted. In 2009, Kansas City welcomed just a few hundred ecosystem stakeholders who banded together with one vision – to build a “one global entrepreneurial ecosystem’’. The movement has now quite literally mushroomed over the years and has seen thousands of ecosystem stakeholders meet annually to discuss better ways to support the development of entrepreneurs across the globe. In 2017, South Africa hosted the GEC, which welcomed over 5000 delegates from 160 countries onto our shores. Last week, the City of Indianapolis greeted 3455 participants from 141 countries, marking the 15th Global Entrepreneurship Congress under the theme, the “Bold Change the World”. With over 148 sessions and 200 speakers, the…

Pan African Resources on Wednesday reported record second-half gold production and a sharp reduction in debt for the 2025 financial year, as the miner looks to ramp up output by more than 40% in the coming year. The announcement, however, was overshadowed by a fatal accident at its Barberton operation earlier this month. The South Africa-focused gold producer said one employee lost their life at the Sheba Mine on June 6. The company said it will continue efforts to achieve “zero harm” across its operations. Despite the tragedy, operationally the company ended the fiscal year on a strong note. Gold production for the second half of 2025 is estimated at approximately 112 000 ounces, a 32% increase from the first half (84 705 ounces), driven by improved grades, stronger performance…

Municipal police services across the country are set to be given more powers, including enforcing immigration laws, and controlling and preventing the sale of stolen goods. The SA Police Service (SAPS) is proposing changes to the regulations for municipal police services first promulgated in June 1999. According to SAPS, the proposed revision of the regulations will affect the powers conferred on police officers that may also be exercised by a member of the municipal police services, including metro cops. Municipal police services currently exercise a wide range of powers similar to those of SAPS members, such as investigating crimes under the Criminal Procedure Act, drugs and drug trafficking, domestic violence, and stock theft, among others. The changes will grant municipal police services the powers to enforce the Immigration Act of…

IN KwaZulu-Natal, a Piper Cherokee aircraft crashed over the weekend, resulting in the tragic loss of two student pilots and a promising medical student. The deceased have been identified as 23-year-old Nqobile Biyela, Lulama ‘Lwazi’ Msane, and 20-year-old Siphesihle Buthelezi, all of whom were aboard the small aircraft that departed from Virginia Airport in Durban. The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport and Human Settlements, Siboniso Duma, confirmed that both the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) and the South African Police Service (SAPS) have initiated a formal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash. “We are fully aware that post-mortem examinations of the victims by trained pathologists will be critical in terms of highlighting causative factors, crash injuries, and survival factors,” Duma said in a statement. The investigation is expected to…

The authorities are clear that even desertion or adultery are not blameworthy conduct to render the dissolution of a customary marriage; they merely are a reason for marital breakdown. An acting judge said this in finding that the customary marriage entered into by a couple in 1978 was still enforced. The first wife of a man who died in 2023 turned to the Eastern Cape High Court to declare the deceased’s marriage to his second wife in terms of civil law null and void. Although the first wife and the deceased parted ways in 1998, he had no right to marry his second wife 19 years later, the first wife said. Her argument was based on the fact that he was still married to her when he remarried. Acting Judge…

A group of women who travelled from across the country to present the case of murdered children say they were insulted and verbally abused by a Member of Parliament during a meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Police in Cape Town yesterday. Members of the Women Empowerment Platform, who had journeyed from Johannesburg and Gqeberha, said they were left in tears and felt humiliated when their presentation was dismissed, and one MP told them to “stay in their lane”. “We were emotionally and verbally abused by a Member of Parliament using his power to disrespect us,” said Natalie Solomons, founder of the Women Empowerment Platform. The group had planned to present the case of Jayden-Lee Meek, 11, from Johannesburg who was brutally murdered and found dead outside his mother’s apartment.…

Willie le Roux has enjoyed a stellar career, with the two Rugby World Cup triumphs with the Springboks the stand-out moments. The 35-year-old fullback has featured for many clubs, franchises and provinces too – from Boland and the Cheetahs in the early days, to Wasps in England and now the Bulls. Yet in over 15 years, he has only celebrated one trophy: the 2011 Currie Cup First Division title with Boland, alongside his late teammate Cornal Hendricks. So, Saturday’s United Rugby Championship final against Leinster in Dublin (6pm SA time start) is an extra special encounter for Le Roux, who will hope to lift the cup for his friend Hendricks too. Le Roux feels that the key to victory at Croke Park will be about handling the magnitude of the…

Avedia Energy has made a significant move in the country's energy landscape by receiving its first delivery of imported LPG at their facility in Saldanha Bay, Western Cape. This milestone by the South African-registered liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) company marks a promising new chapter in the LPG market that aims to provide cleaner energy sources to lower-income households. In an interview with Business Report on Wednesday, Avedia's managing director Atose Aguele expressed enthusiasm over the delivery of LPG in Isotainers. “We also have LPG pipelines that are under construction in Saldanha Bay. However, we are pleased to have received our first Isotainers,” Aguele said. “This will be a game changer for LPG, as it currently is expensive, and with us entering the market, we expect that we will provide LPG…

A structural reversal in global capital allocation away from US assets now appears to be underway. We expect this to weaken the US dollar and provide significant support to emerging markets, which are increasingly well-positioned to benefit from this rebalancing in global portfolio flows. The world is overexposed to US assets. Since the global financial crisis in 2008, the allocation of US assets in global investment portfolios has increased rapidly, reaching extreme levels. Although this trend has been recognised as unsustainable for some time, a combination of key factors has continued to reinforce it. These include large fiscal deficits in the post-Covid period, persistent weakness in eurozone growth, the dominance of the US technology sector, and a prolonged period of elevated interest rates in the US. These dynamics pushed US…

There is a strong case for diversity and inclusion in business – and not just among large corporates. Given the vital role that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play in the South African economy, their potential to contribute to a more inclusive and diverse economic landscape should not be overlooked. Research shows that building diverse teams is so much more than a moral or ethical imperative. In an increasingly interconnected working world, diversity can translate into tangible business metrics. For example, in a study conducted by LinkedIn, 60% of respondents said that diversity within their sales team contributed to greater levels of success. In this particular study, ‘success’ was benchmarked across a number of different metrics. The study reveals that teams with more diversity were tied to higher sales conversion…

The National Employers’ Association of South Africa (Neasa) and Sakeliga have officially notified the Minister of Employment and Labour, Dr Nomakhosazana Meth, of their intent to seek an urgent interdict against the contentious Employment Equity (EE) regulations. This comes after the department published two sets of EE Regulations on 15 April - the General Administrative Regulations, and Regulations on Sector Numerical EE Targets - following the commencement of the Employment Equity Amendment Act, No. 4 of 2022, on 1 January 2025. The proposed regulations mandate employers to adhere to strict hiring quotas based on race, sex, and disability, with penalties for non-compliance reaching up to 10% of a company’s turnover. Section 15(A) of the Equity Employment Amendment Act empowers the minister to set numerical targets. According to the Act, the…

South Africa’s residential rental market has kicked off 2025 with a remarkable performance, showcasing the best results in several years. According to the latest PayProp Rental Index, average national rental growth reached 5.6% in the first quarter of this year, marking the strongest quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2017 and pushing the average rent to R9 132. Notably, February saw a staggering year-on-year rental increase of 6%, the highest monthly growth recorded since August 2017, indicating a burgeoning recovery in the sector. This impressive rise comes alongside a favourable inflation landscape as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation fell from 3.2% in both January and February to a low of 2.7% in March. The resulting gap between rental growth and inflation is significant—standing at 2.8% in both February…

The office of the Premier in KwaZulu-Natal is grappling with shocking allegations following the abrupt resignation of Dr Nonhlanhla Mkhize, the province’s first female Director-General. The resignation, which has raised grave concerns about gender-based violence within the state’s civil service, has prompted calls for accountability and transparency from both the public and political leaders. Dr Mkhize’s sudden departure has been linked to a heated altercation with a male colleague, reportedly escalating to threats of physical harm. Mbali Frazer, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on the Premier’s office, has taken the matter seriously, demanding an explanation from Premier Thami Ntuli regarding the circumstances surrounding her resignation. “It is alleged that a youth manager in the Office of the Premier threatened to physically harm Dr Mkhize for her refusal to sign off…

The prospect of Elon Musk’s satellite internet venture, Starlink, expanding its operations to South Africa has generated considerable excitement, particularly for its potential to bridge the digital divide in rural communities. However, experts in the field of astronomy are raising concerns about the unintended consequences of satellite constellations on South Africa’s world-class radio telescopes. UWC Professor Lerothodi Leeuw recently spoke to a radio station about the disruptive impact that Starlink and similar satellite networks could have on the country’s premier astronomical facilities. Among those at risk are the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), a state-of-the-art observatory in Sutherland, and the ambitious Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, designed to unlock new insights into the universe. Leeuw likened the interference caused by satellites to a form of “photo-bombing”, where artificial radio signals…

LONDON: Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen were at the crease when the Proteas unchoked at Centurion in December last year to qualify for a first-ever ICC World Test Championship final. Two big fast fast bowlers embraced passionately in the middle of the wicket after Jansen delightfully steered the winning runs past point. Jansen hauled out the big bear hug on Rabada again at Lord’s on a pulsating opening day of the WTC Final on Wednesday. Only this time it was to celebrate Rabada’s five-wicket haul and second at The Home of Cricket. But much has happened in between these two fateful days. Rabada, of course, tested positive for a banned substance and was instructed to appear before his comrades to apologise for his actions. It would be fair to say…

There’s been an understandable outpouring of disbelief of Paseka Mako and Thabiso Monyane’s departure from Orlando Pirates this winter. The two fullbacks have had their fair share of fortunes at Pirates when Mako operated on the left and Monyane on the right. Mako arrived at Pirates seven years ago, and won numerous trophies in the process, including four MTN8 trophies and two Nedbank Cups. Monyane also achieved the same feat - and even more - as he joined Pirates when he was only 12 years old, spending 13 years at the club. The duo was so good at some point that many tipped them to continue operating down the flanks for Bafana Bafana in the same games. However, it’s been the latter - Monyane - who has been favoured by…