Cape Times 2022-07-05

THE SA BUSINESS sector has called for an urgent solution to the country’s electricity crisis, including accelerating the unbundling process and investment in the transmission grid, as crippling power cuts weigh in on activity. Eskom yesterday continued to implement stage 6 rotational loadshedding in the absence of the full plant maintenance staff complement, as wage negotiations resume today. Energy expert Professor Anton Eberhard, speaking on behalf of the National Business Initiative (NBI), said South Africa’s national grid was designed chiefly to take power from Eskom’s coal power stations, but now it needed to be reconfigured to connect renewable energy. Eberhard said investing in the transmission grid would help to stabilise the power supply and meet the growing electricity demands in South Africa. “A business case can be made for a…

The SOUTH African stock market saw its biggest monthly fall in June since the start of the pandemic in March, 2020, as the FTSE/JSE Capped SWIX benchmark followed global markets sharply lower. The index was -7.5 percent down month-on-month in June. The local bourse was holding up relatively well in the year-to-date, with strong commodity markets supporting the country’s terms of trade and low domestic equity valuations attracting flows as investors switched out of relatively expensive growth shares, Anchor Capital’s Peter Little said yesterday. However, the prospects of accelerated global monetary tightening started to increase the possibility of a slowdown in global economic growth, and there were few places for investors to hide in June – the local bourse was not one of them, said Little. Old Mutual Wealth…

IT DOES NOT rain for South African motorists and consumers, it pours. This follows a record high fuel price increase of more than R2 a litre for July, which sees the price of petrol breaching R25 a litre for the first time ever from tomorrow. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy yesterday delivered the blow and announced the price of petrol for both 93 and 95 octane will increase by a massive R2.37 and R2.57 a litre from midnight, respectively. This means the price for 93 octane will rise from R23.93 to R26.31 a litre, while 95 octane will surge from R24.17 to R26.74 a litre. This is nearly R10 a litre more than a year ago. Diesel will increase by between R2.30 and R2.31 a litre to an…

THE UNIVERSITY of Pretoria does not have space to accommodate all 30 religious affiliations present at the institution as a result of the lack of space on its campuses. The university was responding to an uproar over the closure of the Muslim prayer room by academics and students on its campuses. The Muslim Students Association at the university said it was saddened that the prayer facility, known as Jamaat Khana, and located at the Prinshof Campus, would be taken away. The student group said the decision to close the prayer room followed countless negotiations between its student representatives and the university. “The university did not provide alternatives that were feasible, thus they are now evicting us from the Jamaat Khana. We are reviewing all options with stakeholders from across the…

LEGAL experts maintain that employers who have chosen to implement vaccine mandates should not be deterred or dissuaded amid debates around the future of these policies, as Covid-19 restriction levels have eased and society returns to life before the virus. This comes as a Gauteng woman formerly employed as a senior inventory controller at Baroque Medical won a case at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) against the company who retrenched her a year ago for not taking the Covid-19 vaccine. Senior commissioner Richard Byrne held that the dismissal was substantively unfair and awarded the employee, Kgomotso Tshatshu, the maximum compensation, a year’s pay amounting to R279 600. “When one considers the Equality Clause (section 9 of the Constitution), freedom and security of the person (section 12…

HERMANUS police were attacked by residents as they tried to intervene when three people were being burnt to death after they were accused of theft, assault and terrorizing their community. The three men were killed in the vigilante attack on Saturday. Police spokesperson FC Van Wyk said they were investigating three counts of murder. “Hermanus Police attended a complaint on Saturday at about 1.55pm. Upon arrival at an open field near to Marikana in Zwelihle they saw a crowd. Upon inspection they noticed three victims who sustained serious burn wounds. "When police tried to intervene, the crowd attacked them, with members responding to control the crowd. The unknown victims were declared deceased on the scene by the medical personnel. “The unknown suspects are yet to be arrested,” said Van Wyk.…