Table of contents for 2023-12-08 in Cape Times

SOUTH Africa’s current account deficit nar- rowed sharply in the third quarter of 2023, to 0.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) from a revised 2.7% in the second quarter, central bank data showed yesterday. In rand terms, the current account recorded a deficit of R19.3 billion for the July-Sep- tember period from a revised R185.2bn deficit in April-June. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a deficit of R111.2bn or 1.9% of GDP in the third quarter. The trade surplus grew to R189.1bn in the third quarter, compared to R22.2bn in the second quarter. “The value of merchandise imports decreased more than that of goods exports,” the South African Reserve Bank said in a statement accompanying the data. On Tuesday, the statistics agency released third-quarter GDP figures which showed a…

CONSTRUCTION activity in South Africa surged to its highest level in nearly seven years in the three months to September, and could pick up in 2024 on the back of renewable energy investment and public/private partnerships. This is according to the findings of the Afrimat Construction Index (ACI) for the third quarter of 2023. The ACI is a composite index of the level of activity within the building and construction sectors compiled by economist Dr Roelof Botha on behalf of Afrimat. The index recorded a level of 131.5 points in the third quarter, compared with 120.3 points in the previous quarter. According to Botha, the lethargy of the economy as a whole during the third quarter was not evident in the construction sector, with six of the nine…

THE COP28 summit currently underway in the United Arab Emirates, has put a firm spotlight on the damaging effects of climate change in developing economies including South Africa. For a country that’s grown accustomed to a festive season, often characterised by rain and cool weather, signs of a rapidly shifting weather phenomenon are now ominous – the impact of climate change is painfully transparent. In fact, the entire southern Africa region is in the throes of El Niño – a climate related variability that is likely to impact agricultural and food production. Poor rainfall could potentially impact crop yields – especially in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Northwest and Limpopo. This only accounts for the physical risks of climate change. In addition, developed countries’ responses to climate change pose transition…

In the current global financial landscape, marked by economic uncertainty and market fluctuations, South Africans are increasingly seeking avenues to safeguard their wealth and explore opportunities beyond the country’s borders. Political and economic uncertainties amplify challenges, as shifts in government policies or economic conditions can directly impact the rand. Foreign currency accounts – a gateway to diversification and cost-efficient transactions A crucial initial step is opening a rand CCM account and foreign currency account (if required), typically offered by major banks and forex intermediaries. These accounts empower South Africans to hold and transact in various foreign currencies, providing a means to diversify savings. Diversification serves as a risk management strategy, if you have international financial commitments or expect to make purchases in foreign currencies. Holding multiple currencies shields your…

SHARES in Wesizwe Platinum dived at one stage 11% yesterday, after it advised its shareholders that it was facing the second day of an illegal sit-in at its troubled Baku- bung Platinum Mine in North West by its employees. The shares in the JSE-listed firm closed at 43 cents on the JSE yester- day, having closed at 45c on Wednesday. The sit-in commenced on Wednesday morning, December 6, 2023, when employees chose not to return to surface at the end of their shift, it said. “Demands have been made by the participating employees. Management, together with local union representatives, are engaging with the purpose of returning all em- ployees to surface,” it added. Last month, Wesizwe, which is 45% controlled by China Africa Jinchuan, issued a section 189A notice at…

ANGLO American is preparing to freeze spending on growth and widen job cuts in South Africa, going far beyond its initial savings target and paving the way to mothballing some higher-cost platinum mines, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Anglo’s sweeping spending cuts could be announced as soon as Friday, when the miner updates investors on its three-year outlook, five sources said. They said measures include shelving an ambitious plan to boost output at Anglo American Platinum’s key Mo- galakwena mine, and, if metals prices remain depressed, place on care and maintenance some shafts at the Amandelbult complex in the longer term, which had been initially targeted for mechanisation and output expansion. A concentrator plant at Amandelbult could also be placed on care and maintenance, one of the sources…

TEAM spirit was at the heart of Bread and Milk Cycling Crew’s successful 2023 Old Mutual Double Century Race which saw them being honoured with the Charles Milner Medal after completing 202km on a bicycle. The endurance road cycling event started in Swellendam and visits Suurbraak and Tradouw Pass, Op de Tradouw, Montagu and Ashton, while side-swiping Barrydale, Robertson and Bonnievale before heading back to Swellendam. And the Bread and Milk Crew – a group of 12 social riders from Cape Town hailing from Gugulethu, Khayelitsha and surrounds – are excited with their victory after completing the race on November 25 in a time of eights hours and nine minutes. Crew member Sandile Sigila, said the team started five years ago when cyclists from the various communities would get together…

After failing to qualify automatically for the Olympics and not making it over the qualifier hurdle in Zimbabwe recently, the Springbok Sevens knew they had to reset ahead of the new season. They conducted some deep introspection where the senior players took the lead, and managed to start the rebranded SVNS Series on a positive note by winning the Dubai opener last weekend. It was an emotional win for the Blitzboks as they recovered from arguably their toughest season in recent years on the circuit – and the tears flowing from the likes of veterans Justin Geduld, Dewald Human and Selvyn Davids summed up what their performance meant to the squad. They are part of the leadership core that helped steer the side back to winning ways. And from tomorrow…

Kaizer Chiefs have a chance to finish the first half of the season better than how they started it if they win their three DStv Premiership matches in the next few weeks. Those aspirations will have to come to the fore tomorrow afternoon when they visit Polokwane City at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane (3.30pm kick-off). We look at three areas that Amakhosi have to focus on to win against City ... Score goals Having roped in a handful of strikers during pre-season, Chiefs were expected to flourish in front of goal in this campaign, but that hasn’t been the case. Their Premiership scoring record has been so poor that they are the fifth-lowest scoring team, with 13 goals to their name in as many matches. Their struggles are…

IT IS SIX years since the former CEO of Steinhoff International, Markus Jooste, stepped down from the firm in December 2017 after massive accounting fraud came to light, and yet he is still not behind bars. Corruption Watch said yesterday that South Africa should do a lot more to translate rhetoric about fighting corruption involving high-profile cases such as the masterminds of the Steinhoff scandal into successful prosecutions and penalties. The collapsed Steinhoff has been the most significant and high-profile corruption case to rock corporate South Africa in recent years. The Johannesburg and Germany dual-listed multinational company was liquidated in October this year after investigations showed that it had overstated profits over several years in an accounting scandal. However, there has been no criminal action against Jooste, who resigned from…

Parastatal says its recovery plan to address equipment availability is gaining traction TRANSNET Port Terminals (TPT) has vowed that its recovery plan to address equipment availability at Africa’s biggest and busiest container terminal was gaining traction following a groundbreaking agreement with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). TPT yesterday concluded a seven- year agreement with four OEMs for the supply of critical spares for equipment across its terminals, including the Durban Container Terminals (DCT) Pier 2. The confinement agreements signed with the OEMs are aimed at reducing waiting times for critical spares of handling equipment like straddle carriers, ship-to-shore and rubber-tyred gantry cranes. This comes as there were a total of 22 container vessels at anchorage destined for the Durban Container Terminals yesterday as TPT continues to alleviate container vessel congestion at…

While South Africa’s rising short-term interest rates have inflicted some financial pain on consumers by increasing the cost of living, long-term bond yields have also risen, which means life companies are able to offer higher annuity rates. A guaranteed, or life, annuity is a pooled product that pays you a regular income for life. The annuity rate is the factor that determines how much annual income you receive initially. South African life insurers are currently offering annuity rates at highs rarely seen over the past 20 years because the country’s long-term bond yields are at their highest since 2002. This is good news for retirees looking to buy a guaranteed income for life with their retirement savings. Buying a guaranteed life annuity now will lock in the current high rates…

OOLD MUTUAL (OM) yesterday confirmed that it had reached an amicable agreement with former employees who were dismissed during the height of the Covid-19 crisis, in the wake of the declaration of the Disaster Management Act. “This settlement is, therefore, neither an admission of liability nor linked to the merits of the case and all these former colleagues are now welcome to apply for new roles at Old Mutual,” it said. Old Mutual said yesterday the agreement only related to the cases referred to the Labour Court and not all dismissals were referred to the Labour Court. It failed to confirm how many people it had settled with. In 2022 media reports emerged that 49 people had left Old Mutual’s employ due to incapacity after refusing to vaccinate against Covid-19.…

IHS HOLDING has offered improved commercial terms to MTN Nigeria for the lease of 2 500 towers it lost to American Tower Corporation (ATC), saying the move would prevent network disruption in Africa’s most populous country. MTN Nigeria, owned by South Africa’s MTN Group, announced in September that the leasing on 2 500 sites due to expire in 2024 and 2025 was awarded to ATC Nigeria after a bidding process. The mobile network operator said the deal would diversify its towers portfolio and unlock significant network cost efficiencies. IHS Towers chairperson and CEO Sam Darwish said these towers represented only a fraction of his company’s total tenancies, but it was willing to match ATC’s terms. “IHS has offered improved commercial terms on the 2 500 towers to…

The best place for the Stormers to find some kind of form on the rugby field is at home, and that’s why coach John Dobson’s decision to send an alternative squad to England for their first Champions Cup clash against Leicester could be a master stroke. They are in dire need of any winning momentum, and looking at their tough schedule over the festive season and New Year’s period, having the core players focusing on home games can go a long way towards getting regular victories again. It’s barely been a month since the Springboks returned from a long stay in France for the World Cup. Other stars had to endure a four-week United Rugby Championship (URC) trip to Europe as well. The Boks played one game against Zebre at…

The story of the return of Zubayr Hamza to professional cricket has been nothing short of inspirational. From serving a nine-month suspension for a banned substance that was detected in his system last year, Hamza has steadily gone about his work to return to his absolute best. Mentally, the process of getting himself to playing again was understandably difficult. However, the 28-year-old has made it look like a walk in the park. In one of his first outings in domestic cricket after his ban, Hamza recorded a century at the Bullring to officially mark his return to the professional set-up. Some eight months later, the stylish batter – known for his impeccable technique against spin bowling – tucked away a delivery down the leg-side from Shamar Joseph (5-76 in 18…

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro says they are not losing sleep over undesirable results as they give their all at training and in matches. Pirates were expected to grow and be be more successful this season, having won a cup double and finished second in the DStv Premiership last season. But they have been blighted by inconsistency. They defended their MTN8 title, but missed out on the Carling Knockout Cup. Their shortcomings in the latter tournament were a mere blemish, having won the previous three cup trophies, including the Nedbank Cup, under the Spaniard. Instead, it was in the league where Pirates have been below par, dropping points that they were not expected to, resulting in them trailing log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns by a hefty points margin. Those shortcomings opened…

Newly appointed Proteas Women captain Laura Wolvaardt is back home and ready to take on the visiting Bangladesh in the third and final T20 at the Diamond Oval in Kimberly tonight (6pm start). Wolvaardt’s return is somewhat a relief to coach Hilton Moreeng’s team having suffered a 13-run defeat in the first T20 last week, a first victory on South African soil for Bangladesh. Though only 24, Wolvaardt has feature in 60 T20 Internationals in her seven-year career, and her presence in the team – and momentum she brings after winning the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) with the Adelaide Strikers in Australia a week ago – will be invaluable for the hosts. “It was really special and cool to end the tournament with a win,” Wolvaardt said yesterday ahead…

AFRICA could lose up to $25 billion (R473bn) a year as a result of the EU Carbon Border Tax Adjustment Mechanism, African Development Bank (AfDB) group president Dr Akinwumi Adesina said yesterday. He was addressing delegates at the Sustainable Trade Africa Conference at the UAE Trade Centre in Dubai. The new EU carbon border tax could significantly constrain Africa’s trade and industriali- sation progress by penalising value-added exports including steel, cement, iron, aluminium and fertilisers. Adesina said that with Africa’s energy deficit and reliance mainly on fossil fuels, especially diesel, the implication was that Africa would be forced to export raw commodities again into Europe, which would further cause the de-industrialisation of Africa. “Africa has been short-changed by climate change; now it will be short-changed in global trade,” Adesina…

FOR THOSE involved in the beef in- dustry this year was a perfect storm, according to Roelie van Reenen, the supply chain executive at Beefmaster Group. He said financially grain farmers had made considerable gains this year, but the profits of beef, chicken and pork industries had been knocked by foot and mouth disease (FMD), Avian flu and African Swine Fever, among others. Paul Makube, a senior agricultural economist at FNB Commercial, said they had seen a negative price growth for beef and pork with poultry mostly flat, while overall livestock slaughter fell by 8% relative to the previous quarter. “The livestock sub-sector also grappled with disease outbreaks such as the avian influenza in the poultry industry by mid-quarter three and given its sheer size of 42% of total agriculture…

The recently published insurance fraud statistics by the Association of Savings and Investment South Africa (Asisa), showing that most fraud cases in 2022 were perpetrated by dishonest financial advisers, raises serious questions about ethics in the advisory industry and underlines the importance of finding the right person to advise you on money matters. “Financial advice”, as defined in our legislation, refers to advice you receive from a registered financial services provider, or representative thereof, that has the sale of a financial product as its objective. To quote the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (Fais) Act, it is “any recommendation, guidance or proposal of a financial nature furnished, by any means or medium, to a client or group of clients in respect of the purchase or investment in any financial product”.…

EMASWATI gets to own 24.99% of FNB Eswatini through the sale of shares by the FirstRand Group, the firm said yesterday. The listing of FNB Eswatini on the Eswatini Stock Exchange showed strong support for the local capital market and the poten- tial for Emaswati to continue developing the Eswatini economy. The group has decided to sell shares to local sharehold- ers, including a significant proportion of the country’s pensioners and savers who, in this transaction, are represented by the largest Pension Fund in Eswatini, the largest Provident Fund, the largest Private Sector Umbrella Fund, one of the largest and oldest co-operative societies, as well as asset managers who hold substantial consumer savings. Speaking on behalf of the FirstRand Group, Sam Baldson said FirstRand welcomed the new share- holders who…

TYME, WHICH owns TymeBank, is on the verge of securing a new capital raise from new and existing shareholders, its parent company, African Rainbow Capital, said yesterday as it highlighted resilience across its investment portfolios in spite of a tough economic environment in South Africa. TymeBank, which also has operations in the Philippines, has an annual revenue run rate of R1.8 billion and has been raising its clientele base by 450 000 users per month. The GoTyme operation has annual revenues of R100 million. “The Tyme group is currently in the process of closing the Series C Capital raise with a combination of existing and new shareholders,” African Rainbow Capital said yesterday in a trading update for the quarter period to the end of September. TymeBank has…

POLITICAL analysts have minced no words in blaming the government for advancing policies that appeared to be deregulating financial institutions and other big corporations – allowing these companies to commit treasonous acts and rig the economy of South Africa. This comes after the UK-based Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) admitted to being responsible for manipulating the US dollar-rand exchange rate between 2007 and 2013. The Competition Commission said the country lost trillions of rand during this period. Independent political analyst and senior lecturer at the University of Limpopo, Dr Metji Makgoba, weighed in, blaming the role of government in advancing “full-blown and free-market neoliberal policies” that encouraged the domination of corporations. “Their policies are mostly deregulating capital in South Africa. This domination allows corporations to engage in corrupt activities because they…

‘Msimang’s justified resignation letter an extreme example of a broader problem’ THE resignation of ANC stalwart and deputy president of the ANC Veterans League, Dr Mavuso Msimang, has set tongues wagging, with many political commentators believing that his surprise resignation could see more senior ANC members follow suit. On Wednesday night, Msimang’s letter surprised many when he indicated that he no longer saw value in being part of the ANC that had failed to change the lives of millions of South African citizens. “For several years now, the ANC has been wrecked by endemic corruption, with devastating consequences for the governance of the country and the lives of poor people, of whom there continue to be so many. “Of course, the ANC did not invent corruption. We inherited a state…

The National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) was clearing a backlog of almost 40 000 toxicology tests at its three forensic chemistry laboratories as at the end of October. Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the forensic laboratories completed 365 tests during the month of October. He said the NHLS had implemented strategies to address the backlogs in toxicology testing at the laboratories. The toxicology tests are conducted at three forensic chemistry laboratories in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria. The Cape Town laboratory had a backlog of 682 toxicology tests; Johannesburg 14 700; and, Pretoria 16 437. Phaahla said the factors that contributed to the backlog included inadequate infrastructure, equipment breaking down, load shedding, inadequate water supply, the Covid-19 pandemic and shortages in human resources. “The NHLS has implemented strategies to address…

The powerhouses of cricket, India, have brought out their young guns for their two-month-long visit to South Africa. From the young and exciting T20 stars Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan to the more established Shubman Gill, the Indian selectors have rested the household names of the likes of Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma for the white-ball leg of the tour that gets under way with the first T20 International on Sunday at Kingsmead in Durban (4pm start). South Africa have followed the same script, resting the often overworked Kagiso Rabada and batter Temba Bavuma for the T20Is and ODIs. Instead, Rob Walter has called on the services of 23-year-old Western Province all-rounder Mihlali Mpongwana, among a few other youngsters. The tall and lanky Mpongwana finds himself in the Proteas…

Aston Villa started the season prioritising a top-four Premier League finish, but inspiring performances under manager Unai Emery have catapulted them to third and within reach of title rivals and his former club Arsenal, who they host tomorrow. Emery has brought European football back to Villa Park after finishing seventh last year, but they have shown no signs of Thursday night hangovers after Conference League games, losing just once in the top flight in their past 11 matches. In that run, they have swatted aside Chelsea and early pacesetters Tottenham Hotspur, while Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Manchester City saw Emery beat old rival Pep Guardiola for the first time and drop the champions to fourth. Remarkably, a dominant Villa side restricted City to just two shots at Villa Park, a…

ANTALYA: There was no fairytale ending for Bertus Schaap and Euan McNeil at the Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup Amateur Series Grand Finals at the Gloria Golf Resort yesterday, but the two South Africans certainly did their country proud. The weather conditions improved greatly yesterday after day one was completely washed out due to an overnight thunderstorm and consistent drizzle. This caused the immaculate greens to be a bit sluggish, with Schaap adapting quicker than McNeil in the initial stages. McNeil had a particularly rough second hole, with the Joburger hitting the rough before working his way back to the green. Schaap, though, found the conditions to his liking, and was in contention until the final hole before a double bogey saw him finish on a five-over-par 77. “It was…