Cape Times 2021-12-08

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za FAST-GROWING digital banking group TymeBank has secured investment of $70 million (about R1.12 billion) from Tencent and UK-based development organisation CDC in a capital raise, paving the way for its global expansion. TymeBank CEO Tauriq Keraan said yesterday that Tencent and CDC had invested an additional $70m in a $180m capital raise – the first part was concluded earlier this year when $110m was secured from Apis Growth Fund II, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners, and Gokongwei’s JG Summit Holdings. He said in an interview that they were “delighted” with the capital raise, and the investments represented a “massive symbol” to the global investment community of the strength of the local banking sector, as well as the strengths of TymeBank’s business model.…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za SOUTH Africa’s journey towards economic recovery has been thrown into a tailspin after bumping into giant potholes that shocked gross domestic product (GDP) to decline more than expected in the third quarter. Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday revealed that the country’s real GDP shrunk by 1.5 percent in the third quarter, following downwardly revised growth of 1.1 percent in the second quarter. This was the first quarter of contraction since the three months between March and June 2020 which was characterised by a hard lockdown on the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, the economy has re- corded four consecutive quarters of positive growth, albeit on low base effects. StatsSA statistician-general Risenga Maluleke said the decline was due to tighter lockdown restrictions during the…

Given Majola given.majola@inl.co.za THIS YEAR’S agricultural sector’s poor performance in the third quarter, which surprised on the downside with a 13.6 percent seasonally adjusted contraction quarter-on-quarter was likely to be a temporary blip, according to the sector’s economists. Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) revealed yesterday that the country’s real gross domestic product (GDP) shrunk by 1.5 percent in the third quarter, following downwardly revised growth of 1.1 percent in the second quarter. Agriculture’s poor figures were said to be expected as the third quarter was a relatively quiet period in agriculture, with much of the harvest activity distributed in other quarters of the year. This contraction was also reflected in the recent agricultural jobs data, which fell by 4 percent quarter-on-quarter in the year's third quarter (employment…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE NATIONAL Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) will be approaching the Constitutional Court early next year seeking a declaratory order enforcing mandatory Covid-19 vaccines in the workplace. This was revealed by the Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi during his keynote address at the 26th Nedlac Annual National Summit yesterday. This comes as a number of JSE-listed firms have come out in support of mandatory vaccines for the coming year as cases in South Africa continue to rise. Quoting Nedlac’s input into the economic reconstruction and recovery plan, Nxesi said stakeholders had made a number of proposals to the government for vaccine mandates. Nxesi said Nedlac wanted the health and safety direction of the Department of Labour to be strengthened so that vaccination can become…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za ESKOM needed to have a freer hand to make decisions on parts procurement, as maintenance is often bogged down just waiting for National Treasury decisions on the parts, Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer said yesterday. Oberholzer said at a virtual panel discussion on “Reliability maintenance for boilers and associated power generation plant” that boiler leaks, excessive need to use the diesel of open cycle gas turbines (OCGT), an Energy Availability factor of only 64 percent rather than the ideal of 85 percent, and other unplanned maintenance and breakdowns, were throwing a spanner in the works of efficient power production. He said Eskom’s maintenance parts procurement was often bogged down by delays from the National Treasury. Generation performance from all power plants had dropped to about…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za TOMORROW sees the listing of Afine Investments on the JSE, a new real estate investment trust (Reit) that holds a portfolio of income-generating properties focused on the petroleum sector in four of the nine provinces. In South Africa, petrol service station properties are controlled by the oil companies and a small group of petrol service station property owners. High property prices, complex legal structures, environmental legislation, licensing requirements, among other challenges, create high entry barriers for the ordinary man in the street to participate in a petrol service station property as an investment opportunity. The listing is in line with international trends where investors increasingly favour specialised Reit investments over generalised Reit companies. Afine was founded by Peter Todd, with input from Mike Watters, both of whom…