Star 2023-01-17

MOTORISTS will find some joy next month as early data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) points to a slight decrease in fuel prices. According to mid-month data from the CEF, prices for petrol and diesel in February are set to drop due to rising international petroleum costs. Petrol prices are expected to come down by 25 cents a litre, while diesel is on track for a 50 to 60 cents per litre drop. According to Abigail Moyo, the spokesperson of the trade union UASA, the fuel price cut will have consumers in high spirits as it will increase their spending power. Moyo said: “Particularly parents of school-going children will be in good spirits as it will put more disposable income in their pockets, heightening their spending power. “As most…

Group says it has commenced talks with staff about another restructuring process British American Tobacco South Africa (BAT South Africa) has reduced its staff by nearly one-third since 2019, which it blames mostly on the continuing availability of illicit cigarettes in the country. The group announced yesterday that it had begun talks with staff about another restructuring that might result in 200 job losses. “BAT South Africa’s cigarette volume loss (40% since 2019) is almost entirely as a result of the continued impact of the growth in illicit cigarette trade in the country, and the unconstitutional ban on cigarette sales implemented during the national Covid-19 lockdown in 2020,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. The 2020 tobacco sales ban resulted in sharp growth of the illicit market, which has…

THE WORLD Economic Forum (WEF) has warned that the looming global recession this year will force businesses to cut costs significantly in response to economic headwinds, leaving a number of workers out of jobs. In its January 2023 Chief Economists Outlook released yesterday, the WEF said many aspects of the outlook remained gloomy although there were some grounds for optimism later in the year, such as an expected easing of inflationary pressures. The WEF report, which was released at the beginning of the Annual Meetings 2023 in Davos, drew on the collective views and individual perspectives of a group of leading chief economists through the Forum’s Chief Economists Survey and consultations with the Chief Economists Community. Nearly two-thirds of respondents considered a global recession to be likely in 2023, including…

HUMAN rights lawyer Richard Spoor has scoffed at the feasibility of the state administrating a R10 billion fund to compensate mineworkers from South Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), who contracted tuberculosis and silicosis while in the employ of local mines. According to media reports this week, the government has said the R10bn would be disbursed by the departments of health, labour, and mineral resources and energy. It encouraged former mineworkers and their dependants to approach state offices to apply for compensation. This is as the Tshiamiso Trust, set up when a class-action case was won in 2019 after a seven-year legal battle, has previously reported that it has dispersed more than R1bn to more than 10 000 beneficiaries to date. Business Report yesterday was…

YESTERDAY the World Economic Forum (WEF) got under way in Davos, Switzerland. This is the first Winter Davos since 2020, and it is a welcome return. In 2023, there will be a record number of participants – 2 700, with a record number of heads of state and government ministers, global CEOs, and philanthropists. This, for me, marks the urgency and seriousness of the situation we face. As I noted in my pre-WEF article last week, the theme for this year is about “co-operation in a fragmented world”. As I also noted, there is little hope of a joined-up society where we all benefit, if profits continue to come before people and the planet. Increasingly, we are facing a series of interwoven and parallel challenges but with an ever-polarising society.…

The gold price could hit $2 000 an ounce this year on geopolitical uncertainty, Umthombo Wealth equity analyst Sandile Magagula said yesterday. He said persistent geopolitical uncertainty generally favoured bullion because of its safe-haven status, as did a weak dollar outlook. “Bullion has helped up strongly despite liquidity-sapping tightening episodes by central banks,” he said. He said US real yields continued to contract, but remained well in the negative territory, with no realistic chance of gold selling off back to a long-term price of $1 300 per ounce. “The world hasn’t solved all its problems: the European Union is still going harder on (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, and China is still a big political risk with the overhang on the Taiwan issue with the potential of delivering global trade to…