Indholdsfortegnelse for 2024-07-03 i Mercury

South Africa’s mining industry believes the reappointment of Gwede Mantashe to head up the minerals portfolio will ensure continuity in terms of policy engagements, while some industry players want the new new administration to work round the clock in attracting investment into the sector. Mantashe was reappointed to head the key mining sector under a revamped minerals and petroleum resources portfolio on Sunday. His re-appointment to the Cabinet – criticised by some lobby groups amid high expectations from labour for him to bring an end to job losses – comes at a time SA miners are facing logistics, infrastructure, and capital constraints. Mining sector players told Business Report yesterday they wanted Mantashe to drum up support and push policies that attract investment into SA’s mineral exploration sector. “The Department of…

South Africa was now on track to exit greylisting in June next year, National Treasury said yesterday. South Africa was greylisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in February 2023 for not complying with international standards that relate to money-laundering and addressing illicit financial flows. While South Africa was on track to address all the outstanding Action items, Treasury said it remained “a tough challenge” to address all 14 of the remaining Action items by February 2025. This out of an original list of 22 issues. Treasury said, “All relevant agencies and authorities will need to continue to demonstrate significant improvements, and also that such improvements are being sustained and effective. The minister of finance has been leading a process within the government to ensure that South Africa addresses…

The days of gambling with our energy sovereignty and energy guarantees are over. The new Government of National Unity (GNU) Cabinet is the buzz story on all news platforms and everyone’s social media timelines. There is a lot of discomfort and complaints about the way in which some portfolios are structured. Some departments have been merged to reflect some decree of uniformity – even though it still remains a mix-masala Cabinet with all members of GNU assembled from different parties. The new ministers now in charge of Eskom’s energy, electricity and minerals are: ∎ Minister of Electricity and Energy Dr Kgosientso “Sputla” Ramokgopa (ANC) and Samantha Graham (DA) as deputy minister, potential future conflict. ∎ Minister of Minerals and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe (ANC) and Judith Nemadzinga‐Tshabalala (ANC) as deputy…

TADEJ Pogacar made an early statement in the Tour de France as he dropped defending champion Jonas Vingegaard to claim victory in the first mountain stage and take the overall leader’s yellow jersey yesterday. The Slovenian attacked 800m from the top of the Col du Galibier, when the slope was at its steepest, and only Vingegaard followed but the Dane had to watch his rival fade in the distance. Pogacar pushed harder on the pedals, briefly looking back, before hitting the descent to Valloire at breakneck speed and gradually increasing his lead over Vingegaard, who was then caught by other top contenders, including three-time Vuelta champion Primoz Roglic and Belgian prodigy Remco Evenepoel. Capping off an impressive show of strength by his UAE Emirates team, Pogacar finished the 139.6km fourth…

Sugar industry players in South Africa are at loggerheads over millions of rand in transformation funding, with allegations of fronting and racism against black small-scale growers being made. This comes after the SA Farmers Development Association (Safda) on Sunday accused the SA Canegrowers of “fronting”, and condemned what it called “disturbing anti-transformation tendencies”. Safda executive chairperson Dr Siyabonga Madlala said black farmers had left the SA Canegrowers at the end of 2015 to form Safda because of the “oppressive colonial legacy”. Madlala said black farmers were not going to allow SA Canegrowers to have a say in their affairs and dictate terms on the funding that was introduced through their activism for the benefit of black farmers. “It is disappointing that after a long journey of changing the laws of…

Last week I lamented how many of the political manifestos in the lead up to the 2024 general elections fell short of prominently raising any issues on climate policy or any intersection with social or economic policy, but I equally found solace in the president’s inauguration address, that climate action would remain a priority for the 7th administration. It’s a brand-new day, we have the Government of National Unity (GNU), and as expected, the permutations and predictions about who was going to be in the Cabinet has now shifted to who is in and what they stand for. Interestingly, a notable body of such opinion and analysis has over the past two days also focused on whether climate policy and action will be priority for those in charge of certain…

Tongaat Hulett (THL), the sugar and property group in financial distress, said yesterday that it wished to retain its listing post the rescue plan by Vision Consortium, but it might get delisted after a proposed equity subscription because a potential mandatory offer might result from it. In January, creditors approved Vision’s plans to save THL. Led by businessman Robert Gumede, Vision includes investors from Zimbabwe and Pakistan, and it plans to take over THL after buying its approximate R8 billion of debt through a debt-for-equity swop arrangement. In terms of the business rescue plan for THL, Vision will acquire THL’s claims from its lenders, and the subsequent use of a portion of such claims by Vision to subscribe for new ordinary shares in THL. This would result in the continued…

THE Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has made steady progress in getting passenger trains back on track along the Central Line in the Western Cape as it completed refurbishing more stations. After four years with no passenger trains, residents will soon experience limited services running from Cape Town to a number of stations including Stock Road, Mandalay and Nolungile. About 106 of 121 stations in the region are now operational. Operations at a total of 11 stations on the Central Line corridor, once the busiest in the Western Cape, were suspended due to rampant vandalism and infrastructure damage. This was attributed to the removal of security personnel and the establishment of informal settlements on top of the rail trail tracks, which escalated during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Prasa board…

The limited time spent playing red-ball cricket and the irregularity of Test- match cricket was the difference between South Africa pushing India all the way and falling short, as they did on the final day of the one-off Test match, losing by 10 wickets at the weekend. The Proteas Women are battered and bruised after the defeat in India, having put up a brave fight against a strong Indian side in testing conditions. Their lack of experience cost them the small margins, but they gained valuable lessons. There has been enough in the past few results to suggest that with more game time the Proteas Women could become a force in the red-ball format, the heavy defeat against Australia earlier in the year notwithstanding. The draw against England in 2022,…

The Solar PV Industry Association (Sapvia) and South African Wind Energy Association (Sawea) say they are optimistic about a positive future under the new Ministry of Electricity and Energy headed by Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and Deputy Minister Samantha Graham. However, the organisation said industry challenges remained a concern, particularly ahead of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme Bid Window submission deadline, and the dwindling grid capacity in wind-rich areas. Sawea CEO Niveshen Govender said they had high expectations from the newly formed Ministry of Electricity and Energy to work with the industry to overcome sector challenges, including grid constraints, regulatory and policy uncertainty, as well as local manufacturing limitations. “To mitigate these, there is a critical need to accelerate the integration of wind energy as part of the…

While much has been said about Eskom’s latest three months of no load shedding, the fact is consumers that rely on Eskom power are one broken pre-paid meter away from a dark Kafkaesque age, and the situation for the elderly and vulnerable residents could soon become critical after such an accident. For some months now, I have had to deal with two Eskom-related consumer problems. It has been a long and arduous journey of phone calls, reference numbers, chat bots, untold exasperation; and a quick ask around to friends and colleagues revealed that I am by no means alone with these issues. It appears that Eskom has closed itself off to all human-to-human contact from its ordinary consumers, who are usually charged for electricity either through pre-paid meter or from…

Sibanye-Stillwater yesterday said it has laid off 11 500 employees from its southern Africa operations in the past one-and-a-half years. This comes as 422 more workers currently employed at the company’s Beatrix 1 gold shaft could also be retrenched should the mine fail to turn into profitability. With the Beatrix 4 shaft, Kloof 2 plant, Kloof 4 shaft, Simunye shaft and 4 Belt reaching end of life, in addition to the restructuring of loss-making shafts: the platinum group metals (PGM) shafts at Siphumelele, Rustenburg, and Rowland at Marikana since the beginning of last year, the company’s employee numbers have reduced drastically. Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman said through cooperation and constructive engagement with affected stakeholders and through implementation of retrenchment avoidance measures, Sibanye had reduced the number of forced retrenchments to…

A soccer team comprising Palestinian refugees of the Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, Palestine, have arrived in Cape Town for scheduled matches set to take place this month. Sport4Humanity, the Sports Stepping Stones Foundation (SSS), the Green Brigade, and Africa4Palestine is hosting the Lajee Celtic Club of the Aida Refugee Camp for three games in South Africa, as part of the Aida2Africa tour. The team arrived in Johannesburg for the first leg of the trip co-ordinated by Africa4Palestine on June 28 and played one game on Saturday. They arrived in Cape Town on Monday and are expected to play two games, today and on Sunday, against the SSS Football Academy and Garlandale FC respectively. The match against the SSS Football Academy will take place at Erica Park Sports Ground, Belhar,…

East Coast Radio (ECR) has announced a refreshed lineup with a blend of seasoned radio personalities and fresh new faces, that the station promises will continue delivering engaging and entertaining content to listeners. The station prides itself on maintaining consistency in keeping its talent, an approach that has helped it to develop some of the best talent in the country. Listener favourites remain part of the lineup, ensuring continuity and familiarity for ECR’s audience. East Coast Breakfast with Darren, Sky, and Carmen remains the flagship show, embodying the show’s motto ‘With Breakfast, You Get It All!’ Celebrating a year together, this dynamic trio keeps listeners engaged with cool topics, hit music, and community-centric initiatives like the Big Favour. Through the Big Favour, the show has helped countless community members, raising…