Innehållsförteckning för 2024-05-13 från Mercury

HIGH interest rates in South Africa could prevail for longer than initially anticipated, with the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) starting its cutting cycle only towards the end of 2025 as it becomes more aggressive on its inflation targeting. This comes as consumers continue to grapple with an elevated cost of living and a heightened interest rate environment, while average take-home pay in real terms tracks lower. The SARB is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at the meeting this month of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), as the recently published Monetary Policy Review gave a clear view of the central bank’s inflation and interest rate views. The SARB has raised and left the repurchase rate (repo rate) unchanged at a 14-year high of 8.25% since May 2023, broadly consistent with…

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has called for the resignation of Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman, amid the company’s process of retrenching nearly 4 000 workers from its South African gold mining operations, saying he and his executive have been “arrogant and brutal” in the lay-offs. NUM members on Saturday marched to Sibanye-Stillwater offices in Libanon on the West Rand calling on the company to halt its Section 189 process to retrench 3 900 gold-sector employees. The union gave the group a two-week ultimatum to address the employee demands for a halt in retrenchments. “We demand Sibanye-Stillwater to respect the country’s labour laws. We demand proper health and safety measures for workers underground,” the NUM said in its demands. It is also demanding that the Department of Mineral…

The Red Meat Producers Organisation (RPO) on Friday warned concern is mounting among red meat primary producers about foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), the infectious virus that is once again rearing its head in various parts of South Africa. The service organisation’s chief executive Frikkie Maré said the most recently-reported cases of FMD were in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape. “We would like to provide the following information: FMD is a state-controlled disease and therefore neither the RPO nor any other private organisation has the mandate to intervene with the processes on the reporting of, or control over the situation, unless instructed by government,” he said. “The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development reported on the most recent FMD cases on May 2 and producers must familiarise themselves…

IS THE current strong recovery of global and South African financial markets just a temporarily fly by night, or like a dead cat falling out of a tree and bouncing before collapsing again? The answer lies in evaluating the prospects of the world and domestic economy stabilising and being ready for a return to post Covid-19 levels. In the US it was announced that the country had created only 175 000 new jobs in April, the lowest monthly addition since October last year, and almost half the 315 000 new jobs created in March this year. This seems to kick-start the reality that the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy is starting to show effect. The reaction of a weaker US dollar – and global central banks, especially European…

ANGLOGOLD Ashanti on Friday said negotiations for the consummation of the company’s joint venture (JV) project with Gold Fields in Ghana have been complex, despite significant progress and a significant update likely for the next quarter. The company said the proposed Tarkwa/Iduapriem joint venture project in Ghana will become the biggest gold mine in Africa, with expected bullion production of about 900 000 ounces a year. However, the project has been facing government delays, although AngloGold chief executive Alberto Calderon said he remained positive that Ghana’s Ministry of Mines and the country’s Minerals Commission would eventually give the go-ahead for the project. “On Tarkwa, we made good progress, but it is complex (negotiations). It’s not an easy negotiation. We have made progress and there is a constructive approach from the…

NASDAQ-listed AI heavyweight Powerfleet, which is secondary listed on the JSE, says geopolitical conflicts is knocking its customers and suppliers. Powerfleet, a provider in the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday: “Higher interest rates and lingering inflation, fluctuations in currency values, continued supply chain disruptions, and ongoing geopolitical conflicts, such as the wars between Russia and Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas, have resulted in significant economic disruption and adversely impacted the broader global economy, including our customers and suppliers. “The ultimate extent of the effects of these developments remain highly uncertain, and such effects could exist for an extended period of time,” it said. Powerfleet, which first announced the deal to buy South African-based MiX Telematics in October…

KwaZulu-Natal’s tourism sector is ready to host Africa’s Travel Indaba, which is expected to be the catalyst for the revival of the province’s hospitality and tourism industry. The event will run from today until May 16 at the Durban International Convention Centre (ICC), with the Department of Tourism revealing yesterday that 990 confirmed exhibitors from 26 African countries will be attending. Brett Tungay, Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa) East Coast chairperson, said the travel indaba is more important than ever for KZN and eThekwini. “The travel Indaba will provide a much-needed boost to tourism as we have had so many interruptions in KZN due to Covid-19, the 2021 July unrest, the floods, and beaches being closed. These events had a massive effect on the tourism industry in KZN…

Several motorists across South Africa have fallen victim to marauding gangs of criminals purporting to be police officers, who stop unsuspecting drivers and rob them. Commonly referred to as “blue-light gangs”, the brazen criminals confront drivers by effecting road blocks or instruct drivers to stop while purporting to be members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) or municipal police. At times, the criminals drive vehicles with insignia of the police, or use flashing blue lights and in other incidents the robbers wear police uniform or display police appointment cards. Last month, three alleged criminals were shot dead on a Sunday night during an exchange of gunfire with police officers. At the time, Brigadier Brenda Muridili, Gauteng police spokesperson said the three were part of the infamous blue-light criminal gangs…

AmaZulu (1) 1 Letsoalo 39 Kaizer Chiefs (1) 1 Du Preez 2 AmaZulu and Kaizer Chiefs could not be separated as they drew at the Moses Mabhida Stadium yesterday. The two teams, battling for a top-eight spot, could not make significant ground in their ambitions as they added just a single point to their tally. Amakhosi stayed in eighth spot in the DStv Premiership standings, while Usuthu failed to move up from 12th place. The opportunity to qualify for next season’s MTN8 competition pitted two of the nation’s oldest clubs against each other under perfect conditions in Durban. With both clubs under pressure, changes were expected in both line-ups with both teams coming off draws against Stellenbosch and TS Galaxy. The most notable were in the away side’s starting…

Cape Town City and TS Galaxy look set to hold on to their top-eight berths after they drew their DStv Premiership match 1-1 at the Cape Town Stadium, Green Point, yesterday afternoon. TS Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic said he would have liked all three points, but was happy with the draw. “We played against a fantastic team and it was beautiful to come here and go away with a point,” said Ramovic. “We started the game well and we had many opportunities (to score). My team trained well and the players have beautiful attitudes.” Eric Tinkler, City’s coach, is not happy that his team did not collect maximum points. “I think there were lots of turnovers for both sides,” said Tinkler. “Our ball retention was not good enough. We put…

South African banks increased the proportion of short-term lending in their loan portfolios since 2008 with the introduction of the Basel III-mandated net stable funding ratio (NSFR), resulting in decreased long-term lending, particularly in residential mortgages. This is according to a study by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), released on Friday, which investigated the effect of the NSFR on South African banks’ lending. The NSFR was introduced globally as part of bank liquidity reforms post the 2008 global financial crisis, and it addresses mismatches in the maturity of assets and liabilities, which was identified as a major cause of the crisis. However, there is little understanding of how these reforms have affected emerging market banks, which the study attempted to provide some insight into. The SARB said there were…

The outlook for house prices is slightly dimmer, FNB said in its Residential Property Barometer, released on Friday. Growth in the FNB House Price Index averaged 0.8% in the first quarter of 2024, unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2023. High borrowing costs and uncertainty were discouraging potential buyers, while unfavourable selling conditions were causing some homeowners to hold back on listing their properties. FNB said it echoed its view of a hesitant house price growth trajectory in the near term. “The elevated living and borrowing costs, as well as heightened political uncertainty – both domestically and internationally – are weighing on transaction activity and, ultimately, property prices. Nevertheless, wide disparities are evident across regions. Generally, larger non-metro regions are seeing stronger house price growth relative to traditional metropolitan cities.…

The critique levelled at the DA’s proposal to empower millions of young, jobless South Africans through a Youth Employment Opportunity Certificate (YEOC) has exposed how out of touch Cosatu is with the reality. The truth is that South Africa is facing a man-made unemployment crisis. At 41%, the world’s highest unemployment rate is dwarfed only by the highest youth unemployment rate in the world at 71%. While government officials often cite external shocks such as the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic as the culprits, the rest of the world – both emerging and developed – has rebounded mainly from these disruptions. SA has all but done so, and in 2024, the real number of employed remains tragically similar to 2008, despite a near-doubling of our population. Well-intentioned but…

SAM Mudd has been appointed CEO of Bytes Technology Group (BTG), one of the UK’s leading software, security and cloud services specialists, that is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listed on the JSE. The appointment comes after Bytes was rocked in February by former CEO Neil Murphy’s undisclosed share trades on the LSE. Murphy subsequently was forced to resign under a cloud. “The board of BTG has appointed Sam Mudd as CEO with immediate effect, following a selection process led by chair Patrick De Smedt with support from a leading external search firm. Sam brings over 20 years’ experience in leadership positions and has served on the BTG board as an executive director since July 2023, and was appointed interim CEO in February 2024,” Bytes said.…

SIBANYE-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman on Friday said there was limited downside potential for the gold price for the remainder of this year, maintaining a positive outlook for platinum group metal (PGM) prices despite headwinds for the group’s PGM operations. Sibanye, which has been retrenching at its South African PGM and gold sites, saw its bullion production for the March 2024 quarter fall by 18%. However, with gold prices currently elevated, the company’s problems were more pronounced in the PGM sector. “The fundamental outlook for gold remains constructive with limited apparent downside for the gold price for the balance of 2024,” Froneman said. “Our view that the fundamental outlook for PGM is positive is unchanged, with little evidence of a systemic change in the market fundamentals to justify the price collapse…

Corrupt police officers are costing taxpayers dearly. This time, in the case of two SAPS members subjecting two women to a nightmare ordeal and trying to bribe them. The court has ordered that the minister of police has to pay damages to the women. It was second time lucky for Helga Muller and her friend, Yolandi Bell, after the lower court had turned down their claim. The judge at the time acknowledged their ordeal at the hands of the officers, but concluded that the minister could not be held vicariously liable for the conduct of his officers. But on appeal to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, Judge Anthony Millar, in a judgment concurred by Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba and another judge, ordered that the minister was indeed liable for…

THE company that owns the land where the five-storey building collapsed in George last Monday has distanced itself from employing construction workers at the site. Neo Victoria Developments (Pty) Ltd released a statement via its attorney, Hanno Brummer & Associates, to “clear up misunderstandings and incorrect information”. The law firm stated that its client was the developer of the building project and not the building contractor. They clarified that the contractor was appointed by their client to oversee the construction of the building. The statement said the developers had no employees on the site and the construction workers had either been employed by contractors or sub-contractors. It further said that Neo Victoria Developments was assisting police in their investigation and had offered its assistance since day one. Previously, Theuns Kruger,…

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy return next week to Valhalla for the 106th PGA Championship, back on a course where each captured a dramatic Major victory earlier in their careers. Woods, a 15-time Major champion, won a three-hole play-off over Bob May to take the 2000 PGA Championship, becoming the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three Majors in the same year. He went on to claim the 2001 Masters and complete the Tiger Slam feat of four consecutive Major wins. World No 2 McIlroy won the most recent of his four Major titles in the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla, racing the darkness down the last hole to edge Phil Mickelson by a stroke. “I think the guys up ahead were pretty unhappy with how…

JORGE Martin landed his “perfect weekend” and extended his lead in the championship with a thrilling victory in the French MotoGP at Le Mans yesterday (Sunday). The Spaniard, who won Saturday’s sprint, battled the entire race with rival Francesco Bagnaia before Marc Marquez, starting from 13th spot on the grid, arrived late to steal second place. Pramac Ducati rider Martin heads the standings with 129 points, 38 ahead of Bagnaia who moved into second spot. Marquez is third a further two points back. “There’s not a lot I can say today,” said Martin. “I had a lot of doubts at the beginning of the race but finally I demonstrated to myself and all the people that need something else to prove that I was the best today. “So, (I…

JDR Stars’ hopes of PSL promotion/relegation play-off qualification became slightly more complicated with a 1-1 draw against Baroka in their Motsepe Foundation Championship clash at the Global Stadium in Lebowakgomo, Limpopo, yesterday. The result means the battle for the play-offs moves into the final day of the season with both sides failing to make inroads into the lead enjoyed by second-placed University of Pretoria, who are two points ahead of both clubs on 48 points. First-placed Magesi have already earned automatic qualification for the elite league next season. JDR Stars were within inches of grabbing the advantage heading into the final matchday next weekend, but will rue not securing victory in a tightly contested game with few chances. With the sun setting in Lebowakgomo, it looked as if the hopes…

TESLA boss Elon Musk said on Friday that the electric vehicle manufacturer would invest over $500 million (R9.2 billion) this year to install new superchargers, just days after a report of massive layoffs in this branch of the company. “Just to reiterate: Tesla will spend well over $500m expanding our Supercharger network to create thousands of NEW chargers this year,” Elon said on X. “That’s just on new sites and expansions, not counting operations costs, which are much higher.” According to tech news outlet The Information, Tesla was moving to disband its supercharger department, laying off most of its 500 workers and its senior director. The revelation raised questions about the future development of Tesla’s network of over 50 000 fast chargers, which can add 320 kilometres of range…

A number of parties in the Western Cape have trotted out the worn election trope of a “one-stop shop” for investments, aimed at making government application and approval processes easier for small- and medium-sized businesses. This Business Report reporter has covered most of the national elections in one form or another since 1994, and can attest to the fact that all manner of parties, including the ANC, have trotted out promises of the “one-stop shop”. However, while it is an idea viewed favourably by many business commentators, these “one-stop shops” never happen, and political parties soon get back to berating business for not following procedures, or doing things without proper consultation, both with the authorities and communities. Last Friday, senior representatives from most of the political parties contesting the elections…

It has been argued indisputably that South Africa’s success in filling its greenfield and hence risky infrastructure gap hinges upon a delicate balancing act between development banking and institutional long-term investment. An innovative structural approach to project development and innovative sources of financing are required to gather the necessary funds to meet the upsurge in infrastructure investment demand. Taking all considerations into account, a project structure is “bankable” if lenders are willing to finance it. Lenders need to be convinced that a project company can service the debt for the project to be bankable. Moreover, bankability varies and may involve wider macroeconomic factors, such as economic and political stability, an appropriate legal and regulatory framework, and smart financing concessions, to name a few. The manifestos of most political parties presented…

BE READY. The hard slog to solving our transformation problems, in particular health and education, can be won when we achieve leaving no one behind. Tomorrow, watch this space for a critical announcement that should catch your attention on a matter of health. When the question staring South Africa in the face is one of a demographic disaster, instead of a demographic dividend, then the nation must hit the pause button and seek the wisdom of Greek mathematician Archimedes. How do you leverage a demographic dividend? Only through a system of levers can you leverage exponential returns. I have been analysing data the mighty organisation Statistics SA produces, such as Census 2011, the Community Survey of 2016 and Census 2022. These data results show there is no demographic dividend for…

SHARES in Novus Holdings jumped 5.5% on Friday after it announced it was acquiring Bytefuse with the view that it was strategic to its education business and a good entry point into the broader AI market. The board of directors of Novus said its subsidiary, Novus Print, had entered into a deal on May 9 with Marblehead Investments, Alphawave Holdings, Etienne Barnard, Lambda AI People, Greg Newman, Ruan van der Merwe, Cobus Louw and Bytefuse to acquire all of the ordinary no par value shares in the capital of Bytefuse. Bytefuse, founded in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, in 2021, develops machine learning and artificial intelligence technology for application in various fields. The shares closed at R4.60 on Friday. Novus said it was anticipated that the use of AI technology would enhance…

FORMER president Thabo Mbeki has challenged the KwaZulu-Natal ANC leadership to act in a manner that will ensure the electorate returns the party at the helm of the provincial government. Mbeki said the party’s fate in government rests on the ruling party engaging with the voters honestly and fixing the mistakes that have undermined it in the eyes of the public. He made the remarks after he was asked by journalists about the ANC’s prospects in the May 29 elections. He opted not to give a clear answer when asked about the party’s chances of winning. KwaZulu-Natal is one of the hotly contested provinces and the ANC has deployed its senior leaders to the province to woo voters. The party is desperately trying to hang on to power amid challenges…

Blended, hybrid and web-enhanced learning is the way of the education future that many schools have embarked on. This week, a parent at Groote Schuur High School said he was concerned about the amount of screen time his 15-year-old child had to endure since iPads were introduced to the classroom this year. He said they were no longer making use of textbooks but the iPad. Parents had to fork out R420 a month for the device and would one day become the owner of it. He argued that he understood the importance of AI and technology being introduced as we evolved, but was worried about the amount of time his child had to spend on a device rather than physically holding a book or a piece of paper. Western Cape…

On Mother’s Day yesterday, International Nurses Day was celebrated in memory of Florence Nightingale. During a ceremony to commemorate nurses in the Western Cape, at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), a moment of silence was observed on Thursday to remember nursing staff who lost their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. Professor Jennifer Chipps from the UWC’s School of Nursing highlighted the future of nursing and the shortage of nurses. A year ago, the National Department of Health said nurses accounted for 56% of the health workforce, and in 2020, the Hospital Association of South Africa said the country had a shortage of between 26 000 and 62 000 professional nurses, and that by 2030 the demand for nurses in South Africa would increase by up to…

IN THEORY, the Sharks were supposed to use their match against Benetton to keep the big guns firing and build momentum, but rugby has a curious knack of shoving a spanner in the works. With apologies to poet Robbie Burns, for John Plumtree it is a case of “the best-laid schemes of mice and men can often go astray”. The match was lost 25-24 in the 78th minute to the dogged Italians, and three top Boks in Eben Etzebeth, Vincent Koch and Lukhanyo Am are in serious doubt for the May 24 Challenge Cup final against Gloucester. The Sharks host Cardiff this week in a United Rugby Championship (URC) match and we can be sure there will be a truckload of cotton wool delivered to the Shark Tank because further…

Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard capitalised on dreadful Manchester United defending to secure a 1-0 win yesterday that saw his side provisionally overtake Manchester City atop the Premier League and guaranteed the title race will go down to the final day. While Arsenal, who won for just the second time at Old Trafford in their past 17 visits, have 86 points with one game left of the tightest title race in years, holders City remain in the driving seat with 85 points and two matches to play. City, who are aiming for an unprecedented fourth consecutive English top-flight title, can retake the lead when they play at Arsenal’s London rivals Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow. Trossard scored in the 20th minute when Kai Havertz sauntered barely challenged into space on the right before sending…