Cape Times 2025-12-12

Isabel Fick has resigned as general manager of the System Operator at Eskom and joined Africa GreenCo, a licensed renewable energy buyer and trader operating in South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Namibia. Africa GreenCo on Wednesday announced that Fick, a seasoned system operations specialist, will join the company in 2026 as group head of trading and operations, following the completion of her responsibilities at Eskom and the newly established National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA). GreenCo said Fick will only assume her new role once her duties at Eskom and NTCSA are fully concluded, ensuring continuity during what it described as a critical period of transition for South Africa’s electricity sector. Fick, who has spent her career at the centre of South Africa’s power system…

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has been criticised for overstepping its mandate after the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg dismissed its application to supervise the Municipal Employees Pension Fund (MEPF) general meeting and election of trustees. The MEPF was due to hold its general meeting on Thursday, 11 December. The FSCA sought to supervise the meeting and the elections and had requested for unredacted information about attendees among other information. The FSCA had also raised allegations that the MEPF was being irregularly run, raising governance and administrative irregularities. It was against this backdrop that the FSCA applied to be allowed to intervene and supervise the elective general meeting of the MEPF. However, the MEPF, its principal officer and Akani Retirement Fund Administrators, were cited as first, second and…

US seeking to restore stability to Washington’s flagship trade programme with sub-Saharan Africa US legislators have introduced a bill to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) for three more years, seeking to restore stability to Washington’s flagship trade programme with sub-Saharan Africa after it lapsed on 30 September. The Agoa Extension Act (H.R. 6500), sponsored by Representatives Jason Smith (R-MO) and Adrian Smith (R-NE), aims to renew the programme until 31 December 2028, giving US companies and African exporters much-needed certainty as policymakers consider a longer-term overhaul. Agoa, first enacted in 2000, provides eligible sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the US market for more than 1 800 products, in addition to the more than 5 000 products that are eligible for duty-free access under the Generalized…

South Africa’s key productive sectors began the fourth quarter of 2025 on firmer ground, with both mining and manufacturing reporting growth in October as demand conditions continued to support output. However, analysts warn that underlying momentum remains fragile amid policy uncertainty, rising costs and weakening forward-looking indicators. Data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Thursday showed that mining production expanded by 5.8% year-on-year in October, accelerating from a revised 1.4% increase in September. This marks the sixth consecutive month of growth and the sector’s fastest annual performance since February 2024. Jean-Pierre Terblanche, principal service statistician at StatsSA, said the main positive contributors were iron ore, platinum group metals, manganese ore, and chromium ore. “Iron ore was the most significant positive contribution in October, expanding by 24.8%. Nickel, manganese ore,…

The colossal purchasing power of consumers, the public and private sector, is the only saving grace that can salvage thousands of jobs that will be potentially lost by the local sugar industry, which is buckling under the flurry of cheap imports. Simmering concerns about the influx of cheap sugar imports onto South African shores are not unfounded. South African Cane Growers Association recently reported that for every ton of foreign sugar sold in South Africa, the local industry loses R7 600. Considering the drop in local sugar sales this year of 100 000 tonnes, this equates to a loss of more than R760 million to the local sugar industry. Industry figures compiled by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) also attest to the dire state the industry finds…

Ever since 2010, I have been haunted by a question that refuses to let go: How do we bottle the magic our visitors experience when they come to South Africa — and how do we turn that magic into a permanent national asset? During the FIFA World Cup, I had the privilege of leading South Africa’s national brand ambassador programme. Our mandate was ambitious: train 500 000 service employees – from hotel staff and airport officials to taxi drivers, police officers and volunteers – in one unifying discipline: how to make every visitor feel seen, safe and welcomed. What surprised me most was not how much people had to learn, but how little they needed to change. The warmth was already there. The generosity of spirit was already embedded. Our…