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Plans to boost base metal refinery capacity, extends life of Marula Mine Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za IMPALA Platinum (Implats) yesterday posted its highest dividend on record during the year to the end of June on elevated metal prices, and said it planned to boost its base metal refinery capacity and extend the life of Marula Mine in Limpopo. Implats, which operates mines in South Africa, Zimbabwe (Zimplats) and Canada, said management plans to increase its base metal smelting capacity. Chief executive Nico Muller said Implats was conducting a study that sought to find the best way to increase refining capacity in the group, and this could take various forms, most likely a combination of increasing capacity in Springs and restarting the Zimplats facility. “Our ambition for establishing a base metal refinery…
Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za DISCOVERY reported a robust operational performance during the Covid-19 environment in the year to June 30, despite a R2.4 billion hit to its operating profit from higher-than-expected Covid-19 mortality claims, as it also announced that it would make it a mandatory policy for its employees to be vaccinated. Chief executive Adrian Gore said a capital raise was being considered specifically to fund the expansion of its investment in Ping An Health Insurance (PAH) in China, Discovery’s contribution to which would be R1.5bn. The health- and wellness-focused financial services group yesterday reported a 7 percent increase in normalised profit from operations to R6.49bn. Gore said Discovery had posted a strong operating performance across all its businesses, despite the pandemic that had manifested in a far higher…
Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE RAND CONTINUED to appreciate for the ninth consecutive day yesterday, strengthening to R14.32 against the dollar as the greenback remained on the backfoot. Sentiment has been dented by some disappointing US economic data releases in August and continued reports of supply chain bottlenecks, driving investors to riskier currencies. The rand hovered around its strongest level since early August as investors turned to riskier currencies after poor US jobs data and fears of the end of the economic stimulus. However, by 5pm the rand had fallen 3c to the dollar at R14.40 from the previous day at the corresponding time. The ADP private payrolls August report on Wednesday showed a disappointing 375 000 increase in employment created in the private sector, far below the estimated 625…
EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za SANTAM, the short-term insurer, would pay out a dividend of 432 cents a share for the six months to June following a steady performance impacted by contingency business interruption (CBI) claims and claims on corporate fires. Gross premiums written increased 10 percent to R20.07 billion. Chief financial officer Hennie Nel said they were satisfied with the results in that, while the company “did not shoot the lights out”, it had done well in an environment where there were no big natural catastrophes, and claims were returning to normal levels. The underwriting margin of 6.7 percent, he said, was “reasonably strong” and about midway between the group’s targeted margin. He said possibly the biggest challenge the group faced currently was uncertainty in the low-performing…
Let’s talk about Donda. The roll-out of Kanye West’s latest project, dedicated and named after his dead mother Donda West, has taken his usual circus to a level that is making even being a casual fan difficult. In recent years, the once-visionary music producer and rapper has let his “genius” go to his already inflated head with his out-of-pocket utterances, political views and an over-share of this personal life. First, it was his infamous appearance on TMZ in 2018, where, in speaking on how African-American people were enslaved for an extended period, he said that slavery was a choice. During this time, he blatantly supported former US President Donald Trump and later was seen meeting with him at Trump Tower and wearing a MAGA (Make America Great Again) baseball cap.…
Jamal Grootboom jamald.grootboom@inl.co.za Q-FORCE can’t decide if it’s being satirical or being a queer take on a spy show, leaving it in a no man’s land, where it’s not funny for queer or cishet people. It’s set in America, where Steve Maryweather, aka Agent Mary (Sean Hayes), was previously the golden boy of the American Intelligence Agency, until he came out as gay in 2011. Unable to fire him, the agency sent him off to West Hollywood, Los Angeles, to disappear into obscurity for 10 years. Instead, he assembled a misfit squad of LGBTQI+ geniuses. When the first trailer of Q-Force dropped, the queer community cringed at this supposed satirical take on a spy show, albeit a queer one. It was filled with a bunch of clichés and stereotypes that…
