Star 2021-10-08

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za THE FLOODGATE of business insurance claims will open after Santam yesterday lost its appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to pay Ma-Afrika Hotels (MAH) and Stellenbosch Kitchen for the full 18-month period of its policies during the Covid-19 lockdown regulations, which devastated the tourism and hospitality industry. The SCA dismissed the insurer’s appeal and upheld the Western Cape High Court’s finding that Santam was liable to indemnify its clients for the full period business was interrupted due to the lockdown, bringing relief for thousands of Santam’s Hospitality and Leisure division’s Business Interruption policyholders. In a matter dating back to last year, Santam argued that Covid-19 is not a notifiable disease. It rejected lockdown claims from Stellenbosch Kitchen and Ma-Afrika because whether or not there were…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za FINANCIAL services group PSG Konsult increased recurring headline earnings per share by 23 percent in the six months to August 31 after its three key divisions achieved “market leading” revenue and growth in earnings. Recurring headline earnings per share of 30.6 cents were also 23 percent above pre-Covid-19 levels from the strong performances of PSG Wealth, PSG Asset Management and PSG Insure. The interim dividend was lifted to 10 cents from 8c in 2020 and 7c in 2019. Total assets under management increased 21 percent to R2.96 billion from R2.45bn in 2020. In 2019, the figure was R2.28bn. Gross premiums increased 4 percent to R2.82bn, from R2.71bn in 2020, while in 2019 the figure was R2.72bn. Chief executive Francois Gouws…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za COSATU played to a muted gallery yesterday in its show of strength to press the government for fiscal policy changes, investment in State-owned enterprises (SOEs), stronger collective bargaining and stronger action against corruption. This as parties already in entanglement, the National Union of Metal Workers of SA (Numsa) and employer organisations in the metals and engineering sectors said they were talking more with mutual feeling to resolve a strike that kicked off on Tuesday. Cosatu had cautiously asked some members to stay at home in deference to Covid-19 protocols and thus saw turnouts at its marches held around major cities, including Joburg, Cape Town and Mahikeng, and in Kwazulu- Natal. Cosatu President Zingisa Losi said the four paramount issues were essential if an economic recovery would carry…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za President Cyril Ramaphosa has given a strong indication that the government will soon make changes to streamline the legislation governing infrastructure development in a bid to boost private sector participation. Ramaphosa yesterday said the government’s advisory body, Infrastructure South Africa (ISA), will propose amendments to the Infrastructure Development Act in the coming year. He said these amendments would include new regulations and changes to other legislation, including the existing public-private partnership regulations. “We recognise the current policy and legal framework for public infrastructure is fragmented, with many overlapping institutional roles and poor accountability,” Ramaphosa said. “The regulatory framework intends to clarify roles and responsibilities among all relevant organs of state in the preparation, approval, procurement and delivery of large infrastructure projects and programmes, whether they are designed…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za SOUTH African business, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), are besieged by an increasing number of cyberattacks and need to invest in defensive technology while the State urgently needs to enact legislation and enforcement capabilities, cybercrime experts have warned. This is as about 43 percent of cyberattacks target small businesses, particularly those in the financial, healthcare, retail, insurance, and legal sectors. Cybercrime expert, Neil Hare-Brown, chief executive of Storm, a private enterprise dedicated to addressing issues of cybercrime in the country, said South Africa was especially vulnerable on the continent because of its advanced internet technology, advanced economy and the lack of appropriate technology and enforcement to deal with attacks, often by people safely outside the borders where they could attack with impunity. Among the most…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za CALGRO M3 HOLDINGS would report an increase in headline earnings a share of 224.9 to 267.7 percent for the six months to August 31 compared with the headline loss a share of 26.29 cents for the same period in 2020. Headline earnings a share were ex- pected to be between 41.48 to 44.10c, while earnings per share would be between 38.04 to 41.08c, compared to the loss per share of 30.46c for the same period in 2020, the developer, homes and memorial parks group said in a trading statement yesterday. Solid results had been delivered on the back of a successful turnaround and restructuring process with Calgro M3 executing on its #sustainable- actions initiative, the group said. The improved results were due to…