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Financially stricken Tongaat Hulett’s (THL) future will likely rest with either its lenders converting debt into equity or with a recapitalisation by a major stakeholder, sources said on Friday. This was after plans for a R5 billion right issue were dented on Friday. The rights issue was to have been underwritten by Mauritius based Magister, which is owned by the controversial Rudland family of Zimbabwe, but a Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) investigation ruled against a key shareholder resolution necessary for the deal, THL said in a statement on Friday. THL is in dire financial straits and said in April already that the rights issue may need to have been increased to R5bn from R4bn as its debt had risen to R6.8bn from R5.8bn a year before, owing to cash flow…
THE CALLS for a local investigation into the activities of diversified miner Glencore are intensifying as civil society organisations have requested South Africa to look at its relationship with the company following it being found guilty of corruption. Bench Marks Foundation, Corruption Watch and South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), supported the calls from civil rights groups in countries where bribes took place to conduct further probes into Glencore. The Anglo-Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company this month admitted to paying more than $100 million (R1.5 billion) in bribes to officials in Brazil, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, South Sudan and Venezuela between 2007 and 2018. On Friday, the Bench Marks Foundation, which has conducted probes into Glencore over pollution in some African countries, said…
THE RUT OVER property rights of Covid-19 vaccines the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is stuck in, which is binding fair distribution of vaccines and related medication to underdeveloped countries, including South Africa and India, has undermined support for globalisation, Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel prize-winning economist, has warned. He said on Friday that this was leading to a more divided world with untold consequences going forward. This comes as the WTO, due to hold its Ministerial Conference in two weeks, has failed to respond to a proposal by South Africa and India for a waiver of intellectual property for Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments 20 months ago. The two countries, cosponsored by 100 others had proposed the waiver of certain provisions of the WTO’s Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual…
DENEL has been backed into a corner after the Labour Court dismissed the State arms manufacturer’s tactics for further payment delays to union Uasa’s members. This after an urgent court application was brought by Uasa against Denel in April to honour all outstanding contractual obligations and effect payment of full remuneration to Uasa members. Judge Andre van Niekerk ruled that Uasa’s application be postponed to the matter set down on the unopposed court roll for July 26, irrespective of whether Denel opposed the application or not. Denel was ordered to provide updated outstanding remuneration amounts for May and June 2022, which would be included in Uasa’s claim by July 14. Uasa intends to get a compliance notice to force Denel to pay all outstanding salaries and statutory payments, reported to…
RECENTLY there have been several articles and reports, across the media, decrying banks’ practices and behaviour. Society’s disquiet about banks is not new, but appears to be on the increase, yet has received little or no attention from authorities. Tito Mboweni’s recent revelations, carried in the local media, blaming banks for the collapse of the government’s Covid-19 Loan Guarantee Scheme, added to the already negative perceptions about banks. Such news isn’t shocking to most citizens, perhaps only to President Cyril Ramaphosa who is said to have joined one of the meetings, only to have his plea for more lending rejected. His own organ of state, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), party to this guarantee scheme, is said to have instructed banks to lend as usual despite the once-in-a-century crisis.…
WORLD food prices declined slightly in May, as vegetable oil and dairy price indices fell, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) reported on Friday. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 157.4 points in May, down 0.6 percent from April. While this index published marked the second consecutive monthly decline, the index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of commonly-traded food commodities, remained 22.8 percent higher than in May 2021. The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index averaged 229.3 points in May, down 3.5 percent month-on-month. It, however, remained markedly above its year-earlier level. The monthly decline was mainly reflect lower prices across palm, sunflower, soy, and rapeseed oils. International palm oil prices weakened moderately in May. The report said: “Apart from…
