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PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa’s energy plan got a passive nod from the ANC’s policy conference while a resolution to continue with the use of coal as the bedrock of the energy mix received a resounding response. However, the governing party also spoke of sticking to commitments made at COP 27 on a Just Transition programme that had received at least $8 billion in an endowment. Briefing the media at the weekend, ANC head of transformation and Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said the retirement of coal should be “at a pace and scale the country could afford”, which explained why Mineral Reources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe was adamant that the abundant supply of the coal resource would be a folly to let go of. “There is a strong feeling…
Pushback by some against this decision, fearing it could hobble party’s political mandate South Africa’s governing party, the ANC, has reaffirmed its commitment to allow for greater private sector participation in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in a bid to attract investment and boost economic growth. However, some within the ANC tried to push back against this, fearing it could encroach on the party’s political mandate to advance the state’s developmental agenda. But this ideological wrangling could possibly rub the wrong way with some within the government, who are pushing for the disposal of underperforming SOEs that continue draining the fiscus. Closing the ANC’s 6th National Policy Conference yesterday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the delegates discussed the respective and complementary roles that both the public and private sectors should play in the…
THE SA Reserve Bank (SARB) warns that climate change has emerged as a key threat to economic and financial stability in the country, following the devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal. In April this year, flooding in KZN killed more than 400 people, destroyed houses, factories, roads and key economic infrastructure, and cost the economy more than R50 billion in subdued activity. Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago on Friday said the floods that wreaked havoc in KZN represented a tiny fraction of the climate-related destruction visited on the global economy in the year under review. Speaking at the central bank’s 102nd annual general meeting, Kganyago said greater rainfall in the eastern parts of South Africa and less in the west were clear indications the economy will need to adjust because…
Ellies Holdings will launch an “ambitious turnaround” plan in the next 18 months to move into new areas such as tendering for public sector alternative energy and solar opportunities, and broaden its alternative energy product offering. This is according to chairperson Timothy Fearnhead and chief executive Dr Shaun Prithivirajh, commenting after the electrical products group reported that comprehensive income had slid by 243.4 percent to a loss of R43.6 million in the year to June 30, compared with R30.4m profit in the 2021 financial year. They said the continued inability of Eskom to provide reliable energy had created significant demand for alternative energy, as witnessed by the aggressive growth of solar distributors and installers. The group had so far been constrained from making bigger inroads into this market…
The current era of social networking began with MySpace which enabled the creation of communities. Facebook scaled it to a global community and now the big blue is redesigning again. This redesign which is partly influenced by the TikTok design of short videos is the subject of a challenge by Kylie Jenner and her famous family members. For now it seems they are winning the battle for the current Facebook design. But the reality is completely different. It’s not the first time Facebook is being challenged for changing its design. Ever since the platform has existed, every change of its website or app infuriates some and excites others. The backlash, however, has never really stopped Facebook from pushing ahead. Mark Zuckerberg will find another way of achieving his objective of…
COMMODITY giant Glencore which is expected to post its interims next week with bumper earnings anticipated, on Friday said in its half-year production report that its performance was strong, boosted by buoyant energy markets. Glencore chief executive Gary Nagle said: “Our financial performance, both industrial and marketing, was very strong during the period, particularly on account of buoyant energy markets, which will be a feature in the release of next week’s half-year report. “Allied with the strong results, particularly in marketing and mostly energy related, our net working capital has significantly increased during the period. “This is in line with materially higher oil, gas, and coal prices, and their elevated market volatilities,” he said. Glencore kept most of its full-year guidance the same, but cut its full-year copper…
