Star 2022-10-03

SOUTH Africa is looking to further deepen economic ties and attract foreign direct investment (FDI) from Saudi Arabia, which is the largest Opec oil producer. Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel will today host the 9th session of the South Africa-Saudi Arabia Joint Economic Commission (JEC) and the South Africa- Saudi Arabia Trade and Investment Forum. The forum aims to provide companies from both countries with a strategic platform to engage on bilateral trade and investment opportunities in both markets, while simultaneously affording them access to senior decision-makers and stakeholders. Patel and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef, will deliver keynote addresses at the event, being held in Pretoria, and then launch the South Africa-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council. Acting deputy director-general of…

MCKINSEY SA has vowed to defend itself after the management consulting firm was charged with crimes related to the multi-million rand corruption case against former executives of state-owned freight and logistics firm, Transnet. This comes as government is turning the screws on so-called state capture crimes after the National Treasury banned Bain & Co from tendering for government contracts due to its “corrupt and fraudulent practices” at the SA Revenue Service. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Friday charged the South African unit of McKinsey & Company with fraud, corruption and theft relating to a R394.8 million contract to advise Transnet on buying new locomotives. McKinsey was implicated in the state capture commission hearings, along with Trillian Asset Management and Regiments Capital, for having benefited from irregular contracts at state-owned…

WOOLWORTHS Holdings (Woolies) has hiked its hourly rate for its South African employees above the retail sector and the country’s minimum wage. In its remuneration report found in the Woolies’ 2022 integrated annual report released on Friday, the company said from April 1 its hourly rate was R36.55, 21% above the retail sector minimum wage and 57.6% above the South Africa minimum wage. “A further adjustment as per our normal salary review cycle is effective in October 2022,” the fashion and grocery retailer said. Last year Woolies committed to invest an additional R120 million over three years, to adjust its SA hourly base pay from R33.40 to R41.25 in 2023, which amounts to a 23.5% increase. “We commenced with the concept of a ‘just wage’ in 2019, a wage which…

Elon Musk is doing it again – this time with a humanoid robot called Optimus. On October 1 Elon Musk unveiled what could be considered the commercial world’s first attempt to make robots mainstream. Tesla started by unveiling Bumble C, which is the first version of the bot, developed with “semi-off-the-shelves and actuators”. It served as a testing bed for Tesla’s first robot developed with in-house parts. After Bumble C, Tesla has brought on stage the first-generation Optimus robot. The robot shares some AI software and sensors with Tesla cars’ autopilot assistance features. It has a 2.3kWh battery pack, runs on a Tesla SoC, and has wi-fi and LTE connectivity. Optimus appeared on stage at a Silicon Valley event where it waved to the audience and raised its knees. Tesla…

A USUAL trip to my local gas stockist a week ago left me frustrated and disappointed. I had been used to experiencing localised gas stockouts over winter for the past few years, but my local gas stockist informed me that his supplier has told him that this would be resolved, as there will be multiple sources of supply of gas as a result of new import facilities coming online to resolve the supply issues. This year in particular, we relied heavily on gas for our cooking and heating needs, especially over winter. But this year my experience is that it has been exceptionally difficult to get gas, as a result of the continued supply issues that I was informed about from my local stockist. I even tried alternative stockists, but…

The recent report that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has charged McKinsey South Africa with fraud, corruption and theft is set to draw the focus on the banks. Banks have recently been notorious for closing bank accounts of black companies and businessmen. How the banks treat the matter of McKinsey in the coming days or months would be telling. The McKinsey case puts a stern test on the banks’ conduct and integrity. The banking sector has been accused of bias, selective and racist conduct against black versus white companies. The Equality Court interdict concluded in June on the case of Dr Iqbal Survé’s group of companies versus Nedbank, delved into that. Dr Survé is a black industrialist, philanthropist and a media-house owner. The Sekunjalo group had turned to the Equality…