Star 2022-11-02

RESERVE Bank (SARB) Governor Lesetja Kganyago warned again yesterday that the central bank stood against taking on a mandate of employment creation through monetary policy. The SARB has drawn the ire of some political commentators and analysts who maintain that the bank needs to expand its mandate considering the reality of high unemployment, other than just focusing on inflation targeting to stabilise the economy. Kganyago, delivering a public lecture titled “Keeping it simple: monetary policy, growth and jobs in South Africa” at the Wits School of Governance, said South Africa’s policymakers must find more practical solutions to deal with the country’s stubbornly high unemployment. He said monetary policy alone was not the saving grace for the country’s socio-economic dilemma. The country instead needed to be careful not to add to…

NASPERS and Europe-based subsidiary Prosus shares surged more than 7% yesterday after the share price of their China investment Tencent Holdings shot up more than 10% in Hong Kong on unconfirmed reports that the country was forming a committee to “reopen” the economy after the Covid pandemic. Naspers and Prosus’s about 29% stake in internet and entertainment giant Tencent makes up the majority of the value of their market capitalisations, while Naspers and Prosus’s large weighting in JSE indices resulted in them helping to lift the JSE All Share Index by 2% and the JSE Top 40 Index by 2.2% by midday yesterday. Naspers and Prosus yesterday denied rumours they were selling their stake in Tencent. Naspers shares closed 8.22% higher at R2 056.35 on the JSE yesterday, while…

KUBEN Naidoo, the deputy governor of the SA Reserve Bank (SARB), said yesterday he believed South Africa would be greylisted next year with up to a 52% likelihood, despite the Treasury’s intense efforts to avoid this. South Africa has a noose around its neck waiting for the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to decide whether to greylist the country, following the completion of a year-long observation period, with D-Day in February. This followed the FATF identifying serious weaknesses in South Africa’s anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism framework, in which the country scored a very poor ratings assessment on technical compliance. If greylisting comes to pass, financial firms around the world, including banks, would be required to apply enhanced due diligence to any South African client, a process…

Mines close to the end of the reserves, not economical to mine, says group IT WILL BE a bleak festive period ahead for Sibanye-Stillwater workers after the diversified metals group said yesterday it planned to retrench about 2 000 workers as it restructured its South Africa gold operations. Load shedding, cost pressures and the age of its mines were some of the reasons behind its announcement, Sibanye said. Sibanye envisaged that the proposed restructuring (of both Beatrix 4 shaft and Kloof 1 plant) might potentially result in the retrenchment of up to 1 959 employees and affect 465 contractors. “The proposed restructuring could potentially affect employees at Beatrix 4 shaft, those employees who provide support services to the shaft, and Kloof 1 and 2 plants. “In addition, employees may…

EMBATTLES sugar producer Tongaat Hulett (THL) and business rescue practitioners (BRP) missed the October 31 deadline to pay about R400 million for sugar cane deliveries made in September, after the company failed to secure the funding. A further R345m payment is due for the end of November. The missed payment could sound the death knell for the more than 4 000 farmers and 14 000 full-time and seasonal workers in the industry. On Tuesday, South African Sugar Cane Growers Association chairperson Andrew Russell said that while the situation was dire, the sugar industry could recover. For that to happen, it was essential that THL secure the funding necessary to maintain its operations. “SA Canegrowers is committed to working with THL, the business rescue practitioners, banks, the government and…

CAPITAL & Counties Properties (Capco), which is in merger plans with Shaftesbury Capital, said trading activity at London’s Covent Garden remained resilient in the four months to October 31, with strong leasing demand and positive footfall and sales metrics. “The volatile macro-economic environment is having an impact on asset valuations, but we are encouraged to continue to see rental growth in our portfolio,” chief executive Ian Hawksworth said in a statement yesterday. “Preparations continue on bringing together two exceptional West End property portfolios, to create a leading central London mixed-use real estate investment trust (Reit), Shaftesbury Capital plc,” he said. Although the economic outlook was uncertain, “we are well-positioned with a strong balance sheet and are confident in the long-term resilience and prospects for the West End,” he said. Since…