Star 2023-02-08

THE GOVERNMENT needs to urgently work on taking the red tape out of individuals and companies being able to supply electricity to the grid, now that companies no longer need a licence to produce their own energy needs, said Gold Fields’ interim chief executive, Martin Preece. Leaders of some of South Africa’s biggest mining groups yesterday discussed their renewable energy projects at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town. The Minerals Council, for example, has said that at least 89 mining companies have embarked on projects to generate their own electricity in this country. Preece said the government should also make it worthwhile for the private sector to invest in renewable energy, without having to make the supply of electricity to the grid a chief profit motive for the investor.…

Minerals Council of South Africa calls for action, saying the time for talking has long passed THE MINERALS Council of South Africa yesterday welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address to the Mining Indaba, but stressed the urgency of action, after he said the government was working as fast as it could to remove impediments to investment in the sector, including on its energy and rail problems. Ramaphosa said South Africa was a long way from realising the full potential of its mining sector. The R1.8 trillion record turnover generated by mining last year was despite a 9% drop in production due to load shedding and logistics challenges, while illegal mining and security of infrastructure, and the pace of structural reforms, were other concerns that investors had expressed about investing in…

SASOL’S share price fell by nearly 9% yesterday after it said it expected its interim profit to double for the six months ended December 31, 2022, which analysts said was “well below market expectations”. The group’s share price on the JSE dropped to an intraday low of R278.01 in early morning trade, but closed the day 6.92% down at R283.95. In a trading statement, Sasol said it expected to report earnings per share (Eps) of between R21.55 and R23.98 for the six months under review, a decrease of 0% to 10% on the Eps of R23.98 reported for the prior comparable period. Headline earnings per share (Heps) were expected to improve by more than 95% to between R29.84 and R31.36, compared with the Heps of R15.21 reported for the prior…

THE OMBUDSMAN for Short-Term Insurance said yesterday there could be no intervention in insurers changing their position on covering load shedding or grid collapse events because of the contractual nature of the deals. Financial platform Moneyweb reported on Monday that as South Africans contended with the worst load shedding on record, the insurance industry faces a dilemma that has triggered the introduction of exclusionary clauses exempting insurers from paying out claims arising from an electri- city grid failure. Unlisted insurance giant Hollard had informed its clients that it won’t be covering any losses caused by the collapse of the national grid, with Santam due to implement a similar exclusion in April, it reported. Business Report spoke to Senior Assistant Ombudsman, Peter Nkhuna, who said the Ombuds jurisdiction was limited to…

WE’VE SEEN CLIMATE activists chaining themselves to the goalposts or taking to the pitch to disrupt major football fixtures in the English Premier League or throwing soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. And the investment industry is not exempt – protesters occupied the New York offices of investment giant Blackrock recently due to its investments in fossil fuels. So, what now? As investment professionals, what can we do? As stewards of the future, as dream protectors can we make environmentally and socially responsible investment palatable? Can we make it easier to promote good governance through the investment decisions we facilitate or make? Can we make environmental, social, and governance (ESG) accessible, and can we at least start somewhere? The fight for climate justice, social development and good governance is an intergenerational,…

THE GOVERNMENT’S proposal to declare a national state of disaster on Eskom due to the ongoing energy crisis is like putting a square peg in a round hole. This is the view of North West University public administration professor Kedibone Phago who yesterday said it would be difficult for the government to declare a disaster on a public institution. Phago said it was unthinkable that the government could declare Eskom a disaster because, in terms of legislation and governance, a disaster was managed by a Disaster Management Act, which focuses on mitigation and preparedness for the disaster through national, provincial and municipal centres. On the other hand, Phago said the government could consider the option of a business rescue process for Eskom, which would mean temporary supervision and managing its…