Star 2023-05-08

THE MINISTER in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has made an undertaking to return South Africa’s largest power plant to service sooner than expected in a bid to end load shedding. Ramokgopa on Friday said that Eskom was implementing interventions that would speed up the repairs to unit 4 at the Medupi power station. The unit was taken off-line for repairs in August 2021 following an explosion that caused extensive damage during a short-term outage for maintenance. It was initially expected to return to service in August 2024, adding about 2 000MW of generating capacity to the system. Eskom is currently implementing the worst bout of power cuts, moving between stage 4 and stage 6 load shedding, on a daily basis due to constraints to generation…

ALEXFORBES is acquiring a majority interest in TSA Administration (TSA), an independent provider of institutional group risk insurance administration services in South Africa with a 25-year track record, for an undisclosed sum. Alexforbes chief executive Dawie de Villiers said in a statement on Friday the deal would bolster the group’s existing binder business, strengthen the offering to clients and broaden their relationship with intermediaries. The good relationships TSA had built with intermediaries would be maintained, he said. Alexforbes would initially acquire 60% of TSA, with the option to acquire the remaining 40% over five years. The purchase price would be settled in cash and Alexforbes intended to fund it by drawing down on its existing term loan facility. “The business has carved a significant leadership position in this space by…

SOME JUNIOR minors operating in South Africa have been forced to close their mines as the double whammy of woes by State-owned Transnet and Eskom has hit profit and led to insurmountable logistics challenges. The Minerals Council hosted a webinar on Friday where industry players discussed the experiences that junior minors have had due to load shedding and Transnet’s lack of locomotives. Letisha van den Berg, a representative of Aggregate and Sand Producers Association of Southern Africa, said some association members had small mines and most could not afford generators to run their operations. This had led to some closing shop. Van den Berg said: “What the guys are doing is looking at the frequency, only producing on demand. They do their major maintenance during load shedding instead of the…

Surviving ‘one of the most difficult years’ after appointment of the final curator 3SIXTY Life has expressed the hope of exiting the period of being under curatorship in the next three to six months after surviving “one of the most difficult years” following the appointment of a final curator in March. The funeral insurer is finalising its annual statements for the 2020 financial year, which should be released by the end of May, followed by the 2021 and 2022 annual statements, hopefully before the end of the year. Khandani Msibi, the acting group CEO of Doves Group Holdings, 3Sixty Life’s parent company, sat down with Business Report on Friday to outline the process that they have gone through to turn this business around during the he termed “one of…

RAIN, the start-up company that has focused on the home internet market, launched a 4G mobile network on Friday, pitting it against the three major players MTN, Telkom and Vodacom in voice calls. The operator, 20.3% owned by African Rainbow Capital Investment, said on Friday that it had started South Africa’s first 4G data only network in 2018 and the country’s first commercial 5G network in 2019. But after acquiring spectrum from the government in the 2022 auction, Rain’s 4G network has a more comprehensive reach, the company said in a statement. “This has now positioned Rain to enter the market as a full mobile network operator, thus becoming the fourth telco after Vodacom, MTN and Telkom, with a network that offers national coverage in voice, SMS and data.” An…

Ed Sheeran has been cleared of the allegation his Thinking out Loud song ripped off Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get it On. The singer, 32, who denied the accusation that his hit stole fundamental musical elements from Gaye's song, had faced a $100 million (R1.8 billion) lawsuit brought by the heirs of the song’s co-writer, Ed Townsend. Last week, after a jury of three men and four women deliberated for less than three hours, they reached the decision that he was not guilty. Speaking outside the court, Sheeran said: “I’m just a guy with a guitar who loves writing music for people to enjoy. I am not and will not allow myself to be a piggy bank.” Sheeran’s lawyer had said the case should never have been brought to court. The…