Star 2023-06-23

Publication not a legal requirement in SA, but Just Share analysis reveals it SEVERAL JSE-listed companies have started to make some disclosure relating to wage gaps and internal minimum wages, but their ways of doing so differ, making comparisons difficult, the shareholder activist organisation Just Share said yesterday. It yesterday released information on the pay gaps at eight listed companies, Absa Group, Investec, JSE Limited, Nedbank Group, Old Mutual, Shoprite Holdings, Standard Bank Group and Woolworths Holdings. Wage gap disclosure is not yet a legal requirement in South Africa, but the companies voluntarily released information for the Just Share analysis. As one of the most unequal countries, labour market inequality is the largest contributor to income inequality. Statistics SA has said: “The labour market remains one of the key institutions…

THE COMPETITION Tribunal finally put to rest an eight-year-old saga of a R240 million tender at power utility Eskom in which four firms and three joint ventures were alleged to have colluded for the supply, transportation, delivery, installation and dismantling of scaffolding and thermal insulation at Eskom’s 15 coal-fired power stations. The power utility has been on a drive to clear up its house with overinflated and dodgy contacts as it also seeks to tighten its strained finances. The respondents to this complaint were SGB-Cape, a division of Waco International; the three firms with which SGB-Cape partnered – Tedoc Industries, Superfecta Trading 159 and Mtsweni Corrosion Control – and the three JVs between them: namely Tedoc SGB-Cape JV, Superfecta SGB-Cape JV and Mtsweni SGB-Cape JV. The tribunal found that…

ZIMBABWEAN businesses fear that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, which is blaming foreign companies of inflating prices ahead of a key election in August, could resort to interfering with the exchange rate to manage inflation, which has been on a resurgence amid price increases. Zimbabwe closed the nomination process for candidates for the upcoming August 23, 2023, poll yesterday, with Mnangagwa set to go head to head with Nelson Chamisa of opposition CCC and more than six others. Some businesses such as Delta Corporation have warned that the upcoming elections could disrupt the flow of business. Mnangagwa, who took over from the late former leader of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe after a coup in 2017, is angling for a second term. His main rival, Chamisa is bidding to get into office after…

SOUTH Africa still required roughly $98 billion (roughly R2 trillion) in further financing for the transition to clean energy, President Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday, speaking at the New Global Financing Pact summit held in Paris, France. The summit, which is being attended by more than 40 leaders as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank officials, aims to develop a new global financial system so the most vulnerable countries will be better equipped to combat both poverty and climate change. On the table yesterday was $100bn in funds that rich countries have pledged to battle climate change and poverty in developing countries, which was announced by the head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva. But yesterday, he told the meeting: “We found that we’re…

GROWTHPOINT Properties said yesterday that high interest rates were affecting its financial performance and it forecast a lower distribution per share for its 2023 financial year to June 31. In a trading update for the nine months to March 31, the group said its domestic retail and industrial portfolios were steadily recovering, and the performance of the office sector appeared stable, notwithstanding South Africa’s economic challenges. The V&A had recovered faster than expected due to the return of international tourism and was expected to deliver a solid result. The contributions from international investments were in line with expectations. The group said it was optimising its international investments due to the unfavourable global economic environment and to preserve balance sheet strength. The share price of the biggest South Africa based real…

HARMONY Gold said yesterday that it anticipates meeting annual guidance for the 2023 financial year due to strong production and higher recovered grades. In its pre-close update, the gold miner said it continued to deliver excellent underground-recovered grades from its South African operations, underpinned by a phenomenal performance from Mponeng. As a result, underground recovered grades would be higher than the guided 5.6g/ton for the 2023 financial year. Harmony Gold CEO Peter Steenkamp said as anticipated, recovered grades at Hidden Valley also improved in the fourth quarter. Production for the group would be towards the upper end of the 2023 financial year guidance of between 1 400 000 and 1 500 000 ounces while all-in-sustaining costs had remained comfortably below R900 000 per kg, as…