Star 2023-08-08

Company has worked for two years to formulate a sustainable empowerment scheme PPC, THE COUNTRY’S largest cement product manufacturer, has launched an employee share ownership trust to give its staff in South Africa a 10% shareholding, which will pay them a dividend almost immediately. PPC Cement SA MD Njombo Lekula said yesterday that they had worked for two years to formulate a sustainable empowerment scheme. The scheme is unique in that it relies on PPC’s dividends for its sustainability – the group’s previous empowerment schemes were largely reliant on the share price for their sustainability, and had to be unwound as they were under water. PPC’s share price has been low in recent years in line with falling construction and infrastructure activity in South Africa, and because the group…

MORE THAN 720 000 Brazilians are suing BHP, the world’s biggest miner by market value, over the 2015 collapse of the Fundao Dam, which was owned and operated by the Samarco joint venture between BHP and Brazilian iron ore producer Vale. Vale yesterday lost a bid to block fellow mining giant BHP Group’s bid to have it share potential liability in a £36 billion (R846bn) London lawsuit over Brazil’s worst environmental disaster. More than 720 000 Brazilians are suing BHP, the world’s biggest miner by market value, over the 2015 collapse of the Fundao Dam, which was owned and operated by the Samarco joint venture between BHP and Brazilian iron ore producer Vale. The disaster killed 19 people as more than 40 million cubic metres of…

THE CONGRESS of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has raised serious concerns over the exclusion of organised labour from the task team of government and big business convened by the Presidency to deal with South Africa’s economic bottlenecks. This comes after senior business leaders last week resolved to collaborate with the government in tackling the country’s major bottlenecks in a bid to attract investment, create jobs and grow the economy by 3% a year. Leaders of Business Unity South Africa, Business for South Africa, and Business Leadership South Africa identified the energy crisis, transport and logistics challenges, and crime and corruption as three priority areas to turn the tide against the low growth trap. However, Cosatu said yesterday that although it appreciated the government had the right to meet with…

JSE-LISTED electronics and electrical engineering company Reunert yesterday advised its shareholders that the company’s ordinary shares would be admitted to trade on A2X, as a secondary listing, with effect from Tuesday, August 15. Reunert will retain its listing on the securities exchange operated by the JSE Limited. Its JSE listing and issued share capital will be unaffected by the secondary listing on A2X. The secondary listing also does not give rise to additional fees or compliance obligations for Reunert. From the A2X listing date, the company’s ordinary shares will be available for trade on the JSE and A2X. A2X is a licensed stock exchange authorised to provide a secondary listing venue for companies and is regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority and the Prudential Authority of the South African…

SOUTH Africa’s government has confirmed that the upcoming BRICS Summit will hold a discussion about a potential establishment of a new common currency, but no “major decisions” will be taken just yet. Heads of State of Brazil, India, China and South Africa will gather in Johannesburg later this month for the 15th BRICS Summit to reflect on all the elements of co-operation, regional and global economic and political developments, as well as the global governance reform agenda. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, however, will attend virtually, since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest if he visited South Africa. This will be the first BRICS Summit to be hosted in person since the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent global travel restrictions. There has been considerable…

SOUTH Africa’s mining output has fallen further below pre-pandemic levels due to persistent electricity outages and rail disruptions, threatening dividend payouts to investors, industry data shows. South Africa is the world’s biggest producer of platinum and chrome and a leading producer of gold and diamonds. But the industry has been shrinking for years as ore grades decline and output was disrupted in 2020 when Covid-19 lockdowns impacted operations. Now severe power cuts since the end of 2022 are affecting output, while State-owned freight rail firm Transnet is struggling to haul minerals to port due to cable theft and vandalism of infrastructure. As a result, mine output and sales for the 12 months to May 2023 were down 4.6% and 4.2%, respectively, compared to the same period a year earlier, new…