Star 2023-08-28

Zimbabwe government, Terris consortium raise questions over Kagera’s winning bid THE SOUTH African Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) is embroiled in a row in which it allegedly irregularly got into bed with an unknown Tanzanian company picked up to buy the assets of ailing sugar giant Tongaat Hulett, currently under business rescue since October last year. With agro-processing operations in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbab- we, Tongaat Hulett – roiled by accounting scandals and embroiled in choking debts – has courted controversy in the past two years. A bid to rescue it and put it on a path to recovery has seen Kagera, a little known Tanzanian company being picked to acquire the assets of the ailing South African sugar producer. “This deal has all the hallmarks of irregularity and underhand…

ELECTRICITY Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has blamed revolving door at management level for the instability at Tutuka power station in Mpumalanga, which is the worst performing among Eskom’s coal fleet. This comes as Ramokgopa on Friday met with the Tutuka Power Station general manager Bruce Moyo, the station’s management and engineers in a bid to assess the state of progress of units that need to be restored. In a media briefing yesterday, Ramokgopa said Tutuka had been a “perennial underperformer” in recent years. Ramokgopa said the power station has moved from generating about 98% energy availability factor (EAF), and was now sitting at about 21% EAF. He said they had deployed additional resources in the context of resource mobilisation fund and they were stationed at Tutuka. “This is a big…

THE COUNCIL for Medical Schemes (CMS), the designated regulator for the medical schemes sector in South Africa, stated on Friday that it was gravely concerned and disturbed by the claims of billing irregularities and other fraudulent behaviour made against the renowned hospital group, Mediclinic International. Last week, an anonymous whistleblower accused Mediclinic of irregular billing practices in six of its hospitals. In an email from an anonymous source, the person identifying themselves as a whistleblower said they worked as a clinical case manager and coder, and alleged that at the hospitals, patients’ conditions were manipulated to either bill at an alternative reimbursement model, or coding was used to “carve an account out” to bill for services where the loss would be too significant for the hospital. “Case managers are also…

GRINDROD’S interim earnings grew by 26% for the six months ended June 30, 2023, supported by continued strong demand for its logistics solutions through its cargo terminal infrastructure footprint and complementary logistics service offerings. In its interim results ended June 30, 2023, the ports, terminals, and logistics operator said on Friday that Maputo port volumes increased by 30% compared to the prior period, resulting in a record performance of 5.9 million tons exported during the period. Grindrod’s Mozambique dry bulk terminals in Maputo and Matola handled 6 million tons, up 17% on the prior period. Grindrod is collaborating with Transnet Freight Rail and Mozambique Port and Railways (CFM) on the ongoing initiative to move cargo on trains running seamlessly between South Africa and Mozambique, which it said would…

NORTHAM Platinum Holdings announced on Friday that it had resumed declaring its dividend after a ten-year halt, a R6 per share amounting to R2.4 billion from the disposal of its stake in Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat). In its financial results for the year ended June 30, 2023, the platinum group metals (PGM) miner said it had also established a dividend policy of a minimum of 25% of headline earnings and would buy back R1 billion of its own shares. “The sale of Northam's investment in Royal Bafokeng Platinum Limited subsequent to June 30, 2023, has presented an opportunity for Northam to significantly strengthen the group’s balance sheet and liquidity position, which in turn has enabled the group to declare its first dividend in over ten years. This dividend constitutes…

ANGLOGOLG Ashanti said it has closed its loss-making Corrego do Sitio (CDS) mine in Brazil to lower costs and stem runaway losses. The Johannesburg-based gold miner said the workforce at the mine would be reduced while it is placed on "care and maintenance", a process which involves preserving the operation's vital infrastructure during the time its not producing gold. The CDS mine, one of AngloGold’s smallest operations, had been hit by poor output and costs of production "well above" the price of gold, the company said in a statement. "The mine has been unable to sustain itself or to fund the capital needed to ensure its long-term future," it said. AngloGold CEO Alberto Calderon initially had outlined plans to sell the mine, but failed to attract interested buyers. The CDS…