Star 2023-09-08

THE G20 GROUPING of nations has agreed to grant permanent membership to the AU, Bloomberg News reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter. The move would give the AU, a continental body of 55 member states, the same status as the EU, up from its current designation of “invited international organisation”, it added. How- ever, two Indian sources told Reuters that membership for the AU would only be forma- lised next year when Brazil takes over the helm of the group of the world’s biggest economies from India. There is no oppo- sition to the move from within the G20, one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity citing government rules. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote to the leaders of the G20 nations in June proposing…

Busa said: “We have lost a titan, but his legacy will continue to inspire and guide us for generations to come.“ THE BUSINESS sector of South Africa yesterday mourned the passing of the country’s retail legend Raymond Ackerman. In a statement yesterday, Pick n Pay announced his passing and said: “It is with profound sadness that we announce the death at the age of 92 of visionary South African and founder of Pick n Pay, Raymond Ackerman.” Ackerman passed away on Wednesday evening in Cape Town. “He is survived by his wife, Wendy, children Gareth, Kathy, Suzanne, and Jonathan, his 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren,” the retailer said. Tributes from around the country lauded Ackerman as an outstanding business leader and entrepreneur and offered…

THE INSTITUTE of Directors in South Africa (IoDSA) and the King Committee said in a statement yesterday that although they remained supportive of reform efforts in what is a highly contested area, some of the proposals contained in the Companies Act Amendment Bills 2023 relating to remuneration were problematic. Both bodies agreed that the proposal to have the remuneration policy tabled for approval at the annual general meeting (AGM) only every three years or when material amendments were made was constructive in that it gave shareholders a real voice. It was also in line with international leading practice. However, both organisations rang the alarm bells over proposals relating first to the voting on the remuneration implementation report and second, the consequences of the report not being approved at the AGM.…

THE PROPOSED amendment to section 162 of the Companies Act (Act 17 of 2008) is one of several amendments proposed by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) in the Companies Amendment Bills. It follows on from a recommendation made by the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture to extend the time period during which application could be made to declare a director delinquent. The current law states that an application to declare a director delinquent can be made if the person is currently a director of the company, or was one in the preceding 24 months. The latest proposal is to extend this time bar to five years, and further to give the courts discretion to extend it still further if they see cause. The statute of…

CONSUMERS in South Africa are expected to remain optimistic that slowing inflation will gradually taper down higher interest rates and improve conditions following a strong rebound in the economic outlook and an improvement in the time-to-buy durable goods in the third quarter of 2023. This comes after the FNB/BER Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) increased to -16 points in the third quarter of 2023, from -25 points in the previous period, which was the lowest reading in a year. Despite the 9-index point rebound in the third quarter, the latest reading of -16 points remains firmly in the depressed territory and well below the long-run average CCI reading of zero since 1994, signalling a low willingness to spend among consumers. FNB yesterday said that an im- proved economic…

LOAD SHEDDING has remained the leading challenge in the tourism industry, especially the accommodation businesses, as it reported below than normal business performance in the first half of 2023. The latest Tourism Business Index released yesterday showed that the tourism industry achieved below nor- mal business performance of 76 index points in the six months to June. Normal business performance is then calibrated to an index of 100 points, and a reading higher than 100 points indicates better than normal performance while below 100 points indicates worse than normal performance. These TBI results were released at the opening of the Tourism Leadership Conference 2023 hosted by the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) in Sun City, North West, yesterday. At least 80% of businesses surveyed cited load…