Star 2023-09-19

ESKOM’S unbundling process has reached another milestone as the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) moved a step further to becoming operational following the approval of the two outstanding licences. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) yesterday approved that the NTCSA be issued with a five-year trading licence following an application lodged in compliance with section 10 of the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA). The NTCSA is envisioned to be an independent transmission system operator incorporating, inter alia, the currently non-licensable but integrated functions of network provision, system operation and system planning. Nersa said the service that would be rendered under the trading licence was the buying and selling of electricity as a commercial activity only. The NTCSA applied for a trading licence to buy and sell electricity…

NASPERS and its Dutch-based subsidiary Prosus, which have drawn investor criticism for more than two years due to, among other reasons, a complex restructuring, said suddenly yesterday that CEO Bob van Dijk would step down after 10 years of leadership. Van Dijk became Naspers CEO in 2014 and headed Prosus since its 2019 listing. Ervin Tu, the group chief investment officer, was appointed Interim CEO. Van Dijk planned to assist with the transition and remain as a consultant to the boards until September 30, 2024. Although Naspers and Prosus’ formal announcements did not provide reasons for Van Dijk’s departure, Prosus said in response to a Business Report query that: “Bob and the board mutually agreed it was the right time for Bob to step down and to bring a…

Rand has breached the R19-to-the-dollar mark as the country’s government finances are deteriorating SOUTH Africa’s capital markets began what could be a tough week on the back foot as both the rand and stocks on the JSE traded lower due to concerns about the impact of rising oil prices on the inflation outlook and interest rates. The rand breached the R19-mark to the US dollar yesterday as markets continued to worry about the deterioration in South African government finances from overspending in a weak economy. Statistics SA is expected to release data on the August headline consumer inflation while the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) will announce its latest interest rates decision. It is expected to keep rates unchanged, but remain hawkish on the back of concerns of an uptick in…

THE NATIONAL Treasury yesterday released guidelines detailing cost-containment measures for government departments as the country attempts to rein in spending ahead of the mid-term Budget in November. In a letter sent to all government departments, the Treasury outlined the fiscal challenges facing the State and suggested widespread cost-cutting measures. South Africa’s public finances have been in rapid decline as tax collections year to date were R22 billion less than the government had forecast in its February Budget, according to the guideline document. Tighter financial conditions and a higher-than-budgeted-for public wage settlement necessitated these new cost-saving measures, the Treasury added. The guidelines state that cost-cutting would be required “to achieve much-needed savings and prevent the materialisation of potentially crippling resource constraints in the later part of the 2023/24 financial year“,…

GEMFIELDS said yesterday that despite the lesser quality and quantity of emerald production at Kagem mine in Zambia in recent months, it was pleased to see yet another set of auction results that demonstrated that the emerald market remained in excellent shape. Gemfields which is the owner of Fabergé, announced the results of an auction comprised of commercial quality rough emeralds held from August 29 to September 15. The rough emeralds sold were extracted by Kagem, which is 75% owned by Gemfields and 25% by the Industrial Development Corporation of Zambia. The proceeds of this auction will be fully repatriated to Kagem in Zambia, with all royalties due to the Government of the Republic of Zambia being paid on the full sales prices achieved at the auction. According to the…

RFG HOLDINGS, which owns market- leading brands such as Rhodes, Bull Brand, Magpie, Squish, and Hinds, said that for the 11 months that ended August 2023, revenue increased while sales volumes decreased due to the challenging trading environment, including load shedding and operational pressures at the Cape Town port. In its trading update released yesterday, the Western Cape-based food producer said it expected its revenue to rise by 10%. “The sustained growth was driven by price inflation of 13.5% as the group continued to make pleasing progress in recovering the higher input costs encountered over the past two years,” it said. According to the group, the trading environment remains challenging, with lower consumer spending and increased competitor promotional activity. “This has created volume pressure in some product categories, and overall…