Star 2023-09-28

There is NO doubt that technology has transformed all aspects of our personal and business lives. The financial sector is one such area that has drastically changed, as clients access financial solutions in new ways. For individuals as well as businesses, digital services have made financial services more convenient, affordable and efficient. Despite these enhanced benefits, there are very few business owners who believe that technology can replace the role of a human being. In fact, many believe that having a skilled and trusted relationship banker who is knowledgeable about their business and understands its history, its financial position, and the sector in which it operates can make the difference between success and failure. Businesses that are entering a growth phase or generally have complex needs around corporate finance, cashflow…

ELECTRICITY users in South Africa will have to contend with persistently higher stages of rotational power cuts during the upcoming summer season in spite of a warmer climate and Eskom returning a number of generation units online. The struggling power utility yesterday warned that the current Energy Availability Factor (EAF) – the percentage of maximum energy generation that a plant is capable of supplying to the electrical grid – was currently hovering around 55%, still very far from the 65% target of this financial year. Eskom has needed to implement load shedding every day between April 1 and August 31 this year. The utility implemented stage 6 load shedding for 39 of the 153 winter days, with outages averaging between stage 3 and stage 4. The…

Petition for signatures to endorse and contribute to a legal challenge HORSE owners are mounting a campaign to take legal action against the Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP), the government-owned sole producer of some critical animal vaccines, for their negligence and inability to fulfil their mandate to provide vaccine. This comes as a group called the Southern African Agricultural initiative (SAAI) circulates petitions for signatures to endorse and contribute to a legal challenge on the entity for failing to provide sufficient supplies of the African Horse Sickness (AHS) vaccine with concerns of an impending rainy season in most parts of the country fosters its outbreak. “We must stand to protect our horses from this travesty. Please sign up and support SAAI in the court action to force the manufacturers of the…

THE NATIONAL Union of Mine- workers’ (NUM) highveld region has called for urgent intervention by President Cyril Ramaphosa to address Transnet’s inability to efficiently transport coal, which threatens more than 35 000 livelihoods within the coal sector. According to the union, the urgency of this matter could be measured by the recent notification of section 189 retrenchments served to NUM by Glencore. This comes after mining and marketing company Glencore was said to have issued letters to employees informing them that it was going to institute a retrenchment process at its iMpunzi coal operation in Mpumalanga, citing the poor performance of Transnet. NUM highveld regional chairperson Malekutu Motubatse said Glencore sent out the section 189 letters, and NUM was supposed to have started with the consultations with Glencore, but…

THE VALUE of South African agricultural output has more than doubled in real terms since 1994, according to Bureau for Economic Research (BER). Agricultural experts – Professor Johann Kirsten and Professor Ferdi Meyer – were assessing how the agricultural sector has performed against the development objectives and targets outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP). While there was a sense of the exceptional performance of the agriculture sector, there were, however, threats on the horizon that could negate the gains of the last decade, according to the 2023 BFAP Baseline as well as data on land reform collected by the BER. This growth was attributed to increased productivity, which was underpinned by technological innovation, as well as growth in traditional export markets in addition to access to new ones.…

THE SOUTH African government has committed to finalise the Freight Logistics Roadmap, which will outline a sequenced set of actions to fundamentally reform the logistics system, by the end of October. In a joint update released yesterday by the government and business, the government said the roadmap would be completed next month. President Cyril Ramaphosa held a meeting with members of the Cabinet and senior business leaders on Tuesday to receive an update on progress made in the collaboration between government and business. The entities formed a collaboration in June aiming to significantly grow South Africa’s economy, and restore public and investor confidence through critical interventions to address the key challenges of energy, logistics, crime and corruption. Among other target areas, in the logistical focal area, government and business said…