Star 2023-11-27

THE NATIONAL Treasury will next year introduce new legislation to ring-fence fairness, openness and integrity in the banking sector after Standard Chartered Bank admitted to manipu- lating the rand as pressure mounted on the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to act against the banks, some of which are still denying involvement in the scandal. Standard Chartered became the second bank to pay a settlement after admitting to manipulating the rand during the period 2007 to 2013. Earlier, Citibank also paid a settlement of R69.5 million, with 26 other South African and international banks still appearing before the Competition Tribunal over their involvement in the scheme that affected remittances, employees and the economy at large. Although the SARB said it was banking on the Competition Commission to deal with the…

THE NELSON Mandela Bay Business Chamber has warned that the logistics crisis at Durban Port was having a knock-on effect and impacting on the sustainability of imports and exports in Gqeberha. This comes as Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) is working around the clock to clear the backlog of more than 60 vessels carrying thousands of containers that are clogged outside the Port of Durban as a result of bad weather and ageing equipment. As TPT estimates up to 15 weeks to clear the backlog, the challenges at the Port of Durban have also spilled over to the Port of Cape Town as shipping companies look to berth their ships and offload cargo to avoid losing money while on anchorage. The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber, which has around 700 member…

THE CONGRESS of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says it is deeply ang- ered by the “shocking” findings of the Competition Commission that 27 domestic and foreign banks had actively manipu- lated the value of the rand between 2007 and 2018. The commission found the rand manipulation may have cost the economy, workers, the State and businesses a pain- ful R1 billion. This meant that loans by South African companies and government in foreign currency were charged for at much higher rates. In a statement on Friday, Cosatu said if government did not act, then South Africa should not be surprised if the country continued to be grey-listed by the international community. “If we sweep this under the carpet, then we should not be shocked when it happens…

THE INDEPENDENT Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) on Friday published draft amendments to the Radio Frequency Spectrum Assignment Plan (RFSAP) for the frequency band 2 300 MHz to 2 400 MHz, ahead of a planned auction. Icasa said in the Government Gazette that the amendments were published for public comment, and the RFSAP would supersede any previous spectrum assignment. This RFSAP was envisaged to come into effect on April 1, 2023. No new assignments in the band 2 300 MHz – 2 400 MHz would be approved unless they complied with the new RFSAP. The frequency was currently used for flight testing, but existing users would be required to cease using the frequency, the draft regulation said. MTN said on Friday that it…

AGRICULTURE remains the doyen of the South African economy, despite its minuscule official contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) which was 3.57% in 2022, equating to approximately R134 billion. The agricultural sector continues to punch above its weight in terms of its contribution to the ailing economy in the country. To illustrate this point, while total GDP grew by 0.6%, quarter-on-quarter, agricultural GDP grew by 4.2% over the same period, making it the fastest-growing sector of the South African economy. One of the reasons why South Africa has been thriving for years is the fact that the sector is well-developed and has had a strong research and development foundation that enjoyed substantial public sector investment, which spawned the Agricultural Research Council, among others. The other enabling factor has…

AS THE ANNUAL canola harvest begins to wind down across various regions in South Africa, Southern Oil (Soill) said it anticipated an impressive total yield of more than 220 000 tons of canola seed. The modern oil extraction plant and edible oil refinery, situated in Swellendam in the Western Cape, said although this year’s harvest was ongoing – having commenced in early October and set to conclude towards the end of this month – the predicted total yield was notably impressive. Zander Spammer, agricultural resource manager at Soill, last week said that in just four years, the harvest was expected to surge by more than 130 000 tons, rising from 94 317 tons in 2019 to an anticipated 220 000 tons this year. Spammer attributed this…