Star 2024-01-10

FINANCE Minister Enoch Godon- gwana will head a business delegation at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where the necessity of further “unprece- dented” cuts in climate change emissions will be discussed. The 2024 annual meeting takes place from January 15 to 19, and will be attended by more than 100 governments, major international organi- sations and the WEF’s 1 000 partner companies, as well as civil society leaders, young change makers, social entrepreneurs and the media. Godongwana is hosting a pre-WEF event so that local business leaders can discuss and explore opportunities and new technologies likely to arise from this year’s WEF meeting, and their implications on decision making and global partnership. The WEF said yesterday in a statement that at last year’s meeting…

ADRI SENEKAL de Wet, the executive editor of Business Report (BR) and Personal Finance, has been appointed the new editor-in-chief of Independent Media. This follows the retirement of Aziz Hartley. Newsdesk editor Philippa Larkin has been appointed acting editor of BR and Personal Finance until a new editor is appointed to the role. Larkin has worked at BR for nearly two decades in various capacities. Larkin said: “Business Report and Personal Finance have thrived under Senekal de Wet’s sterling leadership and positive mindset. We wish her well in her new role.” Senekal de Wet has been an integral part of Independent Media since November 2016. Her dedication, expertise and leadership have played a crucial role in shaping the editorial direction of BR and Personal Finance. Senekal de Wet extended her…

THE MOZAMBIQUE-based RGS investor consortium, one of two bidders for the financially stricken Tongaat Hulett, has withdrawn its bid just a day ahead of a crucial vote at a meeting of creditors scheduled for today. Tongaat’s business rescue practitioners said in a notice yesterday the RGS Transactions Business Rescue Plan had been withdrawn by RGS’s board and would no longer participate in the creditors meeting. “Accordingly, today’s meeting will proceed on the basis that only the Vision Transactions Business Rescue Plan will be considered,” the statement said. Tongaat’s business rescue plan has been controversial. For example, the business rescue practitioners six months ago accepted a claimed fraudulent letter from a Tanzanian company, Kagera Sugar, and approved it as a strategic equity partner. Meanwhile, according to reports, RGS withdrew its…

‘Delay decommissioning of coal-fired power stations until stable supply’ THE DEPARTMENT of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has defended the assumptions made in the updated energy roadmap after criticism that it was dependent heavily on fossil fuels when the country should be transitioning towards renewables with speed. The Integrated Resource Plan 2023 (IRP 2023) was published last week for public comments following months of delays and it proposes that there must be a delay in the decommissioning of coal-fired power stations until there is stability in the supply of electricity in the country. The IRP 2023 looks at two scenarios where the first horizon projects the supply of electricity until 2030 and how best to address the current challenges of power cuts while the second horizon looks at energy supply…

SOUTH Africa’s economy may have shrugged off serious headwinds brought about by intensified load shedding and logistical challenges in 2023 after new vehicle sales showed some growth for the year overall, in spite of plunging for the five months in a row in December. The Automotive Business Council (Naamsa) yesterday said the new vehicle market registered its fifth consecutive month of year-on-year decline in December 2023. The aggregate industry new vehicle sales at 40 329 units recorded a decline of 1 392 vehicles, or a loss of 3.3% compared to the total new vehicle sales of 41 721 units during the corresponding month of December 2022. Overall, out of the total reported industry sales of 40 329 vehicles, an estimated 35 483 units or 88%…

IN A SURPRISING turn of events, retired Judge Dennis Davis returned from retirement recently, to chair the Competition Appeal Court, leaving many to question the motives behind this unexpected comeback. The spotlight intensified as the court heard a complex case launched by the Competition Commission in 2017, revolving around allegations of collusion by South African and foreign banks in the New York foreign exchange market from 2007 to 2013. The case, which alleges a “single overarching conspiracy” to manipulate the rand, has resurfaced, with the banks challenging the Competition Commission to prove that all 28 of them were part of this alleged scheme before proceeding. The inclusion of several foreign banks with no presence in South Africa, alongside those with local branches and the country’s major domestic banking groups, added…