Star 2024-02-07

SOUTH Africa is digging in to defend fuel levy rebates for its fishing industry, which is a sticking point in the ratification of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Phase One agreement, Parliament heard yesterday. Briefing Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition yesterday, Department of Trade Industry and Competition Deputy Director General for Trade and Ambassador to the WTO, Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peters, said South Africa allowed those fishing companies that did not use the road infrastructure to claim rebates from the fuel levy. It had confirmed through legal opinion that the support should not be construed as a subsidy. The WTO deal aims to eliminate the awarding of subsidies to fishing industries because it encourages overfishing and encroachment on territorial and unregulated waters. The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies was…

MINING has historically been men’s work, but the number of women employed in South Africa’s mining sector has grown strongly by 46% since 2020 to more than 73 000 by the end of 2023. Minerals Council President Nolitha Fakude said at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, a conference that attracted some 9 500 delegates from all over the world, that although great strides had been made in women empowerment in the industry, only two-thirds of the target in the Mining Charter on gender transformation had been met. She said it was important that women were not only employees for mining companies, but that they be part of the entire value chain in the industry. She said for instance, more than 8 000 women-owned businesses had benefited…

Reason for the hikes was the rise in global fuel prices and the weakening of the rand CONSUMERS in South Africa are in for a prolonged period of rising cost of living as the price of petrol is set to rise again in March, following a hefty hike this month, as the Finance Minister hikes the general fuel levy to shore up the government’s deteriorating revenue collection. The Department of Mineral Re- sources and Energy (DMRE) yesterday announced the fuel price hike for the year, with both types of petrol rising by 75 cents per litre and diesel going up by 73c a litre. This will bring the inland price of 95 unleaded petrol to R23.24 a litre, while the coastal price will reach R22.52 a litre. The…

THE NATIONAL Treasury has proposed further reforms to the “two-pots” retirement system, including a requirement for seed capital, after the government identified two concerns with the current regime. The Treasury yesterday briefed the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance on the draft Pension Funds Amendment Bill (PFA Bill) 2024, after it was reintroduced in the National Assembly last week. The “two-pots” system seeks to divide pension contributions into two separate pots: a savings pot and a retirement pot, with the effective date being September 1, 2024. The Bill proposes that retirement fund members be allowed to allocate one-third of their contributions from the date of implementation to an accessible portion of those members’ retirement savings. This will receive a once-off capital boost from a vested component, with a minimum of…

THE YEAR 2024 will be an interesting year as we go into the national and provincial general election, with barometers of various calibration as we dissect the performance appraisal of the 6th Administration under Presi- dent Cyril Ramaphosa, who is also Chairperson of the Presidential Climate Commission. This appraisal will be about the past five years, but more about the next five years. But it will not be about how we as a country and our government has over the last five years performed in responding to the global climate crisis and its devastating impacts on our growth, development, and national security. We will be lucky if it is mainstreamed as a factor in the economic development and social cohesion elements of the manifestos of the various political parties and…

AECI, WHICH this year celebrates 100 years of being listed, is restructuring and also diversifying overseas in its core chemicals and mining explosives markets, recently appointed CEO Holger Riemensperger said yesterday. Interviewed on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba, he said the group is a global leader in the chemicals and mining industries, with its influence extending across Africa, Europe, South-east Asia, North America, South America, and Australia, and the aim is to continue to gain market share in these regions, as well as open up for business in other areas. In many regions, the group’s mining explosives sales growth was outstripping that of the mining sector as a whole, he said. He said they were recognised by their competitors as a pioneer of change in the mining explosives field…