Innholdsfortegnelse for 2024-04-24 i Star

HEADLINE inflation was only expected to return to the midpoint of the target band in the last quarter of 2025, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said yesterday in a biannual Monetary Policy Review. South Africa’s inflation target range is 3% to 6%. The SARB has left its repo rate at 8.25%, unchanged since May 2023, which “remains broadly consistent with persistent inflation, the uncertain domestic and global outlook, and getting back to the 4.5% midpoint over the forecast timeframe”. The report said that amid slower- than-expected disinflation in food and volatility in fuel prices, headline inflation had fluctuated in the range of 5% to 6% over the past six months. “More recently, services inflation has risen sharply as some components normalised. These setbacks suggest that the path back…

AS CAPITEC shot the lights out with its stellar annual results yesterday, it is a beacon of hope that the South African banking landscape is changing and it is possible to challenge the top five players. The lunch of ye old South African monopolistic banking playground – dominated by Standard Bank, First- Rand, Absa, Nedbank and Investec – is up for grabs. This has been in the works for years, but a plethora of new entrants to the South African landscape is giving customers more choice and if they have a beef with one lender it is easy to swop to another. Standard Bank, for example, the country’s biggest bank by assets, has more than 18.8 million customers and a market value of R283 billion. Since opening for business on…

GIVEN the resistance to new nuclear construction in South Africa, especially based on affordability worries and a push for intermittent energy sources during load shedding, it’s crucial to approach the matters thoughtfully and realistically. The DA, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (Safcei) have all voiced their concerns, each highlighting different aspects of the debate. The DA announced on March 8, 2024, that it has filed legal documents against the Minister of Electricity and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) regarding their decision under section 34 to acquire 2 500 megawatts (MW) of new nuclear power generation. The DA argues that the approval process for the determination was procedurally unfair, as it did not allow for public input…

SOUTH African fund managers are increasingly focused on miners and gold, whose price has been on a runaway streak, as the consumer sector fades in light of elevated inflation, stubborn interest rates and uncertainty to the political framework ahead of the key May 29 election. In its latest Fund Manager Survey released yesterday, the Bank of America (BofA) said fund managers were “thinking of buying resources” for the “first time” in six months. “Prior surveys highlighted negative sentiment indicating a ‘bottom or near bottom’. A lower net 59% would overweight domestic stocks (while) a low net 6% say it is too early to buy interest rate sensitives,” BofA said. The survey was conducted this month from April 5 to April 11, with the consumer sector losing “the most ground” in…

SEVEN years after the lid was blown on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s CR17 ANC election campaign, it seems to have returned to haunt him ahead of the May 29 elections. This after accusations of bribing of voting members by the CR17 camp at the ANC’s 2017 elective resurfaced. This time controversial South African billionaire, Rob Hersov, has accused Ramaphosa of bribing former deputy president, David Mabuza, to do a U-turn on voting for Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma at the last minute, resulting in a win for Ramaphosa. In a video that recently went viral on social media, the political funder asserted Ramaphosa had initially lost the ANC’s 54th conference held at Nasrec in 2017, but was bailed out by former Investec CEO, Stephen Kosseff. The money donated to Ramaphosa was given to…

THE United Democratic Movement (UDM) has called on voters to remember the message loud and clear: how the ANC responded to their service delivery demands the entire time in-between elections – through rubber bullets. As the national and provincial general elections draw nearer, parties contesting seats have urged voters not to forget how the governing party had responded to their demands over the years. Yongama Zigebe, secretary-general for UDM, said yesterday that while the country’s history was marked by tragic massacres stemming from protests for human rights, service delivery protests had become a frequent occurrence in South Africa, particularly in under-served communities. Zigebe said that in current day South Africa, protests often resulted in the destruction of infrastructure and property, causing significant harm to the economy. Protests, he said, had…

TRIBUTES continue to pour in following the sudden death yesterday morning of controversial former City of Tshwane mayor and council speaker Dr Murunwa Makwarela. Family spokesperson Reverend Adel Dube confirmed that Makwarela, 52, died in hospital in the early hours of the morning. “He passed on after a short illness. He went into the hospital just before midnight and in the early hours of the morning (yesterday), he was declared dead. This is taking a huge toll on his family,” he said. Makwarela is survived by his wife and two daughters. He was elected mayor in February 2023 and resigned after it came to light that he had failed to disclose his insolvency status before he became a councillor. Before his death, he was facing charges of fraud and uttering…

PAW Patrol is on a roll and heading to South Africa this June for the action-packed, music-filled, live stage production, PAW Patrol Live! Race to the Rescue. The much-loved series is produced by Spin Master Entertainment and airs on Nick Jr, DStv, channel 307. The live show is about the day of the Great Adventure Bay Race between Adventure Bay’s Mayor, Goodway and Foggy Bottom’s Mayor, Humdinger, but Mayor Goodway is nowhere to be found. PAW Patrol to the rescue. Ryder gets Marshall, Chase, Skye, Rubble, Rocky, Zuma and Everest to rescue Mayor Goodway and run the race in her place. Using their unique skills and teamwork, the pups show that “no job is too big, no pup is too small”. Through a unique storyline and upbeat music, Ryder and…

Jurgen Klopp warned his title-chasing Liverpool team that they will have to cope with “derby fever” as he prepares to face Everton for the final time tonight. Klopp’s men are second in the Premier League table, level on 74 points with Arsenal – who hosted Chelsea last night – and one clear of defending champions Manchester City. Liverpool returned to winning ways at the weekend, beating Fulham 3-1 after a draw against Manchester United and a costly defeat at home to Crystal Palace. “I don’t know when my first derby was but I always knew how important it was,” said Klopp. “Now I know it and I feel it. My understanding has developed over the years but they are always difficult games, especially there.” He added: “Derby fever will be…

Tshegofatso Mabasa is reaping the rewards of leaving Orlando Pirates as a boy and returning to the club as a man, having now become a key piece of the puzzle. Mabasa has had the best conversion rate in domestic football this year, scoring eight goals in 12 games across all competitions for Pirates since returning from a loan spell at Moroka Swallows. Mabasa recently admitted that he used the time away from the club to work on himself spiritually, physically and emotionally to play for Pirates again. After all, being part and parcel of the club is more than a job for him. It’s home. This is a club that he wanted to play for the moment he cut his football teeth. And such has been the importance of his…

SASOL’S share price fell sharply by 10.85% yesterday after it said there had been operational headwinds in the Mining and Secunda Operations (SO) in the nine months to March 31, and full-year production was expected to be lower than expected. The chemicals and fuel from coal group said in a production and sales update yesterday that its energy business had benefited from higher basic fuel prices along with improved refining margins in the quarter to end-March 2024. The share price closed at R135.51 on the JSE yesterday. Mining productivity had improved, but at a slower pace than antici- pated. Fatality and operational challenges had a negative impact on productivity in the quarter, and “consequently we are tracking towards the lower end of our guidance range of 975 to 1…

PHEMBANI Group co-founder and chairperson, Phuthuma Nhleko, has urged African private capital and venture capitalists to look into establishing regional blocs to consolidate ways of capital formation, especially for technology and digital sectors. Nhleko yesterday said the fragmentation in raising venture capital in Africa was letting down a number of tech companies that could change the face of the continent in the next generation. He said that the digital leaps should be the centre stage of the African economy as much as Asian tigers want to be economies for African countries in 2024, (12:44) forgetting that those “Asian Tigers” were a product of a particular era as American and European companies were all offshoring. As a result, Nhleko said that venture capitalists should start leveraging Africa's rapidly growing and young…

THE KEARNEY Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index has revealed that South Africa was lifting to be primarily propelled by the dynamic and growing technology and start-up sectors, with FDI inflows of R53.8 billion. In the index, South Africa showed strong growth, climbing six spots from 17th to 11th on the emerging markets index. The annual survey of global business executives ranking markets that were likely to attract the most investment in the next three years attributed SA’s lifting to be primarily propelled by the dynamic and growing technology and start-up sectors, FDI inflows in the second quarter of 2023. This was driven by the completed Heineken acquisition of Distell, and the continuing interest/investment from European nations and other key markets. Kearney partner and Africa managing director Theo Sibiya…

FOR THE LAST three decades, South Africa has grappled with deep-rooted social and economic challenges. Widening inequalities, crumbling infrastructure, and lack of access to basic services are prevalent across the country and yet a vibrant green economy sector and rich natural biodiversity support millions of South Africans by providing food, jobs and livelihoods remains explorable and yet to be fully beneficiated. Yet these crucial resources are at risk from climate change as it ravages and alters South African ecosystems, economies, and livelihoods and further worsened by staggering rates of poverty, unemployment and inequality which bring to fore the imperative of a just transition. Significant levels of load shedding and energy uncertainty – negatively impacting the country’s economic growth, and in turn leading to further unemployment. There is a marked increase…

KUMBA Iron Ore yesterday said its sales volumes during the quarter to the end of March were impacted by challenging operating conditions at the Saldanha Bay Port, with production for the period dipping by 2% to 9.3 million tons, despite providing support to Transnet, including rail and port maintenance. Freight rail and port bottlenecks have been afflicting South African exporters and importers and this has resulted in some operators scaling back operations. Industry players such as Kumba Iron Ore have joined hands to try to help find solutions to the operating challenges hobbling Transnet. “Kumba, as part of the Ore User’s Forum, continues to support Transnet’s logistics restoration programme (and) this included equipment maintenance on the rail and at the port,” it said. During the quarter-period under review, total…

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has welcomed the sentencing of celebrity chef, Lusizo Henna, who was on Monday slapped with a 10-year jail term on six counts of fraud and six years in jail on 14 counts of money laundering by the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in Palm Ridge Court. The magistrate found that Henna, 41, as owner of Blaque Olive Chefs, claimed undue VAT refunds totalling R5.3 million, of which SARS paid R3.1 million to Henna. There were apparently no trading activities in Blaque Olive’s bank accounts, proving that these claims were made to defraud the taxman, it was argued. NPA spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, said after receiving R3.1m in his bank account, Henna laundered the R3.1m in 14 days by transferring the proceeds of the scheme…

China manufactures around 70% of the world’s sex toys and with the introduction of new AI technology, these devices are reaching new heights. There are already many tech-enhanced products on the market that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and bring people one step closer to ultimate sci-fi fantasy sex with robots. Integrating artificial intelligence has become more popular in the last two years, according to Hannes Hultman, Europe sales manager for Chinese sex toy firm Svakom. “But it’s still very early-stage for a lot of this,” he said. Svakom, one of the better-known Chinese brands overseas, is among those venturing further into the field of teledildonics, using networked toys to create virtual sexual encounters. One of its masturbators can sync with video to replicate actions on screen, which can…

THE uninformed would probably not believe you when told that Magesi FC were in the throes of relegation when Clinton Larsen took over midway through last season. After all, it is unusual for a team that barely survived the chop the season before to be topping the Motsepe Foundation League table five matches away from the end of the following campaign, right? Yet such are the rewards of a well-laid plan executed to perfection. “It’s by no chance that we are doing as well as we are,” Larsen said of their impending promotion to the elite league. “You’ll remember that when I joined the team was in trouble, fighting to move away from relegation. “After we survived, there was a huge effort by everyone to put in the right structures…

WORKER representatives have called for greater legislation governing the employee share benefits schemes in South African mining companies to be regulated by the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) for the greater benefit of workers. This comes as the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) yesterday held an inaugural conference to provide a platform for advocacy for the Employee Share Ownership Plans (Esops), celebrating their successes, raising awareness and exploring possible collaborative solutions. Esops are an employee benefit plan that gives workers ownership interest in the company in the form of shares of stock. National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) representative Seipati Malema said they wanted to see the rules set by the High Court judgment change to state as law what companies were required to do to empower…

AGRICULTURE South Africa (AgriSA) yesterday said agriculture and food production sectors were significant contributors to climate change. The federation of agricultural organisations said this came in the form of land use change, the intensive use of water, loss of biodiversity and carbon dioxide emissions. Agri SA’s Centre of Excellence for Natural Resources, however, said the two sectors also stood to be the most severely affected by the consequences of climate change in the form of more frequent extreme weather events – including drought, fires, extreme heat, storms, and flooding – and pest and disease outbreaks, among others. “Climate Smart Agriculture encompasses a range of farming practices by which agriculture can both mitigate (ie address the causes of its contribution to climate change) and adapt to (ie respond to the effects…

The FINANCIAL Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has released a list of 75 approved crypto asset service providers. This comes after the FSCA said that it had noted statements in the media by certain institutions indicating that they were the first or only institution currently licensed as crypto asset service providers (Casps), under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (Fais) Act, No 37 of 2002. The FSCA clarified and confirmed that it had to date approved a total of 75 institutions to be licensed as Casps. The full list of licensed Casps may be accessed on the FSCA’s website or by clicking here. “The licensing process for Casps commenced on June 1, 2023. Existing institutions that were rendering financial services relating to crypto assets were required to submit their licence applications…

BLOW-BY-BLOW no political party is sparing the punches when it comes to calling out the ruling party over allegations that it is pressuring Eskom to keep the lights on at all costs. Although at his energy action plan update the Minister of Electricity Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa disputes the allegations echoed by opposition parties. Here are the facts in summary. Eskom has undertaken 8 000 to 9 000MW in scheduled maintenance over the past months and spent around R30 billion in maintenance on power plants. These have yielded great results in performance and maintenance reliability. These are the reasons why load shedding has been suspended for more than 27 days and indefinitely until further announcement. Power stations have had significant improvement in performance after extensive maintenance was carried…

ANGLO American Platinum (Amplats) slumped by as much as 7% in afternoon trade on the JSE yesterday after it reported lower production and flat platinum group metals (PGM) sales for the first-quarter period ended March. This also came in addition to Am- plats reaffirming its plans to forge ahead with plans to retrench em- ployees. With Sibanye-Stillwater and Impala Platinum having already announced retrenchments, Amplats becomes the latest PGM miner to retrench workers in light of continued low platinum prices. Platinum miners are retrenching to save costs and have started to restructure their operations by curtailing capital investment and shutting down some operations. Amplats said yesterday that it was moving ahead with negotiations with labour unions, despite mineworkers unions saying the retrenchments would worsen unemployment in the country. They want…

IN CASE you missed it, Soweto Theatre’s long-awaited Schools Setworks Festival is still on. The festival’s objective, which is highly recommended for all Gauteng schools, is to encourage individual expression. The isiZulu set book, Ubhuku Lwamanqe, is a part of the festival offering. It’s brought to life on stage with an ensemble cast of Andiswa Ngcobo, Thingo Mcanyana, Zevangeli “Zevie” Mampofu and Nkazimulo Mkhwanazi. This powerful play follows people grappling with conflict, secrets, broken promises, crime, and the inevitable consequences that shatter their lives. Ubhuku Lwamanqe is celebrated as a metaphorical masterpiece about how the choices you make dictate the trajectory of your life path. And this story looks at the catastrophic consequences of poor decision-making. James Ngcobo, artistic director of Joburg City Theatres, said: “We extend a warm…

Cyril Ramaphosa’s performance as president of South Africa has been disastrous – that’s the view of the overwhelming majority of participants in a recent poll survey. The survey – conducted by African Innovation Research South Africa (Airsa) in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town – found that a striking 71.26% of participants expressed disapproval of Ramaphosa’s performance, revealing a deep-seated dissatisfaction among the electorate. Only 18.64% of the survey respondents expressed approval, highlighting a significant challenge facing the president as he navigates the political landscape in the run up to national elections on May 29. A total of 1 030 participants were surveyed, representing a cross-section of the South African populace in these metros. Airsa has been commissioned to conduct a similar survey in all nine provinces, the results of which…

As we celebrate Freedom Day next weekend, the AVBOB poetry project celebrates the exuberant voice of Kabelo Mofokeng, a poet and photographer with a master’s degree in creative writing. His debut poetry collection, Hungry on Arrival, often combines English, Sotho and Scamtho (Johannesburg creole originating from the interactions of a diverse population) in the same poem. Some of these poems were inspired by Mofokeng’s wide reading while he was finishing his creative writing thesis. But most readers will probably be struck first by how close they feel to vivid everyday speech – a quality that emerged in performance at readings in Afropolitan Johannesburg. “They have a life of their own and may change depending on the audience,” Mofokeng explained. In the collection’s foreword, he noted: “Some poems come via my…

Ingredients Overnight chia mixture: 1½ cup coconut milk 1/3 cup chia seeds 1 tsp vanilla essence or vanilla extract 1 tbs honey, plus extra for serving ½-1 tbs rose syrup For serving: 2 cups double cream plain or pomegranate and raspberry yoghurt ½ tub fresh raspberries ¼ cup toasted almond flakes or toasted coconut Small handful pomegranate rubies Mint or edible flowers, optional Method Place chia mixture ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined. Cover and place in the fridge overnight. Layer ½ cup yoghurt in two medium glasses. Top with some berries, nuts or coconut and then ¼ of the chia seed mixture. Repeat to create another layer. Serve topped with a drizzle of honey and mint or edible flowers. | Pick n Pay…

Durban author Roslynne Toerien read to children at Penzance Primary School and told them about animals during World Book Day, which was celebrated yesterday. Toerien said: “Today is a very significant day – World Book Day – which is a day where reading and literacy are celebrated globally. “When Penzance asked me if I would be available to come and read to their foundation phase (pupils), I was very excited and more than happy to share my love of books and reading and share my passion for books with their pupils.” The author said that the children’s books that she has written focused on wildlife with a rhymed-based narrative. “They have a rhythm and a flow and ultimately, they teach children the importance of conservation and protecting the environment and…

CHINA has written down an undisclosed amount of Zimbabwe’s interest- free loans in line with its commitment to assist African countries that are buckling under the weight of heavy external debt. The authorities in Zimbabwe and China have committed to clarifying the specifics of the loan write-offs and the modalities of future debt restructuring. In 2022, China announced that it was forgiving 23 loans for 17 African countries desperately buckling under huge amounts of external debt. At the time of the announcement by President Xi Jinping, it was a much- cherished norm for Beijing’s foreign policy to help African nations hit by Covid-19 and global economic difficulties in their recovery efforts to stabilise their economies and improve living conditions. Since 2000, China has made debt relief a norm, offering much-needed…

Lions scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys was practically licking his lips when talking about his pack’s growing threat in the scrums. The jovial Redelinghuys is only 34 and would probably still have been propping for the Lions had he not had a career-ending neck injury in 2017. He has been a scrum doctor for a few seasons now and after his charges played a big role in the impressive defeat of Leinster last week, he wants more on Saturday against another Irish giant, Munster. Moreover, Redelinghuys believes the Lions are doing a fine impression of the Springboks’ famed Bomb Squad. “I’ve said this before, I believe the strength of this pack is down to the competition between the guys; we have some serious depth,” said Redelinghuys yesterday. “If you look at…