Star 2024-05-30

THE ROLES of Ministers of both public enterprises and trade, industry, and competition portfolios – two vital departments in the economic cluster – will hinge on the outcome of yesterday’s national and provincial elections. This comes as Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan announced his retirement early in March. Gordhan’s announcement was followed by another ANC stalwart, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel, saying that he would also not be available to serve in the new Cabinet, just days before the elections. Daniel Silke, a political economy analyst, on Tuesday said that there could be a “broader shuffle” in the Cabinet, partly because of these departures by the Ministers. However, Silke said South Africa will have to wait until after the elections to see who the new Ministers will…

IN SPITE OF expectations that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will keep interest rates unchanged today, economists have remained hopeful that the first rate cut since July 2020 is now on the horizon. The SARB’s monetary policy committee (MPC) is widely expected to keep the repurchase rate at a 14-year high of 8.25%, while the prime lending rate would also remain at 11.75% per annum. The central bank started the rate-hiking cycle in November 2021 as the economic hardship and the nationwide lockdown from the Covid-19 pandemic had started easing. However, headline consumer inflation has remained stubbornly high towards the upper limit of the SARB’s 3% to 6% target range, leaving the MPC hawkish until inflation is within the 4.5% midpoint. Old Mutual Group chief economist Johann Els said…

BHP and Anglo American were yesterday in disagreement over the Australian resource giant’s request for an extension of the deadline for it to make a firm offer for the Johannesburg and London-listed mining group. Under London listing rules, BHP had until yesterday to make a firm offer for Anglo American. Last week, Anglo American agreed to extend the deadline to pave the way for negotiations around BHP’s proposed $49 billion (R906.15bn) takeover, which entails the unbundling of Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Kumba Iron Ore. According to Anglo American, these engagements over the past week failed to reach a common position. “On May 28, 2024, BHP put forward a limited number of socio-economic mea- sures that were confined in scope, impact and duration and that BHP stated would support…

THE WORLD Economic Forum (WEF) chief economists believe that economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa will remain robust in 2024, in spite of global economic volatility and stubbornly high inflation. According to the WEF Chief Economists Outlook for May 2024 released yesterday, about seven out of 10 respondents foresee moderate or higher growth in sub-Saharan Africa in 2024, a slight improvement from January. Earlier this year, the WEF forecast sub-Saharan Africa economic growth to reach 3.4% in 2024 and 3.8% in 2025 after bottoming out at 2.6% in 2023. However, the WEF chief economists flagged the slow pace of disinflation. “For sub-Saharan Africa, the expectation of problematic inflation is even more pronounced, with almost half of respondents expecting high or very high inflation, while another 43% foresee moderate inflation in the…

ROBUST trading in Pepkor’s popular store brands such as Ackermans, Refinery and PEP, and fast growth from its fintech business, saw group revenue rise a healthy 9.5% to R43.3 billion in the six months to March 31. Retail sales growth strengthened in the second quarter after back-to-school campaigns and strong Easter trade, with brands expanding market share. Gross profit margins benefited from enhanced full-price sales and the continued recovery in Ackermans, where full-priced sales improved by 660 basis points. PEP, Ackermans and Speciality saw double-digit sales growth, while JD Group reported high single-digit sales growth. The group’s overall market share expanded on a three, six and 12-month basis, according to RLC March 2024 data. The retail store base was expanded by 111 new stores to 5 823 stores.…

THE AUTOMOTIVE Aftermarket Association Forum (AAAF) has warned that more than 162 000 jobs were at risk among the predominantly black-owned Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the automotive aftermarket industry due to the closure of dozens of workshops daily under the controversial multibillion rand RT46 Government Tender. AAAF this week said that most several workshops in Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Free State, and KwaZulu-Natal were facing closure or going out of business after being allegedly excluded by WesBank from sharing the contracts for the repair and maintenance of the government fleet. The RT46 tender is currently administered by WesBank, NedFleet, and Fleet Africa. It provides vehicle fleet management services to the State for a five-year period, effective April 1, 2021. This tender pertains to the management of repairs…