Star 2024-07-12

■ We also report on a fund which was ordered to pay a complainant after it paid his R800 000 benefit to a fraud syndicate. ■ Following his trip to the UK, our columnist Martin Hesse compares living expenses between South Africa and the UK. ■ Regarding pensions, Brett Ladouce looks at the confusing tale of the five pots. ■ For all your money matters, scan the QR code.…

BHP will be suspending operations at its Australian nickel assets as a result of lower prices and an oversupply of the base metal. It said the decision to put production at Nickel West and West Musgrave on hold would be reviewed in 2027. The decision, announced by BHP yesterday, could result in job losses at the two operations, although some affected employees would be offered the option of placement across the group’s other operations. The West Musgrave nickel mine was in the early stages of execution after BHP acquired it last year as part of the OZ Minerals acquisition. It had been earmarked to be a feed source to the Nickel West smelting and refining assets. BHP said yesterday it was suspending operations at the two Australian nickel assets. “The…

With the further decommissioning of Eskom’s fleet of power stations on hold, the power utility needs to start developing its fleet of renewable energy generation sources, Eskom CEO Dan Marokane said yesterday. Speaking at the Standard Bank’s Unlocking Africa Conference in Cape Town, he said that having to deal with load shedding had forced Eskom to look at restoring its operations, while “everybody else was taking advantage in the market while we weren’t looking”. Marokane said Eskom was over- coming its operational issues. It had land adjacent to its power stations available for the development of renewable energy, it was open to partnerships, and it had direct access to the grid system. He said that while coal-fired power stations were needed to maintain base load electricity capacity to meet industrial…

Watch Professor Terrence Kommal conduct an interview with Dr Pali Lehohla, former statistician-general of South Africa, about the impact of education on society. Lehohla discusses the challenges in South Africa’s education system, especially considering historical evolution and the ongoing industrial revolution. The conversation emphasised the role of education in societal progress, with specific focus on the significance of statistics and data analysis in decision-making processes. Kommal shared insights on the importance of resources and access to education, and emphasised the need for continuous learning and improvement in community support systems. Kommal highlighted the importance of providing resources and access to educational tools for all individuals in the community. He also stressed the significance of continuous learning and education as a means of driving societal progress and addressing challenges effectively.…

The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) has dismissed as “unfounded fallacies and misrepresentation” allegations that it intended to use the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) policy in its registration assessments and licensing processes. This comes after business federation Sakeliga, formerly Afribusiness, last week rejected Sahpra’s proposed BEE conditions for the manufacture, import, prescribing and trading of health products and medical equipment. Sakeliga said Sahpra was planning to make B-BBEE a prerequisite in the medical industry. In effect, Sakeliga said Sahpra intended to prohibit the supply of health products and medical equipment that do not meet B-BBEE requirements. “Such actions offer an alarming preview of the drastic consequences of an NHI system in which the state would have the entire medical supply chain under its control,” it said. “The B-BBEE…

South Africa’s economic growth for the second quarter could stagnate with the productive sectors such as manufacturing and mining failing to grow in May due to slow demand, in spite of a consistent supply of electricity. Data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) yesterday showed that manufacturing production fell by 0.6% in May compared to the same month a year ago, following a downwards revised 4.9% rise in April. Stats SA’s director of industry statistics Nicolai Claassen said six of the 10 manufacturing divisions recorded a decline in production, with the metals and machinery and automotive divisions the biggest drag on growth. “Manufacturers in metals and machinery products recorded a decrease of 8.1% year-on-year and the automotive division registered a year-on-year decline of 11.8%,” he said. “On the upside, four…