Innholdsfortegnelse for 2024-07-31 i Star

Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago yesterday expressed concern about continuing risks to the inflation rate, but many economists believe the outlook is more positive and could lead to an interest rate cut at the September meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). In an address to the bank’s annual general meeting yesterday, Kganyago said annual inflation averages that are trending lower hide ongoing volatility in the underlying components of inflation, demonstrating the risks and uncertainty marking the disinflation path. He said that in line with the global trend, South Africa’s headline inflation decelerated since the pandemic, falling from 6.9% in 2022 to an average 6% in 2023. However, he said that since September last year, headline inflation had been fluctuating between 5% and 6%, with frequent monthly setbacks coming from…

MOZAMBIQUE won a fraud case over a $2 billion (R37bn) bond scandal that embroiled Credit Suisse and created a financial crisis for the southern African nation. After a 3-month trial, a London judge ruled that Mozambique was defrauded in a controversial maritime project meant to finance the construction of a new coastal patrol and a tuna fishing fleet. The government-backed fund-raising was plagued by corrupt deals, with hundreds of millions of dollars looted, while much of the debt was kept hidden from bondholders and other lenders. Mozambique had initially sued Credit Suisse, which arranged most of the debt, before settling with the bank on the eve of the trial. That left the nation pursuing shipbuilder Privinvest and its wealthy French founder, Iskandar Safa, who died during the trial. “The scale…

Delegates at the Township Economies conference and exhibition held at Emperors Palace Ekurhuleni yesterday heard that promoting the R900 billion township economies ecosystem would create jobs and grow the overall South African economy. The theme of the conference was “Unlocking Township Economic Growth: Accessing New Markets”. Township economies start from a position of necessity but as they tap into a vibrant culture of respect they manage to create some 2.5 million jobs, or 17%, of South Africa’s total employment. To tap into this market and empower local entrepreneurs, Frederik Zietsman, the CEO of Takealot.com, highlighted the various barriers that a township consumer faced daily. These were firstly, a limited choice as spaza shops could not carry a wide range of goods due to limited space. Secondly, spaza shops could charge…

In 2023, the Presidency stated that 163 out of 257 municipalities were dysfunctional due to poor governance, ineffective and sometimes corrupt financial and administrative management, and poor service delivery and planning. This extends to substantive climate issues, where local government does not have the expertise to prioritise and implement climate actions. Likewise, corruption, and importantly state capture, have weakened institutional abilities to respond effectively to climate change and its increasing impacts. In KwaZulu-Natal, for example, the auditor-general found that the response to floods in 2022 was too slow, and corruption (through irregular tenders, unfinished contracts and more), and a lack of preparedness and adaptation from previous disasters exacerbated the impacts of a devastating disaster. As the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC), when we released our maiden State of Climate Action Report…

Shoprite Holdings’ OK Franchise business division reported strong sales growth of 23.8% in the 52 weeks to June 30 at a time when many grocery retailers are reporting only single digit sales growth. A Shoprite operational update said this growth had been boosted by the opening of 73 OK Franchise stores this year, compared with 22 opened in 2023 – the OK Franchise division ended the year with 608 stores. The franchise’s sales growth was also far ahead of the group’s overall growth – group merchandise sales increased 12% to about R240.7 billion from continuing operations, including an impact of hyperinflation from Ghana. Shoprite’s core Supermarkets RSA segment opened a net 201 stores versus 301 in 2023. Of the net new openings, 20 were Shoprite, 22 Usave, 25 Checkers…

The Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, has ruled in favour of former SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng in a matter between him and the public broadcaster pertaining to more than R2.5 million that was paid to musicians in 2016. At the time, 53 music legends such as Blondie Makhene, Abigail Kubeka, Mara Louw and the late Steve Kekana were paid a once-off R50 000 by Motsoeneng. The majority judgment, dated Monday, July 29, found Motsoeneng not liable to repay the money as the act was done in good faith and not with the intention to personally benefit from it. “The question at the heart of this appeal is when a debt arising from an unlawful act falls due, is it when an organ of state forms the subjective opinion that the act…

Education analyst and CEO for IDEA Digital Education, Dr Corrin Varady, says Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube’s budget vote speech has given cause for optimism, although there is space for criticism. Varady welcomed the increase of 7.4% in the education budget and the minister’s emphasis on efficient-spending, evidence-based policies and strategic investments to uplift South Africa’s education system. One of Gwarube’s key priorities is ensuring equal access to an inclusive education for all learners, which translates into her high evidence-based targets for the academic year. Varady said: “The minister’s assertion that ‘we must be bolder, ambitious and set high evidence-based targets for ourselves’ is exactly what we need to ensure our educational investments translate into improved performance.” Varady was hopeful of improved fiscal strategies in 2025, and underlined the…

THE Western Cape recorded the highest number of cases of human trafficking reported to the Human Trafficking Hotline last year, with around 35 cases (46.7%), followed by Gauteng with around 18 cases (25.3%). Ahead of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, observed annually today, the provincial Department of Social Development, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) and non-profit organisation A21 held a Trafficking in Persons Awareness Day event at the inter-provincial bus terminal in Cape Town on Monday. The National Human Trafficking Hotline saw an increase of 51% in reported cases in the Western Cape. The event was to create awareness around signs of trafficking and how to report suspected cases, with police and city law enforcement officers also present. The most common forms of exploitation reported to the…

Jacob Lleka Kekana of the Amandebele-a-Moletlane in Kekana Gardens, a splinter family lineage from the Amandebele-a-Lebelo chieftaincy and the son of Zebediela Kekana, is fighting to be recognised as the real leader of the Kekana clan and the rightful heir to the Kekana legacy. The Kekana clan claims multiple rights to land in more than four provinces, including parts of Phala Phala farm where President Cyril Ramaphosa owns a buffalo farm. For a king, Kekana lives in a modest dwelling, and unlike other recognised kings does not receive any state assistance or yearly grants. This is despite numerous letters and petitions to Ramaphosa, former minister Thoko Didiza and a recent letter to Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi. The Star recently visited Kekana at his home in Hammanskraal, Pretoria, to hear what…

We watched channel 203 anxiously on Monday night to see South Africa’s Tatjana Smith participate in the 100m breaststroke final at the Paris Olympics. She had won silver at the Tokyo Olympics. Would she go one better and win gold? She did not disappoint. She did it! At first, it seemed Smith would not make it. She was trailing China’s Tang Qianting. But just metres before the finish, she stormed ahead and snatched victory in a time of 1:05.28, beating Qianting by 26 milliseconds. She astounded everyone. Smith will compete in the 200m breaststroke. She has one gold medal around her neck. Will she have another by the end of this week? We cannot wait to see her compete again. She is a real joy.…

Markets will be keeping a close eye on commodities firm Glencore after it said yesterday that it would let investors know next week whether or not it planned to demerge its coal and carbon steel materials business. It is unclear at this point what a demerger would mean for its South African operations. A demerger is when the company splits off certain assets to form a separate company. Gary Nagle, the CEO for Glencore, said, “We are now in the process of consulting with shareholders to assess their views regarding the potential demerger of our coal and carbon steel materials business. We expect to be able to announce the outcome of such engagement and the decision of the board regarding the potential demerger alongside our interim results next week.” Coal…

South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) recently approved the licence applications of 63 more crypto asset service providers (CASPs). They are therefore now authorised to act as financial services providers. This brings the total number of approved CASPs to 138 of the current 383 applications. The good news is that this forms an important part of South Africa’s project in escaping its grey-listed status with the Financial Action Task Force. However, when it comes to taxpayers maintaining their compliance with SA Revenue Service (Sars), many crypto traders remain none the wiser about the correct tax treatment of their investments. In some ways, Sars and National Treasury expect crypto-active taxpayers to remain compliant while the rules around crypto are still abstract. The authorities are perceived by many to be putting…

Nigeria, a previous bright spot on big oil and gas investors’ radar screens, has dimmed substantially as investor attention is increasingly drawn to new and emerging developments in Namibia, Ivory Coast, Angola and the Republic of Congo. With two-thirds or more of its revenue coming from oil, investor flight is a serious problem for Nigeria. Big foreign players, including TotalEnergies and Shell, are exiting or shifting their priorities in Nigeria, rattled by a variety of deleterious forces: an uninviting regulatory environment, lack of transparency, safety issues, vandalism and theft, among other factors. For a country whose economy is dependent on fossil fuels, the divestment by majors, totalling around £17 billion (R400bn) since 2006, is catastrophic. Nigeria’s 37 trillion barrels of reserves can do the country no good underground. Among those…

SHOPRITE Group has partnered with National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) licensed energy trader, Enpower Trading, to participate in the City of Cape Town’s renewable energy wheeling pilot. This promised to be a new key tool in the company’s carbon reduction strategy, it said yesterday. “The pilot allows Shoprite to generate renewable energy at its Checkers Hyper Brackenfell at Fairbridge Mall, where it has a large embedded solar system and wheel the excess energy produced, through the municipal grid, to its head office campus,” it said. Shoprite said following on from the pilot phase, the retailer would have the opportunity to greatly increase its renewable energy penetration by sourcing further energy for its domestic retail footprint from Enpower Trading’s portfolio of renewable energy across the country. Enpower Trading is…

Merafe Resources’ attributable ferrochrome production, the Glencore Merafe Chrome Venture, fell about 17% to 154kt in the six months to June 30 compared to the same period a year before. Merafe said yesterday in a production and trading statement for the period that the lower production was due to the Rustenburg smelter, which had not been operational in 2024 due to prevailing market conditions. Merafe’s basic earnings per share was expected to be between 24.6 cents and 33 cents for the six months, between 21% and 41% lower than the 42 cents for the prior comparative period. Headline earnings per share (HEPS) was expected to be between 24 cents and 32.4 cents, a decline of between 23% and 43% compared to HEPS of 42 cents per share for the prior…

FORMER ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) member Tony Yengeni has responded to former president Jacob Zuma’s expulsion from the ANC, saying the whole disciplinary committee (DC) process was flawed. He was horrified to have learnt of Zuma’s expulsion from the ANC on social media, he said. Zuma was found guilty of prejudicing the integrity of the ANC and acting in collaboration with the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), in a virtual hearing. Zuma was initially slapped with a suspension after he launched the MKP in December, vowing to not vote for the ANC in the May 29 elections. However on Sunday, the ANC disciplinary committee report on why Zuma was expelled was leaked on social media. Yengeni was Zuma’s legal representative at the virtual hearing which the MKP labelled a “kangaroo…

As a plastic surgeon, I get a lot of questions about the difference between liposuction and abdominoplasty. Most women tend to gather fat around their central upper body: the tummy, back and bra fat rolls are a common problem. Plastic surgery offers a promise of great improvement in the appearance of these areas, by using liposuction or a tummy tuck to reconstruct and enhance the natural body shape. Liposuction and abdominoplasty are cosmetic procedures that aim to enhance the appearance of the abdomen, but they differ significantly in their goals, techniques, risks and outcomes. Liposuction is primarily used to remove localised fat deposits from the abdomen, thighs, and arms. The procedure involves making small incisions to insert a cannula, which breaks up and suctions out fat from the body. The…

FOUNDER of Mamelodi Skate Club Poelo Mofolo says he almost gave up on his dream to build a skate park for young people in the township after he was taken from pillar to post by government departments for three years while seeking empty land for his project. He said he first knocked on the door of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure after he was told the site he sought was under its jurisdiction. The officials at the department told him he needed to obtain permission from SAPS supply chain management in order to utilise the site he had identified for skateboarding activities. Mofolo said: “But SAPS said they didn’t own the land; it was only allocated to them by the department. I told them that the department is…

Spaces Africa, in partnership with SA Creatives, has launched African Art Spaces, a multi-sensory exhibition curated for the artist by the artist to redefine the creative landscape. African Art Spaces is a platform that connects Southern Africa’s most innovative artists in contemporary street art, design, and installations, irrespective of any specific artistic discipline. This past week, a parking lot in Braamfontein was turned into an artistic haven with exclusive and retailable collections from 10 avant-garde exhibitors, including Joburg Ash, Ellsphee, Damn Vandal, Cee The Creator, Kim Van Vuuren, Naledi Modupi, Zee Feels, Njabulo Hlophe, OUTSIDETHEWOODS, That Art Kid Lari, and Ellsphee. The occasion marked the start of an annual celebration of the creative diversity of the area and drew a wide audience of creatives, tastemakers, art collectors, culture connoisseurs, marketers,…

Production of gold from global bullion mines is projected to soar even higher, boosted by surging output from Africa – including South Africa – against the backdrop of higher prices, although producers are being held back from full profitability potential by rising costs and weakening demand. South African gold producers – such as Harmony Gold, Pan African Resources and AngloGold Ashanti among others – fed into the global gold supply for this year’s second quarter, which recorded a 4% rise to 1 258 tons compared to the same period last year. Gold prices under the London Bullion Market Association averaged new highs of $2 338 (R42 871) per ounce in the 2024 second-quarter period, representing an 18% jump on the prior year’s corresponding period and 13% firming compared to the…

The R40 million Da Vinci XI surgical robot, to be installed at the Busamed Gateway Private Hospital at Splendid Inn in Umhlanga today, is the first one like it in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), says Imraan Soomra, the CEO of EASE Holdings. In an interview with Business Report, Soomra said South Africa currently had 12 other Da Vinci robots across the country, so this would be the country’s 13th. “By providing surgeons with better vision, and improved dexterity, as well as better precision and ergonomic comfort, the Da Vinci robotic system enables more surgeons to perform complex minimally invasive procedures. It allows surgeons to perform complex surgeries through small incisions, which can lead to less pain, reduced blood loss, quicker recovery times and shorter hospital stays for patients,” Soomra said. EASE South…

Not too long ago, South Africa was crippled by endless hours of power cuts. Load shedding became the new normal as the economy and livelihoods were shredded at the alter of incompetence. All it took to turn things around was for public anger to reached beyond gatvol. The game-changer was that South Africa faced elections. It was obvious that either the governing party, the ANC, was going to be kicked out of power because of the public wrath over its failure to halt the power crisis or it needed to swiftly get the lights back on. Which it did and we are enjoying. However, South Africans can neither be complacent nor take this moment of lights being on as thinking that the power situation is in the clear. For several…

BHP will pay $2.1 billion (R38.7bn) for its interest in Filo Corporation, a Canadian copper miner, that the company is jointly acquiring under a joint venture with Lundin Mining Corporation, a diversified metals company that operates in Brazil, Chile and Portugal among other jurisdictions. BHP has been on the lookout to bolster its copper ambitions. In May, Anglo American rejected BHP’s takeover offer. Filo Corp owns the Filo del Sol copper project in Canada, with BHP and Lundin Mining agreeing to form a 50/50 joint venture to hold the FDS as well as the Josemaria projects (owned by Lundin Mining) located in the Vicuña district of Argentina and Chile. Under the joint venture, BHP and Lundin will develop the emerging copper district touted to have “world-class” potential. BHP traded 2.54%…

SOUTH African Queen of Afrosoul, Lira feels “blessed” and “grateful” to be performing after suffering a stroke two years ago. The Feel Good hitmaker went through a harrowing medical ordeal, which left her unable to read, write or speak. Following her recovery, the 45-year- old returned to the stage, with her headline act at the Bassline Fest’s Africa Day celebrations in Joburg in May, being her first performance since 2022. This month, she joined iconic composer and performer Lebo M as well as Shekhinah, Vusi Nova and the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, for the Disney’s The Lion King 30th Anniversary Tribute Special, held at the University of the Witwatersrand Linder Auditorium. The award-winning musician also took to the stage this weekend at the Magic Music Sessions concert, held at…

Crime rates in South Africa have reached alarming levels, prompting urgent calls for swift and comprehensive reforms by the Independent Policing Union of South Africa (Ipusa). Ipusa’s statement came in response to recent incidents, including the tragic mass shootings in Kanana, North West, which claimed at least eight lives. The shooting evoked memories of the widespread violence during the July 2021 unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, where about 400 lives were lost and infrastructure destroyed. The SAPS had failed the people in times of crisis, Ipusa president Nepthal Nkuna said, highlighting concerns raised by the Human Rights Commission with regard to potentially similar incidents this year. In July 2023, numerous cargo trucks destined for harbours were set ablaze. According to Ipusa, 85 lives are lost in South Africa daily to…

The revamped and now profitable SAA could be attractive to a potential suitor, aviation experts said yesterday. They said Qatar Airways had recently said it would make an imminent announcement on a southern African partner, but the jury was out on who it would be. Speculation on the future of the airline spiked at the weekend after Deputy President Paul Mashatile said that selling a majority stake of SAA to those in the private sector with the capital and expertise to turn the embattled state-owned entity around may be the best way forward. Although the recent Takatso deal did not take off, Mashatile said that while the airline’s performance seemed to be improving, the original plan to bring the private sector on board to make the airline profitable was the…

A SURVEY by InfoQuest has found that job-hopping is prevalent among South African young people, in particular, Generation Z (Gen Z). InfoQuest, a South African online research company, conducted a survey of 300 young people, stating that 73% of those between 18 to 24 years old, held more than one job, while the 25 to 34 age group climbed to 92%. The survey said 27% of Gen Z were first-time workers, unlike the 8% of the 25 to 34 young participants. The 18-24 age group represented 59% of those holding more than two jobs, while the latter age group stood at 57%. With technology advancing, the job spec has broadened. Young people are less loyal to a company, and seek better job opportunities compared to their counterparts (25 to 34…

THE recognition of the Union Buildings by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) as a World Heritage Site because of its cultural and historical significance, is set to boost its status as a tourist attraction. Tshwane deputy mayor Nasiphi Moya said this following the awarding of the Unesco inscription of the government’s headquarters at Unesco’s World Heritage Committee meeting held in New Delhi, India, from July 21 – 31. “I am pleased with the international recognition of the Union Buildings, which will strengthen its attraction,” she said. Moya, who is also the Social Development MMC, said sites recognised as culturally and historically significant were legally protected by international treaties, and deemed to hold importance for all of humanity. “The recognition of the Union Buildings falls within a…

This year marks five years since Drip, a popular sneaker and apparel brand, was launched by Lekau Sehoana, but this milestone has been overshadowed by controversy around his personal life. This follows reports that Sehoana’s ex-wife and his son were evicted from a property in Waterfall, which he refuted in a statement claiming that they were diverting attention from the celebration of the brand. The statement shared across social media platforms, read: “I have noted media outlets running with the story that I, my soon-to-be ex-wife, and my son were evicted out of a property in Waterfall. The story is factually incorrect, and it is intended to divert the public’s attention from DRIP’s five-year celebration. “First, I have not lived with my soon-to-be ex-wife since 2021, and I have no…

The Blue Bulls are a far cry from where they were in last year’s Currie Cup at this stage of the season, but they are not getting carried away by their success. It was a tough introduction to senior-level coaching for former player Edgar Marutlulle, whose Bulls team suffered some big defeats last year, with the final straw being a defeat to the Griffons in Welkom. Marutlulle was soon sent back to the Bulls’ junior structures by director of rugby Jake White, who took over and helped the side reach the semi-finals. But it has been smooth sailing for new head coach Phiwe Nomlomo, with the Bulls winning four games in a row to top the Currie Cup log on 18 points. Their latest triumph was a come-from-behind effort against…