Star 2024-09-09

PREMIER FMCG has confirmed that it has reduced production capacity at its confectionery plant, Mister Sweet, due to a three-week ongoing crippling workers’ strike. Employees at Premier’s Wadeville confectionery operations embarked on a protected strike last month due to a wage dispute as they demand a living wage of R19 500 from the current R6 000 per month for the lowest paid workers. Premier’s Wadeville Confectionery manufacturing facility produces sugar confectionery for Mister Sweet, Manhattan, Champion, Frutus, Candy Tops and Rascal brands for the broader SADC market and some international markets. Premier on Friday said it reached an agreement with the union, UCIMeshawu, to implement a 7% wage increase backdated to January 2024, which is above average wage inflation. While this was accepted by the majority, Premier said…

PETER Steenkamp, the chief executive of Harmony Gold, says he is seeing offshoots of stability and recovery in South Africa’s operating environment under the Government of National Unity (GNU), though feels more needs to be done to address investor concerns around crime and logistics as there has already been steady improvements in electricity supply. Harmony Gold last week lifted headline earnings per share for the year to end June 2024 by 132%, driven by higher gold and elevated production boosted by higher grades and cost containment, with Steenkamp saying there was strong support for bullion prices to remain elevated. Harmony Gold has said it is preserving cash for capital projects aimed at solidifying its production profile, while it is also investing in copper. Steenkamp last week emphasised that the company…

THE ROLLOUT of the Two-pot retire- ment system has led to a surge in activity for Sanlam Corporate, which received more than 20 000 savings component claims via its portal and app in just the first two working days of September, according to the Financial Services Provider. According to Sanlam, this volume far exceeds the monthly average of 7 000 to 8 000 retirement, withdrawal, or retrenchment claims usually processed by Sanlam Corporate. The average claim amount remained steady at R20 000 over the two days. “Most claims were processed through Sanlam’s straight-through processing capabilities, requiring minimal manual intervention” said Nzwa Shoniwa, Man- aging Executive at Sanlam Corporate. “This indicates effective communication with our clients prior to Two-pot imple- mentation and the success of the prepa-…

CONSUMERS in South Africa will be able to stretch their rand a little further this month after the fuel price decreases were announced this past week. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy dropped the prices of both grades of petrol by 92 cents a litre, while diesel eased by between 79c (500ppm) and R1.05 (50ppm). This means a litre of 95 Unleaded petrol costs R21.40 at the coast and R22.19 in Gauteng, and the cheaper 93 Unleaded is retailing at R21.79. This is the lowest petrol prices since February 2023. The DMRE said September’s petrol and diesel price decreases come mostly as a result of lower international fuel prices, while a slightly stronger rand added around 11c to the equation. Henry van der Merwe, chairperson of…

CHINA’s State-owned construction company could soon be contracted to build some of South Africa’s landmark construction projects. The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, on Friday concluded his visit to China by signing two declarations of intent with the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) and ASI Global in China. This followed an official State visit by President Cyril Ramaphosa to help achieve the vision of turning South Africa into a construction site, growing the economy and creating thousands of new jobs. The CCCC is a leading global comprehensive service provider of ultra-large infrastructure, mainly engaged in the investment, construction and operation of transportation infrastructure, equipment manufacturing, real estate and urban comprehensive development. It erected the Hong Kong-Zhuhai- Macao Bridge, the longest sea crossing bridge in the world, with…

IS THE SOUTHERN African Customs Union (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa – Sacu) in danger of slowly disintegrating, and this is not good for any of the people living in the union. The objective of any customs union is to improve the welfare of the member states more than if they were not members. The best example of this is the European Union (EU), which has, on average, improved the wellbeing of its members. But Sacu, despite being the oldest customs union in the world has not delivered on this promise, and I’m not sure it can unless some rather drastic steps are taken. All the customs and excise duties collected in the five countries is put into the Common Revenue Pool which is then shared between the…