Star 2025-02-04

Despite setbacks in platinum and diamonds, sectors like chrome and coal showed resilience The South African mining industry remained under pressure in 2024 as lower non-gold commodity prices resulted in lower profitability among miners and caused some 12 000 job losses, Minerals Council economist Hugo Pienaar said. Speaking at the Investing in African Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town on Monday, Peinaar said the sector was also impacted by logistic sector problems, and that the challenges in the sector were diluted to some extent by the positive impact from the absence of mining load curtailment by Eskom since end-March 2024. This meant that from depressed levels in 2023 there was only a marginal improvement in real mining production during 2024. He said there were low basket prices in platinum…

Shares in Tiger Brands slumped by 2.63% on the JSE yesterday after the company said it had reached an agreement to compensate individuals affected by an earlier outbreak of listeriosis in South Africa. Between 2017 and 2018, South Africa was rocked by an outbreak of listeriosis that may have resulted from meat products produced by Enterprise Foods, a division of Tiger Brands in Polokwane. The outbreak affected about 1000 people, with 216 deaths suspected to have emanated from the outbreak. On Monday, Tiger Brands said it had reached an agreement with Richard Spoor Inc and LHL Attorneys representing those affected by the listeriosis outbreak in a class action “for advance payments” to be made. The payments will be made to persons who are seeking interim assistance to address urgent medical…

The Automotive Business Council (naamsa) on Monday released vehicle sales data for January 2025. naamsa said it expressed optimism that the positive momentum of the fourth quarter of 2024 continued into the first month of 2025, as the industry recorded a gain of new vehicle sales of 10.4% year on year. “We are absolutely confident that an improved economic outlook, coupled with higher business and consumer sentiment, will support the new vehicle market in 2025. “Aggregate domestic new vehicle sales in January 2025, at 46 398 units, reflected an increase of 4 375 units, or a gain of 10.4%, from the 42 023 vehicles sold in January 2024. Export sales increased by 5 803 units, or 29.7%, to 25 348 units in January 2025 compared to the 19,545 vehicles exported…

US President Donald Trump’s early Monday morning announcement that he would stop providing aid to South Africa following the signing into law of the Expropriation Act towards the end of last month sent the rand into a tailspin. In an address to the media, Trump said he was singling South Africa out on the continent due to the new law. “Terrible things are happening in South Africa ... they're confiscating land and actually they're doing things that are perhaps far worse than that." The rand went through R19 to the dollar at midnight on Monday, before settling somewhat at the top end of the R18 to the dollar range. The local currency regained ground and was pegged at R18.74 to the dollar at 6pm. Anchor Capital’s CEO, Peter Armitage, speaking…

There has been widespread concern from experts and different economic sectors following Elon Musk’s comments on X that the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the main US agency for foreign aid, is a criminal organisation that is being run by radical lunatics. Musk further added that he was considering the future of US AID. International relations expert Dr Noluthando Phungula from the University of KwaZulu-Natal said it would be catastrophic if USAID was stopped. “And this is on multiple fronts including but not limited to public health, humanitarian efforts and even economic development across the globe. Cessation of assistance would be a major setback, undoing much of the progress made. The USAID funds the majority of health programs in the underdeveloped world.” Phungula added that South Africa also…

As the political landscape in the US continues to spark debate, two leading property experts have shared their perspectives on President Donald Trump and his impact on the property sector. With Trump’s deep-rooted ties to the industry and his business-centric policies, opinions among property executives remain divided. Some view his tenure as a period of economic growth and deregulation, while others highlight concerns over volatility and policy uncertainty. Here’s what these two industry leaders had to say about Trump and his influence on the property market. Adrian Goslett the regional director and CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa: As the world reflects on the political and economic implications of Donald Trump’s presidency, questions arise regarding the ripple effects on markets far beyond the US. In South Africa, the…