Star 2025-05-21

Nissan Africa has moved to alleviate concerns regarding the potential closure of its plants, particularly the Rosslyn Plant in Pretoria amidst reports of a drastic corporate restructuring plan by its Japanese parent company. The news has sent waves of anxiety through the workforce and the automotive sector, given Nissan Japan's recently announced intention to consolidate its global production facilities. In response to Business Report on Tuesday about which plants would be affected, Nissan Africa head of communications and PR, Ramy Mohareb, clarified that the reports about the closure of specific plants were not substantiated by official communication from the company. Mohareb said the group was still focused on its operations and the dedicated workforce driving its success. The re:Nissan recovery plan, aimed at cutting the number of global production plants…

An urgent Section 150 meeting organised by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to avert a potential strike by thousands of workers at Transnet took place on Tuesday. This followed the United National Transport Union's (UNTU) assertion that they have yet to receive a revised wage proposal from Transnet, despite ongoing negotiations. The union has threatened to issue a 48-hour notice of industrial action if no wage offer is received, which could cripple South Africa's vital freight and transport sector. UNTU general secretary, Cobus van Vuuren, said they would attend the s150 meeting but emphasised that no further negotiations will take place henceforth. “UNTU expects a revised wage proposal to be tabled at this meeting. Should this not materialise, the union will exercise its constitutional right by issuing…

Renergen’s share price rockets 44.7% following announcement of surprising deal Renergen’s share price rocketed 44.7% on Tuesday following the announcement of one of the most surprising deals on the JSE this year, the buyout offer for South Africa’s only onshore gas production company by Nasdaq-listed ASP Isotopes, to create a merged company focused on globally sought-after critical materials. ASP Isotopes, which only last month indicated it wished to do a secondary listing on the JSE later this year, has made a firm share-for-share offer to acquire 100% of the shares in Renergen, by way of a scheme of arrangement or standby general offer. Renergen’s shares traded at R10.13 on the JSE Tuesday, up 44.7%. In the US, ASPI’s share price fell 10.7% to $6.71. Renergen’s market capitalisation was R1.09 billion…

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has come out in support of the Daybreak Foods' board of directors' decision to place the company under business rescue. In a statement on Tuesday, the PIC - a major creditor and shareholder of Daybreak Foods - said it was of the firm belief that the company can be rescued and must be rescued. The PIC said that business rescue was the best path to preserve the company's value and potential, saving approximately 3 000 jobs, and importantly, to realise returns for clients and their beneficiaries on their investment. "The successful application to place Daybreak under business rescue paves the way to appoint a business rescue practitioner who will assist Daybreak to assess the extent of disruption to operations and produce a credible turnaround strategy…

The expulsion of South Africa’s (SA) ambassador to the United States (US), Ebrahim Rasool, in mid-March marked a new low in the often contentious relationship between Pretoria and Washington. Triggered by Rasool’s public criticism of US President Donald Trump’s administration, the incident underscores the fragile nature of US–SA diplomatic ties. Though economic cooperation has continued, particularly in trade, investment, and aid, longstanding ideological and geopolitical differences have frequently placed the two nations at odds on global issues. This diplomatic flashpoint raises an important question (especially considering President Cyril Ramaphosa’s meeting with Trump at the White House this week): Will it lead to a lasting rupture or offer an opportunity to recalibrate the bilateral relationship, potentially leading to a more constructive and mutually beneficial future? Central to answering this are three…

South African poultry producers have the capacity to make up for the loss of Brazilian chicken meat imports due to an outbreak of avian influenza (bird flu) in that country. We are currently producing about 21.5 million chickens per week, and the industry has the capacity to increase this by about another million birds per week. As the winter months are a period of lower demand for chicken, the additional supply should be sufficient to ensure there are no shortages of chicken meat, or price increases because of shortages. Brazil announced the bird flu outbreak at the end of last week. As a result, the Department of Agriculture is expected to ban the import of all fresh and frozen chicken from Brazil. Brazil has no compartmentalisation agreement with South Africa,…