Star 2025-05-28

Harmony’s acquisition of CSA Copper cements company’s diversification strategy Harmony Gold’s acquisition of the CSA Copper mine in Australia for R18.4 billion has cemented the company’s diversification strategy and foray into copper. Copper, deemed a future proofing mineral, has been the center of merger and acquisition activity among South African and global miners. Now, Harmony Gold, with its diverse footprint of gold in South Africa, is intensifying its exposure in copper. “The large brownfields projects being pursued by the group are all in copper, signifying Harmony Gold’s strategy to diversify away from gold. However, Harmony will predominantly remain a gold producer even after the slated developments are scheduled to come on-stream,” Robbie Proctor, an investment analyst at Anchor Capital, told Business Report on Tuesday. The company entered into a binding…

President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaking at the 2025 Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa (SIDSSA) in Cape Town, described infrastructure as the “flywheel” of economic growth and job creation. He outlined plans to leverage infrastructure to drive progress, reduce inequality, and position South Africa as an investment destination. “Infrastructure is fundamental to our country’s development,” Ramaphosa said, noting its role in boosting trade and reducing business costs, especially with the African Continental Free Trade Area’s 1.3 billion-person market. He highlighted the Construction Book 2024/2025 by Infrastructure South Africa (ISA), detailing 250 fully funded projects worth over R238 billion, a record for public investment in roads, energy, water, logistics, and social infrastructure. Public infrastructure spending is projected to exceed R1 trillion over the next three years, the fastest-growing budget item. However, financial…

Africa's economic output is expected to grow by 3.9% this year, the African Development Bank said in its annual African Economic Outlook report on Tuesday, quickening from last year's pace of 3.3%. However, this year's forecast, which covers economies of all its 54 member states, represents a 0.2 percentage points downgrade from the bank's initial forecast, the development lender said during its annual meeting in Ivory Coast, mainly due to the shocks caused by new trade tariffs imposed by the US. The bank, which is Africa's biggest development lender with $318 billion (R5.7 trillion) in capital, also cut its initial 2026 growth forecast by 0.4 percentage points to 4.0%, citing the same uncertainty from trade tariffs. "Since January 2025, the world has experienced additional shocks, exacerbating an already complex global…

Cosatu has said the proposed One Stop Border Bill's silence on the uncontrolled explosion of illegal migration and exports flooding into South Africa threatens local jobs, businesses, value chains, and revenue needed to fund public services. This is as the federation also criticised the Department of Home Affairs' reneging on an agreement to table the Bill at Nedlac for engagement with social partners. In submissions to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on the One Stop Border Bill on Tuesday, Cosatu, along with the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office, raised concerns about the rampant corruption at various border posts. Cosatu Parliamentary spokesperson Matthew Parks said administrative areas of concern included the silence on specific roles of the Border Management Agency (BMA), South African Revenue Service (Sars), the South African Police Service,…

Minister for Minerals and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe said South Africa is initiating discussions with Zambia and Zimbabwe on the possibility of running the electricity transmission line from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) under the Grand Inga project, through which 2 500 megawatts are envisaged for the country. Mantashe was responding to questions from members of the Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Petroleum Resources on Tuesday, who had asked about the status of the project and what the country was doing to harness regional collaboration following the decision to postpone participation in the project. "The Grand Inga project is not ours; it’s a DRC project, given to the Spanish and Chinese. We have a right to buy equity in it, which would have to be approved by the DRC.…

The Conduct of Financial Institutions (COFI) Bill, soon to be submitted to Cabinet, is a critical opportunity to address arbitrary bank account closures in South Africa. These closures threaten economic stability, undermine fairness, and grant banks unchecked power to act as de facto regulators of public and private life. However, the Bill in its current form fails to adequately protect the right to bank. I urge parliamentarians to scrutinise this legislation and demand reforms that enshrine procedural fairness, as recommended by the Zondo Commission and grounded in the audi alteram partem principle. Cabinet must address these shortcomings by ensuring the COFI Bill incorporates robust protections, including the right to a fair hearing, as recommended by the Zondo Commission and supported by the audi alteram partem principle. The audi alteram partem…