Новости за 20.01.2021

An annual wealth tax on the net worth of South Africa’s richest people could raise as much as R160-billion and would narrow inequality in a nation where the most affluent 1% of the population own 55% of personal wealth, a study showed. The study, carried out by groups including the World Inequality Lab of which Thomas Piketty is co-director, assessed personal wealth in South Africa and proposed a range of taxes on net wealth of above R3.82-million, or the top 1% of the population.

About 236 students will benefit from bursaries to be awarded by MultiChoice South Africa (SA), worth R26-million, in 2021. The bursaries will be provided to students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, broadcasting, media, film and television, human resources, finance, economics, law, communications, UI/UX/CX design, consumer insights and advertising.

The Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa) is concerned with the increasing losses of income being reported in the hospitality industry. The continued financial strain being placed upon the industry is further evidence of the need for an accelerated rollout of South Africa’s vaccination programme, the association lamented in a statement on January 20.

Situated close to the iconic Mall of Africa, as well as the Sandton and Midrand central business districts (CBDs), the new Courtyard Hotel at Waterfall City, in Midrand, is officially welcoming guests. The hotel is within walking distance of the Mall of Africa’s various amenities and is close to the Gautrain bus service and a secure bicycle parking facility, which means the hotel takes advantage of its location within the Waterfall City development to promote the use of sustainable public transport.

The South African arm of Heineken will cut 70 jobs and put new investments on hold in the country due to the significant impact of bans on alcohol sales and Covid-19 trading restrictions, it said on Wednesday. South Africa has recently banned alcohol sales for the third time as part of efforts to free up space for Covid-19 patients in hospitals burdened with alcohol-related injuries.

A “delicate” balancing act between chrome ore mining and stainless steel production may be under threat as South Africa changes its export tax regime to boost the commodity’s “welfare benefits” and to favour local chrome buyers instead of foreign buyers, Simon le Roux, a student at Rhodes University, states in a thesis paper. Under the supervision of Rhodes University professor Gavin Keeton and with reference to Dr Ferdi Botha, Le Roux posits that, historically and traditionally, South Africa produces... Читать дальше...

The United Nations is warning that the humanitarian crisis in the gas-rich Cabo Delgado province, of northern Mozambique, has escalated dramatically over the past 12 months with more than 500 000 people having been displaced as a result a religiously inspired conflict. The UN launched an appeal on December 18, following a multi-agency mission to the territory, in a bid to raise $254-million for a 2021 humanitarian response plan.

Steel magnate Eric Samson, best known for building Macsteel into one of South Africa's largest companies, has died aged 83.   The octogenarian billionaire – who shied away from the spotlight throughout his life – died in Newport, California. He had a career spanning more than five decades in the steel industry and made his fortune, which was valued at some $1.1-billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in 2015 and over $1-billion by Wealth-X in 2018, primarily through steel and real estate assets.

South Africa’s groundwater, on which nearly two-thirds of South Africa depends solely or partially on for domestic use, needs to be used wisely, said University of the Free State Institute for Groundwater Studies director and geohydrologist Dr Eelco Lukas. Groundwater, a significant source of water and in some parts of the country the only source of potable water, is becoming increasingly important in the water-stressed country and can be found almost everywhere.

Nobody is suffering more from a global chocolate standoff than the Côte d'Ivoire cocoa farmer. Less than two years after the top cocoa producer teamed up with neighboring Ghana to force companies from Hershey Co. to Nestle SA to pay more for their beans, the attempt to exert control over prices is backfiring. Buyers are refusing to pay up, beans are piling in warehouses upcountry and farmers are so desperate that some even slept outside the offices of Côte d'Ivoire’s cocoa regulator demanding action.

Zeerust Solar, in the North West province, has started commercial operations, having achieved full compliance on January 1. This 100% South African-owned photovoltaic (PV) project joins the Bokamoso and Waterloo Solar plants, putting the North West on the map as a player in the renewable energy sector, not only delivering additional power to the country’s national grid, but also to benefit the rural communities through impactful economic development programmes, Zeerust Solar said in a statement.

Technology company Siemens South Africa has joined forces with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Eastern Cape Department of Health to provide a separate modular hospital solution to the Cecilia Makiwane Hospital, in East London. This modular solution, with a 100-bed capacity, will be erected as an extension of the hspital for the purpose of easing the burden on the hospital amid the second wave... Читать дальше...

South African wine, cider and spirits company Distell will soon be able to offer cannabidiol-infused drinks after taking a 20% stake in cannabis wellness business RETHINK, it said on Wednesday. Distell's investment gives it access to RETHINK's brand and product range, which includes oils, capsules and teas made from cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical compound found in the cannabis plant that is gaining popularity for uses ranging from relaxation to skin care.

Britain's Northern Ireland minister said he would engage with the aerospace sector over tariff issues on raw materials. Asked by a lawmaker about concerns from aerospace companies about an additional tariff which is being placed on goods considered to be 'at risk' for the sector which when processed are allowed tariff-free access to the European Union.

Peugeot Citroen South Africa (PCSA) has announced that it will take over responsibility for German car brand Opel in the local market. This comes as US manufacturer General Motors (GM) in 2017 sold Opel to the French PSA group, which owns, among others, the Peugeot, Vauxhall and Citroën brands.

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to create economic uncertainty worldwide and several financial technology companies (fintechs) have started to realign their growth strategies, with some fintechs at the forefront of seizing new opportunities, while others need to reinstate their efforts to stay relevant to the market, says business data and analytics company GlobalData senior fintech analyst Ayushi Tandon. The current requirement in the financial services industry is to navigate through the uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Читать дальше...

Mobile and modular power solutions provider Aggreko has signed a ten-year contract with global miner Gold Fields to provide a 25.9 MW hybrid solar and thermal power solution for the Salares Norte openpit gold/silver mine, in Chile. This solution has been designed to provide power for the entire mine, which sits at an altitude of 4 500 m in the Andes mountain range and is 190 km from the nearest town.

The sale of illicit, tax-evading cigarettes has become "endemic" across South Africa in the wake last year’s 5-month Covid-19 lockdown blanket ban on tobacco trade, according to an undercover investigation and subsequent report by Tax Justice SA (TJSA). TJSA’s undercover team visited over 40 mainstream retail and wholesale outlets across Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban to secretly film cigarettes being sold at a price below the minimum tax that must be paid on them by law.

South Africa’s wine export volumes of 2020, which amount to 319.2-million litres, echo that of a challenging 2019, despite a five-week long ban on exports and challenges at the Cape Town Port terminal owing to Covid-19. This follows on from a good 2020 harvest and vineyard recovery following the drought experienced in the South African winegrowing regions from 2015 through to 2018.

Despite the overall domestic new-vehicle market contracting by 29.1% last year, Suzuki Auto South Africa (SASA) and its 71 dealers celebrated its most successful year yet since the launch of the Japanese small-car specialist in the local market. SASA grew its sales by 6.7% in 2020, to 16 527 vehicles.

The South African government is establishing an electronic vaccination data system to assist with the management and surveillance of the Covid-19 vaccine. The EVDS will help the government monitor vaccine effectiveness, planning and safety monitoring, as well as uptake and coverage, explained the Department of Health’s deputy director-general Dr Anban Pillay. The EVDS will roll out simultaneously with the vaccine in early February.

Lifting the licensing threshold for distributed-generation projects to 50 MW or higher could unlock an estimated 5 000 MW of additional capacity in five years and go a long way to rapidly easing South Africa’s debilitating power supply constraints. This is the conclusion of a Meridian Economics analysis of a recent industry survey conducted by EE Business Intelligence at the request of Meridian Economics.

With the UK’s departure from the European Union’s (EU’s) single market and customs union at the start of this year, London has deregulated, among other commodities, citrus fruit and leaf imports. The UK is a major market for South Africa’s citrus sector, reportedly taking 9.5% of the country’s citrus exports in 2019. Only the Netherlands took a larger proportion (17%). China was in third place (7.6%).  “Leaving the EU single market and customs union means we can tailor regulation and import controls... Читать дальше...

Kasada Capital Management – through the debut fund, Kasada Hospitality Fund – has acquired a portfolio of eight sub-Saharan African hotels from AccorInvest. The transaction relates to the Pullman, Novotel, Ibis Plateau and Ibis Marcory hotels in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; the Pullman, Novotel and Ibis hotels in Dakar, Senegal; and the Ibis hotel in Douala, Cameroon.