Новости за 01.02.2021

While it is a relief that the liquor sales ban has been lifted, there should be "more structured engagement" from government with the sector so that they are not surprised with sudden restrictions, an industry representative has said.  President Cyril Ramaphosa's announced on Monday night that the contentious ban on the sale of alcohol would be partly lifted.

Real estate share prices and the underlying fundamentals of commercial property assets weakened in early 2020, as South Africa and the rest of the world came to grips with managing through the pandemic, says industry association the South Africa Reit Association chairperson Estienne de Klerk. He notes that the country’s real estate investment trusts (Reits) recovered somewhat in the final months of 2020, indicating the potential start of a long-term uptrend in the real estate sector.

In his statement within the State-owned defence industrial group Denel’s 2019/2020 annual report, interim CEO Talib Sadik addressed the failure of the company to fully pay the salaries of its employees last year, even though this fell within the 2020/2021 financial year. He blamed the group’s lack of liquidity and the Covid-19 pandemic. “The most important risk that has been threatening the sustainability of the organisation over recent years is the liquidity challenge it is experiencing,” he highlighted. Читать дальше...

Technology group Wärtsilä South Africa has achieved a Level 4 broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) rating. The company has been operating in South Africa since 1994 and has a good record in Africa, having supplied more than 7 000 MW of power plants across the continent.

“We need exploration to grow our industry,” Minerals Council South Africa president Mxolisi Mgojo said on Monday during a virtual State of the Mining Nation media briefing in which he described exploration as one of the low-hanging fruits that could change South Africa’s economic trajectory in the short term. Mgojo flashed a graph on to computer screens showing the plunge in direct investment, as well as underperformance of the South African economy, and said: “If we don't fix this, the spectre of... Читать дальше...

During the 2019/2020 financial year, exports accounted for 42% of Denel’s business, with Asia being the single biggest export market, taking 24% of the South African State-owned defence industrial group’s business. Perhaps surprisingly, Europe and North America came in joint second place, with 5% each. Africa and the Middle East each accounted for 4% (but Denel also has a number of joint ventures in Middle Eastern countries). South Africa itself was responsible for the remaining 58%. In its annual report for 2019/2020... Читать дальше...

New-vehicle sales fell by 13.9% in January, to 34 784 units, compared with the same month last year. An estimated 28 716 units, or 82.6%, were dealer sales, with 11.4% going to the vehicle rental industry, 3.5% to government, and 2.5% of total sales to industry corporate fleets.

Poland-focused real estate investment trust EPP has advised that the Polish government has allowed shopping centres to reopen on February 1. This follows after the country went into a three-week partial lockdown from December 28, with large shopping centres having remained restricted from trading.

Renewable power producer Scatec on February 1 confirmed that it had received all necessary approvals for its $1.16-billion buyout of SN Power from Norfund and that all suspensive conditions have been met. “This acquisition forms a very important part of our broadened growth strategy, with ambitions to become a global player in solar, hydro, wind and storage solutions, and an integrator of high-value infrastructure solutions," said Scatec CEO Raymond Carlsen.

Industry organisation the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) says recent economic data shows that the meals and engineering (M&E) sector has a long and difficult road ahead to recovery, despite hope that interventions may provide some relief for industry players. These interventions include President Cyril Ramaphosa’s economic stimulus recovery plan.

The Construction Industry Development Board's (cidb's) SME Confidence Survey for the fourth quarter of 2020 showed mixed results in the performance of the building and construction sector. For general builders, conditions, especially activity, worsened compared with the previous survey round, which weighed on confidence.

The automotive industry needs a “significant financial stimulus package” from government to allow it to accelerate its recovery, says National Automobile Dealers’ Association (Nada) chairperson Mark Dommisse. “The most effective way to increase sales will be to make new vehicles more affordable by reducing the huge portion of the purchase price that goes to government in various forms of taxation.

The seasonally-adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has edged up slightly to 50.9 points in January, from 50.3 in December. While higher month-on-month, the January reading is still much lower than the average recorded in the last quarter of 2020.

South African State-owned defence industrial group Denel released its 2019/20 annual report on Monday. The period covered by the report does not include the very difficult months for the group that followed the commencement of the 2020/21 financial year at the start of last April. From last May, Denel had failed to pay its employees their full salaries, nor the other statutory payments it was required to make.

Venture capital firm Empowerment Capital on February 1 announced that it had approved and placed a total of R162-million into 13 South African start-ups between July 2019 and February 2021, with R32.5-million approved for placement in three new ventures in the coming weeks. Although investment activity was subdued across the board in 2020, it was an extraordinary deal making year for Empowerment Capital and its investment funds Andzani Ventures, Imvelo Ventures and Thuthuka Nathi Ventures, says Empowerment... Читать дальше...

Corruption in the procurement, distribution and administration of vaccines can not only be avoided, but stamped out entirely using a standard operating procedure, created by operators in the extended supply chain, for the clearance of international imports of the Covid-19 vaccines, saYS South African Association of Freight Forwarders chairperson Dr Juanita Maree.

Transnet’s Phelophepa I train has arrived in the Eastern Cape province, as it starts its yearly programme to provide primary healthcare services, including Covid-19 screening and testing. The train, which has recently undergone its yearly maintenance programme, will be visiting several communities in the province from February 1 to April 16.

Industry organisation the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA) says South Africa had a record-breaking 2020 export season that delivered 146-million cartons of citrus to the rest of the world. “These figures indicate phenomenal growth within the South African citrus industry, which remains the second-largest exporter of fresh citrus in the world after Spain.

The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) is investing an estimated R500-million in a road infrastructure project in the Buffalo City metropolitan municipality, in the Eastern Cape. The contract will involve the improvement of the N2 national road from Green River to Buffalo River Bridge.

The imperative of economic growth is now even more obvious than at the start of the pandemic, which was characterised by a period of rapid action by the government, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso said in a weekly newsletter. She noted that, in March 2020, a state of disaster was declared and many emergency regulations were fast-tracked.

South Africa’s first consignment of Covid-19 vaccines will arrive in the country on Monday, from the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer. One-million doses of the long-awaited Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine will be rolled out to frontline health workers, as part of government’s phased approach to distributing vaccines.

Using information from 126 whistleblower reports, anti-corruption nonprofit organisation Corruption Watch's 'Covid-19 TERS Corruption at Work' report reveals that mismanagement and corruption is preventing Temporary Employer / Employee Relief Scheme benefits from reaching all eligible employees. The most common type of allegation was of employers receiving the TERS but failing to pay it over to the employees, followed by employers claiming a TERS benefit for employees who were working. Other examples... Читать дальше...

The Small Business Institute (SBI) has shared its discontent about certain provisions in the National Small Enterprise Amendment Bill, which has been gazetted for public comment, albeit not in “draft” format as is customary. The SBI is most concerned with the provisions in Chapter 3A, which the organisation says sets out sweeping powers for both the Minister and a proposed Ombud, potentially encroaching on, and overriding, already established civil and contract law in South Africa.

The World Bank has committed $12-billion to African countries to support vaccination programs, the South African Presidency said in a statement on its website on Saturday. The World Bank money will be in the form of grants or on “highly concessional terms,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in the statement.