Новости за 02.08.2021

Industry veteran Lucio Trentini has been appointed CEO of the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) with immediate effect. Trentini, until his appointment as CEO, was the operations director at Seifsa. He has been with the organisation since 1990 and, over the last two decades, has been involved at management and executive level at Seifsa and has been actively involved in the leadership of the federation.

Consultancy Redflank has, through its BeyondCOVID research initiative, determined that small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) have been hit hardest by the impact of riots in recent weeks. SMMEs account for 89% of the businesses impacted by the civil unrest in parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal in the middle of July.

The deadline for projects selected as preferred bids under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) to reach commercial close has been extended to September 30, from an initial deadline of the end of July. However, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) insists that the decision will not delay its other procurement programmes, which are either under way or scheduled for launch later this year.

The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has relaunched its R61 upgrade project, aimed at upgrading the road from Bayiza to Mthatha Airport, in the Eastern Cape. The project came to a standstill in June 2018 when the previous contractor was placed under business rescue and subsequently liquidated.

The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) has announced that its CEO Cyril Vuyani Gamede has died at the age of 58. Chairperson Dr Natalie Skeepers says he made a great difference at the CIDB since his appointment in January 2020, all the while believing that construction projects can turn around the country’s economy.

The events that dominated the headlines in July in South Africa cost the local automotive industry well over R3-billion, says Naamsa | The Automotive Business Council CEO Mikel Mabasa. These include looting and civil unrest in Kwazulu-Natal and certain parts of Gauteng, a cyberattack on Transnet port operations that curtailed vehicle export and import operations, as well as Alert Level 4 Covid-19 lockdown restrictions that lasted for more than five weeks.

Telecommunications group MTN expects a decline in earnings for the six months ended June 30, 2021. In a trading update to shareholders on August 2, the group said it anticipates a 75% to 85%, or 506c to 573c, drop in earnings per share (EPS) for the six months under review to between 101c and 169c.

JSE-listed RCL Foods has appointed Paul Cruickshank as CEO with effect from December 1. He will succeed Miles Dally, who is retiring, with effect from the close of business on November 30.

Green hydrogen, which can be generated and then used with the help of Southern Africa’s platinum group metals (PGMs), is a topic that has gained a lot of importance in recent months in the context of limiting global warming and meeting the world’s decarbonisation goals. In Germany, the increased level of ambition in climate policy has made it necessary to re-estimate electricity consumption. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) will implement several emergency tax relief measures as announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, in response to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic and recent unrest that are aimed at helping affected and tax-compliant businesses to recover and ensure livelihoods for employees. The measures that Sars will implement are the extension of the expanded Employment Tax Incentive age eligibility and the amount that can be claimed, which is aimed at supporting employment... Читать дальше...

The UK became the latest country to activate a space-focused defence organisation, with the official opening of UK Space Command. The new command was formally created on April 1 – just as the Royal Air Force (RAF) had been, 103 years before. It is currently headquartered at RAF Station High Wycombe (all RAF bases are designated ‘Stations’) in England. Whereas some countries – such as France, Israel, Japan and Russia – have simply made their air forces also responsible for defence space operations and... Читать дальше...

A continuing decline in the performance of the Eskom coal fleet drove yet another “intensive” period of load-shedding in South Africa during the first six months of 2021, when rotational power cuts were implemented for 650 hours, or 15% of the time. A new Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Energy Centre analysis shows the average energy availability factor (EAF) of the coal fleet slumped to 61.3% during the period, materially below the 65% average EAF reported in 2020, as well... Читать дальше...

Amid several supply-side shocks during the month, the seasonally adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) plunged to 43.5 points in July, signalling that the output recovery in the manufacturing sector was set back notably at the start of the third quarter, Absa reports. The PMI is compiled by the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) and sponsored by Absa. It is based on the PMI produced by the Institute for Supply Management in the US.

BMW Group South Africa & Sub-Saharan Africa (BMW SA) has announced the appointment of Deena Govender as its new head of product communications.   Govender will also take responsibility for the overall steering, as operational lead, of the corporate communications and government affairs portfolio for BMW SA until further notice.

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille has approved the release of various parcels of land in the North West, Western Cape and Mpumalanga provinces for three claimant communities. Government opened the land restitution claims process in 1994 to allow families and communities who were dispossessed during apartheid to lodge claims.

July has been a tumultuous month for South Africa and while the problems remain formidable, the country is in a more positive space at the moment, business organisation Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso says in her weekly newsletter. “We jailed a former President, repelled forces that tried to tip the country over into anarchy and now we have concrete plans not only to address the immediate impact of the violence and looting but also longer-term plans that promise a better future with sustainable economic growth.

Green hydrogen can play a significant role globally in decarbonising hard-to-abate industries, and can be an energy source for mobility and industry, and a source of hydrogen for the petrochemical industry. This was the message given by chemicals company Sasol 2.0 Transformation executive VP Marius Brand, speaking during the ‘Positioning South Africa for the Green Economy – Execution Strategies’ webinar, hosted by business management consultant EE Business Intelligence, the Department of Trade, Industry... Читать дальше...

The green hydrogen economy offers South Africa a considerable advantage in using its natural resources to help reindustrialise its economy and this is being supported by various policies and initiatives. One such initiative is the start of the construction process for fuel cell components manufacturer Isondo’s Precious Metals facility at the OR Tambo Special Economic Zone (SEZ), in Gauteng.

The last of six power generation units at the Medupi power station, in Lephalale, is now operational, marking the completion of all building activities on the 4.7 GW project. Construction at Medupi started in May 2007 and the power station has an operational life of 50 years.

The chairperson of Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM), Dr Johan van Zyl, passed away on Friday evening from complications related to Covid-19. TSAM says in a statement mourning the loss of ‘The Doc’, as he was affectionately known, that he had an uncanny sense of knowing just what consumers wanted, and that he was able to instil this thinking in all his colleagues, “which is why he’s had such a profound impact on the Toyota family”.