Новости за 15.11.2021

Because of the collapse of investment in greenfields exploration in South Africa, any mining graduate entering the profession today can expect to be unemployed from the age of 40, said AmaranthCX director and founder Paul Miller on Monday, when he pointed out that South Africa is now at an all-time exploration low of 0.76% of global exploration spend. Miller warned that with the global standard of taking a tier 1 deposit from discovery to full production being between ten and 20 years, South Africa... Читать дальше...

Private rail freight operator Traxtion sees the national government’s structural reform agenda as a rare opportunity for the private sector to leverage massive investment in train sets to unlock one of the biggest structural impediments to growth in the South African economy, which is train capacity. The company refers to the announcement that South Africa’s rail network will be opened to third-party freight operators in 2022, as reiterated in the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement last week.

Rand Water chairperson Advocate Faith Matshidiso Hashatse has stressed the need for the entity to undertake maintenance on its infrastructure, stating during a media briefing on November 15 that it operates in an asset-intensive environment that requires regular maintenance to ensure optimal operation, while enhancing capacity to meet growing demand. Hashatse said the maintenance on pipelines was needed to extend the life of the pipelines; expand capacity by adding more pipes for augmentation of water; and to contain costs... Читать дальше...

Nigerian regional airline Overland Airways is to acquire three new-build Embraer E175 small jetliners, the Brazil-based manufacturer reported on Monday. The order also includes options for three more of the type. The contract is worth, calculated using list prices, $299.4-million. The aircraft will be delivered in the premium class cabin configuration (that is, economy-class seats with extra legroom), with a total of 88 seats. The new airliners will allow the carrier to increase the number of its... Читать дальше...

JSE-listed freight logistics group Grindrod has agreed to merge the South African container logistics businesses of Grindrod Intermodal (GIM) and Ocean Africa Container Lines (OACL) with AP Moller Maersk’s (Maersk) inland container terminals. Grindrod’s intermodal facilities are located nationally, providing the landside logistics to support the container feeder service operated by OACL, whose container vessels ship regional and domestic cargo for international carriers such as Maersk.

The Environmental Assessment Practitioners Association of South Africa (EAPASA) and the Council for the Built Environment (CBE) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), committing to work together on issues of transformation, skills development, research and promoting and protecting public interests in the built environment. The purpose of the MoU is to provide a framework for collaboration and good working relations between the two parties, with a long-term view to enact the relationship within the CBE Act.

Airbus Defence and Space, a division of the Europe-based global major aerospace group Airbus, has announced two contracts for a total of five of its A330 Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT) strategic air-to-air refuelling (AAR) and personnel and cargo transport aircraft. One order is from the Spanish Air Force and the other from the United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAE AF). The A330 MRTT is based on the Airbus A330-200 airliner and can carry 111 t of fuel. At the same time it can also carry up to 300 troops or 45 t of cargo... Читать дальше...

Growthpoint Properties’ 40 000 m2 Millroad Industrial Park, in Cape Town, has been fully let. The new Millroad Industrial Park is fully occupied with a mix of tenants from larger logistics to smaller users and a line-up including Laser Logistics, DSV, Greenspan, Inuka and Continental Power.

The South African subsidiary of global energy company EDF Renewables has been awarded three wind energy projects in Bid Window 5 (BW 5) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme. EDF Renewables South Africa has been awarded participation in nearly 800 MW of projects in South Africa this year.

In a year that has been heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as a global shortage of semi-conductor chips, Volkswagen has remained South Africa’s best-selling passenger car brand for the first ten months of 2021. “In October, the Volkswagen brand (including Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles), sold 5 614 vehicles,” says Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) passenger car brand head Steffen Knapp.

Soldiers guarding South Africa's military bases are not adequately armed, and there is no control of who moves in and out of the facilities. Security fences within military bases and units and on the borders are falling apart while budget constraints hamper the upgrading, maintenance and repair of security systems. These are just some of the damning findings of the Defence Force Service Commission that investigated almost every aspect and division of the South African National Defence Force. Last week... Читать дальше...

Specialist investment bank and investment manager Verdant Capital has closed private equity-related transactions in South Africa, with fund raisings for Bridge Taxi Finance and Retail Capital. Verdant has successfully raised R300-million in debt financing for Bridge Taxi Finance from a small group of international impact investors.

Telecommunications giant Vodacom posted a decline in profit, headline earnings per share (HEPS) and earnings per share (EPS) for the six months ended September 30, 2021, on a reported basis, while group revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased. The company on November 15 reported a 5.1% decline in HEPS to 505c; however, when adjusted for the R805-million one-off deferred tax rate adjustment in the prior period, HEPS increased 3%.

The noticeable absence and lack of urgency and support of major coal power generation companies has resulted in a less than auspicious start to COP26’s Global Coal to Clean Power Transition initiative, says data analytics and consulting company GlobalData senior oil and gas analyst Effuah Alleyne. The initiative, aimed at addressing critical carbon emissions directives, addresses scaling clean power generation, energy efficiencies, technologies and policies that support the transition by the 2030s to 2040s... Читать дальше...

Business Leadership South Africa says it disagrees with those calling for the resignation of Eskom CEO André de Ruyter and his leadership team following the most recent intense period of load-shedding. In a statement, BLSA noted that the State-owned utility had had ten CEOs in ten years, creating instability that “only served to make a bad situation worse”. “We simply cannot afford to again lose the momentum built by this leadership team over the last 20 months, bearing in mind the extremely difficult... Читать дальше...

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) should present a refined new-energy vehicle (NEV) policy to Cabinet before the end of the year, says DTIC automotives chief director Mkhululi Mlota. The DTIC in May issued a Draft Green Paper on the Advancement of New-Energy Vehicles in South Africa. NEVs include hybrids, battery electric vehicles and fuel-cell vehicles.

The global representative body of the airline industry, the International Air Transport Association (Iata), has welcomed decarbonisation commitments made by countries at the COP26 climate summit, held in Glasgow in the UK. The association also urged that aviation decarbonisation efforts be underpinned by government policies that were practical and effective. “Airlines are on the pathway to net-zero carbon emissions, in line with the Paris [climate] agreement,” highlighted Iata director-general Willie Walsh. Читать дальше...

The Gauteng Department of Health says it has put in place contingency plans to ensure water cuts do not affect health facilities. Water utility Rand Water announced planned water interruptions starting on Monday. According to Rand Water, their bulk water supplier is working on its raw water pipe that supplies the Vereeniging water purification plant. Rand Water said maintenance would affect the water supply from the Rand Water Eikenhof pump station to the south of Johannesburg, the CBD, and the northern and western areas. Читать дальше...

Poultry producer Astral Foods reports that, despite challenges, its revenue increased by 13.9% year-on-year to R15.9-billion for the year ended September 30, with its poultry division contributing 81%, its feed division 17% and its other Africa division 2% of overall external revenue. The higher revenue was primarily attributable to the broiler operations in the poultry division contributing R1.7-billion, which was the result of growth in broiler sales volumes, as well as a recovery in the selling price of poultry products.

Brewing and beverage company Distell has entered into an implementation agreement with beer brewer Heineken for Distell to be acquired for R40.1-billion. However, as an initial step before the scheme is implemented, Distell will undergo restructuring into a two separate businesses.

Gauteng Public Transport and Roads Infrastructure MEC Jacob Mamabolo has appointed Gauteng Transport Authority head Jack van der Merwe to lead a team to investigate the possibility of rolling out green transport, including electric vehicles (EVs), within the structures of the provincial government and its associate bodies. “I have appointed Jack to lead a team in the department to help us move forward with regards, particularly, to EVs, as it relates to our fleet in Gauteng, called the Gfleet.”

While South Africa is on the road to long-term energy stability as business and independent power producers (IPPs) begin construction on various embedded generation projects, the country is probably two years away from a major change in the electricity supply scenario, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso writes in her weekly newsletter. “Despite progress in opening the way for private companies to more easily build plants up to 100 MW and [a resumption in the Renewable Energy... Читать дальше...

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday led a district development model (DDM) visit to the Ugu district, in KwaZulu-Natal, to assess the development of the Eastern Seaboard traversing the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces along a 600 km stretch between the eThekwini and Buffalo City metros. The DDM methodology seeks to address better planning and integration within government and between government and social partners, with a view to enabling inclusive growth and development.

The agreement reached Saturday at global climate talks in Glasgow will be pivotal in the fight to stop global warming, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. The conference hosted by the UK produced a “game-changing agreement that the world needed to see,” Johnson said at a press conference in London on Sunday. Negotiators from almost 200 countries clinched a deal that broke new ground in the fight against climate change, but punted the hardest decisions into the future.​​