Posts tagged with 'New South Africa'

 

SA chrome firms warn of more than 1,200 job cuts – Eskom’s unreliability and rising tariffs were some of the main reasons for the layoffs

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Joint venture partners Glencore and Merafe Resources could cut up to 665 jobs and have started consultations with workers at their Rustenburg ferrochrome smelter.

Local chrome firms on Monday warned of more than 1,200 potential job cuts, citing power cuts, rising electricity tariffs and increased competition from overseas.

The potential layoffs highlight the risks posed to Africa’s most industrialised economy by struggling state power utility Eskom, which is struggling with breakdowns at its coal-fired power plants and is mired in a financial crisis.

They also pile more pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government, which is trying to contain 29% unemployment.

Joint venture partners Glencore and Merafe Resources could cut up to 665 jobs and have started consultations with workers at their Rustenburg ferrochrome smelter.

“The consultation process is as a result of deteriorating operations and market conditions across the South African ferrochro
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R11m from SA Lottery goes to cousin of National Lotteries Commission boss

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The National Lotteries Commission has given more than R11m to a non-profit organisation (NPO) called I Am Made for God’s Glory, which has in turn paid R2m to a private company of which the sole director is the cousin of the chief operating officer of the National Lotteries Commission.

According to leaked bank statements, R2m was paid to Upbrand Properties by I Am Made For God’s Glory (IAM4GG), which received a R11 375 000 grant from the Lottery to develop an “integrated sports facility” in Limpopo.

The sole director of Upbrand is Kenneth Tomoletso Sithole, first cousin of NLC chief operating officer Phillemon Letwaba.

GroundUp has previously revealed how Upbrand received a R15m contract to build a rehabilitation centre near Pretoria at a time when Letwaba’s brother, Johannes “Joe” Letwaba, was a director of the company. Johannes Letwaba subsequently resigned, leaving Keneilwe Constance Maboa, the wife of Karabo Sithole, another first cousin of t
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State-owned Landbank become the first SOE to be downgraded to junk by Moody’s

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The Land Bank has become the first big state-owned company in SA to be relegated to junk status by Moody’s rating agency. The New York-based agency, which is the last remaining among the big three to rate SA as investment grade economy, said given government’s fiscal challenges, it expected less financial support for the Land Bank from the state.

The agency downgraded Land Bank’s long-term issuer ratings to Ba1 from Baa3. This is a notch below investment grade. It’s also a notch below SA’s sovereign rating, which the agency affirmed at Baa3 with a negative outlook in November, and also below Transnet and Eskom, who continue to enjoy a Baa3 rating from Moody’s, despite the latter’s debt and solvency woes. Land Bank’s short-term issuer ratings were downgraded to “Not Prime” from P-3.

“The ratings downgrade reflects Moody’s assessment that ongoing fiscal challenges suggest that the South African government will be more selective in dispersing finan
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Cash-strapped SAA cancels 38 domestic and international flights

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SAA has confirmed its cancellation of 38 domestic and international flights between OR Tambo International Airport and Cape Town, as well as between Johannesburg and Durban’s King Shaka airports.

In a statement, the airline said: “These decisions are in line with SAA’s usual policy of reviewing flights and consolidating services with low demand. Furthermore, during the current process of business rescue, these cancellations represent a responsible strategy to conserve cash and optimise the airline’s position ahead of any further capital investment.”

The airline said it would be reviewing further schedule amendments over the coming days and would communicate any operational changes to its customers.

Those who have already booked the cancelled flights will be re-accommodated on alternative services including Mango.

Below is a list of all the cancelled flights:

The following domestic flights operated by SAA have been cancelled:

Johannesburg (JN
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Eskom drops electricity price bombshell – Consumers will pay ‘50% more’ for electricity if Eskom beats Nersa in court

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The power utility is challenging tariff increases approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for 2019 to 2022. If Eskom gets its way, consumers will pay 50% more for electricity.

Eskom contends that approving increases by 9.41% for 2019-2020, 8.10% for 2020-2021 and 5.22% for 2021-2022 instead of the requested 16% was insufficient.

At the core of the recent court challenge is a R23billion cash injection it received from the government that Nersa deducted when approving tariff hikes for three financial years.

In its court application, Eskom contends that the alleged inadequate increase provided by Nersa presents a “material risk of potential catastrophic consequences”, not only for the power utility but for the country.

Energy expert Ted Blom said: “The contestation around the R23bn relates to the fact that at the time, Eskom and government said the money was to subsidise operating costs and Nersa dealt with it as an income state
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Alexkor, SA state-owned diamond company is on life support

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South Africa’s state-owned diamond mining enterprise Alexkor is desperately in need of cash to pay expenses, but does the struggling entity deserve more funding?

Its marine-based concessions stretch from Alexander Bay to Port Nolloth, while its land-based concessions span the equivalent of 865km2. It mines the latter through its Pooling and Sharing Joint Venture (PSJV) with the Richtersveld community.

Despite carat sales having increased from 41 941 units to 70 061 in the year to end-March 2019, diamond sales only amounted to R209.9 million (2018: R208.7 million). Cost of sales was R152.9 million (2018: R126.8 million).

The reasons given for this poor performance: an oversupply of diamonds in the market, as well as the quality and size of the diamonds produced.

Land and shallow water diamonds achieved an average of $456.77 per carat (2018: $718.86), while diamonds from its deep water mining concession achieved an average price of $305.64 (2018: $187.56).
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SAA director resigns from his post amid crisis at state entity

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SAA director Martin Kingston resigned from his post, and the move was welcomed by the communist-minded Numsa union as well as the trade union Sacca.

The two unions also said the rest of SAA directors should follow Kingston’s example and submit their resignations.

Kingston’s resignation comes after Bloomberg said in his report there is no reason why the director should be on the board.

Kingston apparently decided to resign when the company was placed under rescue because of the extremely poor results being delivered.

The shipping company is still waiting for Treasury to pay the promised R2bn earmarked to keep SAA afloat and is the second part of the R4bn initially promised to the shipping company by the government.

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Poor economic conditions in SA cause job losses

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With the latest announcement from Telkom regarding the retrenchment of nearly 3,000 employees, the mining industry has also warned that they will be following the same route.

Glencore and Merafe are also retrenching due to the poor economy and the extremely expensive electricity.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that about 1,000 jobs have been compromised, of which 660 are at the Rustenburg plant.

The announcement makes the list of larger institutions starting retrenchments longer, and financial experts say it is the beginning of an ever-growing list, which could cause an alarmingly high unemployment rate.

The retrenchments are directly linked to the decline in business due to the poor economic situation in which South Africa finds itself, and the poor power supply is also directly linked to the situation.

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According to experts, Telkom has approximately 4,500 excess staff who are believed to have a direct impact on the profitability of the entity

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The government as Telkom’s largest shareholder has called for an urgent meeting to discuss the company’s plan for retrenching thousands of redundant workers.

Earlier last week, Telkom announced its intention to lay off about 3,000 workers, which is a fifth of its total workforce.

The Department of Communications and Digital Technology has announced that Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has expressed her concern about Telkom’s intention, and therefore wants to hold an urgent meeting.

Telkom’s shares rose 8% last week after the announcement of the retrenchment of 3,000 people.

Several economic experts believe Telkom has at least 4,500 excess staff, which has a direct impact on the profitability of the entity.

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SA is one of 8 states threatened by famine

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South Africa is one of several states in Southern Africa that are among the 45 million people who will face famine in the coming winter months.

The eight states, of which Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Namibia, Lesotho, Malawi and possibly Botswana are experiencing drought conditions while the economic conditions are also worrisome, have led the United Nations Food Program to issue a serious warning that 45 millions of people could be trapped in the famine.

However, Zimbabwe is in the worst strangle of famine and is even worse than a decade ago with about 8 million people facing food shortages.

In Zambia, it is envisaged that more than 20% of the population will not have food during the winter months, and this has prevented any export of foodstuffs produced.

Lesotho and Namibia could lose 10% of its population due to famine if assistance does not come from elsewhere.

 
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