The four-metre-long pregnant female African Rock python which was relocated from the Zimbali Eco Estate last year was returned to her home yesterday after she laid just under 60 eggs. view more

Sipho Hlomuka, KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs said inclement weather conditions continue to pose a serious risk to residents in the KZN province. view more

Two of the gang members were arrested just minutes after the robbery. Some of the stolen items were recovered and the vehicle used by the men was impounded by police for further investigation. view more

Service delivery and party unity will be the top priorities of the new KwaZulu-Natal ANC regional leaders to be elected in the next two months. view more

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe announced on Wednesday that the Section 34 Ministerial Determinations required to give effect to the Integrated Resource Plan 2019 had been finalised and were currently serving before the National Energy Regulator of South Africa in order to secure the regulator's concurrence. Addressing lawmakers in the debate on President Cyril Ramaphosa's 2020 State of the Nation Address, Mantashe also announced that the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy had received 481 responses to its request for information for supply and demand solutions to close an immediate supply shortfall of 2 000 MW and that a Section 34 Determination for emergency power procurement had also been finalised and also awaited Nersa's concurrence. view more

Newly appointed Concor CEO Lucas Tseki believes the strong flow of tenders in the last quarter of 2019 could signal that the domestic construction market is finally bottoming out. He is also cautiously optimistic that infrastructure-focused departments and State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are, at last, starting to align their expenditure programmes with government's stated intention of using infrastructure to catalyse growth and investment. view more

Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) has taken the first step in the roll-out of its local electric mobility programme, through the launch of the e-Golf pilot project. The e-Golf pilot project will see six fully electric vehicles (EVs) being tested by motoring and lifestyle media, selected dealers as well as Volkswagen employees, in an effort to gain consumer insights into the varying experiences of driving and living with an EV in South Africa. view more

Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan has said that the R3.5-billion in emergency funding that South African Airways received from the State-owned Development Bank of Southern Africa earlier in the year may be depleted by early March. Gordhan was addressing a joint sitting of Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts and Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises on Wednesday morning, where he stressed that the need to provide financial assistance to the beleaguered flag carrier would be a reality until the business rescue process is finalised.  view more

The Shosholoza Meyl, a long-distance train service operated by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), has been ordered to stop operating with immediate effect. This follows a fatal train crash on February 12, which left one man dead and several others injured when a goods and passenger train collided on the tracks near Bonny Doone Road in Horizon View, west of Johannesburg. view more

The Competition Commission, in its Market Inquiry Into Land Based Public Passenger Transport report, has made a number of provisional recommendations to improve the functioning of public transport in South Africa. It has recommended that Autopax, a subsidiary of the Passenger rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), be separated from the PRASA group and become a separate State entity. view more

London-based advisory firm ARCH Emerging Markets Partners' Africa Renewable Power Fund will provide CrossBoundary Energy (CBE) with up to $16.5-million in equity funding. This will help CBE develop and finance new commercial and industrial solar assets, which will in turn provide businesses across Africa with access to cheaper, cleaner power. view more

The next big disruptive technology will be hydrogen fuel cell technology, which is platinum rich, Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman said on Wednesday. Speaking ahead of half-year results of a 44% increase in revenue to R73-billion and a R432-million profit for 2019, Froneman stated that this was the reason why platinum group metals (PGMs) and battery metals were complementary. view more

Energy solutions company BlueNova Energy, part of JSE-listed Reunert Group, on Wednesday launched its grid-scale Intelligent Energy Storage System (iESS) at Reunert Park, in Midrand, where the first unit has been installed to support businesses occupying the office park. The BlueNova Energy iESS, which is housed in a shipping container, is the first of its kind to be produced in South Africa. view more

JSE-listed real estate investment trust (Reit) Emira Property Fund says the performance of its US-based assets has contributed to the company's distribution growth of 1.7% year-on-year for the six months ended December 31. The Reit declared an interim dividend of 74.10c for the six months under review, compared with an interim dividend of 72.68c for the six months ended December 31, 2018. view more

JSE-listed Balwin Properties has concluded an agreement to buy, from Tongaat Hulett Development, Portion 3 & 4 of Erf 3465 Umhlanga Rocks; Portion 6 of ERF 3465 Umhlanga Rocks; the remainder of Erf 3434 Umhlanga Rocks; and the remainder of Erf 3465 and 3457 Umhlanga Rocks, measuring 64 ha in extent, for R167.26-million. The properties are situated within the Izinga Precinct north of Umhlanga Ridge and above the town of Umhlanga Rocks, and is close to the commercial hub of Umhlanga. view more

Infrastructure provider Openserve says it has received confirmation from aboard cable ship Leon Thevenin that repairs to the damaged portion of the South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable (SAT3/WASC), offshore the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been completed. This concludes a long and complex restoration process of an unprecedented simultaneous cable break of two Atlantic Ocean based submarine cable systems - SAT3/WASC and the West African Cable System (WACS). view more

JSE-listed Consolidated Infrastructure Group (CIG) says it continues to trade in extremely difficult macroeconomic conditions, with pressure on all businesses. Reporting on the company's results for the four months ended December 31, CIG on Wednesday said it had, however, initiated interventions to respond to the challenging conditions, with most of its businesses having traded in line with expectations during the four months under review. view more

JSE-listed Bid Corporation (Bidcorp) achieved "a resilient performance" in the six months to December 31, despite "volatile social, political and environmental circumstances in some operating geographies and despite underperformance in a number of operations," CE Bernard Berson said on Wednesday. For the period, headline earnings per share (HEPS) increased by 4% to 728.3c, while basic earnings per share (EPS) were 3.8% higher year-on-year at 725.4c. view more

Real estate investment trust Growthpoint Properties has completed the first phase of its new Growthpoint Industrial Park, in KwaZulu-Natal. The company says the park has received keen market interest and its first tenants are already operating from the 20 300 m2 initial phase of the development, valued at R185-million. view more

JSE-listed Grand Parade Investments has entered into a binding offer to sell all its shares in fast food franchise Burger King South Africa (BKSA) to ECP Africa Fund IV. Grand Parade owns 95.36% of the issued share capital of BKSA. view more

Business Unity South Africa (Busa) has extended its congratulations to Lisa Seftel on her appointment as the first female executive director at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac). Busa says her appointment is an "excellent choice", given her previous leadership experience. view more

Advocacy organisation, the Right2Know (R2K) Campaign on Wednesday held protests in Pretoria and Cape Town against what it says is the failure of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (Rica) to protect South African citizens' right to privacy. R2K members held protests at the National Communications Centre, in Pretoria, and at Parliament, in Cape Town, to highlight what it says is the Rica law's failure "to protect citizens' constitutional right to privacy." view more

Fifth-generation (5G) technologies are poised to support more than 10% of mobile connections globally as Internet connectivity rises over the next three years, a new report by information, communication and networking equipment and software multinational Cisco shows. By 2023, 66% of the global population will have Internet access and there will be nearly 30-billion devices and connections, the latest Cisco 'Annual Internet Report' outlines. view more

It is incumbent on the end users to help platinum group metals mining companies to a position where the platinum price will not be destroyed, Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman said on Wednesday. Speaking during the presentation of superlative results, Froneman said the industry could not continue to operate in deficits in palladium and rhodium indefinitely. view more

An upbeat Neal Froneman said on Wednesday that world would see his "very Proudly South African' precious metals mining company Sibanya-Stillwater take on global companies across the world. Speaking after the relisting of the platinum group metals (PGM) and gold mining company at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Froneman saw the Sibanye-Stillwater share price soar 5.3% by early afternoon. view more

Top-performing Sibanye-Stillwater delivered a phenomenal return of 260% on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 2019, JSE CEO Dr Leila Fourie stated on Wednesday when the company relisted to the accompaniment of a rapid 5.3% early-afternoon soaring of its share price. From a Gold Fields spinoff with an uncertain future seven years ago, Sibanye-Stillwater is now a Top Twenty company on the JSE, which hosts more than R3-trillion worth of mining equity, Fourie added to strong applause, at the function at which Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman blew the horn for the third time - and Sibanye-Stillwater's impressive mineworker choir sang songs about the huge importance of mine safety and industry sustainability. view more

It would be "untoward" of the Government Employees Pension Fund to dismiss a proposal to bailout debt-laden power utility Eskom without knowing all the facts, MPs heard on Wednesday. The GEPF's Principal Executive Officer, Abel Sithole, and its Head of Corporate Services, Musa Mabesa, briefed Parliament's standing committee on finance on the fund's 2018/19 financial report. Scof chairperson Joe Maswanganyi said the proposed bailout was a matter of interest and called on the GEPF to weigh in. Sithole told the committee that to date the GEPF has still had not been consulted. He said it was possible that the Cosatu proposal could be good for the fund, but it needed to be consulted to be able to make a decision. view more

Annual consumer price inflation increased at a faster rate of 4.5% in January, compared to 4% in December, according to data released on Wednesday. The rate was buoyed by increases in the price of fuel, food and utilities. Housing and utilities notably contributed 1.2 percentage points, and transport costs 0.9%, according to Statistics South Africa. Economists noted that despite inflation picking up pace in January, the increase was still at the halfway mark of the target range set by the South African Reserve Bank. view more

Diversified natural resources group Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) is assessing options for the construction of a plant to produce nickel/cobalt/manganese (NCM) precursor materials for use in lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles (EVs). The group is planning to develop the proposed plant in two phases, with the first to deliver 90 000 t/y of NCM. The second phase expansion will be dependent on market conditions. view more

The South African government's plans to expropriate land without compensation would be disastrous for the economy, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. The policy proposal is an example of centralized planning that has failed in other African states like Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Ethiopia, Pompeo told reporters Wednesday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. view more

The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) said it was outraged after the employment and labour minister only increased the statutory minimum wage by 3.8% to R20.76 an hour with effect from March 1. The country's National Minimum Wage Act came into effect at the beginning of 2019, compeling all employers in the formal non-agricultural sector to pay their workers a minimum wage of R20 an hour or R3 500 a month.  view more

Eskom has warned of an increased possibility of power cuts later on Wednesday after it lost additional generation capacity due to unplanned breakdowns at some of its power plants.  While the utility is not currently implementing load-shedding, it urged customers to keep reducing demand and use electricity sparingly. view more

Climate change poses a "significant risk" to South Africa's socio-economic development, Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy said in the debate on President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address on Tuesday. She acknowledged Ramaphosa's undertaking for a "decisive shift in our energy trajectory at a time when humankind faces its greatest existential threat to a sustainable future, namely climate change". view more

ACWA Power has been informed by the South African government that its environmental authorisation to build a 306 MW coal-fired power plant in the country has expired, according to lawyers opposing the project. The authorisation for the Khanyisa coal-fired plant lapsed on October 31, 2018, and the Saudi electricity company has opposed the ruling in South Africa's High Court, the Cape Town-based Centre for Environmental Rights, a legal organisation, said in a statement Tuesday. The ruling that the authorization had lapsed was made "recently." view more

Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg on Tuesday described his company's investment in Astron Energy oil refinery and fuel distribution station business in South Africa as "a nice short to have for the trading business". The Chevron oil refinery in Cape Town and the Caltex brand now fall under Astron Energy, a Glencore Group company. view more

Climate-friendly energy transition metals, copper, cobalt and nickel, stole the limelight during Glencore's presentation of 2019 results on Tuesday, when the company revealed that it would be depleting its coal reserves in line with the global move towards a low-carbon economy. Presenting 26%-lower earnings of $11.6-billion in line with lower commodity prices in 2019, Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg said new longer-term scope 1 and 2 emission targets that supported the Paris goals would be released this year. view more

Financial services company Citibank South Africa economist Gina Schoeman says the National Treasury is unlikely to increase the value-added tax (VAT) rate again this year and that government is unlikely to reopen wage negotiations with government employees before 2021, despite the high government wage bill. Speaking ahead of the National Budget speech, which will be delivered by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni in Parliament on February 26, she told the media during a briefing on Tuesday that South Africa's gross domestic product is forecast to grow by only about 0.6% this year. view more

Packaging products manufacturer Nampak on Tuesday said the Competition Commission had granted its approval, subject to certain conditions, for the sale of Nampak's Glass business to Isanti Glass 1. Nampak in September last year announced that it would sell the Glass business to Isanti Glass 1, a joint venture between Kwande Capital and Sabsa Holdings, for R1.5-billion. view more

Eskom wants to play a role in negotiating the price at which new and existing independent power producers sell electricity to the embattled utility, CEO Andre de Ruyter told MPs on Tuesday, "It is very important that [with] the roll-out of the new IPP programme that Eskom, as the ultimate buyer of the electricity produced by the IPPs, be involved in the negotiations of the commercial terms," De Ruyter told parliament's watchdog Standing Committee on Public Accounts.  view more

Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand Adam Habib has announced his resignation from the university at the end of December this year, after seven years at the helm. He will be joining the School of Oriental and African Studies, or SOAS, in London, as director, from January 1, 2021. Wits University Council chairperson Isaac Shongwe congratulated Habib on his appointment and called him a dynamic leader, who has made a significant contribution to Wits and the local and international higher education sectors. view more

South Africa's Energy War Room, a grouping of the main cabinet ministers responsible for the power industry, will meet for the first time this week since being reconstituted by President Cyril Ramaphosa in December as the country battles an electricity crisis that's stalling economic growth. The team, which is headed by Deputy President David Mabuza and includes the Finance, Energy and Public Enterprises Ministers, will meet on Thursday, according to the deputy president's office, which didn't give further detail. view more

Ailing power utility Eskom urgently needs more cash to stabilise its ballooning debt pile with the funds coming from a rise in tariffs or new equity, new CE Andre de Ruyter told lawmakers on Tuesday. Eskom, which supplies 90% of South Africa's power but has struggled to meet demand, had a bid for a big electricity tariff increase rejected by a court this month. Eskom's urgent application to the court for a tariff increase involved hiking rates by 16.6% from April 2020 and a further 16.7% from April 2021. view more