A handful of South African Communist Party leaders gathered at the Moerane Commission in Durban on Thursday where the party gave its testimony on the spate of political killings in KwaZulu-Natal view more

The sailors, a Panamanian (53) and a Filipino (53) were said to be unconscious and suspected of suffering from malaria. view more

Justice Project hails 20-year sentence for three counts of culpable homicide, reckless driving and driving under the influence. view more

There are scores more suspected measles case which, if confirmed, will mean it has spread to 8 of 11 KZN districts view more

The Afrimat Construction Index (ACI) declined marginally in the second quarter of 2017. The ACI is released by JSE-listed industrial minerals and construction materials miner and supplier Afrimat. It is a composite index of the level of activity within the building and construction sectors, compiled by economist Dr Roelof Botha. view more

Some three years after expanding operations into South Africa, Italian renewable energy firm Enel Green Power (EGP) has established a significant presence locally, boasting more than 520 MW of wind and solar projects in operation, one of which was declared a National Key Point in June. The 66 MW Tom Burke photovoltaic power (PV) plant, in Limpopo, where Enel hosted a dedication ceremony on Wednesday for one of its first large-scale solar projects, feeds 122 GWh/y into the national grid and is supplying electricity to nine villages in the Lephalale region. view more

State-owned power utility Eskom is stuck in a "classic utility death spiral" that many power companies worldwide face as the pressure to adopt new business models and proactively reform increases. Eskom's need for higher tariffs to offset declining electricity sales amid ever-rising costs is having the unintended effect of incentivising consumers to use less electricity. view more

State-owned electricity utility Eskom has sounded that warning that, even if its allowable revenue is not increased at all for the 2018/19 year, tariffs will still need to rise by 9.4% simply to accommodate a "rebasing" electricity sales volumes when compared with those approved in the third multiyear price determination period (MYPD3). The utility has made a single-year application to National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for allowable revenue of R219.5-billion, which would translate to a hike of 19.9% from April 1 for direct customers and 27.5% for municipalities from July 1. view more

The African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARA) on Thursday confirmed its commitment to the 2020 clean fuel policy, which outlined a plan for vehicle emission controls and standards to achieve all the benefits of clean air quality. Following a clean fuels workshop in Togo last week, the ARA set out recommendations as the industry worked towards meeting the AFRI-4 specifications by 2020. view more

JSE-listed Sasol on Wednesday announced a proposed new R21-billion broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) ownership transaction, Sasol Khanyisa, which will replace Sasol's debt-ridden Sasol Inzalo fund, which expires in June 2018. When Sasol Inzalo lapses, it will not be able to distribute shares to participants, given the closing Sasol ordinary share price of R389 on September 4. view more

The busiest section of the Gauteng open-road tolling (GORT) system is between the Buccleuch and Allandale interchanges, in Midrand. The traffic volume in both directions in 2016 reached 245 500 vehicles a day during the week, on average, says South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) communications GM Vusi Mona. view more

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank, will assist in financing BMW Group South Africa's (BMW SA's) R6-billion investment in its Rosslyn plant, set to produce the new BMW X3. The $150 million loan comes as South Africa "seeks new sources of economic growth after a period of slowdown, driven in part by sluggish mining and manufacturing sectors", says the IFC in a statement. view more

As part of South Africa's bid to host the Rugby World Cup 2023 tournament, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and a high-level delegation will make their way to London on Sunday to make a presentation to the World Rugby Council.   The delegation will consist of Sport and Recreation Minister Thulas Nxesi and his Deputy Minister Gert Oosthuizen, as well as SA Rugby President Mark Alexander and Chief Executive Officer Jurie Roux, who will lay out South Africa's technically and commercially compelling case to host the tournament. South Africa will make its presentation on Monday, September 25 and will be up against contenders Ireland and France.  view more

ASX- and Aim-listed Tlou Energy has submitted a proposal to the Botswana Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security to develop up to 100 MW of coalbed methane- (CBM-) fuelled pilot power plants in the African country. The government of Botswana earlier this year requested proposals for the development of CBM-fuelled pilot power plants, aimed at assisting the development of a CBM gas industry in the country. view more

Johnson Matthey said it will invest an initial £200-million in expanding its battery material technology business from 2018, aiming to capitalise on growth in the electric vehicle market. The specialty chemicals company said the overall market "could be (worth) more than $30-billion (in) sales when battery electric vehicle penetration increases to around 10%." view more

In this opinion piece, National Employers Association of South Africa CEO Gerhard Papenfus argues that protecting the current collective bargaining dispensation will ensure its complete downfall. During a recent Metals and Engineering Indaba, numerous reasons were advanced why collective bargaining in South Africa is in trouble. One of the narratives advanced is the so-called 'post-Marikana syndrome', another is the endeavour to entrench the super exploitation of workers. In the case of the ... view more

Russia's State-owned Rosatom nuclear energy group is to establish a Nuclear Research and Technology Centre (NRTC) in Bolivia. The contract was signed in Vienna, Austria, on Tuesday, between Rosatom group company State Specialised Design Institute (SSDI) and the Bolivian Nuclear Energy Agency (ABEN is its acronym in Spanish). The project will cost more than $300-million. The NRTC will be centred on a 200kW research reactor and will be located in the city of El Alto, which lies at an altitude of 4 100 m above sea level. This will make the new reactor the highest in the world. (In comparison, South Africa's SAFARI-1 research reactor has an output of 20 MW and lies a little more than 1 200 m above sea level.) "We offer Bolivia not just the construction of the highest-altitude nuclear science centre in the world; we offer our partners cutting-edge technologies," affirmed Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev. "The implementation of this project will allow Bolivia to become a regional leader in nuclear research." Once the centre is operational, it will allow Bolivia to widely apply radiation technologies in many areas, including agriculture, industry and medicine. view more

British International Trade Secretary (equivalent to Minister in South Africa) Dr Liam Fox announced in Pretoria on Wednesday that his country's export credit agency, UK Export Finance, has increased the funds available to South African enterprises buying British goods and to British companies exporting to South Africa. The intent is to strengthen bilateral trade after Britain exits the European Union (EU) in 2019 - a process popularly known as Brexit. Fox was in Pretoria to hold talks with his South African counterpart, Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies. These discussions are the latest in a series of high-level meetings to ensure a smooth continuation of trade and investment relations between the two sides after Brexit. "The UK has been a significant trading partner of SA over the past years and ranks as South Africa's 7th largest export partner in the world and 2nd largest export partner in the EU region," highlighted Davies. "There is a need to discuss an arrangement on technical issues in order to ensure smooth trade post Brexit." He pointed out that, between 2003 and May 2017, the UK had directly invested some R159.01-billion in 333 foreign direct investment projects in South Africa. view more

South African cement maker AfriSam said on Wednesday a merger proposal valuing its rival PPC at $700-million was fair, suggesting it has no intention of sweetening its offer. Shares in PPC dropped 2.52% to R6.19 at 1314 GMT, but still well above a R5.75 per share valuation in AfriSam's proposal as the company is also being pursued by Nigeria's Dangote Cement and one other unspecified bidder. view more

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has received answers from Eskom to outstanding questions about its relationship with Trillian, a Gupta-linked company, her office said on Wednesday. "Minister Brown last night received Eskom's responses to her queries. She noted  progress and Eskom will soon announce more details," her office said. view more

The Competition Commission on Wednesday invited stakeholders wishing to participate in its market inquiry into data services to make formal submissions. Submissions would close on November 1. view more

The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) has partnered with Smart Procurement World to launch the Empowered Engineering and Manufacturing initiative, which is aimed at driving economic transformation and industrial progress in engineering and manufacturing. "The purpose of this initiative is very much consistent with that of our Small Business Hub, which renders expert services to small-, medium-sized and microenterprises at a more discounted fee than normal and offers a service to large companies that sees us project managing their enterprise and supplier development programmes for a fee so that they can improve their broad-based black economic-empowerment scores," Seifsa CEO Kaizer Nyatsumba said on Wednesday. view more

With profit for the year ended June 30 up 143% to R82-million, from a loss of R189-million in 2016, JSE-listed engineering services provider ELB has seen a 147% increase in headline earnings a share to 243c, from a loss per share of 519c. "Despite political uncertainty, the volatile currency and improved but still difficult trading conditions, the right-sizing and positioning of the group undertaken in the previous financial year, together with some strengthening in certain commodity prices and a firming of our order book, has enabled the group to return to profitability," noted CEO Stephen Meijers at the company's financial results presentation on Wednesday. view more

Food and poultry company Quantum Foods will quarantine and depopulate two of its commercial layer farms in the Western Cape after an outbreak of avian influenza. Although the outbreak was confirmed at only two layer houses, the company has, as a preventive measure, decided to depopulate the two sites in totality. view more

Mozambique offered a portfolio of small renewable energy projects to foreign investors on Tuesday which it hopes will attract $500 million in investment and give everyone in the southern African country electricity by 2030. Around 60% of people living in Mozambique, which is highly indebted, have no access to electricity. view more

Ntshavheni Mukwevho has been appointed MD of Johannesburg Water, effective September 1. He joined Johannesburg Water as depot manager in 2003 and later served as divisional manager of investment delivery and GM of capital investment and infrastructure develoment. In 2012, he was appointed COO. view more

Makers of generic AIDS drugs will start churning out millions of pills for Africa containing a state-of-the-art medicine widely used in rich countries, after securing a multi-million dollar guarantee that caps prices at just $75 per patient a year. Global health experts hope the deal will help address two looming problems in the HIV epidemic - the rising threat of resistance developing to standard AIDS drugs, and the need for more investment in manufacturing capacity. view more

Trading house Glencore is to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from Angola LNG over a multi-year period, adding to similar recent deals between the producer and traders including Vitol. Angola LNG on Wednesday said the deal was another step toward building its sales book with the most important players in the LNG market. view more

President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday declared in his address at the UN that climate change was real. Speaking at the General Debate of the seventy-second Session of the UN General Assembly, Zuma expressed support for victims of hurricanes, arguing that climate change was "real". view more

Vedanta head Anil Agarwal has once again hit the headlines by announcing an intended further personal investment in Anglo American through Volcan Investments, which is the majority shareholder of Vedanta Resources. Volcan announced on Wednesday that it intended investing £1.25-billion to £1.5-billion in Anglo shares, which follows its £2-billion investment in the London- and Johannesburg-listed company in March. view more

China's aggressive environmental protection campaign has tightened supplies of graphite electrodes used in steelmaking, boosting the fortunes of big producers like Fangda Carbon as mills search far and wide for a material now in short supply. Beijing's campaign for clearer skies has closed thousands of mills and mines producing low-quality steel and coal, and makers of electrodes, particularly those near big cities, have not been spared. view more

More than a third of the yearly gold production of Pan African Resources is destined to arise from low-cost, low-risk tailings businesses, which have long lives ahead of them. Pan African CEO Cobus Loots told investors, analysts and journalists at the company's presentation of financial results on Wednesday that the London- and Johannesburg-listed mid-tier mining company expects to produce 190 000 oz-plus of gold in its 2018 financial year. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video). view more

Precious metals mining company Pan African, which on Wednesday proposed a R185-million final dividend, reports that it is poised for growth as remedial action regarding its operational challenges in the 12 months to June 30 delivers expected results. The London- and Johannesburg-listed company, which reported a production decrease of 15.4% to 173 285 oz in its 2017 financial year, is looking forward to a much-improved performance from its Evander Mines in the 2018 financial year, when a substantial increase in gold production is expected. view more

Italy's third-largest cement maker Cementir Holding has agreed to sell its domestic assets to Italcementi, owned by Germany's HeidelbergCement , it said on Tuesday. Cementir, controlled by the Caltagirone family, said the deal had an enterprise value of €315-million ($377-million). view more

German industrial group Thyssenkrupp considered options including a breakup of the company before deciding to pursue a European steel joint venture with Tata Steel, it said on Wednesday. "Before deciding on a joint venture the Thyssenkrupp executive board examined and worked out all the available options: A tie-up with a German partner, a spin-off, an IPO, the sale of the steel business and even a break-up of the entire company," it said on its website. view more

Ten people were injured when a diesel truck collided with a Metrorail passenger train near Muldersvlei station outside Stellenbosch on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. The truck was attempting to cross the railway line when the incident occurred, Western Cape traffic department spokesperson Daniel Meyer told News24. view more

A South African broker and an energy investment firm fired KPMG on Tuesday, two of a host of local firms weighing whether to ditch the auditor to distance themselves from a scandal involving business friends of President Jacob Zuma. Sasfin and Hulisani, both relatively small financial companies based in Johannesburg, announced they would drop KPMG due to reputational risk. view more

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has ranked South Africa sixth and seventh on the cybercrime predator list, which means that there is an increasing amount of fraud being perpetrated from the country, says computer forensics company Cyanre CEO Danny Myburgh. Speaking at the ninth Chartered Secretaries Southern Africa Premier Corporate Governance conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Myburgh noted that cybercrime was becoming a major problem in South Africa. "It seems as if boards and non-information technology (IT) people are realising that cybercrime can totally devastate an organisation," he said. Myburgh highlighted three types of illegal cyber activities, namely cybercrime, cyberwarfare and cyberterrorism and that, in terms of the latter two, South Africa was not that high on the threat list, he said. view more

JSE-listed information technology (IT) firm EOH is growing its own software, services and solutions, while gradually expanding its presence in the rest of Africa and the Middle East. At a presentation of the group's financial results for the year ended June 30, on Tuesday, CEO Zunaid Mayet highlighted the resilience of the IT sector and said that spend on information and communication technology in South Africa is growing by about 5.6% a year. view more

Buses powered by platinum-catalysed fuel cells are attracting the attention of South Africans, who will visit Germany next month to update themselves on passenger carriers that emit zero pollution into the atmosphere. "There's a lot of interest in fuel cell buses simply because the refuelling points can be centralised at a depot, and we've got a visit lined up to Germany to look at fuel cell buses and trains in October," Impala Platinum (Implats) group executive marketing Paul Finney told Mining Weekly Online during a media roundtable. view more

Right2Know has led pickets outside the four major telecommunications companies in Gauteng on Tuesday, demanding affordable voice and data costs for South Africans. Tariffic, a research company, found that South Africa has the second highest data contract prices among seven countries, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, Kenya and Australia, as Fin24 previously reported. view more

South Africa is fast approaching a perfect inequality rating on the Gini coefficient, University of the Witwatersrand School of Governance head Professor David Everatt said at the ninth Chartered Secretaries Southern Africa Corporate Governance conference, in Johannesburg, on Tuesday. The Gini coefficient measures the inequality among values of a frequency distribution, such as income. view more