Government's new plan to shift cargo from roads back to rail

Government is seeking to finalise a plan aimed at improving its rail network and move cargo away from its overburdened roads.  While the economy loses a billion rand per day to its logistics... 

City of Tshwane approves report to lease two power stations to independent producers

The City of Tshwane could be closer to an "energy-secure" metro, having approved a second report allowing it to proceed with the 40-year lease of its Rooiwal and Pretoria West power stations to... 

Interest rates on hold as Reserve Bank waits for inflation to cool further

South Africa’s Monetary Policy Committee kept interest rates on hold at 8.25% in its first meeting of the year, having left the benchmark rate unchanged at a 14-year high for the past nine months.... 

National Treasury confirms 21 February as budget day

South Africa’s national budget day has been confirmed for 21 February at 14:00, according a statement by the National Treasury on Wednesday. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will "announce... 

Inflation hits lowest level in months, averages 6% for 2023

Annual consumer price inflation eased for a second consecutive month, to 5.1% in December from 5.5% in November. December's inflation rate was the lowest since August last year.  The median... 

Ramaphosa fires Thabi Leoka from his economic council

President Cyril Ramaphosa has axed disgraced economist Thabi Leoka from his Presidential Economic Advisory Council. "On Monday, 22 January 2024, the Presidency communicated to Ms Leoka the... 

National Treasury pencils in 21 February as budget day

South Africa’s national budget day is currently scheduled for 21 February, according to National Treasury, which added that the date still needed final confirmations. This year’s event will be... 

Koeberg manager suspended by De Ruyter is back and is 'crucially needed', says Eskom

Velaphi Ntuli has returned as the general manager of Koeberg nuclear power station after he was suspended in June 2021 over performance issues - allegations of which he has since been cleared. At... 

Revived gas bill has scant chance of making it through Parliament

Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe re-published the Gas Amendment Bill on Friday for public comment despite the scant hope that it will be processed before Parliament dissolves... 

Govt probe finds fake diesel at 70 garages - even after Mantashe's warning

An investigation by the Department of Mineral Resource and Energy has uncovered that 70 petrol stations across the country are selling dodgy diesel to customers, a clear sign profiteers are cutting... 

Treasury snafu complicates fines process for dodgy auditors

The Finance Ministry has been forced to re-gazette the maximum fines that can be imposed on auditors and auditing firms for misconduct after the words "per charge" were omitted for two of the... 

Full weekend of power cuts as generation units fail

Eskom has warned South Africans to prepare for a full weekend of power cuts.  The utility said stage 3 load shedding would be implemented at 16:00 on Friday after six generation units went offline.  

'Back to the drawing board' for govt as Karpowership SA, others lose grid access - Ramokgopa

Government has to "go back to the drawing board" now that Karpowership SA and two other emergency power projects lost their grid access, says Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. The... 

RCL Foods withdraws application to interdict one of Tongaat Hulett's rescue plans

RCL Foods, the owner of Selati Sugar, says it will withdraw its application for an urgent interdict against one of the business rescue plans of Tongaat Hulett after engaging with that company's... 

South Africa's new energy plan is 'shoddy' and will probably fail – analysts

South Africa's new energy generation plan lacks detail and leaves many unanswered questions, according to some energy analysts. The long-awaited draft of the Integrated Energy Plan (IRP) of 2023... 

Lights should stay on over festive season, says electricity minister

"We will have a festive season with the lights on," Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said on Thursday. The country has about 27 700 megawatts available and demand is averaging just more... 

All 2 200 Bafokeng mineworkers back safely to the surface, says Implats

Impala Platinum said on Wednesday that as of 17:05 afternoon, all 2 205 mineworkers at its Bafokeng Rasimone mine had returned to the surface. The protest action began on Monday morning without the... 

Gordhan withholds key documents on SAA sale from Parliament

Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan has refused to provide two crucial documents on the sale of SAA to Parliament, with the matter now referred to the Speaker to decide further action.... 

Six trucks set alight on N11 amid KZN protests, traffic affected by 'spillages'

Trucks have been set alight by protesters along the N11, near Amajuba Pass in KwaZulu-Natal. Six trucks were set alight when protests erupted along the N11 near Amajuba Pass in Charlestown,... 

Eskom's new CEO confirmed

Daniel Leseja Marokane has been appointed as chief executive officer of Eskom. On Friday afternoon, Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan said Marokane would join Eskom no later than 31... 

Brace for a weekend of loadshedding

Stage 3 load shedding will be implemented from 16:00 on Friday until 05:00 on Saturday, Eskom said on Friday afternoon.  Thereafter, loadshedding stages will vary over the weekend, the utility said.  

Gordhan: Law enforcement is not acting against corruption

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has blasted law enforcement agencies, saying that they must come to the fore to address state capture and corruption at State-owned entities.  Addressing... 

Joint operation leads to more than 100 arrests of suspected illegal miners in Ekurhuleni

A joint operation between the SA Police Service, SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and the Department of Home Affairs led to the arrest of more than 100 suspected illegal miners (colloquially known... 

SA makes some progress on exiting greylist

South Africa has addressed most of the technical compliance deficiencies that led to it being greylisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in February 2023, though much work still needs to... 

Night loadshedding drops to Stage 5

Eskom announced a marginal drop in loadshedding on Thursday due to improved generation recovery and emergency reserves.  Stage 3 loadshedding kicked in at 10:00, and will continue until 16:00, when... 

'Absolutely no excuse': AG blasts major SOEs as just one gets clean audit

Only one of South Africa's 19 major State-owned enterprises received a clean audit in the past year, Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke has said. Maluleke on Wednesday tabled the audit outcomes for... 

100 000 containers now stuck outside three SA ports - as new penalties and price hikes loom

In recent weeks, container ships have been bypassing the congested and delay-ridden Cape Town harbour to berth at the Port of Port Elizabeth in Gqeberha and the Ngqura (Coega) port, reports the... 

Stage 4 loadshedding all week, says Eskom

Due to the increasing demand combined with insufficient generating capacity and the need to manage the emergency reserves, Stage 4 loadshedding will be implemented from 14:00 today until 05:00 on... 

Reserve Bank slightly more positive about inflation, but Transnet crisis now serious threat

Even after annual consumer inflation shocked the market on the upside on Wednesday, rising to 5.9% in October – higher than any economist surveyed had forecast – the Monetary Policy Committee kept... 

Ramaphosa talks tough over Transnet incompetence as ports nightmare rages on

President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed that Transnet would shed itself of incompetence and address the major backlogs at the country's ports. If not, it could see the economy continue to bleed. On... 

New challenge to delay Karpowership's Richards Bay plant

Karpowership has been hit with a new challenge, as civil society groups have appealed the environmental approval it received for its proposed Richards Bay plant. The groups groundWork and the South... 

SAB has completed promised R5.8bn plant upgrades

South African Breweries (SAB) has confirmed that its R5.8 billion investment commitment has been utilised to increase capacity at two of its plants, the Department of Trade, Industry and... 

Reserve Bank's MPC keeps rates on hold

For its final decision of the year, the Monetary Policy Committee left South Africa’s key interest rate unchanged at 8.25% for a third consecutive meeting, in line with economists’ expectations.... 

Shock inflation increase makes for a tough interest rate decision this week

Annual consumer price inflation climbed to 5.9% in October from 5.4% in September, edging closer to the outside of the SA Reserve Bank’s targeted band of 3% to 6%, marking a third consecutive... 

Koko's Kusile case: State's corruption buster vows to keep punching despite court blow

The National Prosecuting Authority's Investigating Directorate has suffered a blow in its fight against state capture, but it has vowed to keep punching. On Tuesday, the Middelburg Specialised... 

Hurdles cleared for sale of SAA - now for Takatso to show the money

The last hurdles are being cleared for the sale of 51% of South African Airways to Takatso - if it can come up with the money.  A major blockage to the sale, brokered way back in June 2021, that... 

Court strikes Koko Eskom graft case off the roll, finds there were unreasonable delays

The Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday struck the case against former Eskom boss Matshela Koko and others from the roll. The court found that there had been unreasonable... 

Economic pain at its harshest with more of the same likely for 3 to 6 months

South Africans have been spending and transacting less and less as high interest rates, food inflation, load shedding and elevated fuel prices eat away at their income, according to the latest... 

Petrol, diesel prices on track for cuts in December

Based on the current oil, international fuel and rand prices, the latest data from the Central Energy Fund shows that petrol prices could be cut by around R1.07 a litre in December, while diesel... 

SA sees job growth, but it's cold comfort for millions of unemployed youth left behind

Young people aged 15 to 34 years had an unemployment rate of 43.4% in the third quarter, compared with 45.3% in the second, according to Statistics SA. The decline mimicked the drop in the...