BMW donates educational display cars

Five science centres in different provinces have each been donated a BMW 3 Series educational display car by BMW South Africa. Each centre is supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The donation is aimed at stimulating learning in maths, science, engineering and technology. 20 May 2013 15:51

Solar Capital signs R11.5 billion contract with DoE

Solar Capital has recently signed its second Independent Power Purchase Agreement with the Department of Energy. This second Solar Capital project, which will be built at De Aar in the Northern Cape, will mean an additional investment of R2.5 billion and will employ more than 700 people during construction and 200 thereafter. 16 May 2013 11:40

Coface report highlights strain on SA's growth

The Coface Group, a worldwide leader in credit insurance, has released its latest report on South African growth prospects, taking into account the mining and export slumps. Overall, economic activity remains generally sluggish while upside risks to inflation have increased due to a weaker rand. Coface believes that this will persuade the Monetary Policy Committee to keep policy neutral over an extended period, with interest rates remaining unchanged for most of 2013. A reversal in policy easing is likely only late in the year or even in 2014. 15 May 2013 14:50

Public Enterprises wins Treasury battle

[Nicky Smith] A six-month battle between the Treasury and the Department of Public Enterprises over the empowerment and local content weighting in Transnet's R35bn acquisition of new locomotives has ended with the Treasury agreeing to let the tender go unchanged. 15 May 2013 09:07

AngloGold's focus on cutting costs

[Allan Seccombe] AngloGold Ashanti is gearing up to sell a second mine as the company deepens its focus on delivering value to shareholders in a difficult gold market‚ new chief executive Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan said on Monday (13 May). 14 May 2013 12:30

Africa must reduce infrastructure delays

[Linda Ensor] The classic public-private partnerships both in SA and Africa are plagued by delays‚ with the projects sometimes taking seven years to get going‚ Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on last week at a media conference on accelerating infrastructure investment in Africa‚ at the World Economic Forum on Africa. 13 May 2013 13:40

Top Gear challenges schools to build an F1 car

The Top Gear Festival endeavours to give back to the community in South Africa and has launched a number of initiatives to help students get into motoring and engineering. In 2013, a new partnership with F1 in Schools promises to build upon the success of last year's work. 13 May 2013 10:12

Skills burden haunts CEOs

[Evan Pickworth] Mining‚ energy‚ engineering and construction companies have reported the most chronic shortages of skilled employees worldwide‚ while 89% of South Africa's chief executives plan to make changes to their strategies for managing talent over the next 12 months‚ a new report shows. 10 May 2013 09:16

Local focus for wind, solar projects

[Monde Maoto] Constant emphasis will be sought for local companies to participate in the local procurement and supply of components in the remaining rounds of government's renewable energy projects‚ says Energy Minister Dipuo Peters. 10 May 2013 08:26

Everyone at Eskom should be switching to gas

[Paddy Hartdegen] I would hope that everyone at Eskom - not only its chief executive, Brian Dames - would be using gas rather than electricity to make something tasty for supper. We wouldn't want our chief executives, or anyone else at Eskom, going hungry at night when they have to keep the power feeding into the homes of millions of South Africans. 9 May 2013 13:54

Transnet on the hunt for foreign contracts

[Nicky Smith] Transnet Engineering (TE), a unit of the state-owned freight and logistics company, is exploring new narrow-gauge markets in Latin America, South-east Asia and Australia in a bid to meet its growth targets, according to strategy and marketing general manager Thoba Majoka. 6 May 2013 07:41

Growing awareness of SA's water scarcity

[Sue Blaine] Slightly more than 70% of JSE-listed companies that responded to a survey on SA's water supplies had already experienced financial losses because of water issues‚ according to a London-based research company that‚ with the National Business Initiative (NBI)‚ looks at water use in South African companies. 2 May 2013 09:44

Zuma tells South Africans to be proud

[Chris Bathembu] President Jacob Zuma began his major Freedom Day speech on Saturday by telling South Africans to look back with pride as a nation because the struggle for national liberation achieved its primary purpose. 29 Apr 2013 10:25

Hidden Valley is a problem for Newcrest

[Allan Seccombe] The Hidden Valley mine in Papua New Guinea is a "problem child" and three key areas have come under focus to bring costs down‚ said Greg Robinson‚ chief executive of Australia's Newcrest Mining‚ which shares the project with Harmony Gold. 24 Apr 2013 09:47