Category: Southern Africa

South Africa’s economy contracted 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of last year as mining and manufacturing output shrank, the statistics agency said on Tuesday, putting credit ratings at risk. Africa’s most industrialised economy faces the risk of being downgraded to junk status owing to weak economic growth after it got a reprieve…

S.A:Millions of South Africans will be paid benefits on April 1- minister

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in Africa, Southern Africa, Top Stories

The government will continue paying millions of South Africa’s most vulnerable people social security payments on April 1, despite not signing a new deal with an existing service provider, the minister of social development said on Sunday. The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is scrambling to ensure that as many as 17 million people…

S.A:Lonmin’s chief operating officer to step down next month

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Troubled platinum miner Lonmin said on Monday its chief operating officer (COO) has resigned for personal reasons. After more than two years in the role of COO and director, Ben Moolman will step down on April 5, Lonmin said, without naming a successor. The world’s third-largest platinum producer, which was saved from collapse in 2015…

Zimbabwean civil servants stage sit-in protest over bonuses

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Zimbabwean government workers, including thousands of teachers, were due to stage a sit-in protest over unpaid bonuses on Monday ahead of a meeting with authorities, union leaders said. Doctors called off a planned strike on Sunday after government approved increased allowances and created 250 new jobs, the same day President Robert Mugabe returned from medical…

S.A’s Competition Commission accuses Toyota carrier of collusion

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The Competition Commission of South Africa has referred car carrier company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd for a prosecution to the Tribunal for colluding on a tender for transportation of Toyota vehicles. The Commission referred Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (“K-Line”), a Japanese company operating in South Africa, to the Competition Tribunal for price fixing, market division…

S.A’s FSB may bring an end to unwanted SMS messages

Mar 3, 2017

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Consumers will soon be able to opt-out of unwanted SMS communication from insurance companies thanks to a draft replacement of the Policyholder Protection Rules (PPRs) by the Financial Services Board (FSB). Speaking in a recent interview, Lezanne Botha, a senior specialist for the Insurance Regulatory Framework department at the FSB said: “There is existing consumer-protection…

South Africa’s Standard Bank posts 4 pct rise in FY profit

Mar 3, 2017

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South Africa’s Standard Bank Group Ltd reported a 4 percent rise in full-year profit on Thursday as the threat of sovereign ratings downgrade weighed on its home market. Standard Bank posted headline earnings per share (EPS) of 1,389 cents for the period to end-December, compared with 1,359 cents the previous year. Headline EPS is the…

South Africa’s MTN swings into first annual loss in 20 years

Mar 3, 2017

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in Africa, Southern Africa, Top Stories

Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator MTN Group swung into a hefty $108 million annual loss on Thursday, its first in two decades, hit by a regulatory fine in Nigeria and unfavourable currency moves. MTN said its headline loss came in at 1.4 billion rand ($108 million), or 77 cents per share, in the year to…

S.A:This would be the cost of replacing S.A’s finance minister, or his deputy

Feb 28, 2017

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