MONDAY, 11.30AM
A THIRD licence to operate a cellular telephone network will be issued before year’s end, SA Telecommunications Regulatory Authority chairman Nape Maepa said at the weekend.
“There is no reason to wait. The licence hs been on the cards since 1993,” he said.
Satra last week announced it was appointing a consulting team to establish the feasibility of the third licence in terms of its statutory mandate, with a report due within three months. Maepa’s announcement that a third licenec will be issued has led to speculation that the move was taken after pressure from black empowerment telecoms company Vula Communications, which Maepa has denied. Vula has been lobbying for the issuing of a third licence since last year.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
NUM DROPS JCI INTERDICT THE National Union of Mineworkers on Friday dropped an application foir an interdict preventing Johannesburg Consolidated Investments from going ahead with the retrenchment of 4 100 workers after the company tabled new proposals. The parties are due to meet again on Tuesday.
RICHARDS BAY UPGRADE THE Richards Bay coal terminal has approved a R200-million upgrade to increase throughput to 66,5-million tons a year. Work is expected to start this month and is due to be completed by March 1999.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
SHORT-TERM RATES DIVE SHORT_term inetrest rates fell to their lowest level in a year yesterday as money market liquidity improved and chances of an early bank rate cut increased. Three-month deposit rates fell 25 basis points to between 16,10% and 16,15%, their lowest level sice last July 11.
SLABBERT TO INVESTEC BOARD FREDERICK VAN ZYL SLABBERT has been appointed to the board of Investec Bank with immediate effect. Slabbert is a former head of the Institute for a Democratic SA and a business a politics consultant and visiting professor at Wits Business School.
CITRUS DEAL ‘ARROGANT’ INDUSTRY sources have described the latest agency agreement between the Citrus Board and citrus marketing company Outspan as “arrogant” and in contravention of the statutory powers of the board. The new deal, replacing the previous one dating from 1965, gives Outspan ownership of all fruit delivered to it, which is likely to be beyond the board’s statutory mandate, and contrary to the legal definition of an agent.
‘JCI DECLARED WAR’ THE National Union of Mineworkers on Thursday accused Johannesburg Consolidated Investments of “declaring war” after talks on 4 000 retrenchments broke down. JCI maintained it can no longer delay cutting the jobs. The NUM will not seek a court interdict to delay the retrenchments.