WEDNESDAY, 10.30AM
NEVER one to ditch a tried and tested formula, the Walt Disney Corporation is following an illustrious line of colonisers who viewd the Cape of Good Hope as the gateway to the Dark Continent, with its announcement on Tuesday that it is to use its Cape Town subsidiary as a springboard into Africa.
Walt Disney Europe executive vice-president Pierre Sissman said: “South Africa will provide the platform for the group to move into the rest of Africa, where it has little exposure to date.”
Disney has licensed its products in SA for over 25 years, and local sales increased 20% over the past six years, with local retail sales estimated between $50-million and $60-million a year. According Disney Enterprises (Southern Africa) MD Ray Botha, the company is looking to establish a chain of stand-alone Disney stores in SA.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
CONFIDENCE UP BUSINESS confidence rose 0,8 percentage points in June, thanks to the liberalisation of exchange controls and the prospect of lowered interest rates later in the year.
SA Chamber of Business chief Raymond Parsons said the monthly index rose after falling back in May: “There is enought scope for a 2 percentage point decline in the prime rate which should go a long way to restoring internal consumer confidence.”
MBOWENI MEETS BUSINESS LABOUR minister Tito Mboweni held talks behind closed doors with business leaders last night in an attempt to break the impasse over the Basic Conditions of Employment bill, which has already sparked one national strike. Business is taking a harder line, saying the gold slump makes further concessions impossible.
SAB MOVES ON NAMIBIA SOUTH AFRICAN Breweries will make a third attempt to move in on the Namibian market, after twice being thwarted by the Windhoek government. This time, SAB will move in partnership with a local businessman, who will own 51% of the shares. The announcement comes a day after South Africa’s Competition Board launched an investigation into whether SA Breweries has a monopoly in the alcoholic beverage industry and whether any of its agreements constitute restrictive practices.
STICKY SUGAR TALKS SUGAR unions dropped their demands for 20% increases down to 13% backdated to April 1, but management stuck to its offer of 10,5% except for a small number of workers. The talks appeared to have deadlocked last night.
SASOL BLASTS INTO US PETROCHEMICALS parastatal Sasol has bought its way into the US explosives market by acquiring a stake in DHB Holdings, a US chemicals and explosives group. Sasol’s mining explosives division SMX will buy 49% of DHB for an undisclosed sum.
BA CT FLIGHTS THE 72-hour strike called by British Airways cabin crew from today is expected to affect passengers booked on direct flights between Heathrow and Cape Town. The strike is expected to affect 100 000 BA passengers around the world. BA said on Tuesday its flights between Heathrow and Johannesburg will go ahead regardless of the strike.
ZIM TEXTILE STRIKE ZIMBABWEAN textile industry workers went on strike on Tuesday in support of a 40% wage demand. Management has offered 18%. About 3 000 union members gathered outside Harare’s Rotten Row Magistrate’s Court while riot police looked on.