THURSDAY, 1.00PM
THE Cahora Bassa power line was finally completed on Tuesday this week — almost 20 years late. The Cahora Bassa power project, initiated in the mid-1960s as an arrangement between the government of John Vorster and the Portuguese colonial administration of Mozambique, has been delayed by years of civil war and tension between the two countries.
The Maputo-based Noticias newspaper reports that the first line between the Cahora Bassa dam and the Apollo sub-station in South Africa has been completed and is being checked before the trial switch-on. A second line will follow in a fortnight.
The project required the replacement of 2 000 pylons destroyed during the Mozambican war. South Africa is expected to buy 1 500 of the dam’s total capacity of 2 000 megawatts.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
GOLD FIELDS OFFER REJECTED JCI’s unlisted coal division Tavistock has turned down Gold Fields Coal’s R1,5-billion purchase offer. It is believed that Lonrho’s Duiker Mining has made a R1,7-billion offer for Tavistock, which fits in with JCI’s acquisition of a controlling stake in Lonrho.
IBA AWARDS LICENCE THE Independent Broadcasting Authority on Tuesday awarded the broadcasting licence for Pretoria’s Radio Jacaranda to the Newshelf 71 consortium. Newshelf won the initial allocation last year, but the licence was nullified when competitor Naledi took the issue to court on a technicality. The two consortia have since merged, prompting the IBA to award the licence to the merged company.
MOTOR WAGE TALKS FOUNDER MOTOR industry wage negotiations broke down again on Tuesday when the National Union of Metalworkers of SA delared a dispute with the SA Motor Industry Employers’ Association. The disagreement was over a previous agreement reached between the two parties in the Motor Industry Bargaining Council last October.
GOVT SEEKS LOST PROPERTY The government is to hire private investigators and involve the national intelligence department in a bid to track down “missing” and unknown” state properties in SA and abroad. Public Works Director General Sipho Shezi said the state asset register currently lists 68 852 parcels of land and 63 506 buildings.